The Toronto, Canada born Club Monaco line (now part of the Ralph Lauren family) pulls down the curtain to unveil their new “Made in the U.S.A.” collection which brings an assortment of neckties, suits and more – all made in the United States – to a market ready for it. Sold through their 5th Ave. shop and their Bloor Stree, Toronto shop, the Club Monaco collection is only the start of a larger initiative that will surround the brand with collaborations featuring familiar names: Archival Clothing, London Unercover, Tannery Goods, and even Undercover. The formula, while not new, has clearly helped other retailers reach a consumer audience that expects products and themes that go well beyond the usual. The guiding hand of Michael Williams and his team will add that golden touch to the “Made in the U.S.A.” collection to help it forward.

A full look at the collection after the click.

Sleaze-master general Ed Davis Wood Jr was responsible for some of the strangest pulp-fiction porn novels of the 50s and 60s. To call him eccentric is a bit of an understatement, his demise and eventual death at the hands of alcohol saw him die in poverty but along the way he wrote a series of oddball stories fusing ’shock’ sex tales of biker chicks, horror orgies and surpressed desire in suburbia, with his own brand of psychology, sociology and philosophical argument. Boo-Hooray has tracked down some of his rarest and most collectable books and will be displaying them in the gallery from November. The covers alone worth the visit.

Thanks to Sanforized for pointing us towards yet another great repro brand. Sportswear Reg. is an Italian label with a love of American casual and military wear from the 30s’-50s. Sweatshirts, heavy tees, chambray shirts and henleys. Lots of attention to detail, original touches, prints and cuts. Definitely one to watch.

Bowties. We know, they’ve been through some rough times in the last few years. Alongside the trilby, this neckwear classic has been involved in some incredibly upsetting scenes. Misused, abused, maltreated. It would be easy to turn your back on them completely. However, if anyone can change your mind it’s Drake’s. Experts in the field, they offer us these hand made 100% silk bowties, thanks to some smart new prints, more English classic than X-Factor contestant. Find them here.

This is a video of James Brown selling miso soup in Japan during the 90s. Enough said. (Retronaut)

Something special from Samurai. The Indigo Wabash Coverall features what we’re told is an original ‘Ninja Wabash discharge print with repeated Kunai design’. Call it what you like, this fabric is just incredible, a subtle modern print on a thoroughly old school design. 100% cotton, made in Japan, this comes with interchangeable buttons. Bored of brass? Swap over to indigo cloth and let the good times roll. Find it at Blue in Green.

01. 6 Brown Eggs (Concept) (above)

“Designed by Sarah Machicado, a graduate from Maryland Institute College of Art….Brand and Sustainable Package Design concept for 6 extra large, organic brown eggs. Envisioned to be printed with soy based inks on 100% post consumer corrugated paper board, an environmentally conscience alternative to a plastic incased egg package.” (potw)

02. iPhone Stencil

“For all the toys we have that have basically eliminated the need to write anything out by hand, there’s still something that draws us to a pen and pad of paper. Sure, we still plug away at our keyboards and iPhones, but – just like an elderly relationship – there’s no intimacy. If you feel the same way and happen to be in the process of, or are thinking about, designing an App, the iPhone Stencil from AC Gears will help you lay it all out neatly. Hey, if someone is making money of flinging birds around the screen, you’ve gotta have an idea that could make its way onto iTunes. $30″ (coolmaterial)

03. Carhartt WIP Store Opening NYC

The store will feature WORK IN PROGRESS products and future collaborations (APC, VANS etc.).
During the store’s opening, Carhartt will be releasing special products made together with FRAGMENT DESIGN, exclusively available at Carhartt WIP Store NYC.

If you are in New York, please stop by : CARHARTT WIP store, 119 Crosby Street, Soho, New York City.
Grand Opening: October 27th 2011, 11.30 AM.

04. Who Invented the Seven-Game Series?

“John T. Brush was an orphan, a Civil War veteran, and a robber baron. He was born in 1845, and by the 1880s, he was a prominent baseball owner, a crotchety tycoon who used his department-store fortune to purchase franchises in Indianapolis and Cincinnati before taking control of the National League’s New York Giants. It was Brush who first proposed an unpopular salary cap he referred to as the “Brush Classification Plan.” It was Brush who harbored such a grudge against the American League that he refused to allow his Giants to play the Boston Pilgrims in 1904, thereby resulting in the first of the two World Series-less falls of the 20th century. The players disliked him; the media tore into him with a purplish rage. “Chicanery is the ozone which keeps his old frame from snapping,” wrote the Sporting News, “and dark-lantern methods the food which vitalizes his body tissues.” (grantland)

Inside the Mercedes-Benz Classic Car Center as they prep for the big show…

Stockholm’s Vision Division did a workshop in Milan and the above image was the result of it. According to Design Boom The Patient Gardener is “a structure consisting of ten japanese cherry trees which is the main building material for the construction of a two-story retreat.” It will take around 80 years to grow to the state you can see above so, as the title states, you’ll have to be patient with it. Take a leap to see more of it. (Designboom)

Our good friends at We are the Market deliver this preview look at the Spring/Summer 2012 collectin from Reyn Spooner. “With Reyn Spooner’s SS12 Collection adorning the models and walls in the basement of Lani Kai, the private press preview quickly became a beach party complete with delicious tropical drinks and a fashionable crowd grooving to dreamy tunes. While the showing’s guests were the type of people to normally pine for the sartorial layering that comes with Autumn, the slim-cut printed shirts and trunks had us all envisioning days in the surf and nights on the sand.”