Definitely THE collab you have to get quickly for this summer, even more if you are a sneakers collector. For may 2012 Kenzo teams up with Vans to rework the iconic Era in a Japanese flavour. The two creative directors from Kenzo, Humberto Leon and Carol Lim ware originally both fans of the californian skateboarding brand. The have dressed up the Era with a net print in a wild as colorful way! Seven colorways are available, four based on a blue, green, red, white plain design and three based on a bitone one, which is finally classic for the Vans Era. Following this first collaboration Vans and Kenzo are going to release two additional more capsule collections: one to be released in june, and the other in july.

By that time, all pairs from this magnifiscent collab would certainly be sold out. So you’d better act quickly going at your nearest Kenzo store or at Kenzo official website. Price: €90.

Of Australian origin, Rod Laver is the only player ever to complete 2 Grand Slams : in 1962, with the status of amateur, and in 1969 when tennis had shifted to what we call ‘The Open era’. Tournaments were then opened to both amateur and professional players who used to be separated in 2 categories. For those who are not familiar with tennis, The Grand Slam includes the 4 most prestigious tournaments of the regular season which are the Australian Open, Rolland Garros, Wimbledon and the Us Open. Then completing the Grand Slam simply means winning every 4 tournaments during the same year.

Rod Laver will enter the International Hall of Fame in 1981, for being the player to win the most titles in his career (199 in total, record which still stands up to now) and for completing the Grand Slam twice as already mentionned above. When Adidas started to design the shoe, Rod Laver was already over 30. However, he would still design several other protoypes during a few years, especially during his fantastic year 1969. He would then wear them til the
end of his carreer, in 1979.

The shoe, which was created in 1970, has a unique design, at a time where brands sought to establish their reputation by dressing up the champions of sports they sponsor. For once, the shoe doesn’t not the bear the 3 famous stripes of the brand. At that time, the shoe featured actual innovations which would make it remain on top for a dozen years. Its upper is made of mesh for airing purposes, and its toe is reenforced by leather yoke. It also features a double sole, an intermediate and an outer one, both made of polyurethane, to offer the best comfort.

The overall design remains particularly sober : The shoe is almost of plain colour with some touches of green on the sole and around the leather yoke on the heel. The lines, however, remain simple. We can add to this sobriety the absence of logo or any corporate sign which makes it a neutral shoe for the design while inventive thanks to its variety of materials. This would be largely enough to seduce the skaters’ community too, for whom the shoe has now become cult. So much that some brands, usually specialised in skateboarding, have recently proposed their own version of the Rod Laver, among which DQM, or Undefeated who tested the shoe within collaborations with Adidas in 2009. We can also mention HUF who did the same in 2010.

One last detail which I find notable about this model is the rising myth it has created within the Footbag Freestylers community (Footbags are these little balls, stuffed with sand). Apparently, the model has become some kind of symbol of this sport, and you can even find tutorials explaining how to customize your shoe in order to make it fit for Footbag. Here are a couple of examples of this trend, on youtube first, and on this website as well.

The original model was released again this year and is available from the Adidas store, for €80.

Regarding the collaborations models, you will have to dig the internet if you want to get one of these collector pairs of shoes.

[translated by Remington as the "Taco driver"]

This spring outfit plays on lengths and materials. The perfercto is short, as the sweater and the very tapered trousers. Matching a woolen jacket and a denim shirt gives this outfit some character.

As I was visiting the German capital regularly, Kreuzberg has become the area where I felt the most comfortable. For such a big walker that I am, it is extemely pleasant : cafés follow one after the other, different achirectures mix together like a creative mess in this multiethnic area. Walking in Kreuzberg, is going from Kottbusser Tor, the Turkish area, to the Landwehr riverside, then taking a rest in the Görlitzer Park to digest Burgermeister’s Meistaburger. Actually yes, this cabin under Schesisches Tor metro probably makes the best burgers of Berlin.

Berlin is not be be taken lightly. Its long history makes this creative momentum far from being trivial. Just like London, fashion in Berlin cannot be analysed, it does not care about conventions. Punk is very important, influencing many creators’ artistic choices. The “tabula rasa” philosophy, this intention of clearing away Berlin’s turbulent recent past is ubiquitous. You just have to walk in the streets to realise that Berlin really looks forward, being creative. “We are poor but sexy” like Berliners say.

Jacket : vintage woolen perfecto Marc by Marc Jacobs
Scarf : Monoprix
Sweater : Muji
Shirt : Acne
Belt : H&M
Trousers : COS
Shoes : Opening Ceremony
Accessory : BlackBerry Bold

Photos by Frederic Dith. Also find Tony on Facebook

Cuisse de Grenouille is a young French brand we met at the Capsule Paris winter 2012. It was created by three friends: Lucas, Alexis and Raphaël, sharing a passion for surf, who decided to revisit menswear staples in a colorful way. In their SS12 line can be found among others, those wool hand knitted ties (in Italy). Available in four colorways, great finishing is brought to them like a leather yoke for neck comfort, or the funny frog box (as always with Cuisse de Grenouille) ties are delivered in. I can already imagine wearing them with a light blue shirt and some matching chinos (depends on the tie I will pick, or maybe should I take them all, anyway I would like to :>)

£45 from Couverture & The Garbstore

Get more info about Cuisse de Grenouille visiting their website : http://www.cuissedegrenouille.com

The truth is that I’m impressed by how amazingly organic these jackets are made. The natural brown sheep wool comes from “Ouessant” sheep, an island located in northern france. The wool is then processed in years-old modeling techniques in the family factory. Simply cut with a real rustic spirit,I definitely dig the strong character of these jackets.

Regardless of trends and fashion, Le Laboureur has been making for the last 50 years authentic and traditionnal clothes inspired from different regions of France. That’s why I feel that most of their items seem to have always existed: plus vrai que nature, more real than life.

Currently available at Hickorees for about 175$, Le Laboureur’s jackets are surprisingly affordable for a made-in France brand! Yiha!

I’ve always liked APC mens clothes. It’s one of the few brands that shows best the mediterranean spirit in their collections. Jean Touitou’s Tunisian origins must be a tremendous inspiration and it is something that I value a lot.

I find this djellabah t-shirt defines well the mediterranean identity today, it’s the meeting point of two cultures: the western world and the arabic world; north and south, dressed up and laid-back. Fit, well designed,100% washed denim, the t-shirt distinctive djellabah neckline is definitely a plus.

$135 at APC

Let me add others :

#Summer. Beach house. Sand castles. Vintage. yOUTH. Polaroïds. Swimming suits. Surf. FUNFUNFUN. Auf der autobahn. Colors. Play. Les vacances de monsieur Hulot. Super 8. Danish. Sommaren med Monika. Sunny. WOuldn’t been nice. Toys. Rubber ring. Kids. Mummyy! Pop.Vache qui rit. Puppies. SMiles. Seashells. La Madrague. Bath towels. 100% cotton. Brigitte Bardot. £65. Coggles.

Summer festival season is just around the corner, as I was saying few weeks ago when telling you about some colored Zara jeans, you have to start thinking about a festival battledress. ASOS proposes a nice alternative with some further color such as pale red, mustard, purple or green. Ready to welcome any kind of stain and to mosh all night long!

£30 from ASOS

Here is something we should have tested a long time ago : ID shoes from Nike. A reminder for those who would not know : ID is a customizing option Nike proposes for some of their most popular styles. Each year the brand introduces new customizeable models. They recently set the option ON for the Toki, a pair based on a chukka design which is one of our favourite from Nike. I have tried the service for you :

At the very start, I did not have any particular idea about my design but I surely loved the Toki. Then I have tried many mixtures to finally come to something in accordance of what I was looking for: a sober pair for a daily use that could match most of my outfits while keeping some touchs of originality. Then I took the plunge!

Two different leathers are proposed : smooth leather and suede. As I alrealy owned a pair from the latter, my choice was clear on this first step. The color palette is different for both options, it is more sober for the smooth leather, less adapted to summer times, but this was necessarily not a major criteria. I was on the right track picking a navy color! Then come many costumization options regarding the sole, laces colors and materials.

The hardest thing may be about the shoes’ little details : the lining, eyelets, and stichs which I have chosen light blue and red to contrast the main navy color and bring something fun. To give my Toki some more personality I equiped it of leather laces, the same type you can find on boat shoes. To top it all off, a free option allows you to embroider some initials on the sneakers’ heel: “FT” as a dedication for French Truckers semmed evident for me!

Nike announces a month for the production and shipping of their ID shoes : three weeks were enough in my case, a nice suprise then. The pair really matches what I expected from its final picture, and it also matches mid-season awful weathers! Here is a paire sastifying me a 100%, logical considering that I have customized all of its features. The price looks reasonable for such a service, tested and highly approved!

$140 from Nike Store US
$95 from Nike Store UK

Edit : Please note that Nike released the ID canvas version since the test.

Sans culottes did not wear skivvies most certainly because Le Slip Français was not existing yet. That is what can be felt immersing ourselves into this young brand’s history. By this way, it could not have existed because it only was created in 2011 with only one product in their range: briefs!

To support this typically French concept (in a good way), Le Slip Français insists on keeping its production in France. Briefs, boxers and 100% cotton t-shirts are all made in Saint-Antoine, Dordogne, in this workshop who has been producing underwear for more than 60 years. Woven cotton socks are made in Limousin and poplin boxers are coming from Vendée.

For its second season, Le Slip Francais highly expanded its range. “Intrépide”, “Redoutable”, “Vaillant” and “Triompant” briefs are still in the line, they have now added boxers, undershirts and socks. Again, spirit remains intact with the product names: “Marcel”, “Emile”, “Eugène” or “André” for the different boxer colorways (all named after famous French boxers), “James”, “Marlon”, “Mick” et “Paul” regarding the t-shirts, for which Le Slip Français exported in a US boxing gym locker room.

The whole range is chic, elegant, fine and we are particularily fan of this sober, minimalistic design always topped by the French Flag colors. This is the kind of concept making us want to thrust our chest out and sing La Marseillaise. Moreover the brand is comitted, getting involved into organizing event for children suffering from leukemia along with the association Rêve d’Enfance.

One last finny thing, Le Slip Français recently launched its electoral campaign embezzling campaigner’s posters in a offbeat way. More info at http://www.leslipfrancais.fr