A couple weeks ago I received an email through our blog form from Sugandh Agrawal with the subject line "Need a new story?". The body of the email simply said "You might like us!" along with a smiley face, a thank you, and a link. Skeptical of what I was to see, I went on to explore what this Gunas was all about. When I went to their website, there were all sorts of handbags, from clutches for women to messenger bags for men; All unique and all detailed to a level that gave them a custom feel. Intrigued by what I was seeing, I checked the "Discover" area to find out more about them. I went on to find out that Gunas bags are not only attractive, they are all made of manmade materials. In the words of Gunas, they are "animal/environment friendly". I contacted Sugandh back and she was nice enough to talk to us about her background and her inspiration for Gunas "Progressive Luxury" handbags...

Who are the people behind Gunas? How did it start? 

GUNAS was started by myself with the help of some domestic and international private investors who believed in the concept of animal-free luxury. The foundation of the concept for the brand was laid during my Masters program in Design Management at Pratt Institute, New York. I always knew that I wanted to venture out on my own and be an entrepreneur. GUNAS helped me combine my entrepreneurial spirit with my knowledge of product and passion for design and sustainability.  

What is your educational/professional background?  

I am a trained Industrial Designer with core knowledge of materials and manufacturing and a passion for design and trends. From designing store displays for brands such as Victoriasʼs Secret and appliances for companies such as Bosch, KitchenAid and Jennair Iʼve had the opportunity to work on a spectrum of design projects. Design has always been my passion and I feel fortunate to be doing what I love everyday.  

How did you get into design?  

Art and design have always been a part of my life. I see them as a medium of self-expression. It was a very obvious choice and a very natural path for me to pursue as a career.  

What was the first thing you designed (professionally/personally)? 

Personally the first thing I designed was my play house at the age of 7. That led to further stitching my own doll clothing and creating crafty puppets and other fun things to play with. I always enjoyed creating things and one thing led to another. Before I knew it, I was designing kitchen appliances such as Wall ovens, dishwashers and cooktops.  

How did you go about developing your latest collection? What was the process?What was your inspiration?  

The inspiration for my latest collection “Quantum” was sci-fi movies and the concept architecture one sees in such films. A lot of these influences are seen in modern day architecture such as the Birdʼs Nest in China and the Frank Gehry museum in Spain. The process involves selecting a theme, creating an inspiration/trend board, picking colors for the collection and sketching multiple pieces that would be a part of the collection. Sketches then evolve into prototypes and final samples that are later handed over to factories for production.  

What sets Gunas apart from its competition? 

Design, above all is what sets GUNAS apart from its competition. Each aspect of our brand is “designed” and comes in limited quantities. A lot of research goes into the type of fabric and material we use in the construction of our bags. Special attention is paid to our manufacturing processes. We use local and small overseas factories to fulfill our needs. Besides this, GUNAS is animal friendly. We do not use genuine leather, silk or fur in or product or our marketing material. By using only certified Eco materials and engineered fabrics from Japan and Germany we believe that beautiful products can be made without harming animals, people and our environment.  

What do you want Gunas to be known for? What would you say is your trademark. 

I want GUNAS to be known for its vision and for its futuristic appeal in todayʼs fashion. It redefines what we know as ʻluxuryʼ in the world of today. I see the direction weʼve taken with GUNAS as the future of fashion and the fashion industry. Our trademark is the integration of design and sustainability in all aspects of our business. 

Who would own a Gunas bag? 

Anyone who loves good design and appreciates well-made things could own a GUNAS. Our brand is not specifically targeted towards the vegan consumer. We want to create an environmentally and socially responsible option for those who love their leathers and furs and wouldnʼt mind choosing our product purely on aesthetic appeal basis. 

So far, what are your favorite pieces? 

My favorites are the New York messenger and the Emily clutch. They are both available in many different colors.   

What things about the process do you enjoy the most? the least? 

The creativity aspect of it is what I love most. I enjoy flipping through magazines, searching for inspiration and defining the upcoming trends. The real joy come when you see that inspiration translate into something tangible.   

What are your plans for Gunas in the future? Will you be designing other accessories? 

Yes, I will be doing some Menʼs wallets and some more mid-sized bags for women. Iʼve also thought about adding jewelry to the collection.  

How can our readers own a Gunas? 

The bags are now available online at www.gunasthebrand.com under our shop section. A lot of our pieces are special order. We do custom pieces for special occasions as well.  

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I always love Drykorn and their quirky photo shoot videos. Always fun, always classy, just like their clothes. They keep it simple, while adding just enough uniqueness to make their pieces pop. Really approachable. Hit the jump for some of our favorite looks for both men and women. [Via Drykorn]

Every once in a while you come across some futuristic joints... on the low though... Heyday and Wrath Arcane went in the lab and cooked up something special with The Concept. With the slick lace cover, they look like a cross between high tops and space boots, but they still manage to keep it chill with the leather and color choices. Shout out to Darin Hager, the creator of Heyday, for being on point on twitter @heydayfootwear and shooting me these photos. Now if only someone would drop me off a pair of gull grey joints in a size 9.5 US... they fit a half size big, and I only see a 9 left on their site. Let's see if you can cop em before I do.

ROSY SUKKAR

Rosy Sukkar, the new love of my life designer I'm feeling is a tricky one.  She is a recent graduate of the London College of Fashion and these lovely things are her final project. This whole shoe/knit combo is mind-blowing.  Completely different than anything we're seeing right now, but also completely wearable.  My problem is, how does one purchase a student's final project?  Exactly.  It is pointless to covet these shoes, but I will nonetheless. All I can do is wait and wait for her work to suddenly pop up somewhere...  fashion is brutal, no?  

 WITH HEARTS IN MY EYES

With Hearts in My Eyes is playing on my love for everything that is old, while also adding subtle modern twists to their pieces, which adds an unexpected but pleasant casualness to their creations.  In short, I plan on buying the Mary Jane Jean dress and wearing it to Trader Joe's and then later to dinner with R.O.  I hope the creators approve.

LONELY HEARTS 

Lonely Hearts definitely has the whole "mysteriously child-like , stylish ingenue" thing down pat.  Lonely Hearts pieces have a vintage feel and are etherial, without turning its customer into a full blown hippie.  And is it just me, or do these pieces just cry out "Fiona Apple, I was made for you and all the other damaged child-like women like you"?

FERNANDO FRISONI

For someone who only recently began designing women's wear, Fernando Frisoni is ahead of the game.  He manages to bring the structure and aggressiveness that I die for in men's wear, and pair it with elegance and  a proper dose of plain ol' oddity.  The result definitely appeals to the quirky androgenic lass inside of me.

Cote et Ciel is a company that is super official in the "lifestyle travelgoods" game which is starting to become a bit competitive. It seems that everyone is pushing their own spin on the rucksack, providing compartments for everything under the sun on the inside, while maintaining a unique sense of style on the outside. The Cote et Ciel Rucksack is a solid entry into that foray. This site may become rucksack addiction because I have seen quite a few interesting ones. Stay tuned.

Source: Cote et Ciel via Oki-Ni

A few weeks ago we were contacted about the launch of a new London based label known as A.Hallucination. A.Hallucination co-designer, Chung Chung Lee asked us to check out their new A/W 2010 collection, as it would be their "great pleasure" if we could help to introduce it to our readers. So we had a look, and, needless to say, we loved what Chung Chung Lee, along with co-designer Hwan-Sung Park put together for A.Hallucination's debut collection. Seeing the opportunity to showcase this label in its early stages, I asked if Chung would like us to take our feature of A.Hallucination a a step further, and allow us to interview them. Chung agreed, so we present to you an unedited glimpse into the minds of these talented designers.

Q: Where are you from?

A: Both of us are from South Korea. Actually we call it ‘The republic of Korea’.  

Q: What is your educational/professional background?

A: Hwan:  In my educational background, I graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2008. (Majored in menswear.) and ,before CSM, I had been majored in fashion design at the SEJONG University in Korea. In the professional background, I’ve worked for Burberry, Tom Ford, Alexander Mcqueen as a menswear design assistant and once worked for a design-consulting agency as a menswear assistant designer for short time.

Chung: In my educational background, I graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2008. (Majored in menswear.) Also I had majored in Art & Design at CSM before I started to specialize in menswear from 2006. But I often have joined the design team as a collection staff or as a designer to help my father for long time. (His father is famous fashion designer, named Lie Sang Bong, in Korea and Paris.) In the professional background, I’ve worked for ‘Lie Sang Bong Paris’ for many years taking various roles in the design team, as mentioned above, and worked with many other local young designers for many projects. Also I once worked for Ozwald Boateng, based in Savile Row, to help his collection. 

Q: How did you get into fashion design?

A: Hwan: I would say.. “Bone to be a fashion designer”  (sorry, just kidding) I have been always very interested in nice clothing and drawing from my youth. So it drove me into the fashion world so naturally.

Chung: My father is fashion designer and my mother also works for his company. However I didn’t imagine being a fashion designer when I was young. When I studied in BA Arts & Design course in Central Saint Martins, I experienced many subjects about arts & design. Through the course I realized I love fashion and I decided to get into fashion design. 

Q: What was the first thing you designed (professionally or personally)?

Hwan:  My first thing was the men’s hoody rain cape for the project show during the university festival when I was junior grade of university in Korea. At that time, I was a totally beginner in fashion design.

Chung: Series of shirts which are influenced by Gustav Klimt when I prepared portfolio for college. I love Klimt and it always give me lots of inspiration.  

Q: When did A. Hallucination come to fruition? How was your partnership forged?

A: As you might know, we are just starting-up menswear label from February in this year. We successfully launched our first Fall/ Winter 2010 Collection during London Fashion Week in last February. Our partnership is complementary cooperation to each other. Hwan is strong at directing the total concept of the theme and colour, and organizing the design map for the collection. On the other hand, Chung is strong at developing design details, adding some creative elements, and directing the collection with artistic approach.

Q: Who is this A. Hallucination for? Describe the man who wears A. Hallucination.

A: A.HALLUCINATION is designed for the 25-40 year old man who values quality and smart dressing as an important aspect of life. Our garments are translatable for work, casual, and evening activities and present a sleek, sophisticated look for everyday wear.

Q: How did you go about developing the A/W 2010 collection? What was your process? What was your inspiration?

A: We would like to show the new ‘modern English dandy’ through our first collection. Presenting their first collection entitled "The First Peal," our main theme was an interesting combination of modern and classic, inspired by the scenery of London such as London Eye with Big Ben and Gherkin. We think the mix of classic fabrics and modern design and cutting represent the true London.  It’s like how the Saint Paul Cathedral and Millennium Bridge goes very well together.

For preparing this collection, basically we approached the design progress with complementary cooperation, from the researching to the making samples. We researched sometimes by each, sometimes by together and set up the basic essential ideas. Then, we had a lot of meetings discussing a lot about the designs of the collection. After deciding the designs, Hwan was in charge of making jackets and shirts. Chung was in charge of making trousers, accessories, and developing the quilting detail techniques, which were the main details of our first collection.

Q: What do you want A. Hallucination to be known for? What would you say is your trademark.

A: We want to presents a sharp, contemporary take on the classic British dandy look with urban citywear influences and the styling offers a modern twist to a classic look

Q: What are your favorite pieces of the A/W 2010 collection?

A: Actually, the most popular items are cropped trench cape and new cut JKT with quilted under-top collar. Many people would love to have them. (Officially, Key pieces include darted slim-shaped side-seamless jackets, new cut shirts, low crotch pants, with intricate quilting details and techniques textured jackets inspired from Gerkin. All the pieces are given modern makeovers to create a highly wearable, yet very on-trend look.)

Q: What about the process do you enjoy most and least?

A: We enjoy all the process from deciding the theme for the collection to making the collection line-up with our final outfits. (But, in honest, we feel bit stress while we are in the period of making samples.)

Q: Where can readers find your work?

A: As you know, we are just starting-up label from last 2010 A/W season. (We were supposed to focus on promoting ourselves now, and expected that sales would begin in earnest from next season. But, beyond our expectation, Actually we got many sales offers from few stores, but we put them on hold.) That’s why we don’t have any stockiest at the moment. But, recently, we got some nice offer from famous buying agency based in London. So hopefully we can take a nice opportunity to show off our garments in the stores soon.

Orgasm.

See more at Jessica Darwin.

Perfect for every occasion... even for those pant-less moments when you pick up the paper in the morning.  

See more at C. Viviani

Let me first preface this by saying that Nick Holland is a "G". The man certainly knows his craft. The Holland Esquire Hand Customised collection, highlights the complexities of suit construction by emphasizing the individual pattern pieces of the build, as the Gent Pipe Jacket exemplifies. If you are into details like I am, then hit the jump for more views. Check Coggles for even more pieces (for the low). [Via Coggles] 

To make a long story short, I ended up corresponding via email with Collin Thompson, the designer behind Cipher, following my post about the Cipher 2010 footwear collection. He offered to send me some shoes to review, and I just couldn't turn that down. Anyway, fast forward to about a week ago, when FedEx leaves a note at our door about a package coming from Hong Kong. Mind you, I had no idea what it was, but chances are if an unidentified package is coming to you from Hong Kong, it must be something epic. Of course FedEx made me wait a whole entire day to find out what gifts The East had in store... and so my journey began...

I cracked the battered brown shipping box open to reveal a sleek, matte black box with the word Cipher written in clean white lettering. This was truly some ninja shit. Have you ever held a shoe box in your hand and known that the contents of the box must be incredible, just because of the weight and quality of the box itself? True story. So I opened the box, and was greeted with a personalized letter from The Cipher Team, signed by Collin himself (as if the kicks were not enough), thanking me for my support and giving some background info about the Cipher Seditionary, a design inspired by Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McClaren's SEX boutique.

I ripped open the tissue paper (i had no choice... have you ever tried removing a sticker from tissue paper?) to reveal a silky white bag with Cipher stitched in black lettering in the bottom right corner. I was impressed by the detail and thought that went into each step in unravelling the treasure that awaited me.

Finally, I got through all the wonderful packaging, and made it to the holy grail... the Cipher Seditionary with the all black upper, and the white sole. We wanted to give you as many looks as possible, so pardon our photo skills in advance.

The attention to detail was continued in the design of the shoe... very clean lines... pretty much all the seams were double stitched with no traces of weirdness or globs of glue. Good leather... soft suede... the construction is very legit, and the materials are top notch. My favorite part, and perhaps the most distinct part of the shoe is the large strap at the top. There is no Velcro involved in the closure, instead they opted for two matte black metal "clasps" that fold to lock in two smaller sections of the strap.

Upon trying them on, I would have to equate the fit to a Chuck Taylor All Star, but with plush cushioning. They sent me a size 9, which is slightly narrower than the SB Dunks that frequent my feet, and about as long as my 9.5 men's US Nikes, so keep that in mind when you pick your size. All in all, the Cipher Seditionary is easy to style in, and I look forward to many great things from The Cipher Team.