HIP HANDPICKED – Danny Lomas

A curation of new season highlights for HIP Summer ’23 by Danny Lomas – model and host of Dansplaining: The Danny Lomas Podcast.

“I often think if I were to start my wardrobe again, where would I start? My style has always been a bit mis-matched – With mod heritage from my mum I’ve always loved sleeker classic silhouettes, but then developing an interest in streetwear in my early teens, leaning more into menswear in my mid to late teens and from thereon kind of loving a bit of anything in between, I guess my style and picks take reference and inspiration from each part of my life.

Being June and Living currently in the heart of Shoreditch, my needs aren’t really to find the latest technical fabrics crafted to withstand ruthless temperatures, but more to find complementary pieces designed to keep you cool and steezy on your treks to the pub beer garden rather than Everest.”

Featuring Beams Plus, Engineered Garments, Vinny’s, adidas Originals, Nicholas Daley, Visvim, Nanamica, Clarks Originals, Martine Rose and Stone Island.

adidas Originals by Wales Bonner

This season adidas Originals and Wales Bonner continue their ongoing partnership with a Spring/Summer 2023 collection titled ‘Land of Wood and Water’. Encompassing a range of considered references, the central motif is focused on the Caribbean, as the esteemed British designer explores adidas’ lasting presence within Jamaican culture.

The clothing collection reimagines vintage silhouettes through elevated material compositions and refreshing colour palettes. The range draws on the nation’s landscape and environment, presenting elegant sportswear codes and referencing iconic elements of Jamaican style.

The footwear offering sees Wales Bonner explore two archival adidas classics. Staying true to the collaboration’s legacy of elevated details and unexpected touches, the Wales Bonner Samba returns in two makeups: one in a neutral colour palette with a nubuck upper and leather stripes, the other in a silver leather upper with crochet stripes. In addition, the Wales Bonner SL72 Knit sees the designer recontextualise the retro adidas runner with a knitted upper, seen in two colourways which pay homage to Jamaican culture.

Informed by broad research encompassing critical theory, musical composition, literature and history, Wales Bonner embraces a multiplicity of perspectives, proposing a distinct notion of luxury, via a hybrid of European and Afro-Atlantic approaches. Grace Wales Bonner launched her eponymous label in 2014, following her graduation from Central Saint Martins. Established as a menswear brand, Wales Bonner’s soulful tailoring soon expanded to womenswear – in 2015, she was awarded Emerging Menswear Designer at the British Fashion Awards. In 2016, following her first solo runway presentation – Ezekiel, she received the LVMH Young Designer Prize. In 2019, Wales Bonner was invited by Maria Grazia Chiuri to collaborate with Dior to re-interpret their New Look silhouette for the Resort 2020 collection; shortly afterwards she was announced the winner of the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund.

The adidas Originals by Wales Bonner Spring/Summer 2023 collection launches at HIP on 09/06/23 online at 9:00am and in Leeds and Manchester from 10:00am.

HIP HANDPICKED Summer ’23

Introducing HIP Handpicked – a considered curation of new season highlights chosen by us at HIP HQ. HIP Handpicked is updated monthly with our must-have selection of the best new seasonal items we’ve got our eyes on across clothing, footwear, and accessories within our men’s, women’s and living offerings.

Featuring Beams Plus, adidas Originals, Needles, Engineered Garments, Carhartt WIP, New Balance, Auralee, Martine Rose, Noah, Clarks Originals, Nike & more.

Explore HIP Handpicked for June Summer ’23.

New To HIP: Noah

Noah is an American menswear brand founded by former Supreme creative director Brendon Babenzien. Noah allows the New York-native to realise his expansive creative vision, connecting the dots between the contrasting subcultures and DIY elements that defined his youth. Noah’s references are cross-generational – uniting interests in skating, surfing, water, the outdoors and music genres from hip-hop to punk rock all under one roof. The label marries an urban and active lifestyle aesthetic with classic design features – creating a considered and understated form of menswear. Sourcing high-quality fabrics from around the world, Noah is transparent about production and creates clothing with a conscience. Each collection is wide-ranging, offering casual day-to-day pieces alongside well-tailored, timeless silhouettes.

Noah – New To HIP For Summer ’23 – Online now.

Salomon Summer ’23 At HIP

For Summer ’23, Salomon present a wide range of silhouettes that draw from the early 2000’s and 2010’s with a performance inspired design and technical elements throughout – arriving in both OG and new seasonal tones across the XT-6, XT-4 OG, ACS Pro and XT-Quest 2.

Born in a sleepy alpine town called Annecy in south-eastern France – Salomon was created in 1947 by George Salomon and his parents who came up with the idea to use wood saw blade machinery to make metal edges for skis. As the company grew over time, Salomon expanded from making solely skiing products and began supplying the world with outdoors footwear and gear for many activities, terrains, and conditions.

Salomon at HIP – Online now.

FrizmWORKS With Joe Sharpe

Joe Sharpe is the Managing Director of Options – a global fashion distributor that connects labels from around the world to European stores. Options is highly respected in the industry and uses its vast expertise to provide a platform for brands to grow in new regions and markets. The company upkeeps the identity of its labels whilst introducing their product to new stores, raising brand awareness in the process. One of Options’ key labels is FrizmWORKS, having brought the brand to the European market leading to it being stocked in our menswear collection at HIP.

FrizmWORKS is centred around new takes on military and laid-back Americana styles – presenting a reliable everyday wardrobe with considered details and quality fabrics.

We caught up with Joe to talk about the process of bringing labels to Europe, the state of Korean menswear and what inspires FrizmWORKS’ version of contemporary style.

What drew you to look to Korea and when did it first come onto your radar?

We first started exploring Korea as a market in 2018, when we were looking for brands which could complement our American brand mix. Ebbets Field Flannels & Pendleton are fantastic brands but sit at the higher echelon of pricing, and we began to search for brands which had a similar aesthetic but a more commercial price point. Korea has always been known for making fantastic quality products and we’ve found Koreans to be progressive and forward thinking in their outlook, but only Eastlogue had really started being noticed in the European market. We saw a massive opportunity, especially given how influential Korean culture has been in the western world over the last few years, to make a name for ourselves and bring some really exciting products to the market. Uniform Bridge became our first brand to onboard, and we haven’t looked back since.

What was the process of bringing FrizmWORKS and other Korean brands to Europe?

This has been the hardest thing to do! The process of persuading FrizmWORKS to work with us took the best part of a year. Their home market is really buoyant, without doubt one of the most exciting globally, so getting them to look at markets so far away is difficult. I think that trust is a huge part of the process, that they trust myself and the company to place their brands in the best stores outside of Asia, which in turn aids growth and perception for them in the home markets. Options is a one stop shop, we look after everything from the logistics of shipping and customs clearance, wholesale, and the brands European social media’s and websites so it does really feel like a European head office for the brands. We allow them to concentrate on making great products and content, and we take care of the rest. I’d like to think it was worth all the hard work! 

How is the brand perceived in its home country?

FrizmWORKS is perceived to be a growing and exciting brand in Korea. It’s got a reputation for providing extremely high quality product which also represents great value. You’ll see FrizmWORKS worn in Korea from the likes of famous movie stars and sportsman to your less engaged shopper who wants to wear something long lasting and well designed. With the help of being stocked in the likes of HIP and the European stores we work with, FrizmWORKS has continued to grow in Korea and gain respect for its worldwide recognition. 

Where does FrizmWORKS draw inspiration from?

FrizmWORKS draws inspiration from both Military and Vintage pieces, and reinterprets them in a modern way. I think the way An Jong Hyuk, the designer and owner of the brand, creates products is really fantastic. He really designs for the customer, he’ll use the best fabrics he can, and really knows how to translate the brand to a European demographic. You’ll see it particularly in the new collection, which he’s labelled ‘Concentration’ – designed to make it as relevant as possible for the market here. 

Are there any other key style trends you have noticed in Korean menswear?

The Korean menswear market is really interesting to see, especially when you go and visit Seoul. I would say generally there seems to be a trend there towards clean menswear coming through from the likes of Andersson Bell, but predominantly we saw a huge shift towards Americana, varsity & military inspired products, really interpreted in a Korean way to show a more oversized, relaxed fit. There is not a huge amount of colour in the products, a lot of Black, Military Green & Navy is consistent. I think the post-sneaker era is really coming through in Korea, we saw a huge amount of Paraboot worn over there!

Follow Joe here and FrizmWORKS here.

FrizmWORKS SS23 at HIP – Online now.