In this post I'm mixing the sorta old with the sorta new, but always very cool. If you live in Canada or frequent Kanye West's blog, than you're probably already pretty familiar with the first video featured. Its by Toronto based singer-songwriter/ producer Colin Munroe, who was recently featured on Much Music's The New Music. Its a pretty cool cover of West's single Flashing Lights, with an indie rock twist (?). Its a solid cover because its not a direct rip off of the original. He re-interprets and re-imagines the song, the lyrics and its themes on fame and fortune in way that is both recognizable and new and that brings to light concepts raised in the original that may have been missed upon hearing it the first time around. I didn't hear about it until recently, but its been around for awhile on youtube and eventually caught the attention of the self proclaimed Louis Vuitton Don himself, and he gave it both his blessing and endorsement by posting it on his blog. So good on ya Munroe. And if you're ever trolling around youtube, please check out some of his original work which he also posted on the site because its pretty good stuff.




Video number two is brought to you by Gnarles Barkley, who in my opinion are the new king pins of neo-soul. The video was shot in Jamaica and features sleek Jamaican street style, cool dancers and a story line I'm not quite sure I totally get but totally love and was directed by local superstar Wendy Morgan. There's not much else to say other than that its simply brilliant and good on ya Gnarles Barkley. Enjoy!






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Our Legacy first came to my attention through a fashion profile on refinery29 and has remained stuck in brain ever since. Our Legacy is a Swedish label that focuses on smart casual wear for men and take its sartorial cues from early 60's era English upper-class student dressing. The story behind the Spring/ Summer collection is a coming of age story about an Oxford boy moving to Paris and falling in love with both its art and intellectuals whiles maintaining his Englishness through his style of dress. The lines a classic and sophisticated but the clothing and general aesthetic remains casual and relaxed. Also there is not a skinny jean to be seen. Just well made and well fitted pants, with many mix and match classic pieces. One of the most interesting elements of the collection is that even though the story behind it is one of youth and growing up, the clothes themselves a are uniquely ageless. Anyone can pull of these looks without seeming as if they are dressing either too young or too old. Also despite the clear references to the early 60's the clothes look modern and timeless and most importantly relevant, also to a certain extent androgynous, but without seeming at all effeminate. I love classic menswear, and despite have a vagina I would gladly wear many the pieces myself. Sadly, Our Legacy ( to my knowledge) doesn't of have a women's line yet, but if and when they do, you can bet I'll be all over it like marmalade on a scone. Also the styling here is kept to a minimum, but it seems the key is for men to role up their trousers to ankle length and pair them with their wingtips or classic white tennis shoes, a la Sartorialist.

The sixties, as a fashion reference point, has been strong for the past few seasons, and right now is getting a little tired, but as current menswear continues to evolve, the sixties, in the midst of hipster/faux indie dominance feels refreshing and, at the very least, is a reprise from the stronghold that skinny jeans and thin cotton t-shirts seems to have on mens fashion lately. As with anyone with a television set, cable, and appreciation for great writing and acting, I have fallen head overheels in love with the AMC series Mad Men, and can barely stand the wait for the second season to begin, July 27th. To say that one of the main reasons I love the show is because of the amazing period styling and clothing, is a bit of understatement. But I'm much more fascinated by the sharp tailoring, clean lines and narrow cuts of the suits worn by the male characters then I am about the high-waisted and pre-mod pattering of the womenswear worn by their female counterparts. Whiles the sixties,even done in the right way, for womenswear can easily feel dated or rehashed, in menswear the early sixties simply represent clean lines , modern and fitted tailoring, which results in a timeless masculine chicness that bold pattern and changing hemlines have a harder time achieving or competing with. There has been plenty of noise made already from the series' debut about the costuming, but I watched the whole series from the first to the last episode again , and simply can't get over how sleek the cast looks. the styling is spot on, and seems particularly relevant as menswear is going through a bit of a classic American Sportswear revival at the moment, especially for spring/summer. Also I haven't done a post on menswear in quite awhile, and whiles running the risk of turning my blog into a video catalog, I couldn't resist posting this video from the AMC blogs featuring the stylists of the show discussing the looks and their piecing together of the Mad Men wardrobe, and essentially how they are able to create a look that feels authentically early 60's and American. Enjoy!

Last months Lanvin announced that they have consulted Acne Jeans for a denim collection expanding their line of high-end clothing. Pioneers Acne Jeans revolutionized denim fashion with their skinny jeans. What makes Acne and Lanvin a perfect match is that both companies are minimalist. Acne’s Jean for example have no broidery or logos on the back pockets giving off a neutral and stealthy appearance.

Details are yet to be released about the partnership or whether Lanvin will use the denim line to go down market. Currently their line of clothing is highly premium with nothing for sale that a blue collar guy can buy and without swallowing a lot of water. If the shareholders are money hungry the denim line will be cheaper than Lanvin’s current line of products, if not exclusivity will be ensured using limited production and high prices.

There are two things kicks off a cloudy Tuesday in a positive manner. One is waking up to a cute message on your phone for a soon-to-become mistress, and the other second one is “finding” money. Digging for dirty laundry in my wardrobe I pulled up a pair of trousers which had not been worn in a few weeks and was due to spend some times in the washing machine. Checking through the pockets I made a discovery in the front right pocket. Folded three times was a lonely legal tender in the form of a £20 note!! How awesome isn’t that, finding money you thought you never had?

With a £20 note to spare for what ever I want I walked the streets of London realizing that for the first time in my life, I’m in need of a calendar? Having always been the type who stores all his agenda in the head I finally realize that a calendar will help me manage my life a little bit better. When in stress I tend to suffer from Alzheimer and with important things on my agenda I cannot afford having negligence standing in my way. Hunting for a calendar my first pray was Smythson which is a manufacturer of fine stationary.

Horrified by the price of a highly luxurious leather 08/09 calendar priced at £210 avoiding the smell of leather became my first criteria. Lurking around various shops I stumbled across ORDNING&REDA which was a familiar brand name since it’s Swedish. Their wide variety of stationary in various colours had me trapped. Spotting a box filled with 2008 calendar in an array of colours I got even locked in place by the price sign stating “75% off all 2008 calendars”. Available for a just under £5 I knew that finding anything better at a competitive price would highly unlikely. Next up I had to battle with philosophical challenge of choice. With 6 different colours in different textures I contemplated for 10 minutes deciding over which to take with me home. Since the calendar was to spend most of it’s time in my bag I placed every single colour next to the bag to see how they paired together. In the end the navy blue one with a shiny luster became the choice since the dark, matte and gleamy texture makes it look more luxurious than the other colors which were white, lime green and bright lava orange. Alligator green and burgundy would be a great addition to their line of colours.

Replacing my worn out notebook the calendar in a happy home with all the other items I carry with me. I thought that I should attach pictures of what’s in my bag so that all guys who wonder what on earth I might need a bag for. Anyone with moderate IQ level can guess that the umbrella and sunglasses rarely leave together since rain and severe sunshine are two extremes. Water bottle is a necessity which I’m used to carrying with me after having lived in the very dry climate of Southern California. The wallet carries all the cards and cash, camera is very handy and is stored in the red case which look gorgeous next to the blue calendar and brown bag. Since cargo pants with big pockets aren’t going to be fashion anytime soon, I hope that you can now understand my need for a bag.

The white shirt is the common denominator of all wardrobes. It’s a piece that every man should posses. As a foundation for any proper wardrobe the white shirt is ironically our most “precious” piece of garments. There’s a holy aura around it which has every owner under the spell of protecting it at all cost. Many people only pull out their white shirts at special occasions and when they do it’s, unlike their other piece of clothing, perfectly ironed. Why do we give such a high level of care to our white shirts??

White shirts happen to be amongst the cheapest clothing money can buy and they tend to be significantly cheaper than any other coloured shirts. It’s such a basic element in our wardrobe and we should rock white shirts like a 2 year old rock diapers. Stain someone’s white shirt and they eyes will turn red with fury focusing on the stain for the rest of the day. Yes, white is more sensitive to dirt than other colours but white clothes are also very easy to wash. The first aid kit in any household is a stain remover, which should be applied ASAP after “disaster” has struck, after a few hours soak it in a bucket filled with detergent and water until it’s time for it to hit the washing machine. Follow those tips and rest assured, you shirt should remain whiter than cocaine. Obviously a white shirt is not to be worn if you have planed on eating spaghetti bolognese while participating in a paint ball war during a rainy day in the forest.

In conjunction with my outfit posted last week, shirts are optimal for warm climates. Unbuttoning allows ventilation and the same goes for rolling up the sleeves. As the sun set and temperature drop, rolling down the sleeves will protect you for any breeze. What’s critical when wearing a white shirt casually is that the fit is slim or else you’ll look like a sales guy on a 15:00 break playing hangman. Sadly cheap shirts are often of classic fit and highly non-trendy for use without a blazer or sweater on top. If laziness isn’t a problem taking a shirt to a tailor is worth the hassle and shouldn’t cost more than $/€10-20.

Simon Doonan, as we all know, is the window designer at Barney's, as well as fashion editorialist at the New York Observer and author. And if you are at all familiar with his work you probably have realized that he is one of the funniest fashion observers and commentators in (at least) New York. This is an old video interview, on Fashionista, by Mo Rocca ( seriously what is his job?), he did to promote his book Eccentric Glamor, but its so chock full of funny one liners and somewhat satiric fashion insights, I thought it should be shared. If you live in New York, you've probably already seen it a thousand times and a long time ago. but if you don't i hope this turns out to be a great little fashion treat. Enjoy!

Handling the tough decisions you enslave an unpaid female intern as personal assistant to keep track of your schedule making sure you are at the right place, at the right time. As a respectable man having a watch on your left wrist is a good idea too. Most importantly a wrist watch is good for timing people boring you to death with weak business proposal, time them with you watch and cut them off if they have failed to trigger your interest within the first 15 minutes.

Timing obviously requires a fine wrist watch capable of measuring time with highest possible precision. The best of the best will only do and that includes manufacturers like Breguet, Vacheron Constantine, Zenith, Patek Phillipe and Jaeger Le' Coultre. A time piece from either of those manufacturers will make a Cartier or Tag-Heuer look as exclusive as codfish. They represent engineering at its absolute finest with thousands years of knowledge in gravity and physics baked into a time displaying instrument on your wrist. Only those who have seen one of these uncompromised time pieces in real life can appreciate the level of engineering complexity lying under the glass window. Some of these time pieces take as long as 4-8 months to piece together.

With time being scares as sun light in northern Sweden during winter, decisions sometimes have to be taken on the move. The Mercedes Maybach is the campervan for executives. Stuck in traffic you have a foldable table, internet access, satellite telephone and a fridge to keep you busy.

Sometimes you just want to relax and that’s were the Maybach shines offering the most comfortable seat seats on the market. The seats can be reclined and be customized in the same way as a first class seat. Maybach Landaulet(pictured) is the latest edition to the line up and comes with a foldable rag top for the rear for anyone with ambitions to look cooler than the Pope this summer.

A Maybach might be a triumph worth celebrating but the final destination of the career will be made in your very own private yet across 6 times zones. Dr. Vijay Mallya has reached his destination with his fully customized Airbus VT-VJM. Not only does a private aircraft save you tons of time but it allow you to do what ever frequent flyer want to do, which is to have intercourse at an altitude 2times higher than mount Everest.

Biggest ego project of them all is venture capitalist Tom Perkins’s yatch. He got a shipyard to commission the largest privately owned sail boat for him. Named “the Maltese Falcon”, it’s one extraordinary creation. More impressive is that he designed the controlling software himself. That illustrates that billionaire’s aren’t just indulging in obscene consumptions but are actually highly productive. Many of the worlds billionaire’s started from scratch like any average human. All the wealth they posses isn’t just a reward for their smartness or intelligence but most importantly for they risks they take. Business is not only about having a great idea but also being willing to go at it by accepting the risk of loosing every penny invested.

These people didn’t stop when they made their first 100 million but continued to flip their money over and over, like Russian business magnet Roman Abrahamovich who bought Chelsea soccer team and turned into one of the most competitive soccer teams in the world.

Hottest places to be every summer for any big hitter is in Monaco during the Formula 1 Grand Prix. The event of Formula 1 drivers racing on a street circuit completely overshadows the Cannes film festival. Small boats at the harbor leave and make space for the big yatch on where the rich and luxury will sit watching the spectacle. For Formula 1 fanatics the race is sadly the least watcher-friendly one on the calendar because of the nonexistent overtaking possibilities. Those on site at the events will killer time enjoying the spectacles and festivities that take place during the race weekend. The drivers love battling in Monaco for the glory, Monaco GP is after all the most prestigious races a driver can win. Tomorrow Ferrari and Mclaren will battle it out for the glamor and if there weather will be like predicted, rainy, then we will have one very entertaining race with cars sliding into the barriers and clogging up like rice poured into a kitchen sink.