The New York Times gets into the craft movement with an article focused on the re-invigorated footwear market in the U.S.A. The focus is on Wisconsin’s  Allen Edmunds. “This year, Allen Edmonds is on track to produce 500,000 pairs of shoes, up from 350,000 last year. Since January 2010, the company has added more than 118 employees and increased its work shifts, the results of a turnaround that has surprised even veteran shoemakers like Mr. Merrill. More than 400 pairs of shoes pass through his hands in a day, in a process that involves 220 steps from leather to lace-ups.”

Read the full article at The New York Times.

David Colman writes a piece up for NYT on the trend of “Americana” in Japan making it’s way back to – where else – the USA. “Lately the trend has taken on a new dimension, via the Internet, with a resurgence of interest in once obscure American brands. Alongside the familiar L. L. Bean duck boots, Brooks Brothers shirts and Ray-Ban Wayfarers…As fashion moments go, this is as all-American as it gets, right? Actually, no.”

Read the full story at The New York Times.

This is a trip. Our friends at men.style report in on a one night only board short event. “The secret to great surf trunks? A little old Japanese lady, of course. In 1961, Sato Hughes … started as a seamstress at Huntington Beach’s Katin Surf Shop, later inheriting the company; her attention to detail and quality have helped make Katins a SoCal staple for the better part of five decades. To celebrate the brand’s 50th anniversary, Katin collaborator Apolis Activism is bringing the 84-year-old out of retirement for a one-night-only made-to-measure event tonight at L.A.’s American Rag.” How dope is that?

It would seem that Europe’s love re-purposing classic Americana workwear and day wear consistently yields something new. Carhartt Europe has successfully targeted what is considered blue collar workwear into something fashionable for our friends across the pond.

Woolrich is no exception to this. The Woolrich Woolen Mills Collection stems “from  the passion of rediscovery of the American manufacturing tradition.”

Looking to take a stand for the consumer looking for authenticity in their threads, the Woolrich Woolen Mills S/S 2008 collection, offers “garments with a purpose” made with traditional fabrics and are cut with modern forms.

The S/S 08 collection is a full line offering parkas, hoodies, slack, hats, bags… each piece with its own special place in the history of Woolrich. This is done right.

More photos and views after the jump.