A Ralph Lauren alumnus strikes out on his own, Ghurka retools and a documentarian designs a collection inspired by the society set. Highlights from the upcoming January market.
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BLACK SWEATER
Black Sweater is a tailored clothing line launched last spring by Jamie Johnson, the documentary filmmaker known for revealing the philosophies and foibles of his moneyed peers. The upscale collection of suits, blazers, dress shirts and knits is currently sold in Bergdorf Goodman, The Webster and the shop of the Jupiter Island Club in Florida.
That latter retail location is apt, as the label is named for a quaint story from the resort island. Permelia Reed, the founder of the Jupiter Island Club, was known for sending a disapproving black cashmere sweater to anyone who conducted themselves scandalously in her eyes.
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“It’s a fun story about this notion of irreverence, and this brand is an extension of that patrician aesthetic of American luxury,” explained Johnson, who directed the films “Born Rich” and “The One Percent” for HBO. He’s currently working on another film about the decline of the Protestant establishment in the U.S.
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The fall Black Sweater collection will be shown at Project and includes a midnight blue corduroy tuxedo, a gray suit with a hand-stitched shooting patch on the shoulder and a sport coat inspired by the uniform of the Knickerbocker Greys, the children’s cadet corps of the Park Avenue Armory. Shirts are fashioned from English broadcloth with piqué accents on the plackets.
Of course, there are black sweaters in cashmere — along with cream, navy and tan — in the collection, embroidered with a tennis-player icon, which retail for $685. The suits retail for $2,200 to $2,300, blazers for $1,200 to $1,500 and shirts for $285.
“It’s classic men’s wear with an emphasis on the formal and luxury,” summed up Johnson. “It’s an extension of the world I cover in my films.”
— DAVID LIPKE
RHETT BONNETT
Designer Rhett Bonnett cut his teeth at some of the best-known brands in men’s wear, notably Ralph Lauren, J. Crew and Tommy Hilfiger. But for fall, the Southern California native is taking the plunge, branching out on his own to showcase his first men’s collection, which will make its debut at Project.
Inspired by classic American prep, the brand seeks to strike a balance between ruggedness and luxury. While Bonnett acknowledged he was influenced by Ralph Lauren and the other designers for whom he worked during his time in the “corporate world,” his love for all things Ivy League has been “in me forever. I haven’t had to take an extra leap to understand that aesthetic. But I’m creating a new style based on a rock-solid foundation.”
For the first season, Bonnett focused on “what I think I’m best at,” he said, producing a small capsule collection of woven outerwear, woven button-up shirts, woven trousers and neckwear that uses Japanese textiles. “It’s a small and tight first outing.”
Everything is handcrafted in New York City’s Garment District. “It’s really well made, but attainable luxury,” he said. Prices range from $130 for ties and $275 to $325 for shirts, to trousers for $335 to $375 and outerwear that ranges from $485 to $685.
His goal is to get the line into directional retailers such as Barneys New York, Ron Herman and Odin as well as key e-commerce players, including Park & Bond. Down the road, Bonnett hopes to one day expand into knitwear, sweaters and accessories.
— Jean E. Palmieri
PALMER TRADING CO.
Palmer Trading Co. was founded two years ago as a retail store on New York’s Sullivan Street and, for fall, the proprietors, David Ramirez and Willy Chavarria, are launching a wholesale business at Capsule. The duo will offer their private label line of bags and small leather goods, all of which are made in small, historic factories in New England.
The assortment includes belts, footwear, wallets, card cases, money clips and key fobs all made from Horween leather, as well as canvas and leather bags. The look of the line is heritage Americana, in line with brands like Pendleton, Woolrich, Easton and Klaxon Howl, all of which are stocked in the company’s cozy retail store — which is also dotted with antique furniture and vintage Rolexes and Playboy magazines.
Bram Robinson, owner of the AYR showroom, which sells the Palmer Trading Co. wholesale line, compared the collection to Filson but contended the quality is better.
Retail prices are $145 for a Horween cordovan leather slip wallet, $312 for a canvas and saddle leather messenger bag and $400 for a canvas and leather weekender duffel bag.
Next season, the company plans to start wholesaling its private label apparel, which includes flannel shirts, chinos, light outerwear, gloves and hats.
— D.L.
HAMILTON 1883
Custom shirtmakers Hamilton Shirts is showing its wholesale Hamilton 1883 sport shirt line at a trade show for the first time this season at Project.
The company is looking to expand its retail base for its ready-to-wear shirt range after boosting production capabilities at its Houston facility, where all of its shirts are hand-cut and stitched together. Currently, the sport shirts are sold at a small group of retailers, including Stag in Austin, Unionmade in San Francisco, Mortar in Houston and Journal Standard in Tokyo.
A separate off-the-rack dress shirt collection is sold at Neiman Marcus.
“We use the best fabrics from Italy and the better mills in Japan. That’s what helps set us apart,” said David Hamilton, whose family founded the company in 1883. “It’s the first time we’re looking for new retailers since we launched the sport shirt line, as production capacity had been an issue. But now we have more production.”
For fall, the collection includes bold Bengal stripes, plaid flannels, buffalo-check and Western styles. The shirts retail from $195 to $245, compared with $245 to $345 for the company’s custom-fit program available at retailers like Barneys New York, where customers are measured and create their own shirts.
A completely bespoke shirt, where an individual paper pattern is made for the customer, is also available, with shirts costing $325 to $395.
— D.L.
ISAIAH HEMMINGWAY
Isaiah Hemmingway may come from a small town outside of Detroit, but he has always had big dreams.
While in college, getting his degree in fashion design, Hemmingway started a business on the side, creating custom clothing for private clients with his own unique twist, focusing on fit, color and quality, effectively building a customer base of around 70 men.
For the first few years after college, he worked in women’s wear — lingerie, plus sizes and maternity — learning all he could about the technical design end of the business. “It was a huge change from men’s wear but still interesting,” he said. “And I gained more experience.”
For fall, Hemmingway has gone back to his first love, producing a contemporary sportswear collection for the man seeking a clean aesthetic and a tailored fit. The line will be shown at the Vanguard section of the MRket show.
All designs are based on the question: What does success look like? For Hemmingway, that translates into a line of tailored sportswear with matching blazers and pants, sport shirts and matching pocket squares. Cashmere sweaters, dress shirts that can be worn as barrel cuffs or French cuffs, round out the collection. “Our ultimate goal is to blend tailored clothing with sportswear, giving gentleman the option to wear their clothes from day to night,” he said.
Although he still designs custom suits, which average around $3,000 retail, the Isaiah Hemmingway line is more affordable. Blazers are priced at $445 to $595 retail, pants are $195 to $265 and shirts are $99 to $149. Around 80 percent of the collection is made in the U.S. His target distribution is specialty stores.
— J.E.P.
THE WEST IS DEAD
Kaelen McCrane and Will Cheng, at 22 and 25 years of age, respectively, are among the youngest exhibitors at Capsule. The two friends founded the brand The West Is Dead last year after meeting while working in a wilderness outfitting company in Montana, at the edge of Glacier National Park.
The duo were both interested in the outdoors, authentic craftsmanship and the culture of the historic American West and decided to create an apparel brand based on those concepts. With no experience in the fashion industry, Cheng and McCrane took an 8,000-mile road trip visiting stores all along the West Coast to sound out their idea before setting up shop in Los Angeles.
“We started the company completely through trial and error,” explained Cheng, who previously skipped out on a full scholarship to the University of Utah to pursue his passion for traveling and fly-fishing all over Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. “It’s a lot more difficult than we imagined. The manufacturing process is so fractured in L.A. and it’s a definite juggling act.”
For fall, the lineup includes denim, chinos that are made from a softened-up duck canvas, sweatshirts fashioned from reversible French terry, a waxed-cotton jacket with toggles and a jacket inspired by a World War I officer’s coat that has been turned inside out.
The West Is Dead — named for a quote by painter Charles M. Russell — showed its first collection at the Workroom trade show in Las Vegas last year and is showing at Capsule for the first time this season. Despite Cheng and McCrane’s inexperience, their designs have already been picked up by a roster of about two dozen influential stores, including Fred Segal Man, American Rag, Steven Alan, Atrium and AB Fits.
— D.L.
ORLEBAR BROWN
The U.K.-based swimwear brand has a new partner for fall — former Bergdorf Goodman men’s fashion director Nick Wooster, now creative adviser for the Project show.
“Nick has always been a real advocate for the brand,” said Gemma Phillips, international sales director for Orlebar Brown. “Since his days at Bergdorf Goodman, he has really helped the brand grow in the U.S.”
Now Wooster’s involvement has grown deeper. At the upcoming edition of Project, Orlebar Brown will debut the Wooster Camouflage print, an updated version of the traditional pattern reworked into a water print, Phillips said. The print will be offered in five colors and two styles, the bulldog and the setter, two of the three lengths offered by the company.
“The samples are strong and striking,” Phillips said, noting that this will be the only piece from the brand offered at the show. “It’s just one story,” she said. “We’re hoping to provoke a reaction.”
The shorts are priced at $275 for the bulldog and $245 for the setter, which is a slightly shorter model. “It’s a very expensive process to create,” she said, noting that all of the company’s offerings are based on British tailoring and manufactured in Europe from French fabrics. “These are shorts you can swim in,” she said.
— J.E.P.
GHURKA
The Ghurka accessories brand was acquired by Brightwork Brand Holdings from Accessory Network Group in September. The company will unveil its first full season since the change in ownership at Project, with a fall collection that includes classic designs from its 36-year history, as well as updated models. New creative director, Steven LaGuardia — a veteran of Bally, Valentino and Theory who was hired in September — is overseeing the fresh design direction.
Ghurka is currently sold at its own retail store at 781 Fifth Avenue, which opened in November, and in a handful of wholesale accounts, including Mitchells in Westport, Conn. and Richards in Greenwich, Conn. The new owners are aiming to expand the brand’s wholesale distribution to other top-end specialty retailers.
“We are one of the very few true American luxury brands,” said Pam Bristow, brand director at the New York-based company. Under its new owners, Ghurka is moving all of its production back to its longtime factory in Norwalk, Conn., to emphasize its commitment to American craftsmanship. Previously, some production had migrated to Europe and Asia.
New styles for fall include bags in wool plaid and twill houndstooth. Previously, all Ghurka bags were made in leather or twill. Interiors of bags have been refashioned, with some bags lined in men’s suiting fabrics.
Some prices have inched up to reflect higher-quality production and premium materials, with the classic Counselor leather briefcase retailing for $1,695. The company has also added options at a lower entry price point, such as a contemporary zippered tote bag in canvas at $295, which is targeted at a younger customer.
— D.L.