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  • Geoffrey B. Small
    Senior Member
    • Nov 2007
    • 618

    Dear SZer's,

    Sorry, I have not been able to post since Paris women's...just buried here in work with production and deliveries for our worldwide clients, plus we are down to the wire with the regional elections in Italy and are trying to fight off the insane possibility of Italy's first giant super-dangerous EPR nuclear power plant right in our back yard just 5 kilometres from Venice. Hope you can understand priorities are priorities. For the kids, the family, the staff, the business, and yes one of the most beautiful places on earth...we are doing everything we can to stop this incredibly evil monster at our door. Thanks for your patience, will post some new things as soon as I get a chance to come up for some air...

    Best wishes to you all, Geoffrey

    Comment

    • Faust
      kitsch killer
      • Sep 2006
      • 37852

      we still love you :-)
      Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

      StyleZeitgeist Magazine

      Comment


      • Awesome. I read an article about issey miyake yesterday, where he talked about the fact he's chosen to stay silent about hiroshima, since he survived the bomb in 1945. It was put in perspective, and i found myself thinking how many designers of our time are completely irrelevant, and here you are doing this. I like it.

        Comment

        • Geoffrey B. Small
          Senior Member
          • Nov 2007
          • 618

          Coming up: New Works

          Hello SZer's,

          Hope you are all well.
          Working on putting up some new works. Will start posting up soon.

          Best wishes, Geoffrey

          Comment

          • zamb
            Senior Member
            • Nov 2006
            • 5834

            Originally posted by Geoffrey B. Small View Post
            Hello SZer's,

            Hope you are all well.
            Working on putting up some new works. Will start posting up soon.

            Best wishes, Geoffrey
            Looking forward to them Geoffrey.
            Also did you get my email about a week ago..........
            know you are a busy man so its fine if the response is delayed

            Blessings
            ZB
            “You know,” he says, with a resilient smile, “it is a hard world for poets.”
            .................................................. .......................


            Zam Barrett Spring 2017 Now in stock

            Comment

            • clay
              Senior Member
              • Sep 2006
              • 284

              How was the world starting to change??? I've been going crazy waiting for the part 2. Hurry! :)

              Comment

              • Avantster
                ¤¤¤
                • Sep 2006
                • 1983

                Always excited to see what's cooking, Geoffrey.
                let us raise a toast to ancient cotton, rotten voile, gloomy silk, slick carf, decayed goat, inflamed ram, sooty nelton, stifling silk, lazy sheep, bone-dry broad & skinny baffalo.

                Comment

                • Faust
                  kitsch killer
                  • Sep 2006
                  • 37852

                  Originally posted by Avantster View Post
                  Always excited to see what's cooking, Geoffrey.
                  this, i presume

                  Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

                  StyleZeitgeist Magazine

                  Comment

                  • Avantster
                    ¤¤¤
                    • Sep 2006
                    • 1983

                    dying, literally.
                    let us raise a toast to ancient cotton, rotten voile, gloomy silk, slick carf, decayed goat, inflamed ram, sooty nelton, stifling silk, lazy sheep, bone-dry broad & skinny baffalo.

                    Comment

                    • Geoffrey B. Small
                      Senior Member
                      • Nov 2007
                      • 618

                      New Works: April 2010

                      Dear SZ'ers,

                      Sorry for the long delay, we have been really buried with work and our order backlogs and waiting lists are now approaching almost a year in advance. On that account, I wish to really thank all of our clients around the world this season for their outstanding patience, loyalty, understanding and support of our work. Unfortunately, there is no fast, cheap, or quick way around the kind of work we are doing...it simply takes an extraordinary amount of time to achieve each single piece and it also requires enough money in the pricing to sustainably pay for all of the extremely remarkable materials, suppliers and people who collaborate on them and make it all possible. And that includes our very special retail partners, of whom I believe we have some of the most dedicated representatives in the world for advanced, independent research, design, and of course, product and service. No designer in the world could ask for a better distribution network of dealers than this designer today. All together, we are forming a dream team, and we are very thankful to have an opportunity to be a part of it.

                      On that note, I am also pleased to inform everyone that our work will be covered in the industry's first design book on sustainable fashion. Written by Sass Brown, university professor at FIT New York and director of the FIT Florence Program, and published by Laurence King Publishers in London, "Eco-Fashion" will come out in August this year in several different language editions worldwide. While our contribution in recycle design is well noted in the book, we are told that we will be covered for being one of the leading proponents in the world for "slow design." Ironic, but true. More later as this project unfolds.

                      Thanks to everyone for your patience. As promised awhile ago, now please find below some new pieces coming out of our workrooms recently for various clients around the world.

                      Best wishes, Geoffrey



                      Geoffrey B. Small for StyleZeitgeist
                      New Works: April 2010



                      Handmade bespoke vintage recycle leather trainers for
                      Mr. Lee Keith and Dr. David Lee at Pollyanna, Barnsley


                      These were special order bespoke pieces made to measure for some really nice clients I met in England at Pollyanna in Barnsley, last November. The white pair was made specifically as a collector's item for Mr. Keith and is the only one of its kind in the entire world. It took me several months back in Italy to find just the right vintage leather jacket to make them with. White vintage leather pieces are not easy to find, and getting just the right one for this request was quite a challenge. Nevertheless, one of my best vintage leather suppliers, a specialist outside of Bologna, finally ran down a real beauty for us-- a one-in-ten thousand vintage leather moto jacket with just the right amount of beautiful wear and patina that we were looking for to make this very special piece with. The black pair was made to measure for Dr. Lee and is one of only 8 pairs of its kind made in the entire world. Both pairs were signed at the request of the client. As discussed previously on the thread, the shoes are made all by hand by my dear friend, Giuseppe Rebesco from 100% hand selected and hand cut vintage recycled leathers and biodegradable rubber soles, and are setting a new standard in sustainable, environmental and ethical sneaker design and manufacture as a working example for the rest of the industry to think about and follow.

















                      Comment

                      • Geoffrey B. Small
                        Senior Member
                        • Nov 2007
                        • 618

                        The 1850's "Sack coat" in hand dirty dyed Varese raw untreated grezzo low-gauge linen
                        for Pollyanna and John Bull Private Labo


                        This is a very interesting and directional piece for us. The groundbreaking work in real organic, and raw, totally un-chemically treated textiles that we did for our Spring/summer 2010 Paris collections led us to an intensive investigation of pre-and early-industrial age clothing design types which correlated with this type of fabric approach. While fabrics were being made on automated steam-powered machine looms during this period, electricity and the chemical revolution was yet to take place and have its effect on fabrics that people made and wore. This led us to the mid-1800's and the "sack coat." First popularized in England and the new growing frontier of the United States of America, it represents the very first version of the men's tailored jacket as we know it today.

                        Gone were the long lengths, or tails, or cut-away forms of earlier 19th century decades. The elaborate stand up collars made way for a simple notch lapel that rolled over. The myriad of empire and Napoleonic style buttons were now reduced to a simple, spartan, four lone covered buttons down center front. And the tight, body-fitting silhouettes, so representative of a tailoring industry that had no such thing as a sewing machine, and made every single seam by hand over weeks of work on a single jacket--was now replaced by a loose, relaxed, boxy and almost hip-length cut that could be made in a line of Isaac Singer's revolutionary new technology treadle sewing machines and worn by almost any shape of man. This design was truly the forerunner of the modern jacket.

                        It was therefore imperative that our collection dedicate a nod to the original "sack coat." We took a marvelous natural low gauge pure completely untreated grezzo (raw) linen woven for us in Varese, Italy, and used an organic antique striped superlight cotton lining woven exclusively for us by Luigi Parisotto and family in Sarcedo, Italy and then built our own version of the legendary tailored jacket with our own special touches like working surgeon cuffs and handmade buttons and buttonholes. And finally, we used a new hand dye technique that minimizes carbon impact and maximizes irregular patina effects that we have ended up calling dirty dyeing---which when combined with the exquisite original fabrics selected for the piece give a softness, drape and look that is truly a pleasure to feel and wear. A very particular piece with a unique and very cool historical reference. Only 8 jackets were made for the entire world this season. Of these, only 3 were made with matching trousers to achieve an actual version of the "sack coat suit" for Pollyanna in Barnsley, and the other 5 were made exclusively for all of Japan and Asia (John Bull Private Labo Harajuku, Shinsaibashi, Kyoto, and Okayama).




















                        Comment

                        • Geoffrey B. Small
                          Senior Member
                          • Nov 2007
                          • 618


















                          PFJ2 early 19th century jacket
                          for John Bull Private Labo, MinorityRev and Plaguesearch



                          This super limited edition design is one of only 8 pieces made in the entire world, exclusively for John Bull Private Labo (Harajuku, Shinsaibashi, Kyoto, Okayama), MinorityRev in Fukuoka, and Plaguesearch in Hiroshima. It was made from an original early 19th century pattern and cut from a very special greggio untreated (no chemicals) linen and cotton duckcloth fabric woven for us in Varese Italy, then specially cold hand dyed in our studios for minimum carbon footprint and maximum patina effects. The buttons for this piece were specially made by hand from vintage recycle leathers and cloth. Each one is different and unique. The diagonal exxagerated extension buttonholes are handcut following a 19th century design. The special double-flap large buttoned sleeve cuff design is an original reproduction and requires over 2 hours to cut and build for each sleeve.










                          Comment

                          • Geoffrey B. Small
                            Senior Member
                            • Nov 2007
                            • 618

                            LUJ17 women's mid 19th century double-breasted cavalry rider jacket for Fifty Eights


                            Made from a modified 19th century original jacket pattern from our historical research using a very special grezzo tailor’s double-faced organic linen and cotton diagonal twill cloth (which was not treated or finished with any chemicals) woven for us exclusively by Luigi Parisotto and family in Sarcedo, Italy, then specially cold hand dyed in our studios for minimum carbon impact, using organic vegetable dyes and salt. The piece features special covered buttons and 14 real hand stitched buttonholes that require 10 minutes of expert work to make each one. The classic double-breasted 19th century front can be worn buttoned-over, or buttoned-back in the earlier 18th and 19th century style. Only 3 pieces of the super limited edition LUJ17 jacket made by hand for the entire world, exclusively for Fifty Eights Buy Heidt in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.


















                            Comment

                            • Geoffrey B. Small
                              Senior Member
                              • Nov 2007
                              • 618

                              LUS03 hand dyed organic L. Parisotto seersucker long-shirt for JohnBull Private Labo


                              This special hand made long shirt design is one of only 2 pieces made as a world exclusive for John Bull Private Labo in Japan from a very special grezzo tailor’s organic pure special antique seersucker cotton shirting cloth (which was not treated or finished with any chemicals) woven for us exclusively by Luigi Parisotto and family in Sarcedo, Italy. It was then specially cold hand dyed in a greyed-out petrol color in our studios for minimum carbon impact and extra aging and incredible softness. The design also features a very cool button story that includes artisan made cloth split seam rep stripe covered buttons and real irregularly finished mother-of-pearl buttons made for us in Padova, Italy, and 11 hand stitched buttonholes (each one requires 8-10 minutes to cut and sew). With over 2 hours for buttons and buttonhole sewing, 5 hours for hand dyeing, and another 5-6 for cutting and construction, each shirt takes about 2 full days to create.









                              The entirely handstitched custom-fitted shoulder construction on the personal
                              order jackets for Mr. Tomoyuki Furukawa at MinorityRev


                              While our limited edition collections offer the highest component of handwork of any avant-garde designer collection in the world, our personal, special order, and private services can do even more. Not since the early days of Mr. Osawa at Midwest in Nagoya, and the late Mr. Nakatsumi at Galf in Morioka, have I seen a buyer in Japan with the courage, talent, energy, and ambitious vision of Mr. Tomoyuki Furukawa, the creative buyer and merchandising director for MinorityRev in Japan. The kind of buyer that has the team, operation, appreciation, and guts to push things beyond the limits, including a designer's best work. At the special request of Mr. Furukawa, for his personal order LUJ04.1 organic cotton L.Parisotto pinstripe and LUJ04.2 organic cotton L.Parisotto antique seersucker jackets for SS2010, an entirely handset and handstitched shoulder construction on each of the special jackets was requested and of course, performed.

                              I hadn't received a request for this level of extreme handwork since my bespoke days in Boston during the 1980's. I warned in advance that the cost of the piece would be significantly higher as a result of the extra time that would be required for the construction. The entire shoulder and sleeve assemblies including exterior and interior lining would need to be carefully set in by hand and then hand basted, and then both outside, and then, inside linings would need to be sewn in totally by hand...the triple hand worked process taking up to 8 hours per jacket in total just for the shoulder construction. That's a lot, considering the fact that many so-called "artisan-made" designer jackets today can be assembled in their entirety in less than 3 or 4 hours in a competent factory.

                              So why do it?

                              Well in the end, a truly magical thing happens. Outside, the shoulder has a hand set-in look and drape that is just so naturally beautiful when done right, you begin to wonder why we ever invented the sewing machine in the first place. Inside, there is nothing to be seen but beautiful human work-- hand stitching, like a painting detail by Vermeer or Titian...and as always, a whole new experience of superior comfort and ease of movement as the armhole fits you like a custom made glove. It is after all, a custom-fitted armhole, completely set in by hand, not a machine stitch in sight.

                              Only one of each was made in the entire world this season, exclusively for the one-and-only Mr. Furukawa.
















                              Comment

                              • Geoffrey B. Small
                                Senior Member
                                • Nov 2007
                                • 618


                                Koos Faber in the LUJ04.1 Afghan Salwah suit and the Interchangeable suit for Fifty Eights and MinorityRev


                                From a base of pure organic, hand dyed, ultra-comfortable cotton cloth created by L.Parisotto and our world reknowed hand production character for both men and women, a new suit idea was born taking classic summer pinstripes to a new level of sustainable and advanced design-- an idea that can be interpreted in either a classic relaxed straight leg form or the ultra-advanced modified Afghan salwah leg shown here on Koos Faber. Just 3 pieces of the interchangeable LUJ04.1 jacket and both forms of classic leg, and advanced salwah leg trouser, were made exclusively this season for Fifty Eight's Buy Heidt in Frankfurt am Main as a world exclusive item. Another 2 pieces of just the ultra advanced modified Afghan salwah leg suit version, were made for MinorityRev in Japan exclusively for all of Asia and Japan.

                                Our friend and artist Koos Faber is a supermodel who has appeared regularly in the Paris mens shows for Yohji Yammamoto, Comme des Garcons, Junya Watanabe and many more including our own. He is now the founder of Nuzyn in Amsterdam where he lives and works. He was kind enough to let us take a few shots of him wearing the new advanced suit during a recent visit to our workroom studios at Cavarzere.


















                                (stay tuned for more, coming up next some selected t-shirts and
                                more organic cotton and linen concepts for men and women)

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