INOU(R)ED AND ENAMOURED.

When The Inoue Brothers first dropped into the perfectly-honed selection of labels at LN-CC I’ve gotta admit I wasn’t sure how I felt, or how their knitted, slightly random hues fitted in- but those questions seem to be directly answered with their upcoming collaboration with the much-obsessed-over and praised Japanese streetwear brand SASQUATCHfabrix .

Launching soon at LN-CC, the collection’s built on knitwear rather than the Inoue’s beaded bracelets and tops from Spring Summer, and seems much, much better for it. Just like 2003 again, it feels like anything with skeleton prints gets my vote- and following SASQUATCH’s smart breton sweater with cartoon skeleton arms for Summer, these are an obvious progression. I’m looking forward to seeing the deets up close.

Since LN-CC dropped SASQUATCH, it’s become one of my absolute favourite labels, full of complex layering, outrageous streetwear silhouettes and just a general sense of maximalism run riot. For AW 11 their Modern Ninjas collection is one of the weakest, though with some interesting moments- most involving hats. Some of the proportion and the interesting layering- puffa shirts as jackets, hoodies under blazers (again, back to 2003) are more than worth considering, and easy to whip up from something in your wardrobe (he hopes)…

Via Selectism

PALILLO POWER.

To say I’m a fan of Daniel Palillo is an understatement. Fellow Londonites (is that even grammatically correct?) might be aware of Daniel Palillo’s work through the sublime hel-looks.com, where plenty of peeps seem to be sporting his stuff, but frustratingly no one here has picked up on this designer with a penchant for all things sloppily-perfect, cartoonish-garish mixed with just a modicum of darkside. SS 12′s Never Mind collection begs to be blogged about- there’s no point over-analysing these clothes, which is always a good thing, as the appeal of a sheer skull-appliqued shirt (or is it a trench?), Stegosaurus-esque spiny tracksuit bottoms and mesh long shorts is kinda clear to these eyes.

The cartoonish comes from a trip to America (the womenswear has a MARGE SIMPSON dress) and the Never Mind reference is obvious- but not obvious in the hordes of Cobain-worshipping grungewear hovering over AW 11 like a doom cloud.

Palillo also makes kidswear and some quite amazing t-shirts with Ground Zero, picking up on the fantastic prints in his main line. Maybe just because we can’t get these items in London it’s easy to fetishize them out of all proportion, but what they hey- I am desperate for a pair of mesh layered shorts (to go with the toeless socks I’ve been coveting this week).

Digging into Palillo’s archive, there’s a lot that still looks sharp. Spring 2010′s ‘Renaissance’ collection in particular is strong…

And A/W 11′s ‘Talking Heads’ is taking the obsession into overdrive. Never before have I coveted orange joggers and a ‘Fuck’ tote. Ahem.

 

MENSWEAR’S BACK

Patient readers, MENSWEAR launched several years ago (I actually forget the date) and despite taking some zzzz’s from the blog (and the fashion world) I’ve decided to come back to it, intrigued by some of the more progressive stuff out there, and a lack of inspiration in men’s blogs- better for me to post all the stuff I like than just keep it in my head. So welcome back MENSWEAR- I hope you like it- and thanks for being so patient!