A nice take on the messenger briefcase from Shipley & Halmos. The Schiller is finished in oak brown and features two front exterior pockets, roomy interior, and a very unique clasp closure on the front. A great day bag which will take a urban beating. (blackbird)

More views of the Shipley & Halmos Schiller Briefcase after the jump.

Alex Carleton, designer of the men’s brands, Rogues Gallery and Urban Outfitters opens the doors on a new line for the guys. Never Sleep is a line that mixes the Ivy League with some “social distortion” of thoughts. ”The individualistic spirit of the collection is captured in the phrase ”Carpe Noctum” or Seize the Night, at once rooted in, and subverting, the prep school culture from it comes from.” The fashions in Never Sleep come in one shade – Black. That should make the minimalist readers happy.

More views from the Never Sleep Spring 2009 collection after the jump.

The first book from University of Delaware Assistant Professor of History David Suisman releases this month. Selling Sounds: The Commercial Revolution in American Music is a richly researched account of how the music industry developed its commercial chops during the first decades of the 20th-century. The book is published by Harvard University Press.
Available now through Amazon.

Celebrating 100 years of the Giro d’Italia, our friends at Freeman Transport have produced a new t-shirt with an ode to the front runners jersey. Modeled after the pink pages of the La Gazzetta dello Sport, the overall leader of The Giro sports a maglia rosa jersey.

Connecting to the color, and drawing their own tour of Montana, the Freeman team attaches their location and history in cycling to one of the most cherished events in the sport.

The t-shirt is available now direct from Freeman Transport.

We previewed the April77 Autumn/Winter 2009 collection back in Feb. during the tradshow circuit. Today we give you a wider look to the coming fashions in the collection. Mixing traditional Native American patterns with contemporary denim, April77 hits the mark on styled looks for today’s modern man.

Many more views from the April77 Autumn/Winter 2009 men’s collection after the jump.

A fresh new collection for Autumn/Winter 2009 from Berlin based designer, Kostas Murkudis. The designer steps a bit more into the conceptual with the use of PVC – both transparent and solid – mixed with traditional fabrics against the form of trench coats, suit jackets, and more.

More looks from the Kostas Murkudis Autumn/Winter 2009 collection after the jump.

More from Casely Hayford from their forthcoming Autumn/Winter 2009 collection. Two models are standouts in the collection – the tasseled loafer and the quilted “Bentley” loafer. As 00oo00 mentions, “This season, they are broadening their range of shoes to make them more accessible whilst still maintaining the brand spirit. for fall winter, their shoes are made in turkey where they are rich in highly skilled artisan footwear tradition. this significantly brought down the costs involved.”

More views from the Casely Hayford Autumn/Winter 2009 shoe collection after the jump.

As much as we love Paul Smith, we don’t support everything he does. Take this minature chair for instance. Modelled from Arne Jacobsen’s ‘Egg’, the chair was made using 3-D scanning and uses Paul Smith fabric. Our main problem with this is that it costs £348 ($529), which is on par with what most people spend on their actual furniture. If you’ve got so much money that you can afford to spend this amount on toys, then get it from Paul Smith’s store.

We’re seeing an increase in wooden soles lately, with everyone from Yohji Yamamoto to Our Legacy getting in on the act. NDC are the latest to show off their wooden soles (Edit: The heels are wooden, but the soles are leather) with this khaki boots.  They’re called ‘The Sunday Best’ for reasons unknown to us (maybe they’re fans of the blog?) and have a distressed suede upper. Boots are the least practical shoe for scorching heat, but if you’re in between warm and hot then these would be a good choice. Get them from Matches.

There’s been a big jump in Rick Owens interviews and profiles this year but sometimes you need a newspaper to do away with the the obtuse prose of fashion magazines and focus on the details. This Observer article does just that. One notable quote from the man was about his approach to fashion:

“to do old Hollywood glamour, but in a ripped-T-shirt way. Black-and-white movies, but done in leather and T-shirting. I always resented how high fashion was so unapproachable and not for everyday.”

Read the full interview here.