Men Want the New Not the Old

Everyone knows that retailers are hurting these days, but something's got to be selling...right? We called a few top men's buyers for their take.

"Men are asking themselves, 'What don't I have? And what, therefore, do I need?'" says Tom Kalenderian, vice president for menswear at Barneys New York. The answer, at least at Barneys, includes raw denim (especially in gray and resin-coated black), checked shirts, and anything with bright colors.

"Men are not coming in for another suit, or another navy sweater," says Bergdorf Goodman men's fashion director, Tommy Fazio. "They want something that feels new. The attraction to color cuts across all price points, too. Our in-house BG collection is overloaded with color this season, and that's been a bright spot for us, [and] colorful pieces from Gucci, Loro Piana, Etro, and Brunello Cucinelli are also selling well."

Saks fashion director Eric Jennings is also seeing a lot of color. "It's about escapism" this season, he says, adding that "guys are buying shorts like crazy. And designer sneakers, too. They're dropping some serious cash on those—Dior (pictured), YSL. It's like price is no object." Kalenderian agrees: "Oh, yeah, the $800 sneakers are selling out. And for some reason I can't quite put my finger on," he adds, "we're doing an exceptional business in scarves."

These East Coast buyers are unanimous on one other thing: No one is buying suits. It's a different story out in L.A., however, according to Confederacy co-owner Ilaria Urbinati. "We're selling suits better than we're selling T-shirts or jeans," she says. "Maybe that's just because here in L.A., you can get tees and jeans anywhere, so men are coming to us for something different." She adds that "Tim Hamilton is maybe the most expensive designer we carry in the store—and probably the most directional—and his stuff is selling out. The sense I get is that guys are more willing to spend $400 on one of Tim's check shirts than $80 on a shirt that doesn't seem worth that much."

Kalenderian makes the same point. "A real fashion customer isn't necessarily driven by price first," he says. "I think they go for the look. Brands that don't look like anything else, that have a distinctive DNA, they're doing well."

Well, that explains why we're seeing Rick Owens all over the place these days.

Ifixit

A new company is teaching people how to fix their electronic products themselves (namely apple products). No more long lines at the Genius Bar in Soho? Can. Not. Wait. Their addy is http://www.ifixit.com
Check out the pics and article below:



As we first mentioned in March, iFixit's been showing panicked people all over the world how to repair their abused and overused electronics by themselves. Occasionally, the iFixit team takes apart a new piece of hardware (like the Kindle 2 and Pleo pictured above), documents it, and posts it as a teardown, letting thousands of people take a look at what's inside and disassemble it themselves.

Today, they've seriously extended this part of the site by launching a user-driven teardown platform. The new creation tools allow anyone to author guides, and, with so many people contributing, who knows what we'll see disassembled? Kyle Wiens, the CEO of iFixit, is explicit about the variation they hope to see: "The deviation from writing Mac teardowns foreshadowed today's epic announcement. We hope that people use our flexible teardown platform to create teardowns of devices of all kinds, not just Apple products."

To introduce the teardown creation tool, iFixit has posted several user-authored cell phone teardowns and a step-by-step guide of exactly what's involved in publishing. It's all laid out for you, so show the world some gadget guts!

Kate Moss with the Lemonheads

In case you missed this, here it is. It sucks, but like in an awesome way. Think Lohan's Bossy. So bad it's good.

Alexander McQueen to Debut Puma Collection For London Fashion Week

Expect lots of rugby, boxing and kilt inspired clothing for Puma. This should be interesting seeing as what he did for Target. Check it out.

CFDA NOMINEES MODEL THIER OWN CLOTHES

Oh french. This is amazing. I love those bunny ear things much better on Marc Jacobs than I did on Madge.

Asian Modern and Contemporary Art at Christie's Come June

Christie’s sale of South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art on Wednesday 10 June 2009 showcases a wide range of captivating works by the leading artists of 20th and 21st century South Asia, primarily India and Pakistan. From celebrated masters of the Progressive Artists Group through to the biggest names in contemporary art, attractive estimates cross the spectrum of artists, styles and media with estimates ranging from £1,000 to £600,000. The sale has is expected to realise in excess of £2million.

NEON

As you may know we always push the bounds of our look books and this is no exception. We started off with a cannibalizing metallic book and now we bring you our day glow book. Here is a sneak peak. Enjoy!