Fear not gentle readers, HYA has not turned into Hide Your Ass (now there’s an idea!), but I promised these guys that I’d write something about them even if I don’t have the first clue about the world of premium jeanswear. I met two of the people behind Trousers London at the pre-party before the main event at Margin and they they were great, very concerned about the two friends I took to the party who ‘over-extended’ themselves on delicious free cocktails from the bar. In short, being nice to me will get you a feature on HYA.
Trousers London was officially launched at Margin, though the brand was born in 2007 with the intention of creating a jeanswear label that stood out from other high-end offerings. Here’s how they describe themselves:

Trousers is an experimental, ambitious, future-focused jeans label inspired by London.

From unique designs and shapes, to small but important details, Trousers stands alone among the clones of the daily jeans parade. Trousers makes jeans for the genuine modern day gentlemen, for the man who loves the thrill of the new and is always at the forefront of the avant-garde.

We at Trousers believe in ecologically friendly materials and we care that our products are not born of exploitation. Our range is crafted with patience and skill in small batches, in our Italian factory using organic premium denim.

Like I said, I know basically nothing about the premium jeans market. I do know that their jeans looked cool, and they’re making all the right noises in terms of not wanting to destroy the planet which is refreshing to hear, and I think that it would be pretty hard for you to disagree that these are fairly unique designs, you certainly won’t find anything like them on the high street. So, I do give their range a thumbs up, but unfortunately my thumbs are of little value in this instance.

At the moment it isn’t actually possible to buy these jeans. Those who are interested in the limited edition garments (just 600 pairs in the first production run) will be available to register their interest in May when the Trousers web store opens, with the jeans getting to them in June or July. If you’re a bricks and mortar kind of person, the jeans will be available in a select few retails stores around the UK and Europe around August/September.

Trousers London

• 1 Comment
Tags » Environmental • jeans • london • margin • margin2008 • trousers london

I got a chance to meet up with EIO at Margin back in February, and it was really great to get hands on with their whole range after reviewing a sample back in October last year.So, with that knowledge in mind, I can tell you with no uncertainty that this latest S/S range is damn fine. The hoodies were soft and the designs were sharp, and they’ve even started selling some rather nifty looking belts that have their logo stamped onto them. Click on through to see all the new goodies that they’ve got on offer.

Props to EIO for seeming like a great bunch of people, having spoken to them I can really understand the level of passion that they put into what they do, and I think that shows through in this latest collection.

EIO Clothing

• 0 Comments
Tags » • eio clothing • margin • margin2008 • release • spring

Andy: “Ummmm, why have you put those badges into takeaway cartons?”YCMIH: “One day we were making our onion-design badges and we noticed that they were… y’know, onion… badges…“(Queue bemused look from the devilishly handsome blogger)

Andy: “……..”

YCMIH: “Onion Bhajis!”

Andy: “Ahhhhh! Now I get it”

And with that, I was thoroughly smitten with the ladies behind You Can Make It Happen, a small Manchester-based company set up by Jo Finlay in 2003. There was a fantastic quirky-Britishness about them, their designs, and entire brand philosophy that was really endearing. The often doodle-like hand drawn illustration style is a staple of their (usually food-inspired) designs, something which goes hand-in-hand with the hand-printed, limited edition nature of all their pieces.

Fittingly, considering the food-theme that seems to run through their range, YCMIH are getting healthy and eating their greens. That rather strained metaphor (analogy?) means that they’re sourcing all their products from manufacturers that employ fair, ethically and environmentally conscious working practices.

They had quite a few products at Margin that I can’t spot on their typically whimsical, hand drawn website, such as a new ‘eat your greens’ range, and a guilt-free eco-bag, a product that is really big in the UK at the moment, so it might be a case of it taking a while for them to get to the site, but it’s entirely possible that they’ll have the latest stuff at Manchester’s Fashion Market every Saturday 10am-5pm on Tib Street (near Debenhams, if you know Manc. you’ll probably know where that is).

You Can Make It Happen

• 0 Comments
Tags » food • manchester • margin • margin2008 • T-shirts • YCMIH

Well, that was fun!

Over the weekend I managed to hit up not just Margin, but also To Be Confirmed and The Park yesterday. I met a lot of new brands, a lot of nice people, and collect enough press info that I need to buy a few acres of rainforest to ease my conscience over the amount of paper I gathered.

Taking your own photos is generally frowned upon at these kind of places (presumably due to designers fearing rip-offs of their unreleased work), most of the Margin-based posts aren’t going to look all that different, but hopefully they’ll have a different feel, since for a change I’ve actually had a chance to feel the clothes and chat with the designers.

• 0 Comments
Tags » exhibition • london • margin • margin2008 • the park • to be confirmed

Hey guys, I’m still down in London for the Margin exhibition, so there’s no posts today, but hopefully things will be back to normal tomorrow and I can start talking about all the great new brands I’ve seen.

• 0 Comments
Tags » exhibition • london • margin

Next weekend I’m going to be making the long trek (well, 3 hours on the train) to London for Margin, a streetwear and directional tailoring trade-show being held in central London (February 10th, 11th & 12th). Hopefully I’ll find out about a load of new and exciting brands, so get ready for an invasion of British brands on the blog over the next month or so.I’m going to be down in the big smoke for three days, and presume that I’ll only be at Margin for one day, so I’m throwing my itinerary open to the HYA masses. I’m making up a list of stores that I have to go to. including checking out Concrete Hermit’s latest show, Magma’s Covent Garden Store, the Sunday (Up)Market (note: hangover dependent), the Design Museum, and wherever Yutaka tells me via this excellent website that Virgin seem to have had a hand in.

I guess that makes it look as if I’ve got a pretty busy schedule, but I’d still like a few more tips about great stores that you think I should check out. I’m no stranger to London as my brother lived there for a few years, I know my way around fairly well and I’ve done all the tourist stuff that I want to do, so I’m after interesting off-the-beaten-path type stuff. If you leave a comment or drop me an e-mail and I go there I’ll try and take pics and do some mini-reviews of wherever I’m sent, so if you own a store this could be potentially useful for you too.

• 0 Comments
Tags » exhibition • london • margin