Treasured Items... Tim Sturmheit

From riding the month long conveyor belt that connects all of the major fashion capitals to scouring backstreets beyond the beaten track, oki-ni's Tim Sturmheit's mission is to unearth all manner of future treasures. It is a task he relishes and revels in. Casting an ever inquisitive eye across the menswear spectrum, the buyer has to feed the appetite of an ever growing army of discerning customers. With the likes of McQueen, Raf and Undercover sitting alongside J.W, Kenzo, Shannon, Our Legacy all manner of exclusive product, oki-ni is a veritable feast.

Having just returned from a buying expedition to Tokyo where he was dazzled by Ikat prints in the master-piece showroom, visited the new Thom Browne store and admired the colourful photography work of Paul Smith, we couldn't resist buying him a well deserved a pint and asking him to partake in a quick spot of show and tell. Here, Sturmheit rifles through his master-piece backpack and tells us the tales behind his most cherished items.

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Tim Sturmheit and personalised fruits of game changing commerce...

"This Thom Browne cardigan is a relatively recent addition to my wardrobe but is one that I'm sure I'll keep forever. For spring/summer 13 we gave customers the opportunity to pre-order a range of exclusive show pieces, direct from Thom Browne's Paris Fashion Week presentation. The concept was that customers could see the product from the show, we then went to the Thom Browne showroom and styled it all and people could buy it the very next day. Each piece had the customers name added to label to make each piece that bit more special. It was amazing to be involved in a project like that. You're working with really interesting people, it's a great brand that you wouldn't ordinarily have such access to and you're offering one-off pieces. When I went to Tokyo last week and visited the new Thom Browne store there and the PR Manager was there and it was so difficult to even take a few pictures for the blog. Also, he admitted that he had to buy a few pieces through us rather than from Thom Browne directly. 

For me, Thom Browne is an inspiring label. From his amazing runway shows to beautiful made product, both wearable and crazy pieces, it's all about building a brand. It's a big company in terms of monetary value but there are relatively few steps to get to Thom, it enables you to do these types of projects and I'm sure there will be more in the future. One of my favourite aspects of my job is working on special projects like this, coming up with new ideas and developing relationships. It worked really well both commercially and from a press perspective."

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....and the Thai travel tees

"I picked these t-shirts up when I went travelling. I did the 'just finished college but wanted to do something before I went to Uni trip' and went on a Cambodia and Vietnam trek with one of my friends and then lived in Thailand for six months teaching in a school. It was great. I spent most of my time playing with little kids who couldn't really understand me anyway so I have no idea how much I was actually teaching them but it was fun. I used to spend two or three hours a day teaching and the rest of my time was spent lying in my hammock or exploring the area. On your travels you see lots of street stalls. At the time I was in to vintage clothes, I had lots of old Adidas tracksuits from the 70s and 80s and I used to hunt things down all over the country and I wanted to collect something whilst travelling. Also, I went through a phase of buying a TinTin t-shirt from every country or significant place that I went to but I've ended up losing everything single one of them. It was quite a challenge because I'd go to places that had no idea what or who I was talking about. I wanted to do something similar on this trip. You can't pick up too many things on the move when you need to travel quote light so I decided on t-shirts. I'd often lost the t-shirts I had brought with me anyway because it was so hot and they could be forgotten at parties. I bought about fifteen all together and came home with around five. I'd never throw them away now, I just have them to kick about in. I can't really fit in to them but they remind me of a great experience. Each has a memory of where I picked them up, if and how I bartered with them for the price, they're fun." Tim Sturmheit

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Details... Kente Kaleidoscope

There might have been a time when Trine Lindegaard's colourful cocktail of a spring/summer 13 collection left me intimidated  No longer. I'm obsessed by its combination of traditionally hand weaved Kente, technical mesh and knits. After a recent trip to Other / Shop I teamed up her Rubino t shirt with a sheer, short sleeved white shirt from U - Handmade in England.

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The wizardry of the white shirt

"When I put on a white shirt, it's the same feeling as getting in to crisp, fresh sheets at night. I just feel good," explained Tom Ford on his love of the freshly starched and gleaming component of his familiar uniform. Whether you wear your daily pick from a wardrobe full, rediscover a neglected old favourite lurking behind a blue Bengal striped number or unearth the sartorial holy grail that is the perfect blend of weight, size, cut and fabric, there's no denying the transformative, medicinal even, qualities of the white shirt. Dressed up or down, personalised or homogeneous, masterfully minimal or captivating complex, there's no denying that a clean white shirt has the ability to make you feel good. Few understand this better, explore its virtues as virtuously or push the medium further than palmer//harding.

There are countless incarnations of double act, but in all cases the sum is markedly different from its parts. Since its accomplished debut in September 2011, palmer//harding have created men's and women's collections that encompass the combined aesthetic, passion, skill and international experience of the design duo. It is a double act that revels and excels in the realms of duality. Simple yet complex. Restrained yet free. Traditional yet innovative. It is all to easy to encounter semantic opposition when discussing this dynamic duo. The clashing yet complimentary design dynamic and the pair's continuous questioning of the other that pushes palmer//harding forward and elevates the humble shirt in the process. "We're geeks when it comes to shirts and construction," admitted Matthew Harding on my last visit to their Rickmansworth based studio. "The shirt itself is grounded in menswear, there's so much tailoring heritage in there. Every facet of the shirt has slowly evolved from sleeve heads to gauntlets and we want to be part of that. With our menswear especially it is all about finding the right balance between something that feels new and innovative whilst feeling familiar and able to slot in to a wardrobe and be enjoyed for some time."

For spring/summer13, palmer//harding offer ten shirts for men and flexing their muscles of expertise while printing their menswear manifesto using their alphabet of sharp stitches, considered collars and stirring shapes. "We wanted to keep the definition of what our menswear is,"  added Levi Palmer before a united declaration of "we're not interested in saying something in one hundred looks when it can be said in just ten." There's a succinct balance in the edit but each piece flows to the next and continues the thread of the the label's narrative. Each quietly drunk on detail. As their Cotton USA sponsored blank canvas comes alive with the label's enthralling tale, I couldn't resist the urge to add one of their shirts to my library. Throwing my arms in to the crisp cotton, enveloping myself in the bright light, I am reborn. I had found my holy grail.

My piece of palmer//harding spring/summer 13
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When did you last take a hit from the feel good sartorial stalwart that is the white shirt?

Easter Print Parade

As Easter is the time to indulge in colourfully clad confectionery, I thought I'd put down the calorie laden eggs for a moment and instead wrap myself up in an assortment of attention grabbing, mouth watering printed treats. With an elliptical form nowhere to be seen, my sweet tooth was more than satisfied sartorially with a selection box of recent buys from Trine Lindegaard, Agi & Sam for Tabio and Mohsin Ali. As the sugar rush courses through your veins, press your eye to a kaleidoscope of Kente, Bauhaus and Miami Vice...

Sweatshirt by Trine Lindegaard, coat by Mohsin Ali, socks by Agi & Sam x Tabio 
and rug from Pendleton.

The starting point for my own little Easter print Parade was Trine Lindegaard's Niable sweatshirt. For SS13, Lindegaard focused on what she does best; exploring new techniques and textile developments. When we visited the Danish-born design talent at her East London studio late last year, Lindegaard simply explained the collection as "a colourful collection that celebrates the traditional craftsmanship of Ghanaian fabric weavers whilst adding some sporty elements and of course, the odd bit of embellishment." The collection evolved from an approach from an West African based charity and an introduction to the wonders of their local weavers. Ultimately, Lindegaard celebrated this great textile tradition whilst breathing fresh life in to their work by mixing it with Western hi-tech materials to achieve a wearable and contemporary collection. My own little piece of Lindegaard's happy union of Kente and sportswear was duly snapped up at 39-39.  The second piece of the print puzzle was a pixelated pick of Agi & Sam SS13. With reworked trippy textiles and reimagined tantalising tat from 80s cop shows, the dazzling design duo delivered one of the real highlights of the inaugural London Collections: Men. The pairs accomplished alchemy of chintz and cheese bubbled throughout the collection's cauldron, from greasy moustaches to popping tailoring to the Tabio collaborated hosiery that peeked through sandals. Seeing the socks on sale at Machine-A, I couldn't help myself. From Miami Vice to the Bauhaus, the print parade marched on with Mohsin Ali. Where Lindegaard and Agi & Sam consistently revel in the worlds of print and colour, Ali is better known for being powered by form, function and fabric. Whilst continuing down his focused and well crafted path, Ali introduced print for the first time for AW12, leaving us dazzled by Josef Albers inspired geometric, Bauhaus style shapes. For me, the double breasted coat completed the look.

Coat by Mohsin Ali, sweatshirt by Trine Lindegaard, shirt by Dr. Martens, 
trousers by Stephan Schneider, socks by Agi & Sam x Tabio and trainers by Missoni x Converse. 
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Discovering... HAiK

"The London menswear industry has been driven by designers and their ideas since 2005, before even. The list of designers that have played their part is a long one, some of whom have fallen away and moved on to other things," reflected an impassioned Matthew Miller at our roundtable discussion held at the close of the debut London Collections: Men back in June of last year. His Spring/Summer 13 collection offered a welcome and timely reminder that the capital's menswear existed long before the inaugural showcase of LC:M. One of the names lasercut in to his commemorative tailoring and a name fondly recalled by both Lou Dalton and Daniel Jenkins (who stocked her label) from opposite sides of the table was Siv Støldal. Now, early readers of this blog should have fond memories of the ever inquisitive Central Saint Martins graduate who showcased her carefully crafted wardrobes in both London and Paris and collaborated with the likes of Fred Perry and Topman. Hers were thought provoking garments that the wardrobe longed for and mine is still pining for her reflective knitwear. She was always interested in much more than fashion. Seemingly at the height of her powers, she withdrew from London and returned home to Tyssøy, a little island outside Bergen with a population of less than one hundred. Thankfully, the story doesn't end there. Her name, although missed and marked in London, has not faded in to obscurity. Alongside the like minded Norwegian design talents of Ida Falck Øien and Harald Lunde Helgesen, the familiar vision is blossoming once more with HAiK.

From documenting the wardrobes of three disparate men to covering landscapes in garments, Støldal's curiosity to explore our relationship with clothing is apparent in every one of her sartorial endeavours. It is certainly the case with HAiK. Her curiosity is as infectious as it is captivating. "Her studio in East London was always a place that attracted many ambitious Norwegian fashion students and graduates," reflects Lunde Helgesen. "When Siv decided to move back to Tyssøy, she invited her favourite few to start a Norwegian fashion project together and HAiK was born." Støldal has formed a formidable core. Since graduating from The Arts University College at Bournemouth in 2009, Helgesen has kept on creating collections in his own name, showing twice during the International Festival of Photography and Fashion in Hyères, once in competition and the second time as a returning winner and has been a finalist in the prestigious ITS competition. In contrast, with a background in fine art, Ida Falck Øien lives and works in LA and until recently worked as the assistant to the internationally renowned, pop-tastic fashion designer Jeremy Scott. Contrasting yet complimentary, they are united in a shared vision.

"Working outside of Norway gave us a common sense of seeing the Norwegian culture from outside, making it easier for us to draw from the richness of slightly different approach to clothing. An interest in the social meaning of clothes, dress codes and the personal stories behind choices, combinations and looks has always been a common ground in our personal creative outputs. Combining the three adds new facets and broadens the horizon of HAiK's investigative mission. Ultimately, we wanted to create a label through which we could communicate more of the information, research and ideas that always lay behind our work. HAiK doesn't only produce collections of clothes, shoes and accessories, but also exhibitions, interviews and various projects addressing the current theme of the work." Harold Lunde Helgesen

The trio of designers are more interested in style than fashion, each is more interested in clothing itself rather than the seemingly endless fanfare of the industry. "At the core of our Norwegian take on dressing lies an essential belief in the practical and functional," explains Helgesen. Their concerns and interests go far deeper than the traditional fashion system affords. Theirs are ideas that can't be rushed, forgotten or pushed to one side because that is how the show season calendar dictates. "We're currently developing our interview based research method to a more scientific level. We have invited anthropologists and sociologists to help us refine methods of investigating and recording the wardrobes of people. The three of us who are at the core of HAiK have our own ideas about clothes and appearances. In the investigative nature of our design approach nothing is left unquestioned, nothing is taken for granted and nothing escapes our analytical gaze. Three sets of eyes and three questioning minds means multiplied answers and multifaceted outcomes."

More than a wardrobe of clothes and accessories, HAiK explores various art projects whilst addressing a theme. The debut offering looked at Aspirational Clothing and dressing for success and now the trio explore dressing for location for autumn/winter 13. "The starting point to the project was a fascination with the tourist. The process of packing for a holiday gives you the opportunity/forces you to make some conscious choices about either the practicalities of some imagined situations or to assemble a perfect, select wardrobe to communicate the best version of yourself in the dream state of the perfect holiday. We began by looking at practical packing tips on Youtube and in travel guides, looking at travel specific items like money belts, mosquito protective garments, zip-off and other approaches to transformation and multifunction. We were also looking at tourists arriving back from warmer climates, still wearing summer colours and exotic prints. We thought of creating an imaginable holiday through dressing for a different location." Enough talk, lets take a look at the autumn/winter 13 look book shot by Thomas Ekström.

Lookbook photography by Thomas Ekstrom

HAiK is a collective in every sense. A creative umbrella for all an ever evolving roster of talent, undertaking and exploring a myriad of mediums. "We invite other creatives to respond to the theme of the season, and we work closely with established and traditional manufacturers and brands and apply our processes to their products and bring ideas back from their archives. For this season four fine artists created a t-shirt each with the project title 'Going Somewhere Else - Dress For  Location' in mind. The title of the project is derived from a text, which Ida Eritsland, a fashion theorist wrote after conversations about initial ideas about the theme. We continued working with the traditional Norwegian maker of "the Original Penny Loafer" Aurlandskoen. New additions are Lillunn, another Norwegian heritage brand famous for 100% wool blanket coats. Also Siri Johansen, a true HAiK-er at heart has collaborated closely with us and created a gorgeous range of luxury knitwear."

Given that the collection is entitled, 'Going Somewhere Else', I draw the interview to a close by asking each of them where they're currently daydreaming of escaping to. "Perfect snow covered landscapes with the best ski-tracks for cross country skiing," begins Øien, "Disneyland with my two lovely daughters," adds Støldal, "Atlantis," finishes Helguson. Three voices, heard perfectly as one.

Just two years old, this trio's label is exploring its own path. A different path from the one well trodden. "After a long period of Fashion Fairs, we're inspired to break up this format and to continue to develop the synergy between research, product and show," Helguson explains. Meaning "hitch hike"  in their native tongue, HAiK is an adventure that has only just begun. Its destination might be unknown but its journey is all the more exciting for it. I'm reminded of the oft quoted line from the original transcript of Kerouac's On The Road, “There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars.” Thumb out, I’m willing to travel with HAiK.

Trine Lindegaard SS13

"I make clothes that are bright and have some aspects of playfulness to them" purrs Trine Lindegaard in her soft Danish accent as she stands in in her East London studio and introduces me to her SS13 offering. "I love working with colour and generally like to have fun when I develop a collection." Her words only echo the findings of my eyes as they dart between the frolicsome fabrics. Ever since Lindegaard first came to our attention following her accomplished MA graduate show from the RCA, we've fallen for her sartorial charms thanks to her dynamic palette and light hearted, joyful approach to menswear. SS13 makes us fall that bit deeper.

For SS13, Lindegaard has focused on what she does best; exploring new techniques and textile developments. Lindegaard simply explains the collection as "a colourful collection that celebrates the traditional craftsmanship of Ghanaian fabric weavers whilst adding some sporty elements and of course, the odd bit of embellishment." The collection quickly evolved from an approach from an West African based charity and an introduction to the wonders of their local weavers. Ultimately, the Danish born design talent celebrates their great textile tradition whilst breathing fresh life in their work by mixing it with Western hi-tech materials to achieve a wearable and modern collection.

"It is great to work with in terms of its colour and texture," she explains as she thumbs a sweatshirt. "I try to keep to their traditional patterns but I tweak it a bit in terms of colour combinations and of course using them in an entirely different way." Traditionally hand woven by the Akan tribes in West Africa, the Kenta has a distinctive identity that comes not only from its rich quality, pattern and colour but also its cultural and historical significance. It is an icon of African cultural heritage around the world, Akan Kente is identified by its dazzling, intricate, multicoloured mix of bright hues, geometric shapes, and bold designs. The material is entirely handmade, from the picking of the cotton to the dying of the yarn and ultimately, through to the weaving of the fabrics. Lindegaard worked closely with the Ghanaian fabric weavers for S/S13 in hope to support and raise awareness of this amazing but unfortunately fading craft. "The collection is rooted in these African fabrics. I wanted to take them away from their traditional use, the wraparound dresses and headpieces, and their links to social status. I wanted to make them more accessible but still keep the traditional influences. I've used a lot of technical fabrics and dying throughout to keep it fresh."

On a grey November morning the sight of this collection was just what we needed. We were transported to a different world. It left the pulses of our eyes racing and our enthusiasm was reignited with the recent delivery of the Ivona Chrzastek shot look book. Feast on the vivid visuals of the look book and get drunk from our own detail shots....

 

Look book credits: Shot by Ivona Chrzastek with styling by Naz Di Nicola & Kusi Kub

Dazzled all over again. Given the timing of my visit, Trine Lindegaard's mind was caught between the production of this collection and designing AW13. A designer has to be a multi tasker and with various projects in the works, this Lindegaard is a fine plate spinner. I'll leave you with a glimpse in to the future thanks to the excited words from the designer herself. 

"I'm taking elements of this season forward to next and I've also been working with a charity called Fine Cell Work. They train prisoners in paid, skilled, creative needlework which is undertaken in the long hours spent in their cells. They've been around for fifteen years or so, they do amazing cross stitching with prisoners. All of the guys are young and tough, as you'd expect, but they hand embroider cushions, it's so strange. I'm working on product development with them. It's great working with them and I'm excited to see how it all develops." Her enthusiasm for textile development is infectious. We share Lindegaard's excitement and can't wait to see this design talent continue to develop before our wanting eyes.