m.a+ (Maurizio Amadei)

[Chinorlz]

I figured... the price is nuts.

It really is pretty damn expensive. Rivals even the priciest of CCP pants. I wish they'd drop to around $1k... then I'd be able to consider experiencing the true ballerdom that is these 5 pocket pants.

[Casius]

Those 5 pocket pants are one of the nicest pieces MA has ever put out.
Today I had the chance to check out the diagonal suture lace ups and those are truly a piece of art as well. So simple in the construction but beautifully constructed all in all. The soles he uses also seem very well made. Definitely HG worthy.

MA's clothing definitely is hit and miss but I think over all, his craftsmanship and unique construction methods are unparalled.

[Faust]

Ehhh. It's funny how MA+ seems to elicit love-hate comments even from the same members. Maldoror, where you see purity of design, I see juvenile, DIY-esque construction with RIDICULOUS prices. And Albert has proved this to all of us a long time ago with the wallets and the bags - easy DIY, if you put your mind to it. $600 - get the fuck out of my face, seriously. I haven't seen a single piece by him that I would've liked to own, except a pair of boots, but at a cute $1800, I'm Ok. All the tops are ill fitted I think, with super long sleeves and a very short torso (not to mention the deep vneck hoody for which you need a crane operator's help to take on/off). Nor do I see any vision in his design - it's all the same shit, just significantly higher priced each season. He's no Altieri or Poell.

[theetruscan]

Ehhh. It's funny how MA+ seems to elicit love-hate comments even from the same members. Maldoror, where you see purity of design, I see juvenile, DIY-esque construction with RIDICULOUS prices. And Albert has proved this to all of us a long time ago with the wallets and the bags - easy DIY, if you put your mind to it. $600 - get the fuck out of my face, seriously. I haven't seen a single piece by him that I would've liked to own, except a pair of boots, but at a cute $1800, I'm Ok. All the tops are ill fitted I think, with super long sleeves and a very short torso (not to mention the deep vneck hoody for which you need a crane operator's help to take on/off). Nor do I see any vision in his design - it's all the same shit, just significantly higher priced each season. He's no Altieri or Poell.

Faust, I'm curious what your take is on the materials he works with. To my mind that's probably the most interesting thing about the pieces I've seen. I'm not disagreeing about most of the pricing (it is largely obscene), but his materials seem unique. Are other people working with materials like his, or creating them, or is it just that the sheer fuck-youness of his pricing combined with what you see as uninspired patternmaking makes it irrelevant to you? Or did I create a set of choices that miss the real answer?

[Chinorlz]

Ehhh. It's funny how MA+ seems to elicit love-hate comments even from the same members. Maldoror, where you see purity of design, I see juvenile, DIY-esque construction with RIDICULOUS prices. And Albert has proved this to all of us a long time ago with the wallets and the bags - easy DIY, if you put your mind to it. $600 - get the fuck out of my face, seriously. I haven't seen a single piece by him that I would've liked to own, except a pair of boots, but at a cute $1800, I'm Ok. All the tops are ill fitted I think, with super long sleeves and a very short torso (not to mention the deep vneck hoody for which you need a crane operator's help to take on/off). Nor do I see any vision in his design - it's all the same shit, just significantly higher priced each season. He's no Altieri or Poell.

I'm in between your view and those that fully adore Amadei Faust. A lot of his pieces are "simple" but the patternwork that he created has made them distinctly his. In that sense, I'd credit him with developing the designs of say the wallet and the accordion bag... that took creativity to develop and fine tune (although he now uses that concept a little too much IMO). Reverse engineering it wasn't difficult, but I definitely wouldn't have thought of either on my own.

He has "hit" pieces and "miss" pieces... with more misses than hits as of late, but I'm still optimistic that he's still relevant in the SZ world.

I agree that I haven't quite seen a "vision" or really an evolution of his line so far. Even with the every-season-aviator, many would argue that the first edition was actually the best. You would think that it would have been fine tuned, adjusted, tweaked just a little bit in the right direction season to season.

I like that he works with some really neat fabrics. Carol of course does it too but I like how Amadei works with softer materials whereas Carol works with "hard" stuff. Some of the fabrics that Amadei uses I just have no idea how it's made.

In the end, I think he's got enough knowledge of how to cut a piece to fit well and enough talent to at least keep things interesting... I just hope he doesn't continue to go in the direction of producing the same aviator in different fabric each season, making his bags bigger and bigger while they get more basic and basic, and producing simple long sleeved shirts for ungodly asking prices.

[Faust]

No, your question is valid. It's just to me cutting is a far superior skill than choosing fabrics. And it's not like he creates fabrics the way Atelier has. It's not such a big deal to choose good fabrics, if you know where to source them out. Besides, with a few exceptions (the gray throne coat), I don't really see what is so special about his fabrics? The leathers don't seem extraordinary to me, a lot of stuff seems pretty basic cashmere and cotton, the aviator hoody is also cotton (although that piece has beautiful seamwork!). I honestly don't know what to get excited about. Call me an old grudge, but MA is just a pale shade of CDiem. The way I see it, if you are charging prices like these, your shit better be approaching art, which means it better have a visible conceptual framework - and I don't see it with MA (unlike Altieri or Poell).

[theetruscan]

Makes sense. And, probably with only a few exceptions you're right, but I suspect those are Chinorlz's hits, and also why I'm excited to go fondle his work.

The pieces that pop into my head first are:

The loose pants I'm so obsessed with at A. They're probably cotton, or something, but they're a hard fabric, with a slightly contrasting-color raised texture, and a very stiff feel. The fabric itself is unlike other fabrics I've seen.

A shawl collar hook-closure blazery thing I saw in Tokyo, thick... I guess I'd say spongy fabric.

The long coat (Tattoine in philip nod's terms), which is pretty cool fabric as well.

There was another

[the breaks]

Ehhh. It's funny how MA+ seems to elicit love-hate comments even from the same members. Maldoror, where you see purity of design, I see juvenile, DIY-esque construction with RIDICULOUS prices.

Amen. It really looks sloppy in the pictures.

[AKA*NYC]

i'm surprised there's even a debate about amadei's skill as a designer. i agree that his price points can be challenging but his work stands out as by far the most superior and innovative of all the carpe offshoots. if anything, i can see where some of his designs (or the details therein) may strike some as a bit garish but as far as the materials, treatments, and craftsmanship few can compare. on top of that his style is patently his own: bling povera.

[AKA*NYC]

Call me an old grudge, but MA is just a pale shade of CDiem. The way I see it, if you are charging prices like these, your shit better be approaching art, which means it better have a visible conceptual framework - and I don't see it with MA (unlike Altieri or Poell).

faust, can you (or someone else) explain which carpe diem designs can be squarely attributed to altieri as opposed to amadei. didn't amadei design the leather for both carpe and linea?

[Chinorlz]

i'm surprised there's even a debate about amadei's skill as a designer. i agree that his price points can be challenging but his work stands out as by far the most superior and innovative of all the carpe offshoots. if anything, i can see where some of his designs (or the details therein) may strike some as a bit garish but as far as the materials, treatments, and craftsmanship few can compare. on top of that his style is patently his own: bling povera.

and a new smiley is born to SZ!

[philip nod]

and a new smiley is born to SZ!

unfortunately he's seems to be going toward bling while we all seem to be going toward povera

[Chinorlz]

btw, maldoror and pnods should have a beard-off.

I'd compete... but I'm asian. Fu-Manchu battle? I'm in.

[philip nod]

and a new smiley is born to SZ!

http://www.arthur.gr.jp/tsuhan/cgis/...=00000022&sort=

just realized mal that mine are a shinier cotton i believe and not the jersey, there's no line marks on the behind, maybe yours is f/w 08? i did see these pants in La in black leather as well for 3 grand six months ago

[philip nod]

btw, maldoror and pnods should have a beard-off.

I'd compete... but I'm asian. Fu-Manchu battle? I'm in.

next time the trimmer has just asserted his prowess