Duly Noted 004
Join me at J. Press, a retail pricing surprise, investigating Working Clothing, and New Balance Japan's beautiful new launch.
A weekly edit of style observations, product obsessions, internet wanderings, and the latest happenings from the world of Mensweird.
J. Press x “The Handbook of Men’s Style”
I’m doing another in-person event for my book, this time with the Ivy style legends at J. Press. If you’re in the NYC area, stop by for a drink, grab a copy (if you haven’t already), and say “hi,” I’d love to meet some more readers. (Not near NYC? Tell your favorite local menswear shop to book an event!)
FYI, paid subscribers got first access to this invite. Please consider becoming one so you can flex with that knowledge too.
Clothing Prices Are… Falling?
File under “nothing makes sense anymore,” last week’s US Bureau of Labor Statistics report showed that despite the tariff terrors, retail clothing prices actually fell. From Business of Fashion (paywall, FYI):
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday reported that apparel prices fell 0.4 percent between April and May, and were down 0.9 percent from a year prior. Inflation overall was estimated at 2.4 percent, in line with expectations.
But before you start celebrating, this is on goods that haven’t been affected yet by tariffs, and BoF writes that when those fully eat into retail margins in late summer or early fall, we can expect “wildly volatile” pricing. Joy.
Working Clothing
Produced in the UK and Japan, Working Clothing is a new brand I just discovered via Bureau Belfast, described by them as “a collaborative project between William Kroll (Tender & Co) and Robert Newman (head of design Massimo Osti Studio). Some really funky fabrications going on here, like “Majocchi polyester–cotton high tension gabardine, panelled with raw organic cotton open cell mesh panels.” Seems like there’s not much on them yet so maybe they’re worth a future post?
New Balance MT10Tv1
I could maybe get down with a pair of these minimalist trail running shoes from NB’s Tokyo Design Studio as a summer playground shoe but there’s no way in hell I want a “barefoot-like experience” when leaping over rocks and trying not to twist my ankles on protruding roots. Perhaps the reality is that I like the lifestyle photography for these better than the shoes themselves, because it’s really, really good.