Denimology

Wood Wood Fall 2009 Collection

Wood Wood began as a t-shirt label and urban clothing store in Copenhagen back in '02, but quickly grew into a full-fledged design house, producing collections that show alongside Cheap Monday and J. Lindeberg at Stockholm Fashion Week. For its latest, Wood Wood brings a plucky-yet-polished blend of grunge and mod together, perfecting the slacker-in-private-school wardrobe. The trick here is to use layering to balance out the two very different styles. Oversized denim jackets lend dimensional grit to clean fitted lines, while half-tucked button-ups and clingy knits cinch in the slouchier silhouettes. For extra points, add a punky too-small porkpie hat or sweet beret.

Dsquared2 Men's RTW Spring 2010

Dsquared2 brought something new to the denim in their 2010 Men's Ready-to-Wear collection with a great outdoors theme. The boy scout models wore badges on their shirts and baggy denim, often rolled, with tackle boxes in hand and rubber boots. Suddenly I feel a strong urge to go camping, yowsa! Check out the denim on the runway at Paris Fashion Week.

TV Spring 2009

In a short two years, new Australian label TV has moved from collection to collection with zesty gusto and zero fear, creating cult pieces that are as eclectic as wearable. Inclusions in Vogue and Harper's Bazaar eds and industry praise as a 'label to watch' hasn't slowed TV's creativity though, whose designers Monika Tywanek & Ingrid Verner refuse to dwell on past successes and instead keep pushing forward toward new ideas. It is a dangerous approach in a business where brands feed on finding the right niche to sell to, but then again, the refreshing runways of successful chameleon kid Christopher Kane seem to teach otherwise.
TV's latest Spring 09 exercise in denim idolatry is our favourite to date. Fabrics take on similar looks as hand-painted cotton mini dresses and ruffled chambray mingle with shiny blue silks and bleached-out denims. Biker shorts in denim and linen serve as summer's answer to leggings and the underpinnings for slouchy tops. Bold cutouts in everything from a jean swimsuit to the sleeves of a denim jacket are a street-cool interpretation of the trend without the oversexed connotations. It's House of Holland but chicer, Alexander Wang but more daring...so yea, we think we'll be watching more TV.

Meadham Kirchhoff "Stitch Me Up" Denim Jacket

Earlier I blogged about the Meadham Kirchhoff Spring 2009 line. The show stopping piece from the line would have to be the "stitch me up" jacket (coined by the folks at C'est la vie). I marveled over this piece and had to inspect the images throughly. It is such a gorgeous piece I thought it deserved it's own post. If you care to look at more pieces of this style, check in with the peeps over at Colette. And WOW! Isn't the image above (from jak & jill) of Caroline Issa, the managing director and publisher of Tank Magazine, a stunning shot?

Meadham Kirchhoff Spring/Summer '09

Ed Meadham and Benjamin Kirchhoff opened their Spring 2009 show with sheer black organza tailoring followed by a hybrid jean-leggings! The tops of outfits consisted of what Ed Meadham affectionately refers to as "rotting lace". But what was happening down south is what garnered every peeper in the tent. The view-- handmade armor and amalgams made of denim and motocross leather, patched together with shredded indigo denim with knee pads, cross-lacing, and zippers. I can't quite figure out how Balmain is all the rage yet we haven't seen celebs wearing these stunning pieces. I hope to bring attention to the craftsmanship I am seeing here. Enjoy the pieces presented, they are surely a hidden gem who won't be quite so underground in the near future.

Maise Denim Spring/Summer 2009-2010

Former Topshop designer Claire Greaves' new Maise denim line has released their Team M Spring Summer '09/10 collection, inspired by early nineties teen flicks - Teen Wolf, Teen Witch and cult television series My So Called Life.

From pep rallies, head cheerleaders and star quarterbacks, to chess club, the debating team and classic audiovisual geeks - the range draws influence from the jock and geek cultures of American high school. The Maise denim range is part rebel, part wholesome all American girl. Check out these images from their recent runway show and lookbook. You can find the collection online here.