Introducing... Breaks

Apologies for the lack of posting this week. I hope you've not jumped to the conclusion that there must be a shortage of menswear material for this blog to sink its teeth in to. The truth is, it is the complete opposite and I'm struggling to find the time to give everything the attention it deserves. Damn the real world for getting in the way of a good post! Anyway, enough of my grumbles. To help fill the void, I'd like to introduce you to the London based label, Breaks.

Founded by Ryo Yamazaki and Kohji Yanagi in late 2010, Breaks instantly caught the eagle eye of independent fashion boutique Wolf & Badger with a debut collection that effortlessly fused a modern silhouette with punkish materials. The label is grounded in a shared obsession with classic punk and rock and a desire to repackage it for a new man. Somehow their accomplished debut slipped by my radar but thankfully their sophomore collection for SS12 grabbed my attention. Shortly after their impressive Yusuke Miyazaki shot look book landed in my inbox, I visited the pair at their Hackney based studio to learn more about the label and to take a closer at their designs.

A look around Breaks' small but perfectly studio in the creative haven that is Netil House.

Originally from Japan, the design partnership met through mutual friends whilst studying in London. However, neither had an education in menswear design, Yanagi studied womenswear at LCF whilst Yamazaki studied economics. Despite their different paths, the pair were united in their shared dream to create menswear in their adopted city. The design aesthetic is an intriguing balance of classic, minimal, and sharp shapes fused with punk inspired materials including leather, zips and studs. For their second collection, The Pursuit of Simplicity, the pair added military influences to this already heady mix following an excited trip to the Imperial War Museum. Now, I'm scarred for life by the mere thought of this famed tourist attraction after a torturous, lengthy visit at the insistence of my Dad but the design duo were captivated by the displays of uniforms and managed to bring a surprising lightness to their reimagination of military classics.

The design duo were quite shy when confronted with my excitement for their creations but fortunately the designs themselves did the talking for them. Their sophomore effort is a light, playful, tactile, wearable yet interesting collection that manages to develop their aesthetic quite wonderfully. The studio visit was ideal because it afforded me the opportunity to inspect the extremely well finished designs and marvel at the intricate combination of well sourced fabrics and leathers. Despite my obvious support for emerging talent it is rare that I find a collection that could slip effortlessly on to store rails and in to my everyday wear. Breaks is an exception to the norm. Having said my piece, I'll follow the designers and allow the designs themselves to carry on the discussion with the help of their look book and a few of my own detail shots...

SS12 Look book credits:

Direction and Styling by Ryo Yamazaki and assisted by Jun Yasui.  Photographed by Yusuke Miyazaki

Modeled by Danny Arter @ Nevs. Hairs by Takuya Sugawara. Graphic design by Kohei Suzuki

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With two such accomplished and well crafted opening collections, I'm going to be keeping a keen eye on the development of Breaks.

Tools of the trade... S.E.H Kelly

Located in an oft overlooked enclave of East London, S.E.H Kelly's workshop is quietly going about its business of making quality garments with the makers of the British Isles. Having long admired the label's hunger to showcase British craftsmanship, we finally paid Paul Vincent and Sara Kelly a visit over the weekend.

Their Boundary Street haven was an intimate hive of activity as the remaining pieces for AW12 took shape and thoughts began to drift towards the months ahead. On its top deck are the rolls of cloth, the patterns and trims and a whole assortment of implements for garment-making. Meanwhile, lower space is home to an ongoing procession of shirts, overshirts, jackets, trousers and knitwear at various stages of completion. It is a delight to explore. Now, given that every aspect of every garment is made with the domestic clothing industry, with steadfast adherence to quality and the sturdiness of British make, we could leave without asking the design duo to reveal their favourite tools. Here, Vincent  reveals three tools of S.E.H Kelly's trade...

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Stork Scissors

"What can you say about the stork scissors that hasn't already been said? The stork scissors are the go-to for trimming threads, tidying up button-holes, snipping string when wrapping -- usually just prior to garments being dispatched or handed over to customers at the workshop (at the factory, industrial-grade nippers are the utensil of choice)."

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Single-hole hole punch

"What can you say about the single-hole hole-punch that hasn't already been said? A real partner-in-crime to the stork scissors, the punch, and in a given week will punch its way through swing tickets, spare-button bags, fabric-swatch bags, and pattern cards. Looked at from a certain angle it too looks like a bird -- or perhaps a dolphin. Not the most ergonomic hole punch, truth be told, but history shows the most reliable."

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Trodat Printy 4917 ink-stamp

"What can you say about the Trodat Printy 4917 ink-stamp that hasn't already been said? Since we've no first-hand experience of precursors to the 4917, the 4917 is in our books the apex of self-inking stamp tech. Once mastered, the 4917 never fails, and this particular 4917 has stamped without complaint our brand name onto envelopes, letters to customers and suppliers, and swing tickets, since day one." Paul Vincent.

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Unpicking the seams: Shaun Samson AW11

Remarkably, this season will be MAN’s thirteenth season at London Fashion Week. Now, we should all know by now that the talent showcase is all about heralding what’s new in menswear but this lineup is one of the most exciting to date. For the SS12 roster, Martine Rose is joined by two newcomers, Matthew Miller and Shaun Samson. Both newbies are deservedly winning plaudits, competitions and buyers for their style and innovative garment techniques. In today's piece I'd like to focus on Shaun Samson's needle punch felting technique.

The International Talent Support (ITS) has been a platform for emerging designers from all around the globe. This year’s stand out was from the California born and now London based designer Samson. He only graduated from the MA course at Central Saint Martins back in February but his modern sportswear stole the show. Sponsored by Woolrich, his seamless fabric manipulation saw chunky knitwear, denim and wool all fuse harmoniously together in oversized t shirts, cigarette trousers and accessories. Samson might have been studying various forms of fashion design for almost a decade but he is ready to take centre stage at London Fashion Week. Before he does, I'd like to learn a little bit more about his technique. Here we sit down with the design talent and chat through his design process before taking a closer look at his craft...

CSM MA shot thanks to catwalking.com

SS: What first drew you to the effect of needle punch felting?

Shaun Samson: I had known about needle punch felting for a while, I can't remember the first time I encountered it but I had it my head for some time but didn't start working on it until my MA. As I played around with the technique, I started off with solids and then found old garments and through a process of experimentation, I soon began to understand what worked best. My earliest samples show a more obvious process, where you can see one fabric sitting on another but I wanted to make it more subtle, cooler. I paired them with woven, knits and cashmeres, experimenting with weights. Finally, I decided the best way to show off the technique was to have a wooly fabric with a linen because the fuzzy fibres of the knit help it to mingle. From there I came up with a fabric and colour story and it is here that I first contacted Woolrich with 'Hey, you're an American company and I'm an American student living in London, let's show show them what we can do.'

SS: How was the working relationship with Woolrich?

Shaun Samson: They were so responsive and helpful. Straight off, they sent me a stack of archive fabric examples. It was great to be able to go through everything and immerse myself in the variety of plaids. There was one fabric that I needed to be sent overnight and I pensively asked them, didn't hear anything and thought I had soured the relationship with my excessive demands but low and behold, it arrived the next day. They were just so nice to work with and helped me so much. From this point on it was just a case of building the collection.

SS: Is it a partnership that you'd like to continue?

Shaun Samson: I hope so. I'm just afraid of over using it but I'm keen to slowly build on the relationship in the coming seasons and beyond. I'm so happy that a company liked Woolrich believed in me and supported me as much as they did. When I first approached them I showed them samples of the technique I had in mind but

SS: Needle punch felting is certainly a labour intensive process. Were they any other difficulties that you encountered?

Shaun Samson: This process is like embroidery, you have needles going in and out the fabric until it is done. There is no quick, or short cut way of doing it. To do it, I feed it in to the machine on the reverse so there is no way of knowing exactly what it will look like until I've taken it out of the machine and turn it forward. There is a lot of experimentation while I try and figure out the process and each piece will be subtly different. When you're introducing thicker knits, the process has to be slowed down even further because there's a significant chance of breaking needles. I also had this problem when I was felting denim, it is just a matter of understanding the fabrics that you are working with and changing elements of the process accordingly so that it looks the best it can.

SS: How long does it take to make one piece?

Shaun Samson: The felting process itself takes around three to four hours. To finish the piece, the entire process is done by hand. Hems and linings are tacked down by hand. So to complete a whole piece it takes around a day in total but that's when I dedicate an entire day to it. I enjoy the process and the more I do it, the more acquainted I get and ultimately the better I get.

SS: As production grows, would you pass this process on to a factory?

Shaun Samson: There are some amazing factories out there. I've been told it can be done but I've not seen it work well with pattern fabrics, only solid fabrics as yet. With the pattern fabric you have to ensure that the pattern continues and matches exactly. If it is out, even by the smallest of margins, it gets punched and the appearance is crooked. The lines have to match precisely. This is where the advantages of doing it by hand come in because you can really follow the needle. I'm sure a machine exists that could replicate it but I've just not encountered it yet.

SS: The collection explores an over sized silhouette. Now, I've seen the t shirts in particular referred to as many things, would you call them t shirts?

Shaun Samson: That's how I viewed what I made from my MA collection, they were oversized t shirts rather than tunic tops or man dresses. It is nice that people think that t shirt is new but I've been wearing them large like this since I was a little kid.

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As Samson talked me through his award winning MA collection he brought the described techniques and creative processes to life by flicking through his sketchbook and rifling through his draws of fabrics. To attempt to replicate this luxury, I'd like to share a selection of studio shots accompanied by the designer's own musings....

"I was drawn to Woolrich even before I knew that I'd be working with them. I've been a fan for so long" 
His sketchbook contains catalogue shots and a cocktail of fabric swatches.


Woolrich catalogue images are cut and sewn together like Frankenstein's monster.

"Woolrich sent over an archive of tartans and plaids to choose from"
A selection of Woolrich tartans

Samson's sewing machine

"My earliest samples show a more obvious process, where you can see one fabric sitting on another but I wanted to make it more subtle, cooler."



"I paired them with woven, knits and cashmeres, experimenting with weights."

"After a process of experimentation with the needle felting technique, I decided the best way to show off the technique was to have a wooly fabric with a linen because the fuzzy fibres of the knit help it to mingle."


"Initially, my first drawings concentrated on button up shirts and coats but along the way I opted to simplify them to make a stronger statement."

The Statement.


A work in progress


...and another.


The lineup


A close up the mingled fibres of the tartan and linen.


A heady mix of chunky knit and wool.
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Whilst so many young designers explore fabric manipulations in their work, it is rarely achieved with the finesse and skill that can be seen throughout this collection. Having taken a close look at his process, all that's left is to showcase his look book imagery (and impatiently wait for Menswear Day)...

Look book credits
Art Direction by Rob Meyers and photography by Pelle Crepin.
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During my studio visit, in addition to finalising his plans for MAN, Samson was collating and packing off a number of key AW11 pieces for his first store. The buyer of Cement in Japan was quick off the mark and Samson's much coveted designs will soon be available. Following his London Fashion Week show, I'm in little doubt that buyers closer to home will soon be picking up this young talent. We'll certainly be hearing a lot more from Shaun Samson. Roll on Menswear Day.

A visit to Ian Batten

Just like the long and frustrated wait for a bus only to be greeted with a convoy of double deckers, I've posted a series of posts on a man who often operates in the sartorial shadows. I could apologise but Ian Batten deserves such fanfare. Before meeting Batten at his Highgate shop-cum-studio, I google'd him. A tumble weed of information slowly rolled past my wanting eyes. A link to his two stockists and the BBC Four series that followed him and his seven grandchildren on a trip to the seaside a few years ago now is all that mind boggling algorithm could muster. In this world of mass information, such cases are rare. Having long fallen for the charms of his garments and with a few stories ringing in my ears from the lovely folk at b, I hopped on the 43 and chatted with the man himself over a cup of coffee.

As Ian Batten welcomed me to his narrow work space and recounted countless tales from his forty years in the industry, it was impossible not leave mesmerised and inspired. From finding himself accepted to study at Hornsey Art College with a whole host of creative talent in early 60s London to following in the footsteps of Anthony Price at Sterling Cooper, launching his own line in 1992 to forging a business selling clothes to a few considered accounts and a growing number of sartorial devotees, Batten's is a unique and fascinating story. Periodically finding himself on the cusp of something bigger, he has cultivated a business whilst remaining something of a hidden gem. Today, with the unveiling of a look book for AW12 and the relaunch of his website something tells me he won't remain hidden for too much longer.

With over forty years in the business Batten could be forgiven for not evolving, but he does constantly. In fact he thrives on it. "People used to say to me 'Ian, the problem with you is that you get bored very easily, you move on too quickly'  and that is probably true in a way. For me, the whole bag is being creative, pushing it somehow." Despite being a bit cautious of technology, the relaunch of his site will help introduce him to a new audience. "Just last night I was talking to a few of my old art college buddies and we discussed how we were all part of this last generation that have their feet in both camps, once we're gone it will all be the technology generation. I like it (technology) but it is not something that I rely on." Thankfully for us, Batten has opted to edge his feet a bit more confidently in to the digital realm and more can discover his work.

Whilst failing academically at school he was nudged in the direction of art school. Clueless of what it entailed he applied to Hornsey Art College. "At the time that I went to art school, I didn't even know what it was about. My art teacher knew that I wasn't very academic but saw something creative in me and suggested that I apply. I took some drawings with me and got in." This was at a time when the capital was at its swinging best. "there were people there like Charlie Watt's wife, Allen Jones, Ray Davis of the Kinks was there." Now, you often hear about musicians forming groups at art college but rarely careers in fashion design. For Batten it was a slow process of experimentation. "I did my foundation, then a graphics course because I didn't want to be a painter and then I moved towards fashion illustration. At the time, there weren't fashion illustration courses. If you wanted to do that, you had to do the whole lot. So I did. I don't quite know how it evolve but somehow it did, it was a process of discovery really." After his graduation he took the first job that he could in the rag trade and learnt from there. "The big one for me, in the 70s and 80s, was Sterling Cooper. It was a big deal, Anthony Price and Sheila Brown were there and then, I was the next one in. I was there for four years and it was the making of me. I left and then went freelance, travelling around doing bits here and there, I did womenswear at Swanky Modes. In the early 90s I got fed up with womenswear. It was the start of a real big push for menswear. I opened up a shop with a friend of mine in Chelsea and it started from there."

"Today, there's a growing band out there that really get my stuff and it is absolutely lovely but I would like it to be a bit more solid. For some reason, my main customers are all architects. They seem to love that my clothes are unstructured. It is quite fluid and I guess that is where the energy comes from, driving it forward. At times, I feel like that performer at the circus who spins plates on the end of my pole but I do enjoy it. I'm fortunate that I enjoy what I do, from life drawing to films, it just grows. What I have to do but what I'm hesitant to do, is get back on the fashion loop as it were. In recent years I've been producing capsule collections for the likes of b store and Livingstone Studio. Both have been quite organic and just grow. It's been a nice way of working but I probably should work more to the seasons.


People either call me a tailor or a fashion designer, I'm neither really, I just make clothing. Everything is unstructured so it is not strict tailoring, that is an entirely different bag. Also, I'm not interested in fashion either. I used to work in trends. I don't follow trends anymore. It is just me designing clothes that I hope provoke a reaction like 'ooh, that's a nice detail!' It is all about shape really. I just do what I do. Some people love it and some might not like it all. It is subjective. One of the first things I ask my customers is 'how does it feel?' because if it feels great then that's half the battle." 

I could have listened to Ian Batten talk all day and I'd happily transcribe it all for you but I know you must all be eager to see a few images to help break up the text. So, take my virtual hand and lets explore his shop-cum-studio. Squeezed in to a narrow but long unit, the space allows discovery at every turn...

The retail space is full of Ian Batten treats.

A selection of shots from his studio and workbench

You should have noticed from above that Ian Batten is a great talker, dropping tales, nuggets of wisdom and excitedly bouncing from sentence to sentence with consumate ease. However, when it comes to describing what he does and his clothes, he is succinct and at times stumped. After asking him to describe his AW12 collection he inhaled deeply and looked blank for a few seconds before replying with, "God, I never know what to say...". He took another sip of coffee and recounted another story. "Years ago, Michael Roberts who used to be fashion editor of The Sunday Times, asked me to describe one of my collections and I just said 'Michael, I don't know what to say… they're like a big sack with string through the middle of it.' And he printed it, I could't believe it but I guess it serves me right really." With menswear, its very much a continuation from season to season. You get a good shape, find a great fabric and it follows on. It's a process of evolution. I don't think about it really. It's like when you're running down the stairs and if you think about the movement of your feet, you often trip up but you can do it fine without thinking about. It just happens..." That's a great analogy. Right, enough talk... here's a selection of AW12 look book shots by Retts Wood...

AW12 look book shot by Retts Wood.

Having lurked in the sartorial shadows for a number of years, now is the time for Ian Batten to step in to the spotlight.