New Modern Classic...Vinyl makes a comeback!

It’s no secret that CD sales are down, but did you know that according to the RIAA’s 2007 sales report more people are now buying vinyl records! While CD unit sales declined 11.7 percent, with revenue falling 20.5 percent, the American market saw an increase of 36.6 percent for sales of EP’s and LP’s in 2007.

It should be noted however that vinyl sales represent a significantly low portion of overall sales. In 2007 over 500 million CD’s were shipped out, while only 1.3 million vinyl records were shipped.

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vinyl sales are up
top record stores in the US

Yes!..yes!..!

Hot and Covered...And the GQ/CFDA award for best new menswear designer goes to...

...Robert Geller

The designer beat out strong competition from Benjamin Bixby, Rogues Gallery, Save Khaki, Shipley & Halmos, and Yigal Azrouël to take home the second annual award. (Last year's winner was Engineered Garments.) Up next for Geller: creating a mini-collection to be sold this September at levi.com and select Bloomingdale's locations for one month (and other retailers thereafter), not to mention finding a way to spend the $50,000 prize.

To see Geller's collections...

STAFF

Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for GQ

Hot and Covered...GQ/CFDA Best New Menswear Designer Party...

Fashion week got off to an unofficial start last night, as GQ and the CFDA fêted their second crop of the Best New Menswear Designers in America. The nominees—André Benjamin of Benjamin Bixby; Robert Geller; Alex Carleton of Rogues Gallery; David Mullen of Save Khaki; Sam Shipley and Jeff Halmos; and Yigal Azrouël—were on hand in the sprawling, sleekly appointed space inside Rockefeller Center, and all showed Fall 2009 looks exclusive to the event. The winner will be announced in a few weeks, and will then create a special capsule collection to be sold exclusively at Bloomingdale's and Levi.com for one month. The collection will be available from other retailers thereafter.

STAFF
Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for GQ
3:07 PM, February 12, 2009

Looks from Benjamin Bixby
Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for GQ


Looks from Robert Geller
Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for GQ


Looks from Rogues Gallery
Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for GQ


Looks from Save Khaki
Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for GQ


Looks from Shipley & Halmos
Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for GQ


Looks from Yigal Azrouël
Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for GQ


Benjamin Bixby's Andre Benjamin, Save Khaki's David Mullen, Yigal Azrouël, Rogues Gallery's Alex Carleton, and Robert Geller

Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for GQ

Sam Shipley, GQ editor-in-chief Jim Nelson, and Jeff Halmos
Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for GQ


Thom Browne
Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for GQ


David Lauren, GQ creative director Jim Moore
Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for GQ


Engineered Garments' Daiki Suzuki
Photo: Sherly Rabbani and Josephine Solimene


GQ Style Guy Glenn O'Brien with GQ's Michael Hainey and Andy Comer
Photo: Sherly Rabbani and Josephine Solimene


Men.Style.com's Josh Peskowitz and Dirk Standen, Philip Crangi
Photo: Sherly Rabbani and Josephine Solimene

Trovata's John Whitledge
Photo: Sherly Rabbani and Josephine Solimene


"Rogues Gallery's is Very Nice!"

more on > GQ picks six...

Hot and Covered...Frame Work...

Frame now...

Dita

Needles

E.Costello

Shuron

M. Mastroianni

R. Geller

M.Caine

Ray Ban

Buddy Holly

Woody Allen

Johnny Depp



and me...

Andrew Bird - Noble Beast (2009)

Andrew Bird - Noble Beast (2009)

Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist and lyricist Andrew Bird picked up his first violin at the age of 4. Actually, it was a Cracker Jack box with a ruler taped to it, and the first of his many Suzuki music lessons involved simply bowing to the teacher and going home. He spent his formative years soaking up classical repertoire completely by ear so when it came time for a restless teen-ager to make the jump to Hungarian Gypsy music, early jazz, country blues, south Indian etc., it wasn’t such a giant leap. It’s fitting that now, though classically trained, he has instead opted to play his violin in a most unconventional manner, accompanying himself on glockenspiel and guitar, adding singing and whistling to the equation, and becoming a pop songwriter in the process.
Noble Beast will be released January 20, 2009 on Fat Possum Records.

Heavy rotation...

more here...

New Modern Classic...The Sea Within Us

Maine Maritime Museum,

located in Bath, has recently opened The Sea Within Us: Iconically Maritime in Fashion & Design. From 19th-century naval uniforms to the children’s apparel they have inspired, the exhibition tackles a full range of sea inspired looks. Ephemera and, of course, tattoos are also represented. Rogues Gallery is one of the sponsors. Take a trip up to Maine before April 19, 2009 to check it out. The museum is pretty special without the fashion tie in.

We attended the opening of The Sea Within Us at the Maine Maritime Museum last month. The shows focus was the influence of maritime on fashion and product design. We all feel incredibly honored that they included Rogues Gallery products in the show. We also got to design a tote bag for the event and donated some accessories for their gift shop. Check out yours truly on the tattoo wall.

Online more...

pop*eye... Various Artists - A Century of Covers (Belle & Sebastian Tribute)

Belle and Sebastian

VA-A Century of Covers (Belle & Sebastian Tribute)

A Belle and Sebastian song is a trip back to innocence. It’s hard not to smile when you hear their soft wistful lyrics. Delicate, pretty, whimiscal..none of these adjectives quite express the uniqueness of this Scottish ensemble. This tribute gives us 20 different artists doing their own interpretions of Belle and Sebastian songs. B&S have such a different sound this could have been a disaster with bands not privy to their world. Fortunately all of these musicians appear to have a firm grasp of the music. They also know the biggest strength of B&S is in their lyrics. Songs like “Ease Your feet In The Sea” (Austin Lace) and “I’m A Snowman” (Billie The Vision and The Dancers) practically dance inside your head. Other nice tracks include “Fox in the Snow” (Lucid Evening Sky) and a surprisingly rocking “You’re Just a Baby” (Against Lupa feat. The Buzz). There may be no substitute for the original but these sincere and heartfelt covers will do just fine for now.

THIS IS JUST A MODERN INTRO by Carlo Bordone
Belle and Sebastian fans are basically divided in two main categories: who has the age to remember the homonymous telefilm and who's not. Actually its name was Belle et Sebastian, because it was french but this fits relatively. The important thing is that when in 1996 or 1997 appeared their record (A century of Fakers or if you are feeling sinister for us unlucky guys that heard Tigermilk just in its second edition...) it switched on a bulb in our loft's mind, where old memories that we don't use anymore (but we are too afraid to throw away...) were gathered: old girlfriend by now married with 2 or 3 children, Cluedo, Mastermind, etc etc... Things like that.

You are not meant to understand, specially if you don't remember the telefilm. Anyway. Reading that name meant sinking in a little funny own world. Dinner at 7.30, just after cartoons and if the school was good, an episode of A-team on tv. Continue... What I wanna say is that for B&S, because of the name or imaginary they proudly bring with them, it wasn't hard to breach our almost 30 years-old heart. In a blink, we totally found ourselves in a fantasyland made up of Nouvelle Vague, Simon & Garfunkel and "Hippys, Punks and Roxy Music in '72".

But we, that now are terrified of the 40-years-old finishing line, are just the wrong half of the B&S fans. The other half, the one the elected them as the indisputed Monarchs of the Indiepop Shire, is made up of girls and boys to whom all this diorama of '60\'70 references at most remind to hazy prenatal reminiscences. Nevertheless, they married that imaginary, linking it to the teenager in the '90 one, dreaming of Olympia (or Glasgow ) more than California. That's unique in the latest pop history!! That's happened because they are one of the few pop band able to evoke for real that thing called adolescence. Their album are the fav LP of the little child that still lives in us, the one that we hated so much when we were at school but from whom we can't separate at all. Ask Nick Hornby, if you want. But even today the guy that just bought the life pursuitwill go back to discover their discografy. Because it doesn't matter if you've been weaned by Lego or Playstation... Listening to B&S means just a thing: we don't wanna grow up. For ever kids, incurable lazy line-painter Jane. Even Stuart Murdoch never changes. No matter how many Trevor Horn he could allow to produce his album, no matter if he bartered Nick Drake with DiscoMusic and Glam. He will always be the White Collar Boy. In this sense, B&S are the indiepop-Ramones. With the fact that they don't write always the same song and didn't become a cartoon... Maybe a telefilm...

By the way. I bet my Tigermilk vinyl that almost the partecipants to this tribute have not the age to remember the telefilm. I know, it doesn't matter at all... What matters is to get into their mood, to be able to recognise themselves in that enchantment, feeling sinister or feeling the baoy with the arab strap, even if after years we still have't the whole idea about what that could mean... All the band partecipating to this tribute did it. So, fold your hand, children and enjoy them.
We still have time to grow up...

"Tribute album of the year."

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Hot and Covered...In Color

California footwear brand SeaVees recently collaborated with Pantone on a collection of colorful canvas sneakers. The people from Pantone were gracious enough to let SeaVees founders Steven Tiller and Derek Galkin into the company archives to curate a group of colors that “epitomizes the cool, casual style of California in 1963.” This collection is especially interesting because, Pantone has never granted anyone outside of the company keys to the vault. The full collection can be seen here.

This also got me thinking about Panton’s branding initiatives as of late. From the GAP pop up shop, to their adventures in Japan. It seems the company is on a 3M style mission of “we don’t make things, we make things better.”

Pantone come!
everywhere...