KnowShow: A Show Worth Knowing About

Last week Emily, Sarah, and I stopped by the KNOWSHOW to check out what was in store for the Fall/Winter 2013 action sports, fashion, and lifestyle brands.

What's great about KNOWSHOW is that it brings together roughly 300 local and international brands under one roof. With some of the brand's having only part of their collection available in certain stores and sometimes even dealing with exclusivity, it provides us with a great opportunity to get a more fulsome look at what these brands have to offer.

I love surfing (but I'm not good at it. Sidebar: Does anyone remember the short lived MTV show Surf Girls from 2003???). So imagine my surprise when I find out that there's a "more mature" Roxy/Quiksilver line, Quiksilver Women. Sarah has more on them.

TOMS was so good. Though, as usual, I had a preference for the men's collection. I love this casual take on the wingtip. A bit dressier than regular TOMS, but more casual than a leather shoe. Fun colours and patterns, but nothing overwhelming. The women's collection has cute new boot styles.

The Reef Resrv mens collection was amazing. I love how men's footwear is a thing now. The menswear scene is a weird combination of fashion, sports, and hiphop (seriously - why do you think Amar'e Stoudemire is pals with Anna Wintour? Do you think it's just for fun? There's always an agenda), so I can definitely see how menswear has evolved into what it is now.

Proof had amazing sunglasses - for both men and women! They also had a couple cute sweatshirts. 

Check out these super awesome slip-on brogues from Seychelles. Toe-caps! Patent! Prints! I don't usually care for Seychelles, but these I want so bad.

And these smoking slippers from Seychelles! I really want to Union Jack ones. Can't you just see Taylor Swift prancing around in these (probably holding on to a 18-year-old's hand)? They would go so well with her J.Crew fox sweater.

While this coat wouldn't keep me even a little bit warm in Ottawa, I'm so into it. It's BB Dakota and would make for a great fall or spring transition piece. Or, I suppose if you live in Vancouver, you could wear it all winter without problem. The (faux?) leather detailing is great.

Herschel Supply Co has a few new styles for Fall/Winter 2013. There are a lot more colours and, as you can see, a whole whack of new patterns. So support local!

Generic Surplus: Fall/Winter 2012 Collection

As we all know, Generic Surplus is one of my favourite mens shoe lines. The LA based brand continually pushes the limits of shoe evolution to marry the street and dress styles. Their shoes are able to reflect the essence of LA's music, art, and fashion scenes.

For Fall/Winter 2012, my two favourite shoes are the Longwing and the Ledger Mid.

The Longwing mixed preppy, casual, and street, making it a great every day shoe.

The Ledger Mid can be dressed up or down - I know guys love versatility. The purple colour is amazing.

Generic Surplus can be found at various boutiques across Canada, including:

Heel Boy (Toronto)
Capsule  (Toronto)
The Bay  (Toronto)
House of Fashion / Voyashop (Montreal)
J2  (Vancouver)
Group Seven (Calgary)
Glam Slam (Edmonton)
Rebel Rebel (Victoria)


Images via Dela Cruz PR.

Spotlight: Lifetime Collective

It was a few months ago now, but I had the opportunity to check out the Fall/Winter 2012 offerings from Lifetime Collective.

The line was founded in 2002 by Trevor Fleming & Reid Stewart and started out with a street/skate focus. Over the past 10 years, Trevor and Reid have evolved the line to become more boutique focused, which forced them to divide the line into two separate entities: Lifetime Collective (the boutique focused line) and Uniform Standard (the street/skate focused line). Recently, Lifetime Collective also added in a women's collection, designed by Judith Feller of lily+jae.

I had the chance to chat to Trevor and Reid about Lifetime Collective and Uniform Standard and how they had the change their business model to adapt to their growing and maturing creativity.

Do the two collections reflect your own personal aesthetics or style? (Trevor designs Lifetime Collective while Reid designs Uniform Standard)

TF: It allows us to go in our own directions as designers. We really wanted to keep servicing our core roots of where we came from, so that snow/skate background; the more action sports/boutique cross over skate shop. Our collection started to go into a more boutique direction, with the price point going up and the quality of the fabrics going up, but a lot of our original accounts couldn’t quite reach that price point and get that successful sell through. So instead of staying in one direction, we decided to release Uniform Standard, which is geared more towards that price point to compete with those brands that are in those shops, like Volcom and Rvca. So Reid designs that collection and I’ve continued on with the Lifetime collection.

RS: A lot of those shops couldn’t maybe relate to some of it too - a whole collection as one going to all those types of stores, where this, I think, will make sense to people when they see that the price is a little higher, it’ll be fine.

TF: It was working for us back in the day when we were more of that fashion/urban skate brand, but as we really wanted to get into more boutiques, we really needed to up our game a little bit, and we realized that we couldn’t service everyone with one collection.

What is Uniform Standard? How does it differ from Lifetime Collective?

RS: We toned down some details, but we still really focus a lot of the fabrics we’re using and try to bring things to a better price point to what our stockists need them to be for a better sell through. So, we do a lighter jacket, the attention to detail is there-

And the continuity of the pockets.

RS: Exactly. Completely its own collection with its own details and fabrics. This collection is meant for our roots, where we were in the beginning.

I think it’s important for you guys to maintain that audience and demographic.

RS: I think the next collection, because this one was done pretty quick, will be more progressive in terms of pushing the boundaries of basics. It’s fun to do. There’s a lot of colour blocking using silhouettes that have worked for us in Lifetime Collective in the past, and running with it. We tried to go above and beyond with the collection. This type of jacket would usually have a mesh lining, but we used some of our shirting fabric because we want to tie it all together, and try to do as much as we can while staying at a specific price. A word we try to use for this line is 'timelessness', it doesn’t go out of style.

Some of my favourite pieces:

Menswear

F101 Wool - $350

Mercy Shirt - $88

Ira Jacket - $275

Awesome 3D pocket detail on the Ira Jacket

Dublin Parka - $230

Womenswear

Striped Sammy Shirt - $88

Striped Casper Coat - $297

Chalet Sweater - sold out

Tobey Dress Herringbone - $99

Pixie Dress - $99, Clementine Cardigan - $130

Sophia Raincoat - $250

Printed Sammy Shirt - $88, Parker Pant $110

Rowan Flight Suit - sold out (easily my favourite piece)

Generic Surplus X The Ace Hotel X Steven Harrington: Summer 2012 Shoe Collaboration

If you've been to Coachella then you know about The Ace Hotel. And even if you haven't been to Coachella (which means you should probably read my guide to festival fashion), you've heard of The Ace Hotel (or maybe not, but let's just pretend you have). The notorious hotel has reunited with one of my favourite menswear lines, Generic Surplus, and artist Steven Harrington, for a summer shoe collaboration - the Borstal.

Inspired by SoCal culture and the Palm Springs landscape, the collaboration features cotton weave patterned rattan with Harrington's artwork on the insole and shoebox.

These are perfect for summer - rock them to the beach, the pool, on your bike, to a party, or a bonfire. They won't let you down.

The Borstal can be found in select retailers across Canada:

Glam Slam Clothiers Ltd. (Edmonton)

Zebra Club Clothing & Accessories (Vancouver)

The Block (Vancouver)
Umeboshi (Vancouver)
Coda Clothing (Regina)

Menswear: Generic Surplus S/S'12

So, I've covered man bags (twice) and menswear, but not shoes yet. Well, you're in luck! I love shoes. I love men's shoes; loafers, boots, brogues, derbys, oxfords, MONKS. Sometimes, (ear muffs!) I like men's shoes more than women's.

The Spring/Summer'12 collection of LA based shoe company, Generic Surplus, was inspired by the change of seasons from Winter to Spring, along with the laid-bak 1960s outdoor culture of LA and the cutting edge urbanity of 1970s NYC.

Generic Surplus is a brand that doesn't want their customers to feel like they're compromising themselves. Part sneaker, part shoe, Generic Surplus marries the casual and dressy with unwavering ease.

In Canada, Generic Surplus can be found at:

Vancouver - The Block, Livestock

Edmonton - Gram Slam

Calgary - Group Seven

Toronto - Bungalow, Woodlawn

Montreal - La Boutique Panache

Halifax - Soled Out

Menswear: Comune S/S'12

LA Brand, Comune's Spring/Summer collection is yet another menswear line that makes me want to cross dress (more than I already do...). Uh, before shit gets too weird here, let's just consider Comune's S/S'12 collection to be everything I would dress my hypothetical boyfriend in. No, but really, the collection is full of tailored shorts, slim fit collared shirts, chambray, comfy tees, great fitting pants, and beachy sweaters. And that denim jacket. It's basically everything that Seth Cohen would be wearing now.

Comune is available in Vancouver at Eugene Choo, Two of a Few, and J2.

The Man Bag: Part 2

I promised a Man Bag: Part 2 post and it's finally here!

There are so many option for bags. Here are some of my favourites from some brands outside the mainstream. Remember, you don't always have to chase the big retailers - hit the boutiques and shop local. Also, don't be afraid to ask your girlfriend or girl friend for help.

1. Jack Spade Waxwear Field Bag - $375
2. Sketchbook Great Outdoors Pack - $200
3. Sketchbook Sightseeing Case - $125
4. Sketchbook Wayfarer Backpack - $260
5. Topo Designs Daypack - $98
6. Jack Spade Mill Leather Field Messenger - $375
7. Jack Spade Nylon Canvas Day Bag - $175
8. Roots Messenger Case in Tribe - $298
9. Roots Modern Satchel in Tribe - $338

Images via Jack Spade, Sketchbook, Topo Designs, and Roots.

The Man Bag: Part 1

A friend of mine recently bought the most amazing peacoat. However, when he's busy jetting from meeting to meeting (with laptop and books in tow), having an old skater brand backpack doesn't cut it. So, he solicited my help (as he did with the coat) and I was happy to oblige. Not being an obvious expert in the field of man bags, I asked for some recommendations from some male blogger friends, and boy did they pull through.

Criteria:
a) cross body OR backpack
b) not too fashion-y (he's straight, so handbags are out of the question)
c) doesn't deviate too much from his personal style

However, while at the KnowShow, I saw some pretty amazing bags. One brand in particular, recommended to me by at least a couple male blogger friends, was there, and let's just say, it was love.

Element

Best known for being a skate brand, Element showed some great pieces at the KnowShow, illustrating their evolution. The brand had some great men's bags at the KnowShow. These 2 were my favourite - I love the denim of the backpack and the collegiate feel of the duffle.

Penfield

Penfield has been known for their outerwear - specifically their down-filled coats. Their products are made for the harsh demands of the New England climate and have been around since 1975. With nearly 40 years of industry experience, I would bet that Penfield's bags stand the test. Perfect for Vancouver's wet weather.

Herschel Supply Co.

My personal preference (and also as recommended to me). Herschel Supply is...Surprise!...local! That's right folks, these fine bags and wallets are based out of Vancity. The aesthetic of the products is simple, yet detailed. By picking from a brand that specializes, the selection is much broader - there are varying patterns, colours, and styles - so your biggest problem would be deciding which bag to get.