Call me crazy, but I actually rescheduled an appointment to have a nagging wisdom tooth removed from my jawline so that I could check out this bi-annual trade show at Vancouver's Trade and Convention Centre. I visited the Spring/Summer 08 show in the fall with my fellow John Casablancas classmates and helped dress for the fashion show that was held, showcasing Ripcurl, Quicksilver, Nudie Jeans, and much more.
I went with a few goals in mind: First, I wanted to pick up on a few forecasting tips, such as key colors, silhouettes, accessories, that are specific to the skate/surf/board trend demographic. Also, I wanted to learn a bit about
Brixton, a very cool and musically influenced brand carried at
Edie Hats, but we will save that for later.
Luckily, the
KNOW?SHOW provides tons of material, and the vendors hand out catalogs and showcase their brand, so it is not difficult to see the main trends permeating different lines. Flipping through the material, and looking at the booths, something became very clear. The ready-to-wear, hip, young, fashion world is revolving around music right now. This meant plenty of skinny or straight cut jeans, striped tops, fedoras, little bomber style jackets, and so on and so forth.
Exhibit A:
This editorial in the KNOW?MAG featured 8 glossy pages of pretty boys and girls dressed up in skinny jeans, flannel shirts, jean jackets and striped cardigans, posing before drums, mics, keyboards, strats, and my personal favorite, with cheap wine and cigarettes in hand. Come on. Really?
Exhibit B:
Here we have the very front page, the cover, of the
Brixton catalog. It Sends a pretty distinct message, and one that is completely in line with their company image.
It only became clearer, as I looked through the
Vestal Watch booklet, and my eyes happened upon the likes of
Peaches, Jesse Hughes of
Eagles of Death Metal, Carah Faye of
Shiny Toy Guns(Anyone have an urge to buy a Motorola Razor? I guess I watch too much television), and Jesse Keeler formerly of
Death From Above 1979, and now with electro-outfit
MSTRKRFT, all wearing signature Vestal accessories. Of course there was a fair share of skateboard and snowboard heroes along the way, but the marriage between this culture and the artists and music that inspired it became a huge focus. Interestingly enough, a focus that has influenced fashion both mainstream and underground.
This is wonderful news for someone of my persuasion. I know those bands, I've been reading about their rise to fame for a few years, but when this end of things met the board-riding community is news to me! It is very cool, though. I wish I had a better adjective to describe it, but I think 'cool' sounds about right. The two brands mentioned above are on the money in regard to trend and fashion, so check them out!
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Vestal Watch ---
Brixton Ltd.
