Posted by Paul Handley on Wed 1st September 2010 at 08:02 AM, Filed in Luxury Clothes
With Summer drawing to a close for another year, It’s time to look ahead.
It’s time to pack away your shorts for another year. It’s time to invest wisely. Soon it will be cold. How do you look good and stay warm at the same time? For Women cashmere is the answer.
Luckily for us, Clan Douglas Cashmere Studio are launching their first collection for Autumn Winter 2010 next week.
Clan Douglas Cashmere Studio is a division of Hawick knitwear ltd. Arguably the home of British Knitwear, Hawick supply collections for all the major players in the industry; Lyle & Scott, Pringle, Burberry, Black fleece by Thom Browne, Agent Provocateur.
Scottish cashmere is renowned for its high quality and luxurious texture, and Clan Douglas Cashmere Studio is proud to claim its heritage, design and production as exclusively Scottish.
The sumptuous feel of cashmere is emphasised by the variety of styles available in the Clan Douglas Cashmere Studio collection.
The finest yarns are used to ensure the production of elegant colour details and consistent superior quality.
The 30 piece collection includes intricately designed cardigans, knitted dresses with contemporary silhouettes, exquisite twin sets with a modern twist, oversized cowl-neck jumpers and signature Studio Stripe accessories; all hand-finished by craftsmen and craftswomen.
The collection’s creator is designer Alex Feechan, an award-winning designer with a 1st class honours degree and an MA from the prestigious Royal College of Art, London.
Furthermore, and this is a nice touch, every designer cashmere piece in the collection has been given the name of a Scottish poem to reflect its authentic origins.
Clan Douglas Cashmere Studio will be available at various boutiques around the country & online at http://www.cashmerestudio.com. Recommended retail prices start at £144 to £599 - available at selected boutiques including; Austique on the King’s Road, KJ’s Laundry in Marylebone, Bridget Salmassian in Wimbledon Village.
Please enjoy the collection and, below,one of the poems used in tandem with the new collection -
Those Winter Sundays by Robert E Haydn
Sundays too my father got up early
and put his clothes on in the blueback cold,
then with cracked hands that ached
from labour in the weekday weather made
banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.
I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.
When the rooms were warm, he’d call,
and slowly I would rise and dress,
fearing the chronic angers of that house,
Speaking indifferently to him,
who had driven out the cold
and polished my good shoes as well.
What did I know, what did I know
of love’s austere and lonely offices?
Did you know you can now get a suit from Tesco for £15? Great value you may think, but for me this is not the way to go when looking to purchase a new suit. Value for money for me needs to give me something back. I have found a suit that does.
Before I unleash the fine piece of styling and craftmanship that is a Saville Row Mark Marengo suit on you, I need to go back to Tesco. We are in a recession, but where do you compromise on quality and at what level? A suit is meant to convey an air of professionalism and class. Can a £15 suit do this? What message would it instead send out?
As I have said, We are in a recession and that’s why there is an even greater emphasis on all things luxury. We should not feel guilty for splurging a bit of hard earned on something really rather special, like saville row custom suits. It has to be better to do this than go for second best (or in this case third, fourth, fifth…?)
Now, a bespoke suit from Savile Row taylors Mark Marengo, says everything to me. With every aspect of the suit is made to the your requirements, a bespoke suit is totally unique - Complimenting your build and reflecting your style. Arm yourself with the best as you move up the career ladder, reach important life milestones and really eek out an individual taste and style.
Using suiting cloth from the most prestigious British and Italian mills, Mark and his team of tailors map the body taking every single measurement, then subsequently work with the client and their unique personalised suit until it is exactly right.
Mark Marengo’s design ethos is neatly summarised in his own words as “Different in the detail, Classic with a twist”. Contemporarily bridging the gulf that lies between old style Savile Row traditionalism, and modernist show-biz gimmickry, Mark’s clothes are always beautifully made, but also absolutely wearable.
It is not just a question of fitting the suit to the physique, rather creating a piece that truly reflects the client. Bespoke suits start at £2,000, if your budget doesn’t stretch quite that far semi-bespoke suits are available from £500. Finish the look with a bespoke shirt, tie and shoes.
Sharp suits, ultimate fit shirts, classic ties and made to measure shoes. It’s time to introduce your wardrobe to some much required quality.
£15.00? Paaah!
(having said all of the above, I think Tesco do a really great job at delivering value produce to the Nation – don’t want to get in trouble!)
Toby Luper, the highly sought after bespoke tailor to the stars, has recently been thinking outside the box.
How about this for an original concept? You choose the fabric which is then sent to the person of your choice. Sit back and watch the excitement start when they realise they have just got a “suit in a Box”!
OK, I hear you muttering “great, some fabric in a box, whoopee”. But listen, This is such a great idea. The box also contains a personal gift card to inform the recipient that the materials will be used to create a hand-made suit, tailored to their exact specification.
Getting better? Read on!
An appointment will then be made with a highly experienced tailor to visit at home or work. The tailor can advise on cut and style before measuring up the fabrics ready to create an awesome bespoke suit.
The fabric will then be taken away to the workrooms and Hemingway’s famous tailors will work their magic. A final fitting will ensure complete satisfaction and the finished suit will be personally delivered.
Toby Luper’s Hemingway – often referred to as ‘the Savile Row of the North’ is on to something here. With a choice of over 3,000 fabrics for its bespoke designs, Hemingway can create a stunning range spanning lounge suits, formal morning wear, tail coats, dinner suits – and even a one-off design. The company also offers bespoke monogrammed shirts and ties and can customise suits by embroidering names and phrases into jackets’ linings.
Here’s Toby - “There is no better experience than slipping on a suit that has been crafted just for you and our attention to detail means that each suit can have personalised finishing touches and styling that make it a truly special gift.”
With prices starting from £2000.00, this unique and exciting service seems just too good.
The Worlds Most Expensive Suit is going to polarise opinions, You will love or loathe it.
Bling Meister Stuart Hughes has joined forces with expert tailor Richard Jewels (perfectly apt surname) to produce a very serious statement suit. Made from the finest cashmere wool and silk, the suit has been cut to perfection. The detailing and fine workmanship of Richard Jewels shines through…..along with the 480 diamonds.
The diamonds have the quality as well as quantity. Each single cut gem is 0.5cts, colour G, VS2 quality, all of which total a massive 240cts. The positioning on the suit is excellent, although slightly reminiscent of the “pearly king” style - sorry, Stuart Hughes / Richard Jewels. Clearly, though, this suit is in a different league - sorry, Pearly Kings!
Richard Jewels says of his joint project - ” I hope to establish a luxury brand that will not only capture the eyes but the hearts of the consumers. The R.Jewels brand for men and women will offer unrivalled customer service and we will be offering our clients all expenses paid trips to luxury destinations such as the Arc en Ciel in St Lucia as part of the packages. The emphasis on our products is to solidify one’s individuality.”
This suit is more or less unique. Only 3 of it’s kind will be made each costing £599,000. Each suit needed 600 man hours to create. (10% of all sales will be going to the Haiti Relief Fund.)
I personally love the suit. I think the over the top display of wealth is nothing to be ashamed of. The cut is as you would expect and the cashmere sensationally soft. Having 480 diamonds running through it is a lot of fun and a massive statement - “look at me, I’m minted!”
Mia Jafari bursts onto the fashion scene with her debut, and wow! What a debut!
The most amazingly vivid, incredibly bright and tremendously En vogue scarves are now available from The exciting British / Iranian designer, Mia Jafari.
Blending Eastern rhythms with a cosmopolitan sophistication that tantalizes and delights, Mia tells me she starts each design by imagining a Persian carpet depicting a bird of paradise in the Amazon making her nest from Chanel lipsticks, Dior sunglasses, Christian Louboutin, vintage Cariter and treasures found from her travels…
What you basically get with these scarves is an homage to the fashion greats, a plethora of colour and a whole lot of fun.
Mia takes her inspiration from John Galliano, and more recently,has become mesmerised by Indian fashion designer Manish Arora and artist Yina Shonibare. She is also inspired by designers and artists who cut and paste from different cultures to create a new style not defined by one time or space. This explains a lot when you look at the scarves.
With designs called “Berrypolitan”, “Midnight Mojito” and “Bombay Sapphire”, unless you are really clever you could end up with something resembling a bit of a mess. There is a lot going on in these designs, but it works. Using ‘digi-broidery’ - an innovative technique coined by the artist to describe a truly unique dimension to her work, where Eastern embroidery meets cutting edge digital print.
Read more...
