When I think about the things that influence my style it only really comes down to a few things: my friends, people on the street, media and stores. Of those things, the two most important are my friends and retail shops. I spent the better part of this past week in London for an event with the menswear shop Anthem in Shoreditch. The event was for the launch of the Club Monaco Made in USA collection –something I have worked on with my friend Aaron Levine for the past few seasons (Club Monaco is a client of mine, FYI)– which makes Anthem one of the few places outside of North America in which you can buy that collection.
What led these Ashland, PA and Haverhill, Mass. and Los Angeles born clothes to land in East London comes down to a simple meeting between Aaron Levine and Anthem’s owners Simon Spiteri and Jeremy Baron. There was an inherent like-mindedness between the three and the partnership seemed obvious given the shared outlook and aesthetic.
What makes Anthem so interesting, and so influential to me from a style perspective, is the fact that the store (by way of the selection from Jeremy and Simon) is merchandised in such a way that is feels both comfortable and forward at the same time, a rare feat. The assortment is done so that it forces the customer to evolve and look at things in a new way. I realized this as I looked at the mix of brands, everyone from Dries to Kapital to Comme des Garçons and our U.S. made good from Club Monaco, and it all works together. I wouldn’t have expected the designer labels to be mixed together the way that they are. And the approach to what collections are carried made me look at them in a completely different way. It was a starling, and frankly welcome realization. It’s rare that a shop can do that to you, but it seems Anthem is just that kind of place.
A little more on the Club Monaco Made in USA goods at Anthem in the Telegraph here.
Luv that Folk Jumper at the bottom (never really got the word ‘jumper’, but that’s what the English say, so be it).
It was great to meet you the other night!
Everything looks great. But I’ve been searching effortlessly for a dow vest, and I think I just found it.
Thanx Michael ….
What Sanforized said…
I just checked out the Club Monaco made in the USA website. The largest size on the shirts is L and on the coats 44. An I know the L is going to fit like an M. If you were advising them why would they do this? Do they want to lose money? Do they think 24 year olds can afford $500 blazers? Or do they intend to market the whole collection in Japan? This is so mindless it makes me want to scream, I just don’t get it,this is the kind of thing Opening Ceremony pulls, but with them I get it, but I won’t go in there either.
This is a mouth-watering, heartbeat-quickening collection of clothing. I love the blue/green plaid wool coat, the glen plaid cu label photograph, and especially the last one with the various jumpers (as they say in the UK), especially the orange wool cardigan. It seems they have a finely curated selection, culled from great international labels, and it is especially cool that all the brands tie together in a like aesthetic.
Lots of inspiration pulled from this.
Thanks,
Some interesting pieces, high quality and long-living to be sure, but overall, seemingly spiritless.
Great collection of clothes! It’s cool to see a made in USA clothing line getting so much attention internationally!
Amazing how a formerly-Canadian brand without any perceptible Canadian (or, um, Monégasque) characteristics can assert its US provenance convincingly in the UK.
Dave, I’ve aired my concerns with the “Made in USA” stuff here in the past. It’s particularly galling seeing it here in Canada. Not that it’s not nice, or even better than it used to be, but they’re certainly not fooling anyone in Toronto with “Club Monaco, NY”. It’s all owned by Ralph anyway, so why bother?
Great article and great store! Anthem is truly a nice place to shop for clothing.
I was just thinking about one thing that you wrote and I guess it’s unintentionally funny:
“When I think about the things that influence my style it only really comes down to a few things: my friends, people on the street, media and stores”
When I think about it, there are not a whole lot more of things that might influence your style. I mean, friends, people on the street, media and stores pretty much covers all of the obvious things that might influence your sense of style.
Well, with that said, great article!
You’ve got this place down – I love it in there. It’s proper gnarly and ramshackle – but there’s a sort of freshness to it, too. The stock edit is really clever, plus, it smells great – weird fragrances with names like (and I may have these wrong) Cowboy, Old Tobacco, etc… Nice work.
I agree with all the favourable comments about the shop. Great shop, stock and service to boot.
Very nice, I just love those shopping tips. Really inspirational.