For Elle’s July 2013 issue, the style setter spotlight shines on 6397’s founder Stella Ishii.

On Stella’s celestial inspiration board and the Hubble Space Telescope:

“Everything is so immediate; the seasons pass and it’s on to the next— it’s a lovely reminder that there are different scales of time.”

On her start in fashion and the loose-skinny jean:

“I’ve worked with some really wonderful designers,” says Stella. “But I’ve never seen myself as a designer.” Yet over the years Stella has perfected her own menswear-inspired signature style, purchasing Levi’s or A.P.C. pants big enough to fall to her hips and having them altered to a trim silhouette that’s been adopted by the crew of ineffably cool girls who work at The News — and, one might add, in looser iterations by boyfriend-aficionadas everywhere.

On the same page, Elle featured a small write-up on Common Projects.
Here’s what we can expect from Common Projects this fall:

“For this fall, the lines includes a full range of androgynous silhouettes with subtle feminine details, such as a python-patter suede slip-on; a patent monk-strap creeper; and their best-seller, a sneaker with a two-inch internal wedge.”


Read the full article in Elle’s July 2013 issue, in stores now.

Click here to shop our selection of 6397 HERE

Click here to shop our selection of Common Projects HERE at the women’s store, or HERE at the men’s store.

Jeremy Laing is a newer designer for Totokaelo, and is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. Check out highlights from an interview taken just before showing his latest Collection for Fall/Winter:

What’s your inspiration this season?

I recently visited North Carolina for a store opening (Capitol, a really awesome boutique in Charlotte where I sell) and as part of the weekend’s events got to visit Hendricks Motorsports, a Nascar team compound where they fabricate cars. I was really taken with the welding and chassis shop, with the CNC metalworking machines, all the spotless metal industrial components. Then, I started looking at welding apparel, and safety uniforms, and incorporating some utility elements and design features, in a clean and minimal way. I’m using Swarovski’s brand new pearl rivets, to give the illusion of spot welds, and I created a print based on some photos I took of brushed steel.

How has New York changed since last Fashion Week?

No idea, I haven’t been here! Well, that’s not true, tons has changed, but being busy working up in Toronto, I’ve only read about it, and haven’t seen much change first-hand. New York certainly looks the same to me as it did last season, but, of course, there is an eminating current of uncertainty about almost everything.
Can’t wait to see this collection and what else is in store for this young
designer.

What do you have for breakfast during Fashion Week

A bagel with cream cheese, tomato and salt & pepper. We don’t have delis in Toronto, so I over-compensate while I’m here.

Read the full interview HERE

Be sure to shop Jeremy Laing’s Spring/Summer Collection, that has just landed HERE

Building Block and Waka Waka, a project focusing on furniture and utilitarian objects handmade by Shin Okuda, teamed up to create this gorgeous shelving unit designed to compliment the equally gorgeous selection of Building Block bags.

Check out all of Waka Waka’s piece HERE

Shop our Building Block selection HERE

Totokaelo’s biannual end of season SALE starts TOMORROW, June 15! All Spring styles will be 30-50% off.

Take a look at some of the amazing imagery being sent our way from Totokaelo founder, Jill Wenger, while she’s in NY for precollection. From Johnny Johansson and the Acne presentation to feathers at Zero Maria Cornejo.

In a recent Vogue interview, Jonny Johansson of Acne discusses his untraditional path into fashion and what makes Acne so unique and special. Take a look at some highlights.

How does a collection come together?

I didn’t have a traditional fashion education, so for me it’s been learning, and trial and error. I like current and honest fashion. Working with my life, things that are very close to me at that moment, makes it current for me. That’s why this time [for spring/summer ’12] the source was the family trip I did to Marrakech … I didn’t think I was being inspired, but the colour and the multicultural aspect elevated me into this idea of a young Swedish girl and how she would interpret such a worked-on subject if she were to go there. We didn’t want to do tile prints or only caftans. The caftan is obviously there but we worked this sort of Arab reference within the sports-biker world. It became an interesting mix.

Has the fact that you have no formal training in fashion been a hindrance or a help?

You know, I’ve always been waiting for someone to tap me on the shoulder and say: ‘Hey, it’s time out, it’s over.’ My mother wanted me to go to art school because she saw that I had some sort of creativity. I didn’t, because I was pursuing music, which was important in my family, on my father’s side. But in the end it was about creating, about being able to have an outlet. It doesn’t really matter for me if it’s music, clothing or pictures, it’s about the process. It’s like when we have collaborations; it’s the experience that is interesting, usually much more interesting and more important than the result, to be honest.

So how does your creative mind cross from one thing to another?

The biggest worry is when I have to go to the next meeting, or when I have to break up in the middle of something that’s going on. I don’t like to disappoint people, because sometimes I leave them with half a piece, and that bugs me. But we try to focus and be more precise, smaller rather than growing in different directions. It’s not like we want to do new business. For example, furniture; this is more a thing for me when I have time.

To what do you attribute Acne’s success?

I think people have seen we’re developing the brand, that it’s under construction but it’s going the right way. And I think that there’s something with imperfection that is very humbling. Even though we’ve grown bigger, we would like to stay that way.

Where to next?

I’m starting to know myself, my creativity. And, also, the people I work with, my colleagues, are starting to understand what we’re doing and being part of this journey. That’s why I feel that this [spring] show was just a start in the hope that we can do something interesting for next season, and that this can be a springboard for that.

Read the full interview HERE

Shop our Acne selection HERE

Erin Wahed of her bauhaus-inspired jewelry, Bande des Quatres, gives us a closer look at her creation process, personal style and perhaps most importantly, her amazing nails.

Shop our Bande des Quatres selection HERE

“Filmmaker Wim Wenders, who memorably captured Yamamoto in his own habitat for the 1989 documentary Notebook on Cities and Clothes, recently reconnected with the designer, now 69, in Tokyo to discuss 10 years of Y-3, how he maintains his edge, and why it’s still best not to mess with him in a dark alley.”

Read the full interview HERE

Shop our Yohji Yamamoto selection HERE


Robert Wiencek
Totokaelo MAN