Carol Christian Poell

[asho]

never artificially dry leather, will sap it of its oils and make it prone to cracking.

[Mail-Moth]

Seconded. Your boots won't last long if you're playing games like that with them. You should at least use proper creams to oil them - that may reduce the damage.

[Ivans On High]

Has anyone handled the reverse horse leather tornado zips from the current collection?

[BlackLeatherKelly]

Best way to dry wet boots is to lay them on there sides and then treat with oil/cream..once dry.
The u.s. army use to recommend going down one size in army issue combat boots and standing in a running stream for 20 minutes before a day of training exercises for a proper fit. But what are we talking about here?Either your boots fit or they don't!

[Silk]

Best way to dry wet boots is to lay them on there sides and then treat with oil/cream..once dry.
CCP use to recommend going down one size in tornado zips and standing in a running stream for 20 minutes before a day of training exercises for a proper fit. But what are we talking about here?Either your boots fit or they don't!

Hardcore

[rorschach]

or a self-respecting one for that matter.

indeed.. the rubber dipped hiking boots are seriously bananas. i've seen them and handled them.. just dont get the appeal.. why dont you just book a flight to LA and stomp around the LaBrea tar pits for spell?? seems like a better investment.

[image]

Has anyone seen in person/tried on/bought that high collar diagonal zipper jacket from Darklands? I really love the way it looks on, but am wondering how the fit is (true to size?), how the leather compares to his other seasons, and it is wearable and looks ok with the jacket open.

[BSR]

Has anyone seen in person/tried on/bought that high collar diagonal zipper jacket from Darklands? I really love the way it looks on, but am wondering how the fit is (true to size?), how the leather compares to his other seasons, and it is wearable and looks ok with the jacket open.

I tried the kangaroo version (the grey one). The leather is as stiff as i expected but not very thick (less than i thought from Darklands pictures, and definitely far less than the horse leather jacket from Atelier). The sizing looks true to size as far as i can say, i tried on a 48, too big on me, but i'm a true 46 in CCP.

Is it wearable? i don't know what you deem wearable, imo it's as comfy as other CCP leather jackets, aesthetically i prefer classic overlock or fencing designs but this one is a win nontheless, looks cyborg as hell.

[lowrey]

tried it on as well, sick details, crazy cut.. Typical Poell fit, slim and very fitted in the arms. For me, it wouldn't be a very wearable jacket, a bit too constricting and out there, but its a piece of work for sure

[image]

I picked up a CCP leather overcoat that reminds my of it from L'eclaireur - high collar and straight zipper. Very narrow arms and very very thick leather. I can see that being a bit too out there for normal wear, was hoping the jacket was more practical. Hopefully Atelier picks it up so I can at least try it on...

tried it on as well, sick details, crazy cut.. Typical Poell fit, slim and very fitted in the arms. For me, it wouldn't be a very wearable jacket, a bit too constricting and out there, but its a piece of work for sure

[fenrost]

anyone has any list of online stockist for ccp, other than motelsalieri, atelier, lazzari and darklands?

[lowrey]

for actual online commerce, I don't think there are any apart from those. some stores will do orders, most retailers are listed in the first pages of the Poell thread.

[kompressorkev]

2009 SELFSAME Collection: themes and selvedge

My writing may not be fascinating but Carol’s collections certainly are. So bear with me if you will as I attempt to discuss some of the complexity of Carol’s work this season. Personally speaking, one of the most gratifying aspects of Carol's work is discovering the relationship between the crafting of his garments and the thought that is so intimately tied to the theme of each collection. This functions on several tiers of understanding: the negotiation between the object and the wearer, the object and the process of construction, the object and social codes of dress, the theme and presentation of his collections (especially in showrooms, and in installations), and (perhaps the most popularized notion) his iconoclastic response to the system and culture of Fashion proper. And likely there exists some relationships that I haven’t thought about yet. But the more I discover about each collection, the more I find that C.C.P. is indeed genius; Poell is perhaps one of the more influential forces in the “genius seculi,” i.e. the “zeitgeist.”

I wanted to expand on some analysis that Runner proposed a while back (Runner’s insights are always appreciated), as well as address the larger context of the 2009 collection. Firstoff, the 2009 collection is entitled “SELFSAME.” The collection speaks to the notion of synthesis and proximity, where the distinction – the lines and edges – are blurred. It’s been suggested that there are several stories woven within the 2009 collection: the latex dripping, the selvedge seamwork, and the spiral pattern.

Several of the garments in this collection reference the notion of unity, as Runner brought to our attention. The seamless tornado boots, the scarf built into the coat, the sock which functions as a boot, the seamless knits, the leather jacket and dress shirt with gloves as an extension of their sleeves. The combination of pieces proposes a unity in the garment itself. Employing the selvedge (or perhaps the not-inconsiderable homophone and historical term “self-edge”) technique represents a progression of Carol’s seamwork towards streamlining. The teleology of Carol’s seamwork progression – from tape, then to glue, and now to selvedge – demonstrates this concern of revisiting the essence of the garment. The selvedge, self-seamed technique solicits no such embellishment to the seam apart from the original material itself. It’s an old technique that is labor-intensive, which speaks to not only Carol’s penchant for perfection (selvedge seams preserve the edges from fraying or unraveling), but also a redemption of focus on the essential garment itself. The selvedge technique represents more than just simplicity, however, as it contributes to the narrative of consonance and synthesis (in many aspects). Selfsame, selfseam, self-edge.

Such items are intentionally crafted out of raw wool to achieve some semblance of congruence between the garment (more precisely, the animal used to produced the garment) and the wearer. Lift in Tokyo posits that the raw wool is used “in order to best capture the original feeling and essence of the animals from which it came.” Additionally, the means of construction render the selvedge garment uniform in thickness, as Runner provided the detail of making the pockets flush. Such uniformity belies the expected construction of a garment, rendering the sensation that the garment is indeed less like normal clothing, and more like a second skin. Again the “selfsame” discourse is pervasive.

The leather overlock sock-boot that Runner mentioned perhaps most visually dramatizes this notion of unification. It functions not only in the sense of the item’s union between sock and boot, but also in the suggested synthesis among the animal, garment, and wearer. The leather boot, which appears as a sock (and is fittingly made of a tightly stretched leather) proposes proximity between the skin of the wearer and the skin of the animal. Perhaps even more suggestively, the overlock stitching is placed in such a way that visually overlaps the sinews of the animal onto the wearer’s foot – the toes, Achilles’ tendon, and dorsalis pedis. This site-specific stitching is jointing on another level, and in situ ation (sic), I find this an even more compelling insinuation.

While there is a return to unity and the original, such as through the selvedge technique paring down the garment to itself, the garment is refined and perfected through a laborious technical process (Runner mentioned it takes 4 times the fabric). I find it interesting that the selvedge technique exposes the cut and overtly displays the construction of the garment. It’s not just about minimalization. I think that beyond brandishing his complex technique as a rejection of the overly-industrialized mass-production of clothing today, the exposed seams reference a deeper tension. That is, through the very process of rendering things unified (such as clean self-edges) and even natural (wool and leather appropriated as a new skin), Carol highlights the artifice of the garment. With the dripped latex, there’s a suggested return to the original state (given the context of the slaughterhouse and blood), achieved through the application of something patently artificial. The industrial latex, which represents a man-made substance, produces a visual representation of the natural (i.e. animal's blood) through an artificial means. Once again, the selvedge technique produces a clean finish of the original garment without the use of space-age tape or glue, but in doing so reveals the industrial and technical aspect of production with its visible marks of the selvedge seams.

This collection conveys the tension between unity and distance, with respect to the roles of clothing, craftsmanship, materials, and the wearer. In one sense, the garments themselves are apparently meant to unify, as suggested by the selvedge technique, the use of raw wool, and leather which appears like skin. Yet at the same time, they performatively reference clothing as something artificial – produced, procured, appropriated, and constructed (harkening back to the slaughterhouse / leather / blood / drip discussion). Perhaps this is why in the SELFSAME collection, there also exists some items that are intentionally incongruous. As I’ve noted before, Carol’s work is often not without a higher sense of irony. The disparate pieces, as Runner mentioned, perhaps most dramatize this paradox: the uneven shoe shapes, the disparate gloves (with the left glove different than the right, its 4th and 5th fingers meant to be worn together, as if fused), disparate jewelry, etc. While the garments pursue harmony with its wearer, the means of communicating this proximity is a medium which itself serves as a reminder of distance. And I’d like to propose that this is an extension of the dialectical relationship between the natural and the artificial, and their roles in the production and concept of clothing. I wouldn’t discredit the showroom context of the clothing hanging from metal apparatuses, the juxtaposition of the organic and the industrial performing this antithesis. I feel this collection serves as a commentary on the nature (or artifice, if you will) of clothing.

Although, I would agree with Merz's rather insightful distillation of our “prevailing logic” towards design as “does it look good?" i.e. ("sic"). For the thing that brings a smile to my face everytime I put on a CCP coat or trousers is indeed the killer silhouette, moreso than any synthesis with the animal whose hide I’m wearing. But I find the level of thought permeating this collection fascinating nonetheless. I don’t mean to get lost in the funhouse, but I just wanted to propose some discussion, “knowing well that I and my sign are neither one nor quite two.” With his collection SELFSAME, I’m going on a limb to say that I think Carol might agree.

[cro426]

I put them next to the heater and then after a couple of days when I new they where completely dry I had them shinned. They came out amazing! I then wore them over to Atelier and all the guys where like those are nice fn' boots.

These where the black tornado zips from 06.

[Fuuma]

doesn't Cuirboulli refer to completely hardened leather? I wouldn't imagine that working too well in gloves

cuir bouilli= boiled leather. It's an old technique to harden leather, it was even used for armor parts in the old days.