Margin London has been kindly invited to contribute to HideYourArms. We’ll be posting some news about up-and-coming labels that will be exhibiting at Margin in February 2013, which takes place on the 10th & 11th, but firstly we think we should introduce ourselves.

Started back in 2002 as an affordable platform for new designers, Margin is the longest-running independent trade exhibition in London. The show presents designer women’s and men’s tailoring and accessories, as well as streetwear for men and women, to invited store buyers and press.

The humble tee has long been a starting point for numerous labels, and we’ve seen many an exhibitor start off with a t-shirt offering which has grown over the seasons to include a full range of clothing. Supremebeing, Lazy Oaf, Seventyseven, Dephect, YourEyesLie, and many others all started at Margin with tees before growing their stockist base and extending their range to include clothing, bags, jewellery (or jewelry for Americans!), and hats.

Margin has been providing a launchpad for brands to meet with key buyers and press for 10 years to date, and 2012 marked a decade of exhibitions.

To commemorate the occasion, a limited-edition 10 year book was printed for visitors to the show, but it’s also available to download as a PDF or as a super-interactive book for iPad. The iPad version features extensive galleries of previous seasons, as well as videos, and can be downloaded here.

Here’s the link to posts where HideYourArms mentions Margin including brand updates from when they last visited (well overdue for a revisit but Andy & the HideYourArms London correspondent are returning in February 2013!).

Margin is an intimate showroom exhibition in a white gallery space in the heart of Central London, and the only tradeshow in the UK where buyers and press can discover new & emerging design talent (most making their debut launch).  When we say “NEW”, we don’t just mean new to Margin, we mean brand-spanking, never-been-seen-before, new!

Since the exhibitions first started back in 2002, Margin can lay claim to providing the successful trade launch-pad for many brands such as Chateau Roux, Your Eyes Lie, Supremebeing, Dephect, Emily & Fin, Miyson, 1 in a 100, Missmilne, Worn By, Ashley Marc Hovelle, Humdrum, Worn Free, Sugarhill, King Apparel, Terratag, Lazy Oaf, Famous Forever, and Ruby Rocks, as well as the UK launching point of overseas brands including Silas, Upper Playground, Tank Theory, Eastpak Apparel, Loreak Mendian, Syndrome, Al & Alicia, Gama-Go, Mimobots, Double Goose, Stereo Sound Agency, Diamond Supply Co, Urban Originals, and Uzi amongst many others.

Margin has welcomed key stores to the exhibitions since first launching in 2002; from online players like ASOS, My-Wardrobe, and Urban Industry; multiples such as Ark, Joy, Beams, and Ships; department stores, such as Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, Liberty, House of Fraser, Psyche, Fenwick, El Corte Ingles, Galleries Lafayette, & Engelhorn Trendhaus; as well as the key independents Margin is renowned for, including Colette, Hip, Sakis, Wood, Royal Cheese, Natterjacks, 290sqm, Coggles, Market, Atoo, My Yard, Donuts, Caliroots, and Get Cutie, to name a few.

Margin has welcomed numerous stylists and fashion editors from magazines including Vogue, Wad, Elle, Wallpaper, Arena, i-D, FHM, Esquire, Cosmopolitan, Vice, DJ, Flux, WWD, Drapers, Sportswear International, and Sport & Street; as well as contributors from directional blogs such as BNTL, Coolhunting, Hypequest, Slamxhype, Hypebeast, and, of course, Hideyourarms.

For more info about Margin, visit the website here, find us on Facebook or Twitter, and we’ll be back soon to post about some great new labels that will be exhibiting at Margin in February 2013.

I’m not nearly cool enough to have heard of Marshall Artist before Street Casuals dropped me an e-mail about them, but I like their style, everything is very clean and wearable. I could natter on for a while but to be honest the SC press release about the goods is far too well put together for me to ignore, so you can find that after the break.

Marshall Artist spring summer 2012 collection is now available at streetcasuals.com. With Marshall Artist’s signature spin on modern British tailoring, this collection is set to be the strongest yet and is packed with some great pieces and nods to it’s British heritage.

The outerwear, always a strong area for Marshall Artist has some great new designs and re-workings of classic styles. The Tailored Golf Blazer is based on a traditional 1930′s golfing blazer and is a must have piece for Spring 2012. The blazer is constructed from a medium wale brush corduroy and features 2 large bellow pockets, a small leather welted ticket pocket, reinforced canvas shoulder details and a slanted chest pocket with button flap.

In addition we also have the classic Nautical jacket, a staple in the Marshall artist collection and this season made in a indigo waxed chambray fabric.This classic vintage sailing jacket has a centre front storm flap concealing a full length zip and features several beautifully finished leather details. The Nautical jacket also features metal cantilever clasps at the chest and is constructed from a summer weight waxed cotton chambray fabric.

The nautical theme continues in the knitwear collection with the sailing cardigan a fully-fashioned shawl collar cardigan made from 100% cotton. This piece features vintage buttons on the centre front placket and a canvas patch pocket and single welt pocket at the lower front, a shawl collar and two contrast stripes on the sleeve.

In the jersey section we feature the classic sweatshirt, aptly named as it is a vintage washed fleece sweater, a Marshall artist classic for spring 2012. This piece is constructed from unbrushed french terry cotton and features a leather welt stash pocket on the chest, leather branding and embroidered eyelets.

In the t-shirt section we highlight the Naval gym t-shirt a classic jersey tee with excellent attention to detail. The t-shirt features contrast cover stitching details under the arms, a concealed woven patch pocket at the inside of the lower front body and a small button placket at the throat.

Finally we have the very timely release of the vintage Sherlock t-shirt, constructed from super soft cotton jersey and features a floral silhouette print of the British icon Sherlock Holmes and finished in a vintage wash for a worn in look.

Costiness=$289 Available from Oak NYC [via NotCouture]

This example of the breed certainly annoys me a lot less than others I’ve seen, it looks really high quality, and if you think that you can pull it off then it might be worth your $265 of hard-earned cash.

Costiness=$265 Buy it at Etsy

Costiness=$148 Buy it at Broklyn Industries [via Notcouture]

Costiness=$525 Link [thanks, Shadeelaine@Notcouture!

Costiness=$135 Link

Now this is a lot more what I expect when I think of Artful Dodger, and even though I can admit that the patterns on this blazer and the tee I mentioned on Thursday are actually pretty similar, it feels like a whole different ball-game to be audacious enough to put that kind of pattern onto what is generally considered quite a dressy item.

Even though I don’t think that I quite have the cajones to wear this, I do kinda like it, even if it is just in a “people that wear streetwear are crazy” kind of way. If you click through you’ll see that the blazer has a burgundly lining with pink trim, which contrats really well with the white. Oh, and whilst I like it, I don’t necessarily $200 like it (which is circa $100 off the original price).

Costiness=$202.99 Link

I really can’t decide what I think of this, although I’m erring more towards the ‘hate it’ than ‘love it’ side of things. I didn’t realise that wearing a hoodie and a blazer at the same time was considered a ‘look’, and combining the two to make a Franken-blazer justs seems kinda wrong. Seriously, are you smart, or are you casual, make up your mind and pick one, then move along. Actually I have made up my mind, I 100% dislike this item, but since its a bit different I feel duty bound to report it. But please, don’t buy one.

Oh, and Nordstrom, any chance of getting some models that don’t have their picture next to the dictionary definition of ‘smug’?

Costiness=$85 Link [thanks, Uncrate]

I added in a blazer category a few months ago hoping to add in a bit more variety to the blog, I love hoodies, but sometimes its fun to change things up a bit. Unfortunately I haven’t found that many blazers and jackets that I want to put on here, so that category has remained pretty empty since its inception. Hopefully I can change that in the future, especially since I found out last month that I look pretty dashing in a jacket.

Anyway, that intro was way too long. I really like this blazer, like the CaliRoots people say, it is a “nice cut jacket!”, with a cool pattern (something which seems to be all the rage at the mo) and some interesting details, such as the lack of buttons on the front – is it a coat or a jacket? – and having a button on the left pocket but not on the right. Okay, fair enough, all the cool details seem to revolve around buttons, but I guess buttons can be pretty interesting sometimes.

Costiness= 600SEK (around $85.71) URL