One of the funnest blogs I’ve seen in a long time has to be this post from The Sartorialist. On a regular basis this blog is packed full with top of the line undercover fashion icons.

But anything to do with moustaches is instantly shunted to the top of my list! I love this feed and if you have any taste you will too! Gosh darn it, I really hope my own birthday part is like this…

“I have always loved this picture of my mother and father (Ann and Herman) enjoying a night out at Grossinger’s Resort in the Catskill Mountains in New York. (It was the inspiration for Kellerman’s Mt. Resort in Dirty Dancing). This was taken sometime in the early 1950’s. My father, who is now 90 years old, told me this was some kind of mystery themed event. What I love so much about this photo, besides that it always makes me laugh, is that it shows what a cute couple they were and that they loved having a fun time together. They were happily married for 65 years and were madly in love.

Growing up poor in Philadelphia did not stop my mother from expressing herself through fashion. She had such a wonderful and carefree style - she loved wearing bright colors and patterns, and never left the house without looking perfectly put together. In this picture I love her plaid skirt and how it matches my dads plaid jacket. Also her lace up shoes are just fabulous.”

So, I’m back from Lebanon and although I am yet to write a blog full of the stories and LOLs from my trip. I felt it was high time to write a blog of some sort. But with this factor in mind, this does not mean that this blog is any less important. In fact, this blog highlights an extremely serious matter. Moustaches.

Yes moustaches. The facial hair for the upper lip. The perfect accessory to any mans outfit.

I think they are the best. I mean, I see them everywhere! Even when I doodle, I draw little moustaches! When I see a good moustache it just makes my day! And with this in mind I have decided how to spend my birthday this year. Yes, I know it’s in months away in June but I’m going to be 21 this year and I figured I should do something fancy! So, here are the things that shall be crucial to my ‘Upper Class British Mens’ 21st birthday.

Of course I’ll need a cake.

I’ll need some appropriate head wear.

I’ll need some appropriate party materials.

I’ll have to wear a monocle instead of my glasses and a pipe for bubbles. Obviously I’ll be given an array of appropriate presents too. I’d like a car but I’d settle for a hobby horse!

Soon enough I’ll have everything I need for the perfect 21st. I’ll have to convince my house mates and friends to draw on moustaches. I doubt the girls will be willing to grow one. But who knows! If they started shaving now, I’m sure they’d have one by June! If this continues for much longer I’ll have no choice but to get the classic tache tattoo on my index finger!

- credit for the M is for Moustache picture goes to unique illustrator D P Sullivan.

You really don’t want to miss this!

Believe.

Over the past 10 years Supremebeing™ have firmly established themselves on the UK clothing landscape, and they don’t want to stop there. They have managed to superbly negotiate the difficulties of keeping the soul, excitement and independant feel in a very successful highstreet brand. Based out of Cambridge and coming with a burgeoning reputation for forward thinking and directional design, we got to chat to David Newman about the goings on at Supremebeing™.

What’s your name, where are you from, what do you do?

Hi there, my name is David Newman I was born in Cambridge UK and I’m one of the team at Supremebeing™.

How and why did you start Supremebeing™?

We established Supremebeing™ in 1999 Yoc / Mozza / Skuff and myself in Cambridge, some screen printers, artists, designers and entrepreneurs. Born from a love of graphic design, art and streetwear, the belief was that with talent and hard work we could make a career from what we love. We had great designs; it was up to us to make it happen. The team began with tee and hoody prints that would become the foundation of the brand. It was here that the name Supremebeing™ first appeared; a strap line to a graphic which depicted one of the designers’ left hand missing part of a finger lost in a bizarre chip shop accident! This was Yoc, his mum used to call him a Supremebeing and said to him, that in the eyes of god we are all equal!

Created first Amongst Equals! All Supremebeing’s.

Renting a space at the screen printers where we once worked, we developed our own print techniques and produced a huge catalogue of graphics. The new designs could be printed to order from a stock of blank tee shirts in a rainbow of colours, giving unprecedented speed and flexibility. Supremebeing™ grew organically, evolving from graphic to garment design, and moved into new areas in response to meeting and taking on new talent. Our handmade ethic continued year on year as a base of like-minded customers steadily built around the world.

Today the apparel and footwear ranges still retain the original concepts of creativity, passion and exceptional design Supremebeing™ was based on, and it is committed to offering quality product with no gimmicks and a touch of good humour. This is our culture, our scene. We were sick of brands repackaging our culture and selling it back to us at ridiculous prices. We wanted to make clothes that represented who we were and also that our friends could afford…”

We funded it all off our own back and whatever we made from sales we put straight back into the company, the same as we do today!

How many people currently keep Supremebeing™ running day to day?

At our base in Cambridge there is a full time team of 14 of us:

Design: Yoc / Skuff / Billy / DQ / Sammy / Mary /

Web: Trip / Amy / Meado

Marketing: Simon

Logistics and Finance: Mozza / Kerry / Matt / Pete

Part time: James / Duncan

I fall somewhere in there too! I also feel that all our distributors around the world need a mention and our agents in London, its actually quite scary the amount of people that are involved with Supremebeing™ now day’s, we have over 10 distributors around the world who employ on average about 4/7 agents, the family is growing weekly, and the love we feel form the people we meet is amazing, without all involved we would never be where we are today and where we are going!

How did you make the shift into large cut and sew ranges, what was the first cut and sew piece you ever produced?

We started printing on hoods and crews as well as t-shirts then we meet a girl called billy about 6 years ago who was in her 1st year at Uni in Nottingham, she came and did work experience with us and we all developed a girls snowboard style jacket and some dope mens trak tops! From there we meet more designers and sort of taught ourselves with help from friends how the cut and sew world worked, Our first full collections we produced in Portugal for jersey and the jackets we made in China through a friend in Korea!

We still look back and try and work out where this big transition was but it was and still is very Organic, it’s all about the people we meet and how we help each other out!

Time lines are infinite they never seem to end so as far as how long did it take, we feel we are still very much on the journey! We also produce quite a large collection of sneakers twice a year, this is looked after by the one and only DQ the street cobbler! Keep your eyes peeled for all future development

Was the brand self sustaining in its growth, did one collections profits fund the development of the subsequent ones increase in collection size?

We design things hope people like them and buy them, then use the cash we make to invest in the next collection / ideas and so and so on! We do it for the love, We just try to keep the rollercoaster moving and hold on tight!

Was there a specific turning point when you feel the brand ‘took off’ as such?

Its nice to hear you feel we have blown up already we feel there is so much more love and passion to put in! Meaning hard work and time, we feel so lucky everyday and yet still feel a bit slept on! I still feel we have so much to do to get out there more!

How was the bricks and mortar flagship store experience, and the positives and negatives of moving to a web flagship?

We loved our old store, we were just in the wrong location and never really had the cash we needed to put into it! Rent in our hometown is so high! The shop inspired people so it served its purpose, shame it never made us any cash! To be honest it just lost us money, since going only on line we are starting to see some return!

We are looking at opening a space somewhere out there soon; in the mean time we are web focused!

The Supremebeing™ x Nooka watch is one of my favorite collaborations of recent times, how did that come about?

We like Nooka™, and originally met them at a show in Barcelona when they had just launched and chatted about a colab. We then went to see them in NY a year or so later and did the colab, we love colabs and are looking at doing many more in the future

How do you feel balancing the independent exclusive side of things with the more easily accessible highstreet face of the brand?

We are carful who we work with and generally work with nice people, it’s so difficult to have a balance, but I feel we have done well to maintain the brand and keep to our core values!

What is the vision for Supremebeing™ now, where do you want to head with the brand?

Keep it going / create more beautiful products for a beautiful future / take the brand to more people so they can feel it the same way we do! Our next big areas we are focusing are the US / China and as always the UK.
If you could collaborate with one artist, brand, musician….anyone.  Who would it be and why?

Hendrix or Bob Marley but im sure the team will all have the favorites! And shame they’re not around to do it meaning my choices. Living artist I guess I would say someone like Neil Young.

To keep up to date with the big news relating to Supremebeing™ head over to their website HERE, and to buy some of the immaculate product head to UNIFY SHOP!

Liverpool’s largest independent clothes store Resurrection have created quite the name for themselves. After getting in touch, we got a chance to sit down with Rob Pritchard and find out from the owner himself, just what’s going down over there!

Whats your name, where are you from and what do you do?

My names Rob Pritchard and I own and run Liverpool’s largest independent - Resurrection with my wife Lisa. We stock a vast and varied mix of brands including Carhartt, Lee, Zoo York, Merc, Converse, Onitsuka Tiger, Fly 53, Fred Perry, Religion, House of the Gods, Amplified and too many others to list. About 110 in all. We also stock a massive range of men’s and women’s vintage.

Ace, I personally can’t get enough of vintage and good ol’ Fred Perry but what’s Resurrection’s story, and what was the drive to make it work?

I founded Resurrection in 1988 when I was a student at Durham University. Originally it was a small stall that I used to run at the Student Union building once or twice a term. I’d take £100 on a good day and that seemed like an awful lot of money at the time as I was always broke. It was originally a purely vintage offering and stayed so in fact until about 2000. I started the store because I needed to make some money. I already loved scouring the charity shops, boot fairs and jumble sales for clothes for myself. One Easter holiday I decided to buy a bit extra so I could sell it on. I had some really cheap places I knew about and the initial stock cost about £40. It was a big gamble because that was pretty much all I had.

My father had died a couple of years earlier and my mum wasn’t in a position to bail me out if it all went pear shaped. After I graduated I carried on with the markets. I borrowed £700 off my sister and brought a really inappropriate old Land Rover to move stock around in. It leaked and stock often got ruined. It also drove like a tractor and did about 12 miles a gallon on a run. I soon paid her back although she still goes on about how she helped me out. In 1991 I opened a stall which was about 8 foot by 12 foot in the Quiggins Arcade. My Mum really helped me out in the early years by working on the stall when I was away buying or doing other markets. She became a well known figure herself on the Liverpool scene during these years and all kinds of people still ask about her. She still did odd days in the shop up to 4 years ago.

Over the years it increased in size and by the mid 90’s was making me good money. Lisa joined me in 1996 when we got married. Her input really helped move things on as she had a formal sales training and she also proved to be an excellent womens wear buyer. This isn’t why I married her though - when I met her I thought “what a Hottie”, and I still do now. In the last 4 years we’ve moved out of the Quiggins Arcade as the inner city development forced its closure. The move into primary retail space really was a big risk but it didn’t take long before we were making a big hit.

That’s quite a history! But what were the customers saying? Within the area, how well was it received at first?

Our first “big” store was at 25 Bold St. It was 3000 sq ft and seemed enormous. We opened that in 2006. We were in it 2 years before we’d outgrown it and now we have an 11000 sq ft store at 17-19 Bold St. The store’s always been popular. Even when it was a tiny stall in the Quiggins Centre we’d attract all kinds of customers - high profile bands and actors, young professionals, old professionals, students, normal people, Norwegians, all sorts. We’re definitely not corporate and people get that about us and believe in us. We also do things the wrong way sometimes just to see what happens. Like me buying that rubbish Land Rover all those years ago. We say it’s the Resurrection way. The staff play a big part in all this. I let them do their own thing as long as they are productive and don’t hurt anyone.

In terms of product we sell whatever I think people will want. I always aim to buy things that people will get pleasure from owning and wearing. I still get excited when I find amazing product, whether it’s something I would personally wear or not. Having such a varied customer base allows us to stock a really eclectic mix of brands and product. I still like to work on the shop floor when I can and have a lot of contact with my customers. I have so many regulars they alone could keep the business going. Some have been coming in for nearly 20 years. I’m only 41 so that’s nearly half my life.

When I select items from a collection I think in terms of buying for these guys. These guys are aged 9 to 70 so it gives me plenty of scope. Obviously with the brands we stock we appeal mainly to the 15 to 35 year olds, but there really is so much more. I find it hilarious when someone comes in who we’d have loads of things for, but for some reason they get overwhelmed by the offer and walk straight out again without really looking. It happens about twice a day when I’m on the floor. I get a real buzz when someone comes in and I think “now here’s someone we can’t possibly have anything for” and yet they get what’s going on and start finding things, or better still they start to get into stuff they didn’t even realise they would like. This happens a lot and gives me a real buzz. I feel like the store’s really made a contribution to their life.

What is it that you love about your area, do you have a big sense of pride in the locality?

I love Liverpool. I’m originally from Warrington which effectively should make me a second class citizen in the city, but I receive very little abuse.

My family were all originally from Liverpool and I grew up absolutely in love with the city. When the city was a real mess in the eighties I was so biased I still thought it was an amazing place. I love the people here, I love the scene, I love the architecture. I find it hard to fault the place.

I don’t like all the Smack Heads. Apart from that it’s a fine place.

Damn smack heads! So, what have you got going on at the moment, any interesting projects for 2010?

There’s always stuff going on. We like to do a lot of collaborations with local bands and artists. In-store gigs, photoshoots, exhibitions, that sort of thing. The web sites quite a big thing at the moment. It’s been live now for 4 months and we are shipping all round the world. So far this week we have shipped to New Zealand, Isarel, Germany and Russia and it’s only Wednesday. With the web site we will be carrying on the Resurrection tradition of not following the rules. I take notice of them, but then I think it’s best not to be restrained by them. For example, we have done the smart thing and attended Ecommerce courses, contracted an Ecommerce marketing company and taken on someone with lots of web experience, so that we have all the essentials in place. Now it’s all working and making money we can start to have some fun with it. There’s some funny stuff hidden in there for people to find. Just mischief at the moment but we’ve got the time now to really go to town on it. We’ve had a lot of positive feedback from our on-line customers and I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved so far. I didn’t think I’d be able to get my head round it so quickly being a bit of a techno phobe, but I like systems and some would say I was borderline autistic. It stands me in good stead for a lot of things in business.

You sound like quite the natural business man but for people interested in starting up an independent retail venue what would you tell them? What do you wish you’d known back when you first opened?

I knew absolutely nothing when I started. I think that’s good because you have to work out your own way of doing things. I’m not going to spoil it for anyone. They’re probably best working it out themselves.

So there is hope for the clueless entrepreneurs! But for you personally, what have been the absolute high points of the store?

Each time we expand and it works is a massive relief, if not a high point. Jared came in when he was hosting the MTV awards in Liverpool last year. He bought over £1000 of gear and loved the place. It didn’t mean that much to me at the time because I didn’t know who he was, but I really buzzed off the fact that although he was a very wealthy Hollywood star he homed in on the basement which is the part of the store that really reflects the origins of the business. It’s where all the Moddy/Indie gear is as well as the men’s vintage and he spent nearly an hour down there looking at everything. Every time someone finds the basement for the first time and really appreciates it, it reassures me that despite all the expansion over the years, we haven’t sold out. We’re still true to our roots, and what’s more people like what we’re doing

It’s Febuary now, the new year has barely begun but what do you want to have accomplished by the end of this year?

I want the website to be fully established and turning over good money. I always want the store to be the best it can be, so that goes without saying. I’ve been toying with the idea of opening a store in another city for years. I’m always put off by the fact the Liverpool store may suffer as a result. I’d rather have one brilliant store than two good ones. At some point it would be interesting if I thought I could have two brilliant stores, but we’ll have to see if that’s this year or not. I certainly won’t be sitting still anyway.

So, it sounds like Resurrection know exactly what’s on, and what to where whilst doing it. Kudos to the Pritchards for the epic creation of the Resurrection store.

Yes we try to stick to purely UK content, but some stuff is just worth a post. And this is one of those things. Big thanks for the content to BKRW.

PHARRELL WILLIAMS x BKRW video INTERVIEW from Jay SMITH on Vimeo.

BKRW.COM Digital Magazine have the exclusive chance to seat down with american true artist and designer PHARRELL WILLIAMS, in PARIS. For the presentation of his new design project the TANK CHAIR with EMMANUEL PERROTIN. www.bkrw.com

Chris Liu and Tibor Matyas are the guys behind one of the most forward thinking and progressive accessory labels around.  “The concept and inspiration of the label comes from London with its exciting mix of history, style and the futuristic modernity of the adjoining City.”  Their use of premium materials, and seemingly never-ending search for perfection in the field of luggage and bags makes their product second to none.  Already getting huge press coverage from the likes of I.D, Selectism, and many more.  We got to sit down with the guys behind the oh so special gym bags and pick their brains!

Introduce yourself to the RISE readers!

We are Chris Liu and Tibor Matyas, designer duo behind the fashion accessory label Chris&Tibor. We live and work currently in East London.

What caused you to start Chris&Tibor?

The label evolved from Chris’ seemingly simple quest for the perfect gym bag. It was in 2006.

What does Chris&Tibor mean to its consumers, how would you describe the typical characteristics of the brand?

The Chris&Tibor bag is a statement piece. It is challenging, exclusive, fashion forward and creative. Not for everybody!

Following on from that, what are the essentials of a piece of luggage / bag for you?

A bag is a practical piece of fashion and for that reason it has to be well structured and strong. When we design we like to use and mixing some unusual and trendy materials with leather, giving a distinctive look to the bag.

Where do you do all your production, and where do you source all the materials you use in your collections?

We have been doing production exclusively in London at the beginning. It was helpful as we could oversee everything closely. We have outgrow that small London factory, quantity is multiplied and with all the collaborations we cannot rely on just 1 factory anymore, we are working with different factories in different locations. Sourcing interesting and quality materials are also important, there are some big fashion tradeshows in Paris and Bologna, every seasons we are travelling to these events.

What has been your highlight so far with the current lifespan of Chris&Tibor?

It must be the UK Fashion Export Award which we won in the new exporter category in 2008. Our collaboration project also a cornerstone for the brand, we have been working together with some fantastic designers like Walter Van Beirendonck, Juun.J, Veronique Branquinho and Romain Kremer.

What do you have going on at the moment, and what do you have in store for 2010?

The most important current project is our online shop. We have been doing wholesales in the past 7 seasons and we realised that there is no future in fashion without mono brand store. We see the e-shop as a first step towards to our own retail. Visit our website (www.christibor.com) and blog (blog.christibor.com) for the latest news and updates. We launching our women bag collection and there are also lots of new collaborations coming up in 2010.

What’s your new years resolution, an official record which we’ll hold you to later in the year…?

Resolution because of New Year? Nothing really. But there is a phrase we always say between ourselves: Just do it!

Chris&Tibor have just started a facebook fanpage so for all of you socially networked individuals, head over to HERE and show them some love!

Retreat brand will be dropping what looks like some pretty sweet patches at some point soon. There’s no details on release date, but its not going to be too far away as it was described as “soonish” by brand owner Paul Sid!

Vice and Nike are embarking on a special collaboration to give you the ultimate guide to six European cities, including London, for Nike’s new app, True City.

Basically, it’s a free guide to the city from people who should know where to go, updated regularly by Vice and Nike’s city Insiders. Which is great news for you if you want to know where to drink after hours, play football with hundreds of people, eat the best chinese soft shelled crab, or buy grime white labels. You can gain pocket held access to all of this invaluable content, as well as inside information about upcoming events and product launches and the chance to upload your own content, by downloading the app for free. The best of the civilian contributors, as judged by the rest of the True City community, will even have an opportunity to become Nike Insiders themselves. Take a watch of the vid below:

You can go here to download the app for free yourself: NIKE

Vans Vault worked for Spring 2010 with Donny Miller on a Slip-On. What might at first appear as an Authentic, is actually a slip-on with a large all-over graphic print. It comes in 2 colorways as part of the Vans Vault Spring 2010 Collection.

Check out these pumps in blue too!