Fashion for thoughts

MUMBAI 27/11/2008

“We shall fight them on the Catwalks”

At 9pm last night Vasu, friend and front man for the Indian broadcaster NDTV, put down his drink and picked up his phone: shootings and an explosion in the south of the city. He left us scanning the TV for any breaking news and twenty minutes later he was in the studio, in a suit and on air. Then it started. As we heard bomb blasts from the balcony, all the channels switched to constant coverage. Pictures of bloodied casualties, corpses, chaos, catastrophe and confusion. Victoria Terminus, a station so busy it makes Grand Central look provincial, saw uncountable carnage as gunmen opened fire on the crowds; two car bombs, one in the north, one in the south; another bomb at the Bombay Municipal Council offices; gunmen at the city’s two top international hotels, the Taj and the Oberoi; and extensive shooting on the streets in between. As we watched events unfold, the five of us hit the phones, checking on friends and relatives. One caught in a now darkened room in the Taj; one lucky escape through a back door at the Oberoi; two hiding out in a bar, grenades and shooting outside. We watched late into the night. All very close and very real.

This morning the picture is clearer (and Vasu is still on air). The focus is now on the two hotels where assailants have let off bombs, lit fires and taken hostages - specifically asking for those with American or British passports. I see…

It’s all still going on as I type and the full extent of the situation is still not known. My Indian friends are furious. Furious with the government, the intelligence services, with India itself. Furious with the perpetrators and for the loss of life and fearful of the damage to the country’s credibility, finances and development. For my part, I’m feeling a curious mix of half responsible and half victim. Clearly the world’s largest democracy is having a little trouble and it is being expressed through a focus on capitalism and trade inequalities.

But we know better. I know that if we pull out our operations people will go hungry; if we stay, things will get better. We will not abandon our people because of the misguided few. We will be giving full support to all of our employees and their families and we will, in no way, allow this to effect our and our suppliers business.

So, continue:

REAL BESPOKE

Made for you, from you.

We are now making Social Suicide bespoke - fully bespoke: endless measurements, three fittings, hand stitching, suits-you-sir, the works. Jo Morgan, one of Savile Row’s finest, and the man behind the Social Suicide cut, will be making any of our designs for your body. You really will find no finer tailor in the world, no better made suit and, excuse me, no better suit designs.

WEDDING SUIT

Made from you, for you.

Our wedding suit is not just a beautiful suit, it’s made with pieces of you. Give us a selection of fabrics and we’ll stitch them into the top pocket flap, close to the heart. Old, new, borrowed, blue; mum’s wedding dress, dad’s hospital gown; Arsenal’s strip, your school uniform; your lucky pants, the bride’s knickers; any number of things. Tuck it in for modesty and pop it out with pride.

POP-UP SHOP

Gallery exhibition and pop-up store in Highgate High Street.

For the months of December through February, Thursday through Saturday, we’ll be exhibiting at the North & South Gallery. A walk through the past four years and an opportunity for a little Christmas shopping all in the almost village-like setting of Highgate. I counted a remarkable 4 pubs crossing the road to Costa Coffee. I never did get the coffee.

From Thursday 11th December at North & South, 82 Highgate High Street, London N6 5HX Map

We’ve a new POS fit in at Harvey Nichols Knightbridge for our AW Anthology range. The design has a mild leaning towards streets, cafés, youth and young manhood - at least as much as HN would let us. Many thanks to our friends at Camouflage for all their help and support.

The beginning of August will see our new winter season Anthology Collection in store at: Harvey Nichols, London and Hong Kong; United Arrows Tokyo; L’Eclaireur Paris and Tokyo; FBO, St Tropez; Genté, Rome; and Casual, Almaty. From our press release:

“The new found affluence of post-war, post-recession, working-class Britain, began a series of powerful music and fashion movements that are still influential today. From the late 1950s young men and women started to spend money on clothes to look good rather than just for ‘Sunday Best’. Music, money and mobility, all part of a new social freedom, a trend still going strong today.

This coming winter season, Social Suicide has begged and borrowed from these iconic 50 years to create their Anthology range. The Teddies, Mods, Rockers, Skinheads, Punks, Rudies and Dandies have all played their part, contributing fabrics, detailing and stories to create some stunning contemporary suits, jackets, jeans and overcoats – as usual, complimented by their shirts, sweaters, socks, ties and suspenders.

High-visibility trims, quilted linings, jersey cuffs, hidden pockets and a diplomatic use of velvet make for an increasingly sophisticated addition to this young and innovative brand’s work.”

After a cracking session in Paris, we’re all feeling rather pleased with ourselves: As of next season, in addition to London, we will be stocked by some of the best stores in Paris, Rome, Tokyo and Hong Kong (not, unfortunately, naming any names yet). Good going Social Suicide.

North America is still dragging it’s heals but there’s still time. Saks and Barneys have politely turned us down and, from Los Angeles, Lorenzo has done the same. Perhaps, if your reading this in the US, you could drop into your favourite store* and start asking questions - “Where the heck is Social Suicide” etc. It can only help… I think?

Also, look out for us in WeAr magazine - the extremely charming and entertaining boys and girls from the Paris office have promised us a bit of exposure.

* Bergdorf Goodman, Ron Herman at Fred Segal, Maxfield and Holt Renfrew would be choice!

Two men in a bar:
1st man - “Who’s your tailor?”
2nd man - “Why?
1st man - “That was my second question…”

I did a training morning at Harvey Nichols today. Nice bunch, full of smiles. Suzan - the godmother of men’s contemporary - asked me afterwards why we have so many guns on our jackets. She said that she had had a couple of customers in who had asked her the same and that she wasn’t sure what to say. She said that they had been a bit upset; accused us of glorifying guns.

I told her this. You can’t have a debate about something if you’re not willing to talk about it; you can’t face a problem if you look the other way; and you can’t see what to do if you’ve got your eyes closed. We - Social Suicide - make clothes for debate, for comment, to open peoples eyes. The guns that we use are all there as comments on different aspects of ‘Us’ - you, me, everybody. The things/ideas/motions that make us ‘Us’. As it happens, we only have three guns in the collection.

Firstly ‘Armed’: a revolver embroidered on the right hand pocket and a bloody great logo across the shoulders - ‘ARMED’. It’s about the way a suit arms you for the battle of the boardroom. How we power-dress. How we are defined by our clothes. The gun is symbolic.

Secondly’ ‘The AK’: An AK47, embroidered in black on black, slung over the right shoulder. It’s about the primeval inside. A suit is a covering of fabric over a very human frame. In the same way, our upbringing, education, situation is a patina of civilisation over a very animal instinct. Take a perfectly civilised country boy, put him in Iraq, Vietnam, Korea, Poland, Sudan and, exposed to the wrong circumstances, he can turn into an animal - doing all sorts of nasty shit to other people. To a lesser extent, someone cuts you up on the motorway and you can turn into and irrational apoplectic mad man. The violence is inside all of us; a dark shadow superficially concealed; black on black.

Thirdly, ‘The Xray’: The x-ray of a pistol is embroidered on the inside pocket of the jacket. It’s about concealment. Similar to the Dury (Razzle magazine in the same place) we all have secrets hidden in our past. Violence, sex, etc. Again, the gun’s symbolic.

I could go on but I really can’t see the problem. In fact, I can’t imagine that anyone carrying a gun is likely to have one embroidered on their jacket. Can you?

Glorifying guns, my arse.