Anthem - Fashion

Bollman Hat Company Celebrates Its 140th

nik.mercer — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:24:23 -0700

Millinery is, by most accounts, an antiquated profession of the past, but that doesn't mean we don't still need skilled hat-makers to keep our heads warm and outfits stylish! The Bollman Hat Company is one of the few hat companies that has withstood an ever-changing marketplace, economy, and fashion industry, and today, we celebrate its 140th year of excellence.

Fourteen decades ago, George Bollman and Isaac Sowers opened a two-story hat factory in the borough of Adamstown in Lancaster County. To celebrate the company's big birthday, Bollman (under the design coordination of Alexis Biondi) created fifteen new hats, each one representing a different decade in American sartorial sensibilities. A few examples from the collection: the Fez (1870s), the Bowler (1890s), the Fedora (1920s), the Pork Pie (1940s). Fun, right?

"Putting this collection together was great fun and really educational. I found myself immersed in what was happening during the period of each hat. It completely gives you a perspective on history and the evolution of hat fashion," said Biondi.

You can get more information on the hats (each of which retails for $100) at the company's website.

Bollman Hat Company homepage

Good Sale, Good Charity

nik.mercer — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 07:44:32 -0700

Being from Southern California and all, we can't help but wholeheartedly support anything that Andy Mueller does.

His T-shirt company (to generalize), The Quiet Life, is having a major End of Summer Sale (everything's off 30% or so) and there's a new "Good Cause" T-shirt up for purchase.

Wait, what's "Good Cause"? Here's the scoop:

"Good Cause" is a continuing program of The Quiet Life's, where 100% of our profits from the sales of "Good Cause" shirts will be donated to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation."

Apparently, through "Good Cause," The Quiet Life was able to donate $6,800 last year... so buy up!

Kangol Celebrates Its 70th

nik.mercer — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:18:49 -0700

Kangol may make LL Cool J's hat of choice (and, ahem, Kangol Kid's), but the weathered British clothing company came from a grander, less proletarian place, and tonight's retrospective with photographers Ricky Powell and Janette Beckman that looks back on the label's seventy year history is testament to such a claim. (Check out General Montgomery in his Kangol cap to get a better idea of where the company came from.)

The birthday bash, which is being held at Le Royale (21 7th Ave. South), will include "a cocktail hour displaying selected portraits... by Ricky Powell and Janette Beckman" and a bit of a dance party with DJs Justine D and D.F.A.'s Holy Ghost! on the 1s and 2s.

If you're planning on checking out the bound-to-be-a-blast event, you better read up on your Kangol history so as not to be too ignorant of the legendary company's cultural importance:

"Some seventy years ago a Jewish Polish refugee and British World War One veteran who made his trade importing the newly popular French beret to England decided to meet the increasing demand by producing his own, setting up a factory in the rural and remote northwestern English village of Cleator. From that bit of Depression Era entrepreneurial ingenuity, through the next world war then dawning, collaborations with designers Mary Quant and Pierre Cardin, endorsement deals with The Beatles and Arnold Palmer and an iconic role in the American Girl Scout movement, Kangol would earn a modest place in history. It took the emergence of Hip Hop as a major cultural force out of New York City in the late Seventies and early Eighties, when Hip Hop artists like Grandmaster Flash, Kaz, LL Cool J, Run DMC and the Beastie Boys started rocking their gear to make Kangol history itself."

Diesel Reveals "Dirty Thirty"

nik.mercer — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:22:24 -0700

It's hard to believe that Diesel has been around for thirty years. Although the Italian denim house only began picking up momentum and esteem in the mid-1980s, by birth certificate, it has indeed been around for exactly three decades.

The company's celebrating royally, too. Here's the itinerary for this coming weekend:

First, Diesel is releasing a limited edition line, "Dirty Thirty," on October 10. The two styles (Matic for women and Heeven for men) will be available only in stores and will cost a mere $50 (keep in mind that most Diesels start around the $160 mark).

Second, if you're an early bird―or luck is in your favor this coming Friday―you can pick up tickets to "Rock and Roll Circus xXx," Diesel's outrageous b-day shindig that will go down in seventeen cities over the course of twenty-four hours, starting on October 11.

Three, the finale goes down at Brooklyn's Pier 3 in DUMBO. Be there in your dirty denim or be square.