Category: Fashion

  • Become An Expert In Accessorizing

    If you want to look your absolute best, you need to make sure that you are aware of how to accessorize. The ability to accessorize whatever you might be wearing is one of those things that can really make all the difference in the world in terms of how your overall appearance looks. If you are keen to make sure that you are engaging in the kind of style which is likely to work for you, then an awareness of how to accessorize properly will certainly come in handy. As it happens, there are some rules and general advice which anyone can follow if they hope to be able to accessorize better, and we are going to take a look at just some of those in this article today. Consider the following if you want to be considered accessorization royalty.

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    The Value Of It

    First of all, it is incredibly helpful if you understand and appreciate why it is that accessorizing is quite so important. The better that you understand this, the more tempted you will be to get better at it, and the more likely you will be to know how to approach it. The goal of accessorizing in general is to give any outfit or look a sense of completeness. You should approach it with a sense of vibrant creativity, as it is essentially a form of art which you need to be creative with. By having fun with it and keeping it simple, you can create styles upon styles, and ultimately have a much more complete sense of what your own style is too.

    Less Is More

    There are many times in life when less is more, and accessorizing is absolutely the perfect example of this. In general, you want to go for a few, understated items at once. This will ensure that you are not overdoing it in a way which might make your outfit look absurd, and it will mean that you keep the practicalities of it simple enough for you to practice too. With this approach, you are aiming to find two or three simple items for each outfit, and no more. Stick to that kind of approach, and you should find that you are doing it in the right way – and if something doesn’t work perfectly, it won’t matter quite as much as if you had gone over the top with your accessories on the whole.

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    Jewellery Always Works

    A most common form of accessory is jewellery, and with good reason. There are very few occasions when jewellery does not work, and the more that you are aware of what jewellery can do in certain situations, the more that you can make use of it to complete any look. Jewellery always works if you approach it in the right way, but you do need to be aware of what is likely to work for you and what might not be such a good idea. That means knowing when and where to wear cartilage earrings or a hippy bracelet, and knowing when to leave such things at home. By becoming an expert in jewellery, you will become an expert in accessorizing at the same time, so this is important to consider.

    Experiment With Colour

    Colour is arguably the most important element of any accessory. As long as the colour is something that works for the outfit and the occasion, you can generally assume that you are doing it right. Of course, colour is fun too, and it is one area where you should absolutely feel able to experiment to your heart’s content. If accessorizing is an art, then the colours are literally your palette, and you need to ensure that you are mixing them in a way which is both aesthetically pleasing and likely to be enjoyable for you to engage in and wear too. The better you understand how colours work together, the better your accessorizing will be.

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    Bold & Simple

    A good general rule to keep your accessories in order is to try and find ones which are simple and bold, and which you can then match with understated clothing. That is a pretty sure-fire way to make your accessories work out well, and you will find that it is the best way to ensure that you are learning how to approach the essentials of accessorizing itself. Think bold and simple, and you will almost certainly be making the most of it. Then you can start to experiment outwards from that essential starting point.

  • Future Positive x Radisson Red

    Future Positive x Radisson Red

    Radisson Red is a hotel concept by Radisson for those interested in art, music and fashion. The first Radisson Red hotel is opening later this year in Brussels, followed by other locations across the world.

    We recently collaborated with Radisson Red on their brand new blog, creating a series of features showcasing the work of creative designers, artists and makers based in some of our favourite cities. Find out more about them below and read each individual story on Radisson Red’s blog.

    Act

    Act is a brand of espadrilles and accessories founded in 2013 and established between Berlin and Mallorca. Silvia Conde photographed co-founder Isabel Rotger in Berlin for this feature.

    Read more.

    Future-Positive-Radisson-Red-1 Future-Positive-Radisson-Red-2Images by Silvia Conde

    Pino Gay

    Pino Gay is the name of the project of Camila Pino Gay, a designer and illustrator based in Santiago de Chile. Our contributor Carlos Molina paid a visit to her flat in the Chilean capital.

    Read more.

    Future-Positive-Radisson-Red-3 Future-Positive-Radisson-Red-4Images by Carlos Molina

    Patrik Larsson

    Patrik Larsson is a freelance interior architect and furniture designer living and working in Gothenburg. Swedish photographer Hilda Grahnat followed him around the streets of Gothenburg for this feature.

    Read more.

    Future-Positive-Radisson-Red-5 Future-Positive-Radisson-Red-6Images by Hilda Grahnat

    Karen Mabon

    Karen Mabon is an accessories designer based in Edinburgh. We visited her studio in Edinburgh’s New Town and spent a morning photographing her.

    Read more.

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    Airplantman

    Josh Rosen calls himself Airplantman and designs incredible vertical gardens from his studio in Los Angeles. Our contributor Valerie Chiang visited him to photograph his creations.

    Read more.

    Future-Positive-Radisson-Red-9 Future-Positive-Radisson-Red-10Images by Valerie Chiang

    Pena Jewels

    Miriam Álvarez and María Sanchez are the creative team behind Pena Jewels, a jewellery brand born in Lisbon and now based in Madrid. Silvia Conde photographer their studio.

    Read more.

    Future-Positive-Radisson-Red-11 Future-Positive-Radisson-Red-12Images by Silvia Conde

    Flora & Laura

    Flora & Laura is the project of Helsinki-based art director and flower stylist Laura Väinölä. Laura Iisalo spent a day with her documenting a day in her life.

    Read more.

    Future-Positive-Radisson-Red-13 Future-Positive-Radisson-Red-14Images by Laura Iisalo

    Follow Radisson Red on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

  • Brothers We Stand

    Brothers We Stand

    Founded by Jonathan Mitchell, Brothers We Stand is a new online retailer selling ethical menswear. Conceived as an alternative for the customer dissatisfied with fast fashion and its questionable practices, every product on the website features a footprint tab providing information on its social and environmental impact. Brothers We Stand stocks a stylish and sustainable range of products from its own brand and other like-minded labels.

    We tried on some of its pieces and spoke with Jonathan about what made him start Brothers We Stand, working with friends and his future plans.

    www.brotherswestand.com

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    What made you start Brothers We Stand?

    I noticed that there was a growing number of menswear designers working to sustainable standards but that they were often hard to find. So I had the idea that it would be cool to bring them together. That’s it really!

    Our aim is to provide a solution that allows style loving people to build a wardrobe made up of stylish and sustainably made menswear.

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    What’s the main criteria for a brand to be stocked at Brothers We Stand?

    For us the product comes first, it’s got to be a great product. We search out pieces that are aesthetically pleasing, created to last and ethically and sustainably made.

    Every product on the site has a different story but all have something about their manufacture that sets them apart from the norm. It could be that they are made from recycled materials, that they are made in a wind-powered factory or perhaps that they are hand-made in London.

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    The Level Collective t-shirt

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    The Level Collective t-shirt

    Please tell us a little more about the different brands you stock at Brothers We Stand.

    Seeing as you’re repping a Level Collective tee, let me tell you a bit more of them! Mark Musgrave is the creative head behind the brand and he collaborates with emerging illustrators to co-create prints for his bamboo and cotton tees and sweats. Mark’s designs are inspired by his personal love of the great outdoors and I love the gentle simplicity to his work. The garments are good quality and his bamboo tees are some of the softest t-shirts we’ve come across.

    Elvis and Kresse are another brand and provide a good example of the diversity of materials the brands we work with use. They make phone cases, wallets and bags from upcycled fire hose and military parachute silk. Kresse’s had a fascination with waste since childhood and their story began when Kresse and her partner James met some people from the fire brigade and were invited to come and view their waste. They were brought to a ‘fire hose landfill’ where hoses which can survive for up to 25 years of active service are scrapped when they are too damaged to repair. Kresse says she fell in love with the ‘rich, lustrous coils of red.’!

    James is a skilled craftsman and together they began experimenting with the hoses and started to make bags and wallets. Due to the hard exterior of the material it is hard to work with but they found the effort to be worthwhile and the resulting products highly durable. The couple have now been working with the material for ten years and perfectionism doesn’t even come close to describing how they’re constantly refining their products. Elvis spent an incredible five years perfecting a billfold wallet which apparently he still thinks can be improved further! Their pieces are beautiful and have a narrative to them that’s unrivalled due to the history of the fire hose.

    These are just two examples but all the brands we work with have inspiring stories and it’s a privilege to work with them and sell their products.

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    Brothers We Stand sweatshirt

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    You’ve built Brothers We Stand alongside a group of friends, can you tell us more about them?

    Brothers We Stand has got to where it is today thanks to the hard work and talents of a lot of people! Whilst I was planning the business I was working as a waiter with an agency which meant I met a lot of new people. One of the guys I got to know was Alex, a Romanian computer science student, and he ended up helping out with some of the coding I needed doing for the website. Luca Iiriti was the housemate of another waiter friend and he designed our pre-launch material which was crucial in getting the first brands on board. Then Gary, a long-time friend, designed our logo. Gary’s gone on to be a huge support and many a day I’ll interrupt his work at Sparks Studio asking him if he can help out with this or that!

    Since we launched, Delia has organised brilliant parties, Rachel has taken really strong photos, Ashley has super charged our Twitter and Lisa has stitched labels for our own brand collection. Alex has repped us at parties and events and Jack has written copy (and is just about to start a fortnightly Brothers We Stand newsletter which I’m really excited about).

    There are many others who have contributed and continue to do so and Brothers We Stand is the product of a lot of people’s imagination, insights and hard work. We hope that the end result is something that people love and can take as much enjoyment of being part of as we do.

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    What are Brothers We Stand’s future plans?

    Our aim at Brothers We Stand is to provide a brilliant service that helps people build sustainable and ethical wardrobes. We just want to continue taking that forward and seek to continuously improve our service.

    We’re also keen to work on interesting creative projects to show what a sustainable and ethical future for the fashion industry can look like. We’ve got a project in the works now and it’s set for launch March/April 2016 so watch this space!

    Visit Brothers We Stand.

  • Genevieve Sweeney

    Genevieve Sweeney

    Genevieve Sweeney is a premium British knitwear label producing womenswear and menswear garments manufactured in the British Isles with fibres sourced from Italy, Yorkshire and small UK mills. In this video, designer Genevieve talks about her label and introduces the artisans and makers she works with to create Genevieve Sweeney’s unique pieces.

    www.genevievesweeney.com

  • Tärnsjö Garveri

    Tärnsjö Garveri

    Tärnsjö Garveri is a Swedish tannery which has hand-crafted leather accessories since 1873. Owned by Axel Bodén and Torbjörn Lundin since 1993, Tärnsjö Garveri employs 50 artisans and produces premium leather accessories for their own label and clients such as Our Legacy, Frederica Furniture and Gant Rugger.

    We talked to its creative director, Simon Hjälte, to find out more about this iconic company.

    Photos by Laura Iisalo.

    www.tarnsjogarveri.com

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    Please tell us about yourself. What was your background before working at Tärnsjö Garveri?

    Before my position as creative director at Tärnsjö Garveri I ran my own clothing store through which I came in contact with Tärnsjö Tannery and its unique possibilities. In fact, most of my experience comes from creating extraordinary retail experiences and professionally I have been working as a buyer as well as a tailor. To summarise, you could say that I curate experiences coming from more than the end product…

    What are your main responsibilities at Tärnsjö Garveri?

    My title is Marketing Director, My execution is as creative director and my dream is becoming a partner. This means that I have a finger in everything that leaves Tärnsjö Tannery if its purpose is to extend the tannery experience beyond our zip code. I see it as a responsibility to make our leather and products synonymous with a rustic elegance aesthetic, and our persona understood as affordable luxury.

    While making it very clear that everything we do has a clear purpose and always shows the greatest respect towards Mother Nature by making our business and production process as sustainable and ecological as possible.

    What makes Tärnsjö Garveri different from other leather manufacturers?

    A lot of things. First and foremost, we are amongst the remaining 5% of tanneries still tanning vegetably using bark extract instead of chrome excel.

    However, I wouldn´t limit our uniqueness as a company to being only involved in the tanning business. We have been around since 1873 and “time gone by” has developed us so that today we are a company manufacturing products in a near closed-loop model.

    We receive raw hides and tan it to premium leather on the ground floor. On our second floor we finish to different type leathers varying greatly in thickness and suitable use. On the third floor we craft products out of this leather in our saddlery.

    Tell us about The Icon Collection? How did this idea originate?

    The idea originates out of the uniqueness described above. We felt that we should take more advantage of our closed-loop solution by adding the “end consumer” to our target group. Also, we felt that the time was right since, if we are reading trends right, the WTP (will to pay) is increasing. Gladly so!

    What are Tärnsjö Garveri’s future plans?

    Since we adhere to the concept of organic growth our future plan is to take it slow, leaning against our core values on our journey to increase awareness with the “common man” positioning us as “No mather what the intended use might be, Tärnsjö leather is the natural choice for high quality.”