Inspirations: Heritage

Throughout my blog I will be looking at the term heritage, which can be described as "practices that are handed down from the past by tradition". I will be looking at this terminology within fashion and how it has taken off in a big way come 2010, and i hope it may continue because all the countries in the world have a lot to offer us and will try and discovery everything i can..


To begun I will take a look at the shop Albam, and how they are doing what they do and doing it well! 


A little biography:


We are now coming into our third year of Albam, and it has been quite a journey. For those who have recently found us, we started in a small office in Nottingham just myself and Alastair and 7 styles in our first catalogue.

Our journey has been a lot of fun with its fair share of sweat and backbone to get it to where we are today. Now we are an independent clothing company with a small but perfectly formed team who all share the same vision of producing products in the eye of our starting ideal: Modern Crafted Clothing.
 We continue to manufacture our products in Great Britain and if this isn’t possible then we look as close to home as possible, so we now have good friends in Portugal, USA, Italy. Our aim is to bring as much product back to Britain and we have spent the last year building a business with your help and support that is enabling our British factories to grow and develop with us. 

Hunting Cagoule...

Mountaineer Chino..

A new casual trouser shape. Based on the Taper Chino with a knee dart to articulate the leg. Single rear patch pocket and back cinch. Crafted from English corduroy. These are limited as we are testing the shape out so get them while you can. Crafted in England.

Albam can be found here .

Inspirations: Ozwald Boateng

Ozwald Boateng, Creative Director of Menswear at Givenchy, learned the trade in Savile Row, the fount of London’s leading tailors, and has expressed his passion for masculine elegance for the past 20 years.

What is couture? "A 20-year passion!" says Ozwald Boateng without a moment's hesitation. Born in London in 1967, he began designing clothes as a teen, selling his first collection to a shop in Covent Garden. At 17 he left his computer studies after discovering Savile Row, the home of bespoke tailoring in London. "At the time I saw this place so rich in history as a temple of formal and somewhat "dusty" elegance. That's when I met Tommy Nutter." Nutter, the star designer of "Swinging London", had been making bespoke clothes on Savile Row since the 1960s. He inspired Boateng, showing him the beauty of traditional tailoring.


Here he is talking about style,,,

buffalo Icon: Bobby seale

Inspirations: The Black Panthers

The Black Panther Party was a progressive political organization that stood in the vanguard of the most powerful movement for social change in America since the Revolution of 1776 and the Civil War: that dynamic episode generally referred to as The Sixties. It is the sole black organization in the entire history of black struggle against slavery and oppression in the United States that was armed and promoted a revolutionary agenda, and it represents the last great thrust by the mass of black people for equality, justice and freedom.

The Party's ideals and activities were so radical, it was at one time assailed by FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover as "the greatest threat to the internal security of the United States." And, despite the demise of the Party, its history and lessons remain so challenging and controversial that established texts and media would erase all reference to the Party from American history.

Founded in Oakland, California, by Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton on October 15, 1966, the organization initially set forth a doctrine calling for the protection of African American neighborhoods from police brutality.

find further info on the black panther party here .

BillyKirk Bags...

This hand-stitched shoulder satchel is modeled after a WWII Belgium Map Case they had.  It was just too small for our use so they re-designed it and made it larger.

Each one takes a few hours to complete. and can be found here .

Buffalo discovery: BillyKirk

Amish Country, PA


Brothers Chris and Kirk Bray have been producing leather goods for the last ten years. They launched Billykirk from Los Angeles in 1999, learning their craft from a third generation leather maker. A simple leather strap kick started the business, a decade later their collection has flourished into other offerings that consists of bags, belts, shoes, wallets, hats and other accessories. Since expanding and moving their operation to the East, they've employed a group of Amish leather makers to produce much of their line, while wrapping up production in their studio. We visited the brothers over the summer to observe their operation first hand and to discover the beauty behind the process.

looking at vintage workwear

I have always been interested in american workwear and looking into the history of brands such as Carhartt, Lee, Red wings etc.....

I stumbled upon a great japanese website which has found a lot of products and documented them..

Railroad Jacket made by Crown Overall Mfg.

Crown Overall Mfg was merged into Carhartt circa 1960's.

So this jacket is made before merger between them.
Square pockets and the stiches are similar to Headlight Overall's Railroad Jacket.

check out the website here