To encourage my burgeoning interest in shirtmaking, a kind friend lent me this old Indian book on tailoring…

‘Commercial Systems of Cutting’ was published in 1981 in Bombay (now Mumbai) and is designed to teach the pattern-making, cutting and fabrication of garments. The instructions are a little bit complex and I have to say that I’ve not attempted to make anything from the book, however I thought I’d share some images with you as the illustrations are very quaint, retro and charming.

As well as recommending all the equipment and accoutrements that one may need to make a piece of clothing, the book also includes this neat little measuring scale.

As this book was printed in India over twenty-five years ago, most of the garments are rather old-fashioned and a lot of the measurements are in imperial units. However, the practise remains the same.

Notice the specifically India garments such as the Jodhpur Coat and Sherwani (the “national dress of India”).

Despite India becoming independent in 1947, there’s something rather ‘British Empire’ about the book.

I love these little menswear illustrations. Despite being slightly ‘cartoony’, you get a good idea of what your finished garment will look like.

My shirtmaking activities have taken a back seat throughout this cold, dark winter. However, I’m keen to finish off shirt number three. Keep your eyes on the blog and I’ll have an update soon.

Last month, long established and upmarket British department store, John Lewis, released a new clothing collection from their own creative team. According to Camilla Rowe, a spokesperson for the brand, ‘Kin’ is “not a seasonally trend-driven brand; it’s about modern, stylish pieces that you can get some sort of longevity from.” Kin is designed for the whole family; you’ll find items for men women and little ‘uns - but of course as this is a menswear blog, we’ll concentrate on the clobber for gents here.

I found the collection on the shop floor and the clothes caught my eye because of their simple elegance. The rain mack was the first item that I spotted and I was pleasantly surprised by the cost. Encouragingly, the tag line for the collection says it all; “Affordable, well designed, contemporary yet timeless; clothes for everyone.”… Without trying to be too much of a sucker for the marketing, this is a unifying ethos that I agree with.

Although designed in Britain, there are hints of scandinavian influence in the collection; lots of paired-down and edited styles create a create an overall subtle look. Tom Saunders from John Lewis, who helped create the brand explains that “the collection maintains a clean sophisticated handwriting throughout”.

As well as nice chinos, jackets and suit trousers, the collection also includes some accessories; a canvas gym bag, a rucksack and a tote that looks like a bit of a ‘man bag’.

Many of the shirts come in at around the £30 mark and look to be well made. Lots of them include button-down collars and, although the shirt collection includes a few rather ‘standard’ blue oxford weaves, there are some more interesting ideas such as this printed Foulard shirt; it’s not quite polka dot but rather has a red and blue pattern of squares and dots.

I don’t yet own anything by Kin, but John Lewis are reliable when it comes to quality and I gave some of the items a good look over; they look the business. Items start from as little as £7 (socks) and range up to around £160 for a suit. Find the full range of over one hundred items (women and children included) at the John Lewis store here.

Just as a little end note, a company called Farrow designed the branding for Kin. Check out the blog piece on their work here.

Thanks to John Lewis and Farrow for the images and to The Telegraph and GQ for the quotes.

This week Fred Perry Laurel Wreath Menswear released their 2013 spring/summer collection. This season the design team looked to the British graphic art movement of the early 1980’s for inspiration. 

The clothes are very nice (reflected by their quite high costs) but the context to their design is actually just as interesting as the items themselves… Here’s the background…

Neville Brody left the London College of Printing in 1979 and started working for a small record design agency that was involved with the post-punk music scene. His first piece of work can be seen int he image below; a 10” vinyl and slipcase for a band called The Motors.

Brody then went on to become Art Director of The Face; a British music, fashion and culture magazine which ran from 1980 and sadly closed in May 2004. The Face was an iconic magazine and has since been recognised as such by featuring in exhibitions at London’s Design Museum and the V&A Museum. Brody produced some of the most memorably layouts and covers for The Face, you can see them in images below.

This polo shirt from the collection seems to have something in common with Brody’s work, albeit a subtle connection. A direct translation of the layout probably wouldn’t work too well on a t-shirt.

Malcolm Garrett studied in Manchester in 1976 around the same time as The Sex Pistols and Buzzcocks were rising to prominence. Working with Buzzcocks, Garrett produced posters, record covers and logos for the punk band. Later, Garrett went on to work with Duran Duran, producing the recognisable cover to arguably Duran Duran’s biggest hit, Rio amongst other releases. 

I think the below jumper is influenced by Malcolm Garett. Pink and grey is always a good combo. The design isn’t an exact reflection of the 80’s records, subtle updates make this garment more contemporary.

Peter Saville also studied in Manchester in the 70’s and met Tony Wilson, arguably an instigator of the British Punk scene and important figure in the Post Punk and New Wave movements that followed. Wilson was the mind behind Factory Records, it’s subsidiary venue The Hacienda and played an important role in the success of the bands Joy Division and New Order. Remember those super famous and very iconic record covers from Joy Division and  New Order (pictured below)? Peter Saville designed those.

Check out the jumper below in comparison to Saville’s work. The press release explains that the “industrial dash print and a two colour dot pattern [are] evocative of early computer cards”. This could be mirroring Saville’s design for the ‘Blue Monday’ record sleeve from New Order, which mimics a first generation floppy disc.

Finally, Norman McLaren was an experimental filmmaker working throughout the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s. McLaren is from a different movement to the other influencers in the Laurel Wreath collection but in my mind, he’s the most interesting. Check out his work in the excellent six minute video below in which he demonstrates techniques of making sound with images. 

It’s a great little film. You can see nods to McLaren’s hand drawn sounds in this Colour Pop Card Wallet from Fred Perry.

So, there it is. Some nice clobber from Fred Perry with a very interesting set of influences and context. Today, I learnt something from Fred Perry. I’ll finish with this nice British Bomber Jacket in royal blue.

The Spring Summer ’13 Collection from Fred Perry Laurel Wreath Menswear is available online here now. Prices are high because all items are made in the UK.

Thanks to Fred Perry and the following for the images…

nuits sans nuit et quelques jours sans jour, Test Pressing, Simply Marvellous, The Red List, Burning the Ground, Arjo Creative Papers, Hunger TV, arkitip and carlosbela.