I went to the last day of Permanent Style's pop-up event at Savile Row. During the second week, the pop-up showcased products from, among others, Permanent Style, Adret, Mori of Shoemakers, the Anthology, J. Girdwood, and BrycelandsCo.
It was a good opportunity to meet fellow menswear enthusiasts and of course see and feel in the flesh products otherwise only visible through computer screens. It was also a good opportunity to converse with the people behind the brands and their visions on their products and the market.
Simon of Permanent Style brought along products from his webshop. As someone who loves seeing things age well (hint in the name "The Patina Log"), I found the denim shirt particularly interesting. It is offered as a finished shirt by Luca Avitabile or as bolts of fabric and comes in two tones. Simon brought along his personal denim shirt and I could really see the edges wear and fade through wear and numerous washes.
Another interesting item Simon brought was his "Finest Knitwear" (not pictured—pictures won't do it justice as the appeal is in the feel rather than look). I can understand why it is called as it is as it really feels very fine. I could see it go really well under tailoring.
Adret (pronounced Adré) brought along a whole wardrobe from head to toe, essentially. From horn frames to suede loafers and bags to handkerchiefs.
I spent most of my time there conversing with Seto, one of the founders of Adret and a fellow Indonesian. The vision of Adret is really interesting in that they seem to be embracing the ever more casual direction the world is heading to, which can be seen from the relaxed style of their products.
I was particularly drawn by their suede wholecut loafers, which together with the hinged shoe trees are developed in-house. As someone who wears welted shoes almost daily, it felt like a whole new world opened up when I felt the supple unstructured suede and thin cemented leather sole.
Adret's handkerchiefs are also very interesting. The colours are muted and the patterns are drawn by hand with wax, like Indonesian batik. The ends are also meticulously hand-rolled.
Adret has not officially launched their brand, having spent the last three years in research and development, and for the time being only goes to pop-ups.
One brand not immediately visible in the pop-up shop was Mori of Shoemakers, which I understand from Simon was added at the last minute. Mori is the brainchild of Maslow So and you can read more about the project on his Instagram. They had on display a few models by the window, including the above split-toe derby, oxfords and loafers with flannel uppers, which I've never seen before.
From what I saw, it is very promising. Mori was developed with Masaru Okuyama, a bespoke Japanese shoemaker. The shoes are made in China and incorporates numerous details otherwise only found in bespoke shoes or very high-quality ready-to-wear, such as fiddleback waist, pitched heel, and lasted shoe trees.
There were other promising products on display by the Anthology, J. Girdwood, BrycelandsCo. Unfortunately I did not get a chance to converse with the people behind them in order to write more about them. If you want to read more about them, head over to permanentstyle.co.uk.
Written by: Nikki Krisadtyo