Style

A customer of ours wrote in today from the United States and said "I just received your masks, holy crap... they are beautiful and the fan fold is an amazing fit for a face... You may want to add that view to your site, you know what it does, but you can't really tell from the picture".

The second instalment, the inimitable Larry David who is pro isolation and doing his bit to get the word out. Without further ado, Larry David, sketched on Procreate by illustrator Rocco Fazz

A doctor in the United States informed me over a Whatsapp conversation when I first started making these face masks that the test for an N95 and it's fit in...

I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO PUSH THE POINT ACROSS, AND I KNOW I HAVE BEEN GOING ON ABOUT IT AD NAUSEUM, BUT THERE IS NO EXCUSE NOT TO MAKE YOUR FACE MASK AT HOME. THERE ARE 25 MILLION AUSTRALIANS, I CANNOT SERVE ALL OF THEM AND NOR DO I WISH TO. WE MAKE USING THE FINEST SILKS AND COTTONS IN THE WORLD FROM THE MOST REPUTABLE MILLS, THEREFORE I CANNOT MAKE $2 FACE MASKS. BUT I AM WILLING TO SHARE MY KNOWLEDGE TO EMPOWER YOU TO TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR OWN FACE MASK SUPPLY. FOLLOW THE TUTORIAL BELOW.

An old Italian tailor by the name of Frank once taught me how to sew in a straight line and I never forgot it. He's now of the age that Covid might take him if he gets exposed, so I want to honour him for passing it on. Frank, you are the best.

We have published our pattern in the hope that others will follow. It is good to see today that Australians are starting to get the message and taking quarantine more seriously. The face masks we are currently making feature a front pleated and plain option woven silk jacquard, and in the more ornate ones, gold lurex details. The rear side is made from fine woven Swiss cotton. The face masks can be washed in hot water in a basin with laundry detergent, rinsed by hand and preferably placed in direct sunlight to dry. A mask becomes far less effective when moist. So keep them dry. And please be safe out there and follow the strict guidelines set by our respective government health departments.

Digital printing is taking over much of the production that occurs in printing on fabrics that I saw from the luxury high end brands that make in Italy. Only a handful of companies continue to screen print, and the ones that screen print on silk are even fewer. It's a dyeing art unless more companies are willing to invest in those few that continue to have their doors open. 

La Gioconda or Mona Lisa or La Jaconda was, according to Da Vinci's biographer Walter Isaacson, the culmination of his life's curiosities, scientific, artistic and intellectual pursuits. It was commissioned by a silk merchant Francesco Del Giocondo who wanted his new wife Lisa Gheradini to be painted.

 

Sometimes we over-complicate things. Like the French with sauces or humans with trying to over-complicate their emotions. The Italians, by contrast, know how to keep things simple - certainly with their food, not so much with their love lives.

Patrick went for our new mini jumbo shape bow tie in our house black satin silk mogador. His wedding then took place in Denmark, from memory in Skagen to be specific. I love this photo. It is so charismatic and although I am getting over menswear photos where there are only dudes standing around in fancy clothes, this one has a lot more realness to it. Mid dance moves, a great looking dinner suit, the boys lighting up. You can feel the camaraderie. Thank you Patrick, this is by far the best groom shot of 2019 and although the other photos which include your beautiful wife are extraordinary, this one really caught my eye.

By Shane Cubis

 

You know how it is: some pretty little ingenue rises through the Hollywood system to become a glittering star while we lumpen basics fawn at the pedestal of his or her blinding wattage, raw charisma and effortless poise. Maybe they even have some talent. But then, well… actors start to believe they should be taken seriously. Comedians try their hand at something serious. Musicians want to be the next Woody Guthrie, so they buy a sticker for their amp and write a list of words that rhyme with the names of political leaders. And suddenly we have to listen to their opinions instead of merely lusting after their bodies and/or lifestyles of excess.