Rivieras Leisure shoes, first worn on Spain’s Costa Blanca in the fifties and celebrated for their superior comfort and streamlined design are set for a resurgence. Their low-top slip on style, leather soles and mesh upper set them as an optimum choice for summer footwear.
START has commissioned local based fashion illustrator and founder of DECOY, Richard Kilroy, to curate an installation for our menswear windows. The result is two window hangings based around looks from SS12 collections by Acne and One Nine Zero Six.
Routed in the elements of composition, suggestion and simplicity, Kilroy combines aspects of photo-realism with loose and suggestive line. In late 2010 he was selected by Christian Dior and Somerset House as one of only five illustrators to produce an original work for ‘Dior illustrated: Rene Gruau And The Line Of Beauty‘. His most recent commission was to produce a portrait of professor Louise Wilson OBE for her birthday.
DECOY, includes original illustrations by Kilroy, Julie Verhoeven, Richard Gray, Tara Dougans and features work and interviews with Jasper Goodall, Cedric Rivrain, Si Scott and more. The second and third issues are currently available from his website.
To date, Kilroy’s clients include Christian Dior, VMAN, Topshop, Onitsuka Tiger, Volt Magazine, Ponystep, Husk, I.T Post, Start Boutique and more. He is currently producing a book with Vivays publishing on contemporary fashion illustrators, due for release in late 2013.
Kilroy’s work will be featured in the exhibition Go Figure: New Fashion Illustration at the London College of Fashion Gallery space from Friday 11th May.
Richard Kilroy’s In Store Installation
Designer Philip Start began his career in fashion retail working for prestigious jeweller Gerrard before making his move into menswear. Always interested in fashion, he spent the Sixties under the influence of Carnaby Street and Kensington Market before emigrating to Canada where he began a determined career in menswear
He returned to London in the late Sixties and, in the late Seventies, set up his own business, Woodhouse, for which he is well known. In 1975 Woodhouse took up premises on Oxford Street and quickly expanded to nine stores nationwide. In 1989, Philip sold the business to Sir Philip Green only to buy it back in 1991 as part of a joint venture that included BFC Chairman Harold Tillman.
In 1999, Philip sold Woodhouse for the last time to Specialty Retail Group (SRG) but continued as a shareholer and consultant until 2002, when he removed himself from the business completely.
Later in 2002, Philip established START with his wife Brix Smith Start, which soon grew to two separate premises. In 2008, Philip took over a third premise on Rivington Street and used it as the base for his own tailoring label, Mr. Start.
Philip Start in the Mr. Start Tailoring Store on Rivington Street, London
Through Mr. Start, Philip draws from his reputable and extensive experience in retail to create refreshing and wearable collections, inspired by his understanding of the way men dress. The suits are slim cut, creating a look of casual precision. The ethos is modern and architectural, creating an accessible, everyday elegance. The definitive fit is subtle yet certain, epitomising ‘Shoreditch luxury’.
An image from the Mr. Start SS12 Lookbook
British heritage brand Gloverall is responsible for creating what we have now come to know and love as the duffle coat. As the first brand to introduce this classic style in the 1950s, the Gloverall duffle coat has become renown worldwide as the original and best, blending tradition with modernity season after season.
An image from the Closed SS12 Campaign shot by Max Farago.
Max Farago shot personalities from the music, arts and acting world, Ry Cuming, Jessica Joffe, Michael Fujikawa and Rachel Pouillat for Closed’s Spring/Summer ’12 campaign.
We particularly enjoy the below ‘behind the scenes’ film shot by Swiss-born photographer Maya Villiger.
