EXCLUSIVE: Q+A with Gerard Gunning.

With so many look-books blogged innumerable times as soon as press release and inbox meet, it feels good to offer something truly exclusive. NCAD (otherwise known as Ireland's premiere art and design college, and the campus opposite my bedroom window!) grad and Irish printed textiles designer Gerard Gunning has been on the to-blog list for a while now since I came across his collection, 'Aerial', as part of the graduate exhibition in June, slipping - afterward - into a mildly embarrassing frenzy of iPhone snapping...

His work blends a Christopher Shannon sportiness with an air of experimentation not dissimilar to Henrik Vibskov. Above all, it's like nothing I've seen before and I'd quite like to wear a lot of it so what better reason to catch up with Gunning to talk inspiration, fabric innovation and a man called Paul Smith.

Male Mode: What inspired your graduate collection? 

 Gerard Gunning: My work focuses on contemporary menswear fashion inspired by obstacles and boundaries that challenge us every day throughout our lives. Looking from above giving a game-like feel, my work began with the idea of aerial views, 3D in reality but which, when photographed from above, appear flat and one dimensional. This idea of viewing from above, the all seeing eye, as one may say, gave way to the idea of censorship, privacy and anonymity. My research drove the aesthetic development of the obstacle course, a simplified version of the world but similar to life (with its ups and downs) when viewed from above can look very differently. Overall my work looks at the idea of the anonymous vs. the identified. The anonymous being the everyday working male and the identified being the work he has created.

MM: What are the materials used in your collection? Can you tell us about the manufacturing process?

GG: I've designed contemporary avant-garde men’s fashion fabrics that emulate an edgy, contemporary look, fusing sports and casual wear. My collection is designed to push boundaries and encourage people to push their own personal dressing aesthetic by combining oversized and skinny garments and using fabrics not usually associated with menswear fashion. Materials used in the collection include cotton, silk and synthetics. Along with these basic everyday fabrics, I've created new fabrics by bonding different materials to the conventional ones. Being a printed textile designer, I've looked at various print processes throughtout the collection such as pigment print, acid print/illumination, spandex, foil print, embossing and digital print.

MM: What are your plans for the future? 

GG: I'm about to start a 3-month placement with British designer Paul Smith in London. My ultimate ambition is to create my own label within the menswear market.

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Wishing Gerard all the best at Paul Smith and beyond.

Square-toed Shoes: Just Say No.

So, square-toed shoes are set to make a Spring Summer 2013 comeback, according to esteemed designers like Raf Simons, Jil Sander, Miuccia Prada and Humberto Leon and Carol Lim of Kenzo.

Really...? Really?

Were these designers temporarily blinded during the collection conception phase? Has some kind of square-toed-shoe Illuminati-esque convention taken place? It's hard to say, mere speculation. What's pretty definite though, is square-toed shoes are probably what will in the future feature next to dictionary definitions of words like 'hideous', 'abominable', 'abhorrent', 'silly' and 'mortifying'. 

Even (supposedly) infallible designers make mistakes sometimes so save yourself the risk of looking like an actuary circa 1998; don't go square, stay with the key styles of the past few seasons that are popular for a reason. British department store, House of Fraser, has a pretty hefty collection that runs the gamut from brogue-detail boots to Nike hi-tops. Here are a few ideas of how to be up-to-the-minute, while avoiding the silly and square-toed...

^ Top (L-R): Bertie Colindale casual boots (£115); Loake wedge casual shoes (£135); Nike hi-top dunk trainers (£65). Bottom: Dune Courageous (£110); Dune Acapello formal shoes (£85); Nike mid-top premium suede blazers (£65)

See more men's shoes from House of Fraser.

* This is a sponsored post which funds the maintenance of this blog

Penhaligon's: Superior Fragrance Since 1870.

While fashion's been flaunting the impressive power of brand history and heritage for years now, the fragrance industry doesn't really seem to have followed suit. Apart from classic fragrances first released by some of the major houses and still proving popular today (Kronos, Eau Sauvage etc.), scents currently seem to be more connected with major celebrities and sleek, highly produced campaigns that function as signifiers of chic modernity.

London perfumers Penhaligon's are the exeption. Established by alchemist William Penhaligon in 1870, the brand unveiled its first fragrance in 1872, with Penhaligon himself being appointed court barber and chief perfumer for Queen Victoria and the Royal Court soon after. Since then, the group of Penhaligon's proponents has grown from British royalty and European aristocracy to include the likes of famed aesthete Oscar Wilde, Winston Churchill and even Tom Ford.

As a lover of Ford's Tom Ford Extreme fragrance, I had high expectations for this early birthday present of Penhaligon's. They've more or less been met, too; although this set is overall a little bit sweeter and fresher than I'd usually opt for, the quality trumps anything else I've ever worn - the colognes are rich and long-lasting, with Endymion definitely coming out on top for its blend of cirtus and spices.

See more from Penhaligon's. 

Hamilton 1883 for Project Wooster: Camo & Smart-casual.

It seems there's no stopping the tats-ablazin' daddy of fashion, Mr. Nickelson Wooster. Since his appearance on countless street-style and men's style blogs, Wooster's status as sartorial authority has soared resulting in a slew of collaborations and consultancy projects.

The most recent sees Wooster team with age-old Houston, Texas-based shirting brand, Hamilton 1883, to create a range of six sport-shirt styles incorporating the essential cornerstones of the Wooster-style wardrobe: military (camo), heritage/workwear (plaid, chambray) and smart-casual (Oxford stripe).

^ Top (L-R): chambray sport-shirt (feat. snap-tab collar); plaid flannel sport-shirt; stripe sport-shirt (Wooster's personal favourite, apparently). Bottom: light camouflage sport-shirt; camo panel Oxford sport-shirt (designed to surprise once unveiled after slipping off a jacket or blazer); camouflage sport-shirt.

They're exclusively available on Park & Bond; prices range from $245-$265.

Learn more about American shirting brand Hamilton here; follow Nick Wooster's personal Tumblr here.

WIN with T.M. Lewin.

Jermyn St. shirtmakers since 1898, T. M. Lewin know a thing or two about the classic Oxford button-down, so despite not being wholly taken with the surface design/look of their wares, I trust their incomparable knowledge when it comes to crafting shirts. A household name, known predominantly for their formal- and business-wear, T.M. Lewin could rest on their laurels in the steady professional suiting trade, but this season sees them shake off office-ready attire, for something a little more informal, the Casual collection.

Intended as the perfect range of 'weekend-ing' shirts, the collection meets the brand's benchmark for superior quality, while incorporating close attention to detail.

^ T. M. Lewin Casual Collection AW12, launching online and in-stores September 17th

If you fancy getting your hands on one of these shirts yourself, as well as a tie or handkerchief from their extensive accessories offering, simply enter as follows:

1 - Follow & Tweet @malemode and @TMLewin a summation of your idea of the perfect casual weekend, be it pints, parks, theatre premieres or a long-overdue breakfast-in-bed by midday (GMT) Fri August 24th 2012. 

2 - For an extra entry, share the 'WIN with T. M. Lewin' competition entry on the Male Mode Facebook page. 

* Winner will be chosen using Random.org. Winner is entitled to one Casual Collection shirt of their choice, as well as one tie or handkerchief of their choice. 

See more from T. M. Lewin.

Jigsaw SS12: Piecing it back together.

Buoyed by a so far successful re-branding, British high-street brand Jigsaw has brought its menswear back from the dead for Spring Summer 2012, with its first collection since 1999. More than a decade on and a lot has changed. The British classic formality is still here, but tweaked and re-conceived. Design director Frances Walker talked me through:

Male Mode: Who is the Jigsaw man?

 Frances Walker: He's aged between approximately 25-55; Jigsaw Menswear is a collection which appeals to a certain mindset of man rather than his age. He is effortlessly handsome yet considers what he wears carefully. He puts clothes together as if he hasn’t tried hard. He looks for and understands quality in all areas of his life, he considers what he buys and chooses clothes intelligently. He is knowledgeable about clothes generally; he wants clothes which will last, that will integrate into his wardrobe without screaming and are fit for purpose and comfortable. He looks for great, relevant, contemporary stylish clothes rather than conceptual, of the moment fashion pieces.. He appreciates fine detailing, beautiful fabrics and is not afraid of colour. He looks for a point of difference in what he selects for his own pleasure rather than to draw attention to himself.

MM: From which sources did you glean your inspiration for the AW12 collection?

FW: For the first AW collection we were focussing on great British fabrics: tartan for colour and tweed for texture. The tartan provided a great colour vehicle for the collection. We used the classic blackwatch and the more loud red Brodie tartan. The fabric is garment-washed and comes from Loccharron of Scotland. The tartan was interpreted in knit, socks, shirts and outwear as a waxed jacket from the British Millerain. The tweeds, including a garment-washed tweed from Harris, stemmed from a look at Lucien Freud from both his nonchalant personal style of dressing and the neutral layers of oil paint which daub the walls of his studio

MM: If you were to recommend any essential item of clothing to a man, what would it be?

FW: For those in the UK - a great overcoat. For AW12 I would choose our timeless DB camel wool coat, gorgeous on any age!

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Still some key pieces missing or is the puzzle complete? 

Athletics/Aesthetics.

Ever since the baseball jacket and jogger pant landed on the high-street some time ca. Spring Summer 2011 (a move prompted by the collections of the likes of Damir Doma, Tim Hamilton and Lanvin), fashion's steadily shaken off its hesitation in embracing sportswear. With this Summer's London Olympics currently in full swing, the once tenuous relationship between practical, utlitarian sportswear and the fickle vogue-ing nature of fashion matures into an aesthetic partnership that's more love-in than long-distance.

It's hardly surprising really, considering the men's market has been dominated almost exclusively by the storied fashion house and heritage brand for several seasons up this point, coinciding with a cultural reconfiguration of masculinity in the shape of the call for the 'modern dandy' (Church's brogues, bespoke suit, facial hair, foppish overall effect). But fashion is a cyclical beast, and the traditionally intransigent men's fashion market is gradually closing the gap between itself and the dramatic seasonal shifts to be seen on the womenswear runways.

It's not that the focal points of the contemporary fop are wiped clean off the slate (and indeed, street), but that menswear now looks to a more tech-y, refined (not necessarily in the sense of elegance, but purified) and pragmatic mode of dressing. 

Sources of sartorial inspiration are now found in a men's Olympic sports uniform, the varsity staples of American football and baseball, and in brands once thought too ubiquitous to be considered markers of style (Nike, Adidas and New Balance).

Granted, it's all speculation, so here's a few visual insights into the observation which might help in making some sense of the above...

^ From top: a shot from retailing giant Topman's latest retorial shoot coinciding with the commencement of the London Olympics, On Your Marks; global blogging success Pelayo Diaz in an eclectic mix of Céline, Topman sports shorts and Supreme baseball cap; looks from cult favourite NYC boutique Opening Ceremony's latest collaboration with Adidas; Russian Olympic athletes in what I reckon is the best Olympic uniform designed by Russian retailer Bosco Sport.

Images from Topman, Kate Loves Me, Opening Ceremony and NY Daily News

COLLECTIVE X Bob Carlos Clarke

By and large, I loathe printed t-shirts. From an objective aesthetic point of view (if such a thing exists), they're functional and often fashionable, laying bare the wearer's up-to-the-minute awareness of the cultural zeitgeist and their own cultural affiliations. From a subjective, personal style point of view though, they're difficult to wear (more often than not wearing the wearer rather than the other way 'round) and are usually either emblazoned with some excrutiatingly dumb slogan plucked from the latest reality TV show or a banal portrait of Rihanna (yeah, River Island, this one's for you).

But sometimes a collection comes along to buck the trend.

T-shirt brand COLLECTIVE has prided itself for a while now on printed tees that, thankfully, go against the grain. To date, they've collaborated with two British talents, the stalwart photographer Terry O' Neill and designer Savannah Miller (Sienna's sister, and one half of label Twenty8Twelve). Now, it's the turn of the late but to-be-lauded Irish photographer, Bob Carlos Clarke, who despite his suicide in 2006, lives on through his highly stylised, sensual and sometimes downright erotic photographic work. Helmut Newton is the obvious but all too convenient reference here; Clarke's work bears a distinct similarity, but is perfectly capable of holding its own.

With this latest offering, Collective team with The Little Black Gallery and the Bob Carlos Clarke Foundation to re-convey 11 of Clarke's extremely rare prints on premium organic cotton garments, which are produced in a sustainable manner and which aim to further Fair Trade in Africa.

Before I started collecting noteworthy fashion tid-bits on this blog, I may have been known to engage in a bit of light scrapbooking action involving shoddily tearing or cutting out images from the well-thumbed pages of magazines sourced from my sister, and then pasting them together to form the least coherent moodboards this world's ever witnessed. One of the first to fall fate to a PritStik-ing was the above-right totally sexed yet serene portrait of Rachel Weisz by Clarke, For Dolls That Do Dishes (2004).

The tees retail at £60 each, and are available from Harvey Nichols and COLLECTIVE.

For more on COLLECTIVE's ethos and corporate social responsibility policies, go here. See more of Bob Carlos Clarke's work here.