With the first Barbour Beacon fall collection just hitting stores, Japanese designer Tokihito Yoshida rolls on with another fantastically designed collection of outerwear from the venerable English brand. The new offerings compliment the main Barbour line perfectly, but the Beacon coats are just unique enough to be really desirable without taking anything away from the core collection. That is the tough part of collaborating with such a well known and revered brand like Barbour, making the collaboration product unique but not too too crazy. Mr. Yoshida walks that line wonderfully and every piece of both the AW09 and SS10 Beacon lines are worthy of my closet. I’ll be bold and say that this is the best designer-brand collaboration going right now — well played by all involved. Wondering what you should be wearing next spring? See below.

Wax Bicycle Jacket | $749

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Speaking of Japan. The Beams catalog magically appeared in my office yesterday and I couldn’t help but to scan so you guys can see what the well dressed 2% are up to this fall. (If you are wondering what I am talking about, go read the comments in That Autumn Look | Turning Japanese and it will make more sense.) As usual, I’m loving the Beams+ gear and the styling looks nice. Good luck trying to pull off a safari jacket in the United States, but it is fun to look at nonetheless.

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The only thing better than the things you can have, are always the things you can’t. I stick to my belief that menswear in Japan is leaps and bounds ahead of what we get here in the States. Of course, maybe that is just because I’m here and Japan is, well, there. Everything in the below was basically created by the Americans or the British, but more than anything I see this as a purely Japanese look. Of course, maybe it is just me. Take the spirit of this and translate, coagulate and/or appreciate it as inspiration from our friends in the East.

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The Japanese outfit Workers is known for producing some of the ultimate reproduction of classic American work wear. The company came to my attention last year and I have been keeping an eye on it ever since. Recently, that voyeurism became much easier with the launch of the Workers blog. While I can’t read Japanese (and don’t bother translating it), I do like to follow the links and it is a good place to get a better look at the Workers goods. It is sort of like Free & Easy, but I don’t have to trek all the way up to Kinokuniya to get a copy.

Another recent discovery (and something that is linked on the Workers blog)  is the old-timey obsessed site Your Old Pal Jim. I had a chance to meet the man behind the blog, Mr. Jim Christensen at The Pop Up Flea and was impressed with his encyclopedic knowledge of all things work wear, denim, garment making and seemingly everything in between. I was really impressed with Jim’s level of interest in this sort of thing and humbled by his command of the topic.

Men cutting fabric at a Manhattan factory from Your Old Pal Jim.

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Take Ivy: the saga continues. Mr. David Colman weighs in on everyone’s favorite book in today’s New York Times. There was even a mention of some website called A Continuous Lean (dumb name) that has been instrumental in keeping Take Ivy prices high. Read the full article here.

My copy of Take Ivy as shot by The New York Times.

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Who needs a father to teach you how to shine your shoes or tie your tie when you can just have the Japanese show you on the internet. The fellas at AAAC turned me on to this set of videos from the Japanese skin care brand Garra that I couldn’t resist posting. The videos touch on everything from “party magic skill” (amazing!), to “shoe shine skill,” to “ironing skill.” All of the videos can be seen here, father not included.

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There is a great American Trad story in the Isetan spring 2009 catalog that I thought was worth highlighting here. The Isetan in Shinjuku is one of the most impressive stores in the world, a labyrinth of materialistic pursuits. In fact, the men’s shoe section nearly made me cry. These clothes below might not be identified or available for purchase to most of us, but I thought they are great from a styling / photography perspective. Enjoy.

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There was a little gem in the back (front?) of the new issue of Free & Easy, Cramp leather goods. (That link worked last night but not today — fyi.) Cool stuff,  strange name. Lately Free & Easy seemed to be getting more bizarre by the minute, making you feel like you had taken acid and were mowing a lawn of dandelions on a John Deere tractor. Luckily the good folks who put out my favorite non-English magazine were able to shake off the psychedelic haze for the May home issue. The Cramp canvas and leather shoulder bag, plus the other items pictured below, are some great looking accessories. Definitely something I need to keep an eye out for on my next trip to Japan.

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The folks at Beams are at it again this spring. Anyone that has spent any on the Beams website will likely report frustration on a variety of levels. One being that it is hard to navigate (especially for me since I don’t speak a lick of Japanese). Second, that the online offerings aren’t as much fun as real life or even the catalogs and third the clothes aren’t available to North America / Europe.  Luckily the folks at Beams send me (us) their catalog via special delivery so we can at least know what we are missing. Torture, I know.

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To relax, some people play golf or some people go sailing; I like to visit factories. Maybe it was all those Mister Rogers “how it’s made” segments I watched as a child. Or it could just be my insatiable curiosity about what goes into things. Provenance and all that sort of good stuff. POST OVERALLS started making its own line of work wear back in 1993, well before anyone ever thought about reproducing authentic American goods like chore coats, dark denim jeans and chambray shirts. Long before people were arguing about dressing blue-collar on the internets. Respect and credit is due to Post for paving the way for all of the work wear brands that are out there today.

Items from the POST O’ALLS autumn / winter 2009 collection.

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With men’s market week going on in NYC, a lot of people are in town and much is happening on the news front. On Tuesday I had a chance to meet up with the gentlemen from Beams+ for cocktails at White Star. Once the Absinthe arrived we quickly got down to talking shop. Seeing as Beams+ is my favorite store on earth, I take their recommendations seriously. One of the things that came up is a new limited edition line from the esteemed UK brand Barbour. The eight piece outerwear collection — designed by Japan’s To Ki To — is a hybrid of classic Barbour from the brand’s archives and modern technical outerwear. I took some time at the Collective trade show to investigate further. After coaxing the Barbour people to show me the line I was blown away by the collection.

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The canvas bags from the Japanese maker Superior Labor seem to consistently rise to the top. This Enginner 2Way tote from Utility Coop is especially nice. How could you argue with a “Product by Handmade Superiority.”

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