Graphic prints, such as this Iuter bomber jacket with its allover tropical bird pattern,

will be among the key trends for spring at the New York

market, which kicks off this weekend. Vendors at Project, Liberty, Capsule

and MRket will also highlight sportswear with

streetwear influences and an assortment of

heritage-inspired pieces. For more Ones to Watch

at the shows, see pages MW4 to MW6.

Eliot MessIf Eliot Spitzer has hopes of becoming Comptroller his image (and not just political) could use a makeover. Page MW7

MAN OF THE WEEK

July 18, 2013

by SAMANTHA CONTI

LONDON — Jason Basmajian, Gieves & Hawkes’ new creative director, is adamant that more than 200 years of history, three royal war-rants — including one from Queen Elizabeth — and a renowned address on Savile Row will not weigh on him or his vision for the company.

Basmajian, who arrived in January, hav-ing previously worked as artistic director at Brioni, has big plans to help transform the venerable men’s wear label, which relies heavily on the U.K. and Asia, into an inter-national luxury lifestyle brand.

Basmajian said his mission is straightfor-ward. “We are a bespoke house, and I’m trying to take it back to its origins of very high-quality tailoring and at the same time make it all ab-solutely relevant — whether that’s within the context of the global luxury men’s wear land-scape or in the context of Savile Row,” said the energetic Basmajian during an interview at the tailor’s flagship at Number 1 Savile Row.

Basmajian added that the challenge with so much history is “what to extract, how to interpret it and how to keep it fresh. You don’t want it to look costumey and you don’t want it to look like, ‘Ye olde archive.’ It’s re-ally about the balance.”

His plan is to reinforce Gieves’ position as a bespoke house making everything from regimental uniforms for the royal family to three-piece suits for natty British business-men, and to channel the company’s spirit and expertise into ready-to-wear and accessories collections, the Web site and the marketing.

“What we didn’t have was a cohesive col-lection, we didn’t really have style direction, and we were very much focused on mono product: the suit. Very quickly, we have tried to round up the collection to include lifestyle, sportswear, casual dressing, softer dress-ing, and bring back some of the country and tweed elements that we had missed,” he said.

There are new collections in the pipeline, plans to unveil eyewear and leather goods in January at London Collections: Men and a footwear range that is all bench-made in England. He is also revamping the Web site with better imagery and technology, and look-ing seriously into wholesale distribution.

One of the new offers will be a cap-sule collection known as Hand Tailored in Britain, which will be made in the U.K. using British piece goods. It will launch in September, with starting prices of suits at 2,500 pounds, or $3,777 at current exchange.

“It’s all done by hand in a very small fac-tory in England,” said Basmajian. “For me, it had to be something completely inspired by bespoke. So from September, you will be able to walk into Number 1 Savile Row and buy a beautiful off-the-peg, fully canvased, made-in-England suit with bespoke inspiration.”

Later this month, Basmajian will unite the rtw and bespoke teams at the Savile Row flagship so they can collaborate more.

TRANSFORMATIVE TIME

Basmajian’s VisionFor Gieves & HawkesCreative director to build on brand’s 240 years of history

{Continued on page MW7}MOD

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Birds of Paradise

PLUS:A look at how the

men of Wall Street are faring with the

heat. Page MW8

Iuter’s nylon jacket, cotton T-shirt and shorts.PHOTO BY GIOVANNA PAVESI

Men’s WeekMW2 WWD THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2013

Christian Stroble Launching Bag Line CHRISTIAN STROBLE is ready to take another shot.

The stylist-designer-creative consul-tant had a women’s ready-to-wear col-lection called Eventide from 2004 to 2008, but the recession put an end to that dream. “We did it for four years and it was in Barneys; they wrote about it in Harper’s Bazaar, and celebrities such as Natalie Portman and socialites such as Tinsley Mortimer wore it. It had a follow-ing, but we just didn’t have the backing, so we had to close it,” he said.

So Stroble switched gears, working as a stylist for brands and retailers such as Banana Republic, Bloomingdale’s, Gant Rugger, Gilt, Hugo Boss, J. Lindeberg and K-Swiss while also styling celebri-ties for magazines.

But the desire to design never disap-peared, and for spring, he will launch a collection of men’s leather bags under the Christian Stroble name.

“It’s a small collection,” he said. “I’m keeping it niche.” There will be a number of classic styles, including a sack bag, a shopper, a weekender, a messenger, a brief-case, a duffle and a “man clutch,” targeted to the contemporary consumer.

Stroble said that while the silhouettes may be classic, they’re “rendered with a lived-in, weathered and tactile sensibility.

“I want every bag to feel like your fa-vorite worn-in leather jacket,” he said, pointing to the “slightly aged patina” of the pieces. “Since I’m a stylist, I’m al-ways in search of lightweight, functional bags that have good style. I’m not into heavy, structured bags.” The Christian Stroble models have a “slight drape to them, but still hold their shape,” he said, utilize antique brass hardware and are manufactured in the U.S. from Tuscan leather. The bags are not lined — “I want them raw,” he noted — but they’re treat-ed with a spray at the tannery so the in-terior doesn’t wear off. The logo for the line draws its inspiration from Stroble’s grandfather’s World War II dog tags.

Stroble said there is an investor financing the collection, although he wouldn’t identify the backer. Sales for the collection are being handled by Indigo Showroom in New York, and Stroble is planning a press event in September for editors and other influencers.

Final price points have not been set, but Stroble expects the sack bag to sell for $550 and the weekender to retail for more than $1,000. He is also setting up a Web page at stroblenewyork.com with images from the look book.

Now five years removed from his last design project, Stroble said he learned he needed to “have all the right pieces in place before starting a brand again — a strong business partner, a reliable sales team, and to work with a niche market to start small and really understand the craft, product, what the market is in need of and who my customer is.” — J.E.P.

Original Jams Rides Againby DAVID LIPKE

ORIGINAL JAMS is poised for a colorful comeback next spring.

The iconic surf brand, which reached its peak in the Eighties, has been revived by new investors, who have given a fresh spin to the line famous for its vivid floral prints. Under the aegis of Santa Monica, Calif.-based Bedrock Creative Office, Original Jams will be back in stores for spring 2014 with a full lineup of men’s and women’s swimwear and casual sportswear — all in-spired by those Hawaiian prints.

“This brand is so rich in history. It’s one of those brands that really helps define the history of American apparel,” said Maurizio Donadi, cofounder and chief creative officer of Bedrock Creative Office.

The spring assortments include men’s swim trunks in patchwork, cargo and draw-string styles, with women’s swimwear to be added in 2015. Men’s and women’s sports-wear offerings include madras shirts, mil-itary-style jackets, terry cloth sweatshirts, chino pants and T-shirts with hand-drawn graphics. The brand’s signature prints are

used as accents on many pieces, such as on the back of a shirt collar or the inside pock-et of a jacket. Denim pieces are patched with the printed surf fabric.

Most of the fabrics in the line are cot-ton, with some linen and voile pieces in the mix, all of which is washed down for a lived-in feel and soft hand. Fits are true to size, steering away from the baggy look of earlier Original Jams styles, but not hewing too closely to the skinny-fit territory of some premium brands today.

The line is priced at the entry level of the premium zone, with men’s swim trunks retailing from $98 to $135, sweatshirts from $110 to $120, pants from $135 to $165 and jackets from $225 to $275.

Original Jams was founded by the late

David Rochlen, a onetime analyst for Rand Corp. and an avid surfer, in Honolulu in 1964. The first pair of trunks were, in fact, created by Rochlen’s wife, Keanuenue, from a pair of cutoff pajamas at the couple’s kitchen table — hence the name, Jams, which stems from “pajamas.”

After riding a wave of popularity through the late Eighties, the brand was shuttered in 1988 and has remained largely dormant since. Last September, Rochlen’s son, Pua, sold an 80 percent stake in Original Jams to Bedrock Manufacturing Corp., the Texas-based investment and brand management vehicle for Tom Kartsotis, the founder and former chairman of watch giant Fossil Corp. Bedrock Creative Office, which is oversee-ing the relaunch, is a partnership between Bedrock Manufacturing and Donadi, previ-ously a senior executive at Levi’s.

Bedrock Manufacturing earlier this year launched the Shinola brand of American-made watches. The firm also owns Filson, has a controlling stake in Mollusk Surf Shop and has minority investments in Steven Alan, Clare Vivier and Marissa Webb.

Retailers got their first peek at the re-vamped Original Jams at the Bread & Butter show in Berlin earlier this month. The brand is targeting specialty retailers this first season and Donadi is aiming to be in 150 to 200 accounts in the spring.

“We generated a lot of interest at Bread & Butter — we probably have over 500 in-quiries from stores — but we haven’t final-ized any orders yet,” he noted. “We’ll be doing that this month and in Las Vegas at the Liberty show in August.”

Donadi expects men’s sales to slightly out-pace women’s, at least in the first few seasons.

The originaljams.com e-commerce site will launch early next year. The company plans to open a freestanding store in Venice Beach or Santa Monica in the spring and is considering real estate options now.

The military-inspired elements in the designs complement the floral prints in an unexpected, but historic, way. “A lot of surfers in Hawaii and California in the Sixties were stationed at military bases on the Pacific. They would wear a lot of mili-tary gear and jackets casually, after they surfed,” explained Donadi. “So we went and looked at vintage surplus and military pieces and we added pockets with the same prints as the surfwear.”

Original Jams is separate and distinct from Jams World, a casual lifestyle brand that was started by Rochlen in the Eighties as an offshoot of Original Jams. Jams World, which is now headed by Pua Rochlen, targets a less trendy, more mature customer with its printed resortwear than Original Jams.

by JEAN E. PALMIERI

TODD SNYDER is getting back into the re-tail business.

The designer, who was senior vice pres-ident of men’s design for J. Crew before launching his namesake label two years ago, has signed a retail licensing deal with Anglobal Ltd. to open stores in Asia. A flag-ship is expected to make its debut in early spring in the Aoyama district of Tokyo, fol-lowed by another two to three units over the next three years.

The publicly held Anglobal was founded in 1964 and counts Margaret Howell Ltd. as a wholly owned subsidiary. The company currently operates 103 Margaret Howell stores in Japan and Europe.

“This has been brewing for a while,” Snyder said. “Two years ago we did a pop-up store in Japan, and we’ve always had a huge following there. The Japanese have always embraced us — 50 percent of our business is over there. They love America and Americana.”

He said Anglobal approached him with the idea to open stores in Asia and they struck a deal. In addition to the 1,200-square-foot space the partners are

searching for in Aoyama, Snyder said he hopes to open another unit in Tokyo, as well as two in the surrounding area.

Snyder said he will design the store and it will be “modeled after a tailor shop.” The designer’s co-branded tailored clothing with Southwick will be the “major anchor” of the store, he said, and it will be mixed with sportswear items and pieces from Snyder’s other collaborations, including Champion and Bates Hats.

Snyder was with J. Crew when the retail-er opened its first men’s-specific store, The Liquor Store, in New York’s TriBeCa, a space that is wildly popular with the Japanese, he said. “They came to me because of the Liquor Store,” Snyder said of Anglobal.

The licensing deal covers all of Asia, and Snyder believes there is potential for open-ing Todd Snyder stores in South Korea as well. “It’s such a modern country, and it’s growing faster than Japan,” he said.

And would he ever open a store in the U.S.? “That’s the dream,” he said, saying he would like to ultimately have stores in New York, Tokyo and London. “But I’m looking for the right partner. I just don’t have the capital to do it myself.”

Todd Snyder to Open Tokyo Flagship

Man ofTHE WEEK ELIOT SPITZER: C

The disgraced former governor

of New York, who has emerged as a candidate for

city comptroller, apparently hasn’t had

a style lesson since his Client 9 days.

Is it too late for him to be a client of Hair Club for Men?

The knot is a bit too Eighties, and it’s also too small for the width of the shirt collar.

The shoulder may be soft and oversize,

but it does nothing to soften his image.

All the components are there for a navy,

pin-striped power suit, however, the

boxy silhouette with the extra-long jacket defeats the purpose.

If he gets the comptroller job, he

needs to visit Brooks Brothers for an update.

The repp tie is perfect.

The only good thing about the pants is that they’re as big as the jacket. But the overall look really ages him.

The extra length is just the finishing touch for this messy, oversize ensemble.

The line includes swimwear and sportswear.

The bags will launch next spring.

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Men’s WeekMW4 WWD thursday, july 18, 2013

Brands to discover at Project New York, Liberty, MRket and CapsuleNew and Noteworthy from New York

IuterMixing their passions for action sports, street art and hip-hop music, Alberto Leoni and Andrea Torella launched men’s wear label Iuter in 2002, when they were in their early 20s.

Born as a collection of T-shirts printed with the label’s logo and worn by profession-al skaters and snowboarders, in the span of four years, Iuter became an established brand in the Italian streetwear segment.

Iuter’s collections, which are entirely produced in Italy with high-quality fab-rics, are targeted to customers from 18 to 25 seeking “an inquisitive approach to the world around them, from fashion to music,” Leoni said.

Counting Italy as the main market, with 200 points of sale, followed by Russia, where the label is sold in about 30 multi-brand stores, Iuter is planning to open a flagship in Milan in the next few months.

The company, which in 2012 posted revenues of 1.5 million euros, or about $2 million at average exchange, also has an e-commerce site that, according to the company’s commercial director, Torella, is “performing very well in the U.S.”

At Capsule, Iuter will present the spring collection, named “On top of the food chain.”

“The name of the collection is in-spired by a quote of Alantez Fox,” ex-plained Leoni, noting that the brand, like the young American middleweight boxer, is eager to soar in its segment. Key looks include paisley motifs on T-shirts and sweatshirts that pay hom-age to hip-hop.

More concrete references to the food chain are also present, ranging from the camouflage pattern on the lining of a

nylon blazer that is reminiscent of a hunt-er’s outfit to the digital prints of fruits, re-sembling still-life paintings, that enrich a white cotton T-shirt paired with matching nylon mesh pants.

T-shirts retail from 35 euros, or $46 at current exchange, to 100 euros, or $131, and sweatshirts from 74 euros, or $97, to 149 euros, or $196. Outerwear is priced at between 99 euros, or $130, and 260 euros, or $342. At Capsule, the company will also present its Uppercut and Vanguard brands. — ALeSSANDrA turrA

SANSAbeLtAsk men of “a certain age” if they recall the brand Sansabelt. Chances are the an-swer is yes.

That’s the reason men’s wear veteran Peter Schwadel jumped at the chance to acquire the license for the brand from Authentic Brands Group in February.

“It was still doing $1.5 million,” said Schwadel of the brand, whose name be-came synonymous with beltless trousers starting in the late Fifties. In its heyday, Sansabelt produced more than 500 mil-lion pairs of pants a year, he said.

“We commissioned a survey and found that 51.8 percent of men 50 to 70 had heard of the name and 33 percent ex-pressed interest in buying it,” he said.

But while its label may be well known, it was in desperate need of up-dating. Under the auspices of the for-mer Hartmarx Corp., whose predeces-sor, HMX Group, was sold to Authentic Brands at the end of last year, Schwadel said, the label had floundered. “It’s a great label, but they didn’t keep up with

it,” he said. “They were using the same fabrics from 20 years ago.”

Since acquiring the license, Schwadel has worked to update the fabric and the fit. All the pants will offer polyester or poly/wool fabrics with stretch — a hall-mark of the brand — but patterns will be modern and will range from Bengaline silk to sharkskin in a palette ranging from traditional navys and grays to mulberry and sage. The line will be produced in China, and Schwadel is projecting first-year sales revenue of around $5 million.

“We’ve also introduced a slim fit,” he said, noting that this model will feature a streamlined silhouette and Sansabelt’s signature two-and-a-half-inch webbed waistband that keeps the pants up. Other models will include the classic and a golf version. Shorts will also be available, along with big and tall sizes. “We go up to size 70,” he said. Retail prices will remain under $100 and the target distribution is men’s specialty stores.

“We’re trying to revive it and bring it back to what it was,” Schwadel said. But in addi-

tion to the over-50 con-sumer, he also hopes to at-tract a younger man. “We realize that that’s where the recognition is, but as time goes by, we’re also hop-ing to attract men in their 30s and 40s.”

Sansabelt had a small relaunch for fall, but the meat of the collection is being offered for spring and will be shown at the MRket show in New York this week.

— JeAN e. PALMIerI

Mother FreeDoMJeff Rose is a firm believer in the unique craftsmanship available from American manufacturing. And so when he conceived the idea for his label Mother Freedom, it never entered his mind not to produce the line exclusively in the U.S.

Rose, a third-generation apparel manu-facturer whose pedigree includes Eagle Shirtmakers, Lacoste, Gant and his own Jeff Rose brand, created Mother Freedom last year, and the first thing he did was build a 12,000-square-foot factory in New Bedford, Mass., to produce his line of heritage-inspired men’s sportswear. “I re-searched where to put it and decided on New Bedford because it’s one of the only places in the Northeast that still has skilled

artisans,” he said. Rose said his factory is lo-cated on the same street as the JA Apparel tailored clothing factory. New Bedford is renowned as a fishing village and the birth-place of American textile manufacturing.

Rose said he came up with the idea for Mother Freedom while he was on hia-tus from the apparel industry. “It’s either feast or famine in this industry,” he said. “I was taking a break, bought a motorcy-cle, and my wife and I were at a rally in Lake George with 40,000 other people.” He soon tired of the crowd and contin-ued on to Lake Placid, N.Y., where he climbed Whiteface Mountain and stared down at the lakes and villages. “I said I want to live here and make ski apparel. That was the start of Mother Freedom.” He soon dropped the idea of manufactur-ing ski apparel, opting instead for more classic outerwear pieces. Rose, a self-pro-claimed “gear head,” works to produce “pieces with purpose,” inspired by the New England landscape.

Offerings in the collection, which will be shown at Project, include a reversible barn jacket, field jacket, shooting jacket, reversible duffle coat, wool and cashmere zippered vest, waxed cotton Mackintosh and duster coats and cashmere fleece. A trucker vest in indigo knitted plaid, an Eisenhower-inspired jacket in canvas, linen, cotton or wool and a navy pique sport jacket are key pieces for spring.

The brand’s aesthetic, according to its brand sheet, is “sustainability, rugged individualism, nonchalant elegance and timeless style.” Rose describes them as “real American experiences that we’ve sewn into our product.”

As a result, prices are not low, with vests selling for $300 to $1,000, and a cash-mere knit overshirt retailing for $2,500.

But to Rose, the craftsmanship justi-fies the price. — J.e.P.

DeNIM & LeAtherS by ANDrew MArcDenim & Leathers by Andrew Marc is ready to spread its wings.

The Andrew Marc brand, which built a reputation on leather outerwear, was purchased by G-III Apparel Group Ltd. in 2008. However, plans to create a mean-ingful lifestyle collection never materi-alized. In an attempt to change that, the company brought Stephen Budd on board as president this spring. One of the first moves made by the former BCBG and Elie Tahari veteran was to hire designer Richard Chai to oversee design for the core Andrew Marc collection. Budd also oversaw the revamping of the company’s Denim & Leathers line.

The collection of luxury denim and sports-wear launched at Saks Fifth Avenue for fall and going forward, Andrew Marc hopes to expand its distribution to other department stores, as well as independent specialty retail-ers. It will be shown at Project.

Denim & Leathers continues to em-

brace its motorcycle roots with a line of high-quality leather jackets and work-wear-inspired jeans. Both are offered in their raw form, washed and aged. The line creates unique finishes by employing rare tumble machines and oils and waxes to achieve vintage-inspired styles. “We are treating leather as if it were denim and experimenting with denim finishes as if it were leather,” the company said.

Jeans will be offered in slim straight and straight legs, according to sales man-ager Wesley Busroe, in raw selvage fabrics. Jackets continue to be motorcycle-inspired but will also include soft suedes.

For spring, the collection as a whole is being called the Nomad. It is inspired by the roving East African people, and is employing original safari art and textures in a palette of stone, sage and khaki with accents of twilight and co-gnac. The lightweight leathers and faded denims will also offer military and tech-nical details for casual everyday wear. Price points range from $160 to $200

for jeans and $450 to $750 for leather jackets. An assortment of graphic Ts will also be of-fered and these will retail for $48, Busroe said, noting that they are all designed and handpaint-ed by Denim & Leathers’ in-house design team and feature a “super soft” hand and all-over placement prints. — J.e.P.

w18b004(5)(6)a;8.indd 4 7/17/13 8:06 PM07172013200832

Men’s Week MW5WWD thursday, july 18, 2013

Brands to discover at Project New York, Liberty, MRket and CapsuleNew and Noteworthy from New York

bLue LIoNThere may be an Ammeen at the helm, but that’s the only parallel with the for-mer Neema Clothing Co.

Jeffrey Ammeen, who had served as executive vice president of Neema and is the son of Neema’s president and chief executive officer, James Ammeen, stressed that before Neema wound down operations in 2012, he created Blue Lion Apparel LLC to handle the sales and merchandising for Neema’s former owned and licensed brands.

Since creating the company, Ammeen has cobbled together a collection of labels it will show at MRket. These include Kroon,

Palm Beach, Lambretta, Paul Costelloe, Henry Grethel and Boston Traders.

According to Ammeen, Kroon was the pi-oneer of the tailored soft coat but it has built on that foundation by offering “sportswear with a tailored sensibility.” For spring, the label will offer vests, soft suits, woven shirts and chinos, in addition to soft coats, and it will also branch out for the first time into jeans and garment-dyed coats and pants.

“The collection remains true to what Kroon is, but has a younger feel,” Ammeen said. “It’s even lighter in weight, and is more colorful and bright. And it leans even more towards true sportswear.”

Price points will include soft coats for $295 to $495; suits for $425 to $695; gar-ment-dyed jackets for $225; vests for $125 to $175; shirts for $125, and jeans and chi-nos for $95 to $165. Target distribution is better department and specialty stores.

Palm Beach’s offerings will include suits, suit separates, sport coats, vests and trousers in summer-weight cottons, seer-suckers, linen and lightweight wool. Suits will retail for $295 to $595.

Ammeen said the Blue Lion roster will also include “young, modern cloth-ing” from Lambretta, a streetwear-in-spired label designed in London that offers slim-fit suits along with modern dress shirts and narrow ties. It is targeted to the 18- to 35-year-old man who “is into clothing and wants to look cool,” Ammeen said. Prices range from $225 to $325 for suits and $35 to $50 for shirts.

Blue Lion is also acting as the dis-tributor for Paul Costelloe, a venerable U.K.-based label that is offering “clas-sic clothing with a modern sensibility,” he said. Trim suits will retail for $495 to $695, dress shirts for $125 to $145 and ties for $95. — J.e.P.

rISINg SuN & co.“Tailor-made indigo goods and work-wear capturing the optimistic spirit of America’s golden age of craftsmanship” reads the motto of Rising Sun & Co., which is showing at Liberty. Founder Mike Hodis has long been enamored of the machinery and production processes of the first half of the 20th century, and he’s done his best to re-create that era in his workroom-cum-retail store in Eagle Rock, Calif., on the out-skirts of Los Angeles.

“We’re a bit off the beaten trail,” said Hodis of the expansive space fronted by garage doors that are kept open on most days. “It’s like walking into one of the coolest garages you’ve ever been into.”

The space houses Rising Sun’s manufactur-ing facility, where jeans are sewn up on vintage machinery that dates back to the Twenties. “They are Singers and Union Special, the work-horses that build the denim industry back in the day,” said Hodis of his collection of vintage sewing machines.

About 30 percent of Rising Sun’s denim and wovens manufacturing is done on the premises. The rest is done in nearby manufacturing facilities that have been instructed in Hodis’s exacting stan-dards — and have sometimes been lent his vintage machinery.

Apart from jeans, the Rising Sun line-up includes chambray shirts, selvage chi-nos, fleece sweaters, collegiate shawl col-

lar cardigans and tailored travel jackets.In denim, Rising Sun has seven fits, in-

cluding the Blacksmith, a traditional turn-of-the-century style with a cinch back. Other styles include classic five-pockets familiar to contemporary consumers.

The core five-pocket basic styles retail for $275 to $375.

Rising Sun emphasize broken-in washes, rather than clean ones. “We put a lot of effort to create very realis-

tic and natural washes,” said Hodis, who was previously design director at Lucky Brand and JNCO Jeans prior to founding Rising Sun in 2006.

A signature rear pocket features an accordion gusset that allows the pocket to expand outwards when a wallet or cell phone is inserted.

Apart from its own store, Rising Sun is sold in about 60 U.S. and international accounts, including Barneys New York, Atrium, AB Fits and Stag. — DAVID LIPKe

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W E D N E S D AY

S E P T E M B E R 4

N YC

CONVERSATIONS ABOUT

MEN IN THE DIGITAL SPACE

This September, DETAILS magazine is bringing together

fashion infl uencers, digital innovators, and creative

thought-leaders for a fi rst-of-its-kind summit.

FO R T I C K E TS A N D M O R E I N FO R M AT I O N , V I S I T

DETAI LS .COM/TXTSUMMI T

Men’s WeekMW6

PRPSPrps offers three distinct lines, de-marcated by price, place of manu-facture and philosophy. This season, the New York-based denim maker will underscore that segmentation by showing its higher-priced Noir line at Project and its core Goods & Co. range at Liberty. Its Japan line, which sits between the two, will be present at both shows.

“We want to separate them so that people understand the difference between them,” said Donwan Harrell, founder and creative director of Prps.

Goods & Co. offers both denim and a corresponding sportswear col-lection, designed mostly around different outdoor themes like fishing, camping and hiking each season.

The line is man-ufactured in China and Europe and comprises about 70 percent of total Prps sales. Jeans in the Goods & Co. line retail for $175 to $400.

The Japan line — signified with a rising sun graphic on hangtags — offers jeans made in Japan from non-sel-vage denim, while the Noir line is made in Japan from selvage denim.

Jeans in the Japan line are $400 to

$600 and in Noir they are $600 and up. Each label accounts for about 15 per-cent of total Prps sales.

The Goods & Co. collection for spring includes directional prints, like a leaf print camouflage used on khakis and a stylized leopard print for outerwear.

In denim, Prps is using a laser fin-ishing technique to give jeans a diago-nal twill effect. “It’s an incredible ef-fect. It’s a jean that looks like a wool twill,” said Harrell.

In tops, there are dip-dyed fleece crew-necks and garment-dyed raglan T-shirts with three-quarter-length sleeves in a

wide range of colors. Look for more intense wash-

es and heavy craftsmanship in the Japan line, with

fashion details like leather appliqués.

Prps is cur-rently sold in about 200 doors domestically and 200 doors inter-nationally. Key partners include Bergdorf Goodman,

Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue,

Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, Ron Herman, American Rag and Atrium.

Within a few weeks, Prps will launch its first e-commerce site at prpsgoods.com. — D.L.

WWD THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2013

DEL TOROThe Miami-based brand Del Toro has come a long way since it whipped up its first pair of velvet slippers in 2005.

It has since expanded its assortment into wing tips, chukkas, sneakers, drivers and es-padrilles, all of which are handmade on the Adriatic Coast from napa leathers, suedes and velvets. Del Toro, which offers a “fresh

take on classic silhouettes,”

has be-come pop-ular with “grown-

u p

sneaker heads,” according to president and creative director Matthew Chevallard. The shoes draw their inspiration from Chevallard’s Italian heritage — he was born in Torino, Italy — blended with a Palm Beach prep aesthetic and edgy New York and Japanese street style.

At Project, the company will be show-ing holiday and spring shoes in raffia, bandana-print leather and jersey. It will also unveil its new line of accessories, a collection that will include weekend-ers, backpacks, dopp kits, belts and other items. Like the footwear, the accessories will also be handmade in Italy from high-quality Italian leather and suede.

Prices for the shoes are $295 to $350, while the weekender and backpacks will retail for around $1,000.

— JEAN E. PALMIERI

MOLLUSKThe Mollusk Surf Shop opened in 2005 in San Francisco, near Ocean Beach. The store sells hand-shaped surfboards and hosts regular cultural events, including small concerts. After offering a smatter-ing of T-shirts and boardshorts, Mollusk launched a full range of swim and sports-wear this past spring, including wholesale.

“Japanese buyers used to come in and buy a big pile of clothes. We realized that we should get organized and start wholesaling,” said John McCambridge, founder of Mollusk.

The line’s ethos is low-key and classic with offerings like sweatshirts, walk shorts and Windbreakers. T-shirts and hoodies are decorated with quaint drawings of an oc-

topus, a whale or a diver’s set of flippers. There are plaid shirts made in India and yarn-dyed striped shirts made in Peru. Surf trunks come in horizontal stripes or solid colors with a small pennant logo.

This season Mollusk, which is showing at the Capsule show, added an elastic waist style to its swim lineup and a Baja style to its walking short range.

The palette encompasses bright colors that have been sun-faded. “We want the garments to look like you just took them on a long surf-ing trip to Mexico,” explained McCambridge, who was a graphic artist and commercial ani-mator prior to founding Mollusk. “The fit is pretty tailored, nothing too baggy. And we try to avoid a lot of branding.”

Swimsuits retail for $60 to $66, T-shirts for $32 to $60, hoodies for $72, beach flan-nel shirts for $88, twill pants for $88, walking shorts for $72 and a Windbreaker for $143.

The line is currently wholesaled to about 60 accounts, including Steven Alan, Madewell and Urban Research in Japan.

“It’s more of a community center and hangout spot,” said McCambridge of his Ocean Beach store, which was joined by a second unit in Venice Beach, Calif., in 2007. “San Francisco is pretty unique surf scene. It’s not the typical burnouts. The surfers here usually have other stuff going on.”

Last year, McCambridge sold a ma-jority share in Mollusk to Bedrock Manufacturing Co., the investment and brand management firm controlled by Tom Kartsotis, the founder and former chair-man of Fossil Inc. McCambridge retained a sizeable minority share and retailer Steven Alan also holds a stake.

“We have a classic surf aesthetic but it’s also modern. We have our own take on things,” said McCambridge. — DAVID LIPKE

BETTER IN BLUEThe creation of Better in Blue has been an international affair for its Chinese manufac-turer and owner, its Turkey-based designer and the company’s New York-based director of brand development.

“There’s a lot of Skyping,” said Vince Gonzales, a denim industry veteran who is heading up the U.S. operations for the new jeans brand, which is launching at retail this holiday.

The line is designed by Lian Kohener, who is based in Istanbul, and is produced by a major vertical manu-facturer in Guangzhou, China. This is the Chinese company’s first foray into its own branded venture in the U.S.

The debut collection from Better in Blue, which is showing at Liberty, encom-passes three fits and 11 washes for men, as well as three fits and 13 washes for women. “Coating is a big part of the styles for women. Our coating makes the jeans look like leather,” said Gonzales.

The initial launch is with a limited as-sortment that will later expand into a full range for spring.

“Overall it’s a rocker look. Music is a big influence on the brand,” said Gonzales. “The focus isn’t really on the wash, it’s on the details of the jeans. There’s hand whiskering but it’s very

light. In our selvage jeans, we use three chemically treated washes that soften the denim but still make it appear raw.”

The back leather patch changes with the color of the denim, such as black, navy and white. Every jean is accessorized with a bandana and a braided leather wallet chain attached to the belt loops.

The men’s jeans will retail primarily from $175 to $195, with most styles con-taining some stretch. The women’s of-ferings include coated white denim and washed camouflage fabrics, with some styles embellished with studding and ap-pliqués down the leg. “We know we can’t come into the market with just a basic five-pocket jean,” explained Gonzales.

Better in Blue is launching with adver-tisements in Nylon and Flaunt and will sponsor the official Liberty show bag.

— D.L.

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Men’s Week MW7WWD THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2013

by DAVID MOIN

ROBERT SIEGEL, the chief execu-tive of Metropole Realty Advisors Inc., has combined his loves of lux-ury and skiing into a new venture.

Siegel, along with his Metropole partner KT Stallings Bren, have at-tained a majority stake in Bomber Ski. Ross Anapolle, who founded Bomber Ski in 2010, and Travis Cloud, a former U.S. Ski Team mem-ber, are also partners.

The deal, put together eight weeks ago, will fuel growth for Bomber Ski, the couturier of ski makers. It specializes in high-priced, custom-made skis for indi-viduals and companies. Already, Bomber has customized skis for NBC Sports, Cipriani, Ketel One Vodka, Hundred Acre wines and The St. Regis. The brand supplies the U.S. and Canadian ski teams and can be bought at Paragon, certain ski resorts and online.

“Bomber Ski fits right into my luxury experience,” Siegel said during an interview at 681 Fifth Avenue in New York, Metropole headquar-ters, which also serves as the Bomber showroom. “The skis cost more than others but we are building the best skis that can be produced. They’re cus-tom-made and handcrafted in Italy. We are not interested in mass production.” The skis are manufactured with Austrian edges, a solid wood core, and an Italian base of resin and wax that’s used by World Cup skiers for maximum speed. Siegel declined to disclose his stake in the business.

It’s probably only a matter of time before Bomber Skis turn up in the showrooms of fashion firms, since Siegel’s primary

business is as a developer and real estate broker-adviser link-ing luxury brands and retailers with upscale properties and locations. Siegel said he’s con-sidering developing Bomber Ski apparel, and is working on a program with New York City to bring snow-making machines and ski instruction for children to 10 city parks, two per borough. Astoria Park in Queens will pilot the program, Siegel said.

He’s been skiing since he was two and attended the Green Mountain Valley ski academy/boarding school in Vermont, where he trained to be a ski racer. “It was like the military for skiing. My passion for the sport was as great as anyone’s [although] I wouldn’t say I was as great as anyone [negotiating the slopes].”

Robert Siegel Takes Stake in Ski Brand

Tommy Bahama Outfits Disney Yacht RacersTOMMY BAHAMA has decked out captain Roy P. Disney and his Pyewacket crew for this year’s Transpac Yacht Race. The Los Angeles-to-Honolulu pursuit cov-ers 2,225 nautical miles with 58 teams competing in nine divisions.

Disney will be at the helm of an Anderson 68’ racing boat stamped with the Tommy Bahama logo on the flag, mast and spinnaker. Disney (whose grandfather Roy started the Walt Disney Co. with his brother Walt) comes from a long line of Transpac winners. This year marks his 20th Transpac, but it is the first time he is racing his own boat. The Pyewacket-ers will cross the finish line in the brand’s “aloha” shirts. Tommy Bahama staffers will wel-come them with a party. The team is expected to finish Friday.

Disney said the association with Tommy Bahama was apropos since “that’s the lifestyle we are racing to as we head to Hawaii.”

He and his nine-person

crew are wearing an exclusive Transpac collection inspired by the brand’s high-performance Paradise Tech offerings suitable for sailing, beach-going or more ordinary outings. With retail pric-es ranging from $78 to $148, the sportswear includes the Sun Tech long-sleeve T-shirt, which has UV-protecting fabrics, Hybrid swim trunks made of a quick-dry fabric, and the Antigua Half-Zip sweat-shirt, which combines fashion and function. A limited-edition

Downwind to Paradise Camp shirt is also available for sailors and landlubbers alike.

The winning monohull competi-tor will take home the Merlin Trophy, and if a record is broken, they will also win the Transpac Honolulu Race Elapsed Time Trophy, a.k.a. the Clock Trophy, which Disney do-nated and won in 1997 and in 1999. Founded in 1906, the race is famous for fast downwind sailing under spin-naker in the trade winds.

— ROSEMARY FEITELBERG

The store will also undergo refur-bishment, with work set to be com-pleted in the spring. Basmajian and his team are planning to create a pri-vate tailoring space with a concierge, whisky and cocktail bar, gray flannel walls and a working fireplace.

“It will be a place our clients can use for a meeting, and we love the idea of a wedding party and booking with your buddies to set up a poker game, get some whisky going and get your wedding suits made at the same time. I want the store to have a feeling of like a men’s club,” said Basmajian.

He said the refurbished store will have a “domestic” feel and flow with a lighter color palette, iron and brass fittings and fixtures, handmade rugs and specially de-signed furniture. Service, he said, will be a priority. “Whether you come in to buy a tie or a bespoke military uniform for your entire entourage, we are going to put in the same dedication and commit-ment to service,” he said.

Basmajian is making the chang-es under the aegis of Trinity Ltd., the publicly held Hong Kong-based owners of Gieves & Hawkes, Kent & Curwen and Cerruti. Trinity is part of the retailing arm of Fung Group, parent of the sourcing and manufacturing giant Li & Fung.

Basmajian has been working alongside Gieves’ managing director, Ray Clacher, who said the three-year plan beginning in 2014 will see Gieves grow its revenue by 50 percent.

Trinity, which posted profits last year of 540 million Hong Kong dollars, or $69.6 million, on revenues of 2.8 bil-lion Hong Kong dollars, or $361 mil-lion, does not break out specific fig-ures for the companies in its portfolio.

“There is a tremendous appe-tite for genuine British lifestyle brands, and we intend to lead the U.K. in men’s tailoring and sports-wear,” said Clacher in an e-mail.

“Jason has reinjected a new vigor into our product proposition across ready-to-wear, private tailor-ing and bespoke men’s wear. We will completely revamp our digital mar-keting and focus on bringing a mod-ern interpretation to men’s formal tailoring with a state-of-the-art Web site and social media campaign.”

In addition to the London flagship refurbishment, Clacher said the com-pany is remodeling its U.K. provin-cial city stores, beginning with a new store concept in Chester, England.

The company will also open a new 2,000-square-foot store in Hong Kong’s Central District in September, and it will be the first store in the region to focus solely on bespoke, private tailoring and the Hand Tailored in Britain capsule collection. There are also plans to open a Singapore flagship in time for the 2014 Chinese New Year.

Clacher said going forward, “Our focus shifts to balancing our growth in Asia with a drive to open wholesale and concession doors in Europe and U.S.”

That strategy to push into Europe and the U.S. comes from the top: Victor Fung, chairman of the Fung Group, said in Trinity’s most recent annual report: “In an age when it is widely believed Chinese consumers will soon become the biggest buyers of the world’s luxury brands, they are increasingly looking to the fash-ion capitals for inspiration and guid-ance. It is critically important to take the group’s authentic and heritage

luxury men’s wear brands to their next level of being internationally recognized brands.”

The company’s Web site is going to get a makeover in the next six to nine months, with a broader e-commerce offer that will allow customers to buy the full range of products, to shop by look, or even to “build a suit” online, with sup-port from a tailor on the other end of the phone. “Bespoke is a growing business for us,” Basmajian said.

The site will also feature a short film made by the director Mike Figgis, of “Miss Julie” and “Leaving Las Vegas” fame, on loca-tion at Harewood House, a stately

home in Yorkshire. The images will be used online and as part of the company’s ad campaign.

The site will also feature a short based on an old Pathe how-to film, “How to Get Dressed in 90 Seconds,” that will star Jake Parkinson-Smith, the nightclub entrepreneur and pal of Princes William and Harry.

Basmajian said the mood he’s going for is “old-school revisited. This isn’t about reinventing anything. You don’t reinvent 240 years of history, you build on it and write a new chapter.”

Basmajian to Transform Gieves & Hawkes Brand

A look from the collection. Roy P. Disney’s team

honing their skills at sea.

{Continued from page MW1}

Bomber Skis.

A N N I V E R S A R Y

Men’s WeekMW8 WWD THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2013

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With temperatures soaring, Wall Street men are leaving the pin-striped power suit behind and opting for lighter-colored suits, easy separates and a lot of jacket holding. — MERCEDES PSL BASS