Spring is finally showing itself here in Stockholm. For me it’s an unbeatable feeling when you slowly will be able to transcend into lighter garments. That is today’s focus, lighter garments, just a vest, turtleneck, scarf and a beanie, that’s it!
Vest – Aspesi, Turtleneck – Tommy Hilfiger, Jeans – Arket, Boots – Loewe, Beanie – Drake’s, Scarf – Oscar Jacobson
I will never get tired of the earth tones color palette as it’s the easiest and most versatile combination that you can wear. These colors will look even better during the winter season as it will stand out in the grey and dark outfits worn by many.
Coat – Oscar Jacobson, Jacket – Boglioli, Turtleneck – Morris Heritage, Trousers – Massimo Alba, Shoes – Tricker’s, Bag – Dunhill
The layering season is starting to reach its peak time here in Sweden and it is a good idea to build up different layers underneath your coat to stay warm. The key is still to have a warm and comfortable coat, and one that stands out in the crowd is Private White V.C Jeep Coat. For today’s inspiration board, I have combined it with the same shades of brown.
Coat – Private White V.C, Jacket – Gieves & Hawkes, Shirt – Stenströms, Tie – Drake’s, Scarf – Begg & Co, Trousers – Incotex, Hat – Borsalino, Shoes – Berluti
A year has soon pasted and it is time to celebrate the past and to greet what is to come. Today’s inspiration collage is an example how you can do this an elegant and stylish way. I also want to take the opportunity to wish everyone a New Year filled with happiness and good fortune.
Jacket – Ralph Lauren Purple Label, Trousers – Ralph Lauren Purple Label, Shirt – Eton, Bow tie – Prada, Pocket square – Saint Laurent, Cuff links – Maison Margiela, Watch – Sekford Watches, Shoes – Crockett & Jones
Handmade ready to wear garments with the finest materials and construction to an affordable price. In my ears, it sounds like a perfect combination for the gentlemen who wants quality that is as close as possible to bespoke, but do not have the time to wait for weeks, or even months. One of the first brands that took this concept to the world was D’Avenza, and in today’s article I wanted us to look closer at the brand and where you are still able to buy the last available collections.
Simon Ackerman started his concern as a men’s clothing manufacturer in 1914 in New York. After bringing quality tailored clothing in the higher price range to the North America market, he went back to his roots in England and came up with the idea to import British made suits for the North America market.
At his return to London in 1935, he established a new tailor house with the name Chester Barrie. The aim was to create ready to wear tailoring garments with the same attention and quality as the bespoke garments from the famous tailors in Savile Row, England. The success behind it was to create a shorter wait time for this level of quality, and also a considerable lower price for the customer. To be able to sell the suits to an affordable price, the button holes were unfinished and therefor the company were able to send them to the United States without any additional import duties.
To be able to retain the level of quality in the workshop, the company constantly acquired skilled tailors from Italy. In the 1950’s, the company started to initiate an idea to start a new tailor house in Italy instead of importing tailors to England. It was not until 1957 that the new tailor house D’Avenza was founded in the Italian town of where the brand takes its name from, Avenza di Carrara.
D’Avenza was unique many ways and it is said to be the first company who started to mass produce hand made tailoring garments in Italy. Many other famous tailoring houses such as Kiton and Attolini looked at D’Avenza and adopted to what is later to be known as the “D’Avenza method”. The brand had its most successful era up until the 1970’s and were later bought out of bankruptcy in 1994 by Renato Cecchi, an Italian entrepreneur which is most famous for his ownership of the Santo Stefano textile mill. The brand was relaunched in 2007 offering a range of new types of jackets from the old archives.
The modern phases of the old D’Avenza was manufactured in the years of 2001-2012. During this time period, the garments was overseen and styled by master cutter Ralph Anania. It was not until 2014 when the company was transitioned to the new Italian owner, Brand Amour, and what many would call the end of the era of D’Avenza. At this time, D’Avenza changed focus from being a brand that produced high end handmade tailoring garments, to producing fashionable sport coats and jacket in technical materials.
There are few historical houses that can mention clients such as Mastroianni, Steve McQueen, Marlon Brando, Cary Grant, Tyrone Power and Gregory Peck. Even that the old brand of D’Avenza have been decommissioned since long, there are still connoisseurs that are putting hands on the garments due to its reputation. As these garments are no longer produced, getting a hold of garments would acquire you to find one of the few dead stocks that are available. Sellers on Ebay and Grailed would still stock some of the last pieces from the old era of D’Avenza that are available. Another retailer that acquired are great stock and one of the last collections available was Sartoriale. Sartoriale is a multi-brand retailer which have maintained a great relationship with luxury brands such as Kiton, Rubinacci and Attolini. These kind of relationships have made it possible to acquire old stock from brands such as D’Avenza, Sartoria Partenopa, Chiaia.
In terms of craftsmanship, D’Avenza belonged to the same range as one of the finest tailoring houses such as Kiton, Attolini and Brioni. That means more or less everything was made by the highest standard and by hand, and always had a floating full canvas construction when applicable. Only some minor details such as the lining was not always attached by hand.
The most common comparison have been made between Brioni and D’Avenza due to its similarities of their house style. As many other brands, D’Avenza have manufactured different type of models during the years, which have included details such as a more constructed shoulder with more padding, high waist trousers with a wider silhouette, slimmer trousers with a narrow opening and lightweight summer sport coats without any type of canvas construction. The list can be made long and a lot of these garments can feel outdated looking at today’s trends.
If we look at the current availability on the different models, most of the garments would probably have been produced in the 2000’s. That means that it is a high possibility to find garments with more minimalist and light weighted construction, featuring details such as soft shoulders with less padding, barchetta breast pockets and three-two rolled lapels.
In the end, D’Avenza never manged established its brand in neither the North America or European market, which still astonish me as well as other people around the globe. What we do know is that D’Avenza, the former D’Avenza that is, created one of the finest ready to wear tailoring in the world.
How can you dress at the office when the temperatures are dropping outside? The answer for your questions is the sleeveless cardigan. It will keep you warm enough when layered underneath a jacket and coat when there is a need to take lunch break outside. At the same time, it will keep you cool enough indoors as it’s only covering the front of your body, and not the arms.
Jacket – Stenströms, Shirt – Drake’s, Cardigan – Morris Heritage, Jeans – Maison Margiela, Pocket square – Drake’s, Shoes – Church’s, Tie – Drake’s.
For this week I wanted us to take a closer look how to dress causally for the colder season. I normally live in a turtleneck during fall and winter, but sometimes something else is needed in the weekly rotation. The key here is to work with layering, start off with a shirt, sweater, a heavier sport coat and last but not least a scarf for keeping you neck warm. Now you are ready for the upcoming week in Stockholm with temperatures around 5-10 Celsius.
Jacket – Oscar Jacobson, Sweater – NN07, Shirt – Stenströms, Trousers – J.Lindeberg, Scarf – Drake’s, Shoes – Loake 1880
What I like the most about the winter season is to be able to put on a heavy jacket. It’s comfortable and cozy, and it keeps you warm even if the temperatures are dropping outside. One of my favorite jackets for the winter season is the the pea coat with its heritage from the navy. One of the best ones out there is the one from Private White V.C and today will be the key focus in my collage.
Pea coat – Private White V.C, Turtleneck – Oscar Jacobson, Trousers – Morris Heritage, Hat – Drake’s, Chukka’s – Loake 1880
I’m one of those guys who always go for the earthy tones such as brown and beige, but lately I started to admire a touch of colors in my outfit. In today’s post I wanted to play around with the mustard yellow color and found this beautiful jacket from the legendary jacket manufacture Valstar.
Jacket – Valstar, Turtleneck – Hugo Boss, Trousers – Morris Heritage, Sneakers – Buttero
Military inspired clothing will always have a special place in my wardrobe and something that will never go out of style. As fall is already upon us here in Stockholm, I wanted to create this inspiration collage for how the wear the flight jacket. This type of jacket can either be combined with everything from jeans to more formal trousers. It’s versatile, and with a faux or real fur collar, it will also keep you warm during most of the fall season.
Jacket – J.Lindeberg, T-shirt – Filippa K, Trousers – Caurso, Shoes – Common Projects, Bag – Mansur Gavriel, Sunglasses – Ray-Ban, Watch – Timex
