Earlier this year,
Billy Reid was named the winner of
GQ's annual Best New Menswear Designer in America. Other designers which made it to the finals included
Burkman Bros,
Richard Chai, Vincent Flumiani (
Caulfield Preparatory), Frank Muytjens (
J. Crew) and Eunice Lee (
UNIS). Along with Billy's victory, he took home $50,000 and was given the opportunity to collaborate with Levi's to create a limited edition collection. In general, I'm definitely a fan of all of the finalists GQ selected - so kudos to Billy.
Generally speaking, there is a definite shortage of designer collaborations for men but hopefully this will change for the better in the future. I love collaborations since you get stylistic elements of two designers in one item and quantities are always limited so once it's gone - it's gone.
The collection was inspired by a blacksmith's work apron made out of duck cloth which was littered with abrasions, rust and oil stains. Overall, the pieces tend to be worked over with different treatments and in the end, all tie back to that apron.
The men's tote bag is a prime example of how the blacksmith's apron was incorporated into the collection. Tote bag = apron folded in half! Simple yet ingenious.
A few items were kept untouched including a high-rise jean based off of a pair of 1947 Levi's and a denim shirt (as shown on Billy Reid's picture above).
If you're looking to grab some of this gear, the collection is set to debut at select Bloomingdale's stores this fall so watch out!
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