The Tastemakers Society

Get ready for the take over, Android Homme is coming. And I haven’t seen an impressive “preview/coming” type marketing move that had me this excited in a long time. Also is you haven’t already you need to read up on duo behind Android Homme (Jerry & Javier) and all the other things they’re cooking up.

Should I really be talking about fashion during a recession? Maybe, maybe not but one thing for sure is talking about money or job closings or stupid wall street types or the housing market is useless being that every other publication is devoting enough energy already to such topics. So, I’ll do the unthinkable and talk about fashion, even though it’s highly unlikely you’ll be doing any real shopping anytime soon. Patrick Ervell is taking mens fashion up a notch and by notch I mean climbing up the ladder. His designs are…. whatever they are the simplest way to put it is they’re nice/good and the new look for fall/spring/summer/lifetime for men is shiny gold.

I think using swagger to describe Barack Obama would be insulting.  It sounds overused.  So we’ll call him dapper.  So much so that Hart Schaffner Marx is capitalizing on the future President’s decision to wear the brand throughout his campaign.  Here’s what the suit company’s website had to say about their product. 

“Pick your power suit, President-elect Barack Obama found his at Hart Schaffner Marx.”

Feel like they should have put an exclamation point at the end of their statement.  You know, to signify how excited they are about the money they’re about to make…in a recession. Forgot to mention that the suits retail for $1500. Dollar bills, y’all.

Fashion changes like clockwork every season something new, someone in, someone out, but its some things you can count on being consistent over time. Fashion shows, fashion week, skinny models, new designers, and the ugly shit that always seem to the new “it” for the upcoming season. Well, I wanted to get someone that I not only felt mastered the fashion game with his designs more then his words, but I also wanted someone I could have talk about these things and spread some truth light and thoughts on the fashion game, because you must be a player to play in fashion. Brian Wood was the designer whose work proved itself to be a step above the rest and who was willing to speak his mind on matters of fashion week, the seasons, and the brands he’s just not feeling at all.

Proof 7 clothing has done some interesting things for their spring ‘09′ collection and they’re expanding, so be on the lookout other streetwear brands. In a time were the phrase “only the strong will survive” is the future we’re heading in, brands will be dropping from the market, while new brands will come with hopes, dreams, and wack designs, living off of hype for a while before ending their fate like others before them. But P7 clothing is proving to have that all mighty “staying” power, and it’s prevalent in every collection they drop, they keep progressively getting better, experimenting more and always adding something new. Take their lampshorts (pictured after the jump) for example they made the shorts out of herring bone fabric lined with cotton silk jersey, with pockets, another special zipper pocket at the upper part of the pocket area, and a third hidden pocket at the bottom side of the shorts, to help hide those things that need to be hidden, such as weed. You can get a preview of the spring collection after the jump or you can view the whole collection here.

H&M is at it again they’ve collaborated with the best names in high fashion to bring moderately priced clothes designed by these designers into their stores. Now maybe making the best store collabo to date, H&M has hooked up with luxury brand Comme des Garcons and the full collection is available online now, so you can take a gander and see what you think. In my opinion its one of the best collections H&M has gotten put together from it’s designer projects, the patterns and silhouettes are amazing. Plus I love the use of polka dots and the way Comme des Garcons mashed up the look of street with a little bit of that “grown man” look, rocking button ups has just gone to new levels. And ladies, well, ladies, just peep what they’ve got for you, and the entire collection here.

This is the first of two website updates for this morning. The first is Ksubi the international fashion brand, they designed their website to mimic the classic basic look that Google made famous. At the top of the webpage you’ll be able to click on search, projects, men’s store, women’s store, sunglasses store, and products, click on one of the links and it will direct you to a page the looks similar to what a search result page would look like on Google. Also, type something into the search and see what you get, you might get a “no results” search or you might just get a Ksubi interpreted version of your search, have fun (that’s a hint that the word “fun” is searchable) with that.

The slack jacket is an essential piece of clothing in a mans wardrobe, now I’m not a get dressed up type of guy, not even the club casual type (jeans, button up), but I do love me a good jacket. A good jacket ties an outfit together, plus the slack jacket is versatile, you can throw a hoody on under it if its too cold, but can easily wear it in cool/warmer weather too. J Keydge has a nice collection of slack jackets for you to choose from, various color schemes and styles. They got a multi-colored one that’s right up my alley for them days I’m feeling an little wilder fashion wise. Their site my throw you a loop though, it says “born in the USA” on the homepage but all the language on the site is foreign, maybe italian or french (I really need to work on both of those).

Happy People aren’t just the one’s who eat ice cream on sunny days or get to sleep in everyday. Happy People is a clothing brand out of Sweden that makes clothing that walks the line between streetwear and runway fashion. It’s helmed by Thomas Niemi a self proclaimed music loving DJ and designer one of the best brands I’ve seen in a while. They actually put together a collection that’ll make me think about wearing a button up or collar shirt, and still has the presence to keep me in my daily setup of t-shirt and jeans.  And I love the name. I don’t think it ships in the USA as of now but when it does I definitely will be making room in my closet for it. A preview of their fall 08 collection is after the jump.

TTS has followed the opening process for Johnny Cupcakes LA shoppe, and now if you weren’t able to go live you can get a little taste of what it was like that day. And it says a lot about your brand and its loyalty factor when you have fans/consumers willing to fly all the way out from Boston to LA for a store opening when there already is a store in Boston. And you can see more pics of the opening over at The Hundreds, like a pic of Johnny himself coming out of a crate.

It’s more then the name that attracts me to Morphine Generation’s clothing. Their fall 2008 collection is both male and female pieces that blur the lines between a rockstar who reads GQ and a fashionista who’s an avid gossip rag fan that thrives off W magazine. I’d try and go into some soft of trivial way of trying to explain Morphine Generation’s clothing but we all know the proof is in the pudding, so take a look are some of their pieces in their fall collection and decide on your own how much of MG is to your liking.

I love fashion magazines, all types of fashion magazines, and one reason I look forward to opening a fashion mag is to look through its fashion spreads. The photography work in those magazines is just simply amazing and eye engaging (you like that one didn’t you?). Now if you head over to FASHIONATION the sister site of The Cool Hunter, you will be able to see spreads from various fashion magazines, from all over the world.