Persistently among the many greatest lookbooks in menswear, Aimé Leon Dore’s “The World’s Borough” collection displays unbelievable styling, however, greater than that, a human aspect that may’t be emulated.
Queens, New York. Aimé Leon Dore… doesn’t have a retailer there. Their flagship retailer is positioned on Mulberry Road, in Manhattan. Nevertheless it is, meaningfully, a Queens-based model.
The model displays its founder and designer Teddy Santis. Santis grew up in Queens, with Greek heritage. He loves taking part in basketball together with his buddies. He noticed folks sporting Ralph Lauren on the road. He noticed the way in which rappers styled their clothes. These options of his upbringing are all mirrored in his work.
However none of them alone is the entire story. Whereas the model’s common lookbooks are fantastically styled, the model shines most within the celebratory lookbooks it calls “The World’s Borough.”
Fairly than hiring a small variety of skilled, stately fashions to current the clothes within the conventional manner, The World’s Borough collects actual folks—buddies of the model, native athletes, folks within the trade, folks from the town, folks’s households, folks’s canines—to characterize the model extra naturally.
The lookbooks are nonetheless professionally styled in costly clothes, and shot by skilled photographers in skilled studios. However no person appears to be at work; the fashions are taking part in round in entrance of the digital camera, embracing the usually goofy styling of their clothes. They dance, they giggle, they hug. Their variety highlights the New York neighborhood fantastically.
The lookbooks have a couple of regulars, like Mordechai Rubinstein and Aaron Levine, each legends within the trade and buddies of the model.
Under, I’ll share my highlights from every of those lookbooks, with some feedback that will help you see the appeal I’ve described above. Take into account the hallmarks of the styling: “neo-prep” type, an off-the-cuff revival of preppy and ivy tailoring; playful use of scarves and hats; layering; and signature footwear (loafers, New Steadiness sneakers, and low-top lug-sole Timberlands). And revel in. I am going to embody hyperlinks to every of the lookbooks so you may select your individual highlights and save your individual inspiration.
The S/S24 album is the one album not based mostly on New York Metropolis, celebrating the model’s London retailer. It isn’t my favourite, nevertheless it’s not for me. The lookbook celebrates soccer rather than basketball, and customarily options the London neighborhood, with which I’m not acquainted.
The photograph of Aaron Levine right here, holding an apple, is especially iconic.
In my view, this primary lookbook is one of the best of the bunch. It feels most like New York to me.
Full listing:
Click on right here for more information