Finally! UK-based Topshop and Topman are coming to SoHo, New York City! We got a preview of the clothes earlier this week and they’re fucking fantastic! Watch this space for much more, but until then we wanted to at least leak the new store news, and be the first to give you a tease of the ‘Black Trouser Project’ - Topman’s third in a series of ongoing projects where invited designers interpret a specific product. In this case, the classic black wool trouser, interpreted by Patrik Ervell, Todd Lynn, Anne-Sofie Back, Aitor Throup, and East Village Boy friend Tim Hamilton.

As some of you know, EVB just got back from a fantastic time in Hong Kong (big thanks to everyone who showed us the real HK), and Tim’s clothes were in every hot store on both sides of the harbor (or is it harbour). So, come on New York - WTF?

Anyway, check out our preview from Topman, and our chat with Tim.
Richard: What makes for the quintessential black trouser?
Tim Hamilton: Black is timeless and it’s hard to go wrong with a black trouser. More of
a drop crotch and tapered leg look cut will hold up for awhile.

What’s best worn under a black trouser?
Nothing.

What would you most like to put in your black trouser?
A giant black dildo of course.

What would you most like to take out of your black trouser?
You, with an open briefcase of 50 million dollars.

What is your No.1 essential item of clothing this summer?
Trouser shorts in black.

Should flip flops be banned from New York?
FUCK YES!

Should linen suits be banned from everywhere?
HELL YEAH!

Hey boys, our first t-shirt is almost sold out! We’re sold out of large (thank you Germany, Sweden, Australia, London, LA, San Francisco and of course New York - everywhere really, xox), and extra small (thank you twinks all over the country, Tokyo, and the rest of the Pacific rim, extra special xox), but we have a few mediums and smalls left. Get one - when they’re gone they’re gone, but NOBODY PANIC we have a new design coming for the summer - though maybe not as cum-rag friendly.

And hey, nothing says love like a load on your chest.

We first fell for New York-based designer Tim Hamilton at his presentation last February during New York fashion week. We’ve been trying to pin him down since then, and somewhere in between visiting his factories in Japan and Italy, moving his home, selling-out his first UNIQLO collection, and getting nominated for a CFDA award for the second time in his two-year career, he squeezed us in. Personally, I think he’s destined to dress every East Village boy from here to Tokyo.

Weston: I understand the Tim Hamilton story starts in Iowa. How did that twist your early opinions about style?

Tim: I don’t want to sound cynical about my midwest roots, but if anything it made want to stand out in style, so I separated from anything that had any Iowa-style connection. I hated growing up in Iowa as child. As a kid I was always looking at fashion publications for guidance about what was going on in London or New York. I was rebellious in my own way with everything midwest.

W: So did Iowa have any influence on your style at all?

T: Iowa? No. I think to a degree my father influenced me my first few seasons. We battled constantly growing up, but I definitely appreciated his style. He was very much a blue-collar World War II vet kind of guy, but he definitely had this sort of chic-ness about him - the way he wore his workwear with sport coats and he made it sort of refined. I just hoped I could dress like that when I got older. But Iowa itself, no. If anything maybe it made my personality a little more laid back.

Also, I’m half-Lebanese, and we were constantly around my cousins, and my mother was well travelled and deep into things outside of the box. She was always reading these amazing novels, and she would make us read them out loud. She taught ballroom dancing and she was big into the the Hollywood starlets and things like that.

We grew up really poor so there was always this thing of not looking poor. We’d get pretty amazing hand-me-downs from our cousins, and with our last dollar we could buy a certain label and mix it up or go thrift store shopping. We really wanted to make an effort to look good - my whole family. We didn’t necessarily want to fit in, but we wanted to step out in style. I think that early on, how I put myself together, really defined how I looked at style.

W: Halston was from Iowa - did you feel like he was looking over your shoulder? Did you feel the debauchery of his Studio 54 days luring you to New York?

T: Before my time! Dif gen, thank you! [laughs]. Of course I knew he was from Des Moines and I do have a fascination with the ’70s in New York. I wished I was old enough to have been in New York in the ’70s and ’80s. I think one season I’ll do a tribute to that era. When the time is right.

W: Tell us about the infamous Iowa farmboys. Any adventures?

T: Ha. No I wish I could make something up. I couldn’t wait to depart from Iowa and no dalliance was left behind!

W: So you got the hell out.

T: Yeah, I used to call all these famous photographers when I was in Iowa - Steven Meisel, Herb Ritts, Francesco Scavulo, Bruce Weber - everyone told me at the time South Beach was the place to be, and that I should come for a few months. So I had saved up $500, and finally left in ‘91.

I stayed in Miami for a year and traveled around Europe doing the 21-year-old backpack thing. Finally made my way to New York and got a job in sales at RRL. They thought I fit the image - that look. It was great to get a job, but my goal was to study acting.

I was working with the corporate office at Ralph to do the looks of the store - work the whole Ralph image - but I always tried to push things by the way I dressed. After a year they told me “you should work in design, you should work in design”, so they gave me an internship, hired me three months later, and payed for classes at Parsons. They sent me to Japan, Paris, London, constant travelling to LA and Seattle, buying vintage, and building big concepts. It was kind of crazy to think you could get paid for something like that, so I gave up the acting thing.

W: So you started at Ralph Lauren, which is really not sexy, but you’re clothes are. You’re obviously not trying to do Ralph Lauren, but what are you doing that makes your take on ‘American’ clothes so much sexier? What are you doing that they’re not?

T: Good point. I don’t know. At my first few jobs, I felt at the time there was no one doing menswear in New York that was taking attention away from Europe. I felt like all the designers would attempt to do different things but it all kind of ended up as this ‘American wardrobe’. Everyone was doing their version of it.

I design for my vision now. I guess I’m at the point where I feel that if you are designing in in the US the press tends to trap you as American designer. I’m very proud to be in New York but I don’t like to be categorized as an Americana style brand. I feel I need to make some extreme risks and take on some risky themes to break that title. It’s always 100% me and my evolution. Editors always say American style is more casual and relaxed and it’s so boring to keep hearing that. I wanted to be true to my vision and if comes off as sexy then fine I’ll take that.

W: It definitely comes off as sexy. Super sexy tight pants, sequins, fur, patent leather tuxedo shoes - kinda glammy, non-traditional territory for a preppy look. Explain yourself Mr. Hamilton.

T: I never called myself preppy! The press may have in the beginning because editors need to label you. I came from strong preppy Americana workplaces which I never molded myself into. I just worked there. I think this season I went further into taking risks with the line. I wanted it to be a more conceptual and capture more mood. I added tailoring and that was more evening. It may seem like it’s not in the ‘traditional’ box but you can look at each piece and know they are just reinterpretations of classic pieces.

W: Your last collection was so bright and light and pop. Maybe some residual Miami influence? But this season I described as “ivy league preppy gone bad seed - or maybe trade”. All the better - it got super sexy, and a little trashy - in a really good way of course.

T: I can one hundred percent honestly say the color was not inspired by my Miami days [laughs]. And the new collection is nothing IVY at all, but I can see how you may perceive it to be because of my Ivy sounding name and work history.

I always start with fabric in menswear. Last season was about uses of color and keeping more electric. Surely most of the pieces where based of classics, as all menswear should be, but I brought in a lot of lightweight fabrics and yarns and made the proportions really playful. It has boyish-meets-man charm to it.

I had been going to Japan and Paris and London a lot. And for some reason I was with these kids in their early 20s and I was inspired by their energy. They don’t really have the money to go out and buy expensive labels, but they’re making their looks from Top Man, or vintage. They come up with these great looks that sort of look like high-end designers. I was very motivated by color. I was in an electric mode of color, I was looking at all these books from the ’60s furniture books at that moment so I brought that into my collection.

This season has more of dark mood story of looks inspired by theater, turn of the century romance and a hint a ballet. I had this great intern who was reading a book on Nijinsky, and I was looking at the ballet images and thought about the old world theater. What’s that guy wearing and how can you put some old world romance back into a menswear collection. I didn’t want it to be too glammed up. I wanted to take active silhouettes, but tailor them. The fabrics, yarns, and leather all have movement and are super refined. You can see in the pics and in the presentation. You really want to reach out to touch the clothes and feel and caress them - and of course wear them.

W: Well speaking of caressing, it’s a little off topic but lets talk models. This year they were obscenely hot.

T: Douglas Perrett COACD casting baby! He has such a strong passion for what he does with casting and his understanding of the clothes and concept were right on.

[interlude with Douglas Perret while Tim changes his outfit]

W: You chose models from several agencies. Obviously you were looking for something specific - beyond hot and skinny, what was it?

Douglas: I work with all the agencies and weed out every board trying to find my cast. It’s like a puzzle - you take in the designer and the stylist’s direction, marinate on it, and start thinking of options and suggestions. I’m always looking for something fresh, something to make me go “oh I didn’t think of that”. I want people to walk into a show, take in the casting, and regret passing on that model. It is always an interesting, unpredictable experience which is what makes my job so fascinating.

W: Was there something specific about the vision of the collection that you were trying to capture in the model selection?

Douglas: Clients always mention references, inspiration, their muses, etc. For me that is just all fancy fashion adjectives. I know when a client wants a name model, is willing to take a risk, or wants me to go out on the street and physically search for that raw face. For Tim it was all about dandy ballerinas, but I was apprehensive to be too literal. A perfect combination of balance, great body, powerful legs and the definitive profile. We make a few compromises but I usually get my way. Then again, getting 35 models to stand for free tights and sweater vests is not that easy.

[back to Tim]

W: At your presentation you could get up close and personal with the clothes (and the models). It was up front exhibitionism combined with shameless voyeurism. I loved it. Was it just fashion or is there something more to it than that? Was as it your idea that they stare back at the photographers as they shoot?

T: I wish there were a a whole creative choreographic story behind the set up but no, there isn’t. The stage wasn’t even finished! I wanted to do a pyramid stage but we ran out of time. The models had to jump on the platform when the paint was still wet. As for the models staring at you, maybe they just fancied you. [laughs - but I KNOW he meant it]. No for real they know how to work the camera and crowd and my heart goes out to them for getting pinned and fitted and hair and makeup done, then standing on the platform in the spotlight for an hour. They were all amazing!

W: What’s your soundtrack while you’re designing?

T: Oh boy it changes so much. I’m in a million different music moods in day. Nina Simone, LCD Soundsystem, Joy Division, old Gary Numan - it’s all there. I also have DJ friend who makes me a lot dub mixes from the late ’70s and early ’80s. I’ve also been listening to Sébastien Tellier, Hercules and Love Affair for my pop fix, and Brian Eno and MGMT a lot.

W: You were nominted for a CFDA award in 2006 (which we thought you should have won). Did that early recognition give you latitude to take more risks, or force you to join the establishment?

T: It made me see that you really have to be true to who you are and not confine yourself to the political fashion business hype. Why do it if your not true to yourself. I’m not doing it for money that’s for sure. Not saying I don’t need it but you know, I’m just saying…

I got to experiment and took more risks than ever with this season. I don’t want to do the same thing every season. I don’t want to be a Ralph Lauren. No offense to the Ralph world, and it obviously works for him, but if I can survive with what I do that’s how I want to live.

W: Well you got nominated again this year so you’re doing something right. I see Obama on your wall. One of your inspirations?

T: He’s definitely up there. I would love to dress Obama, but everyone wants it for free. People gotta spend money to wear my shite! But seriously, I think we are ready for a change and he is the man to do it.

W: What are you relieved I didn’t ask you?

T: About my days in Miami! Actually I’m, fine with being asked anything. I’m pretty open and laid back most of the time.

W: What do you wish I did?

T: How hung I am.

If you want some Tim Hamilton, go to Bergdorf’s, Jeffrey, and If.

Our crazy hot, super trashy, East Village Boys t-shirts are finally available!
Go to our online store to get one.

Dutch photographer Joost Vandebrug has been popping up all over art and fashion exhibitions, books and magazines, and most recently just closed his show ‘New Faces’ at Amsterdam’s Foam (Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam). Joost’s documentary-like, emotional, atmospheric work features five guys, all recently scouted by modeling agencies, all shot specifically for the show. While we’ll probably be seeing a lot more of them in the next few years, we’re definitely going to see more of Joost.

Richard: Hey Joost, whats up? What did you do last night?

Joost: I’m ok, just a bit tired from shooting today, and a little sad because my best friend has moved to London this morning to work for a magazine. We have been working, living and partying together for almost two years (I met him in Melbourne). So last night was the last night of our time together in Amsterdam. We had some dinner and went to a party called Rauw.

R: Your ‘New Faces’ pictures are of young up-and-coming models - Were they all comfortable in front of the camera? Why did you choose these guys? Where did you find them?

J: My first plan was to shoot some guys in Holland, but after a while I discovered how dificult it was to get just the right ones. I had a certain look in mind and didn’t want to compromise. It was also important was that they were new at modelling. I wanted to be their first photoshoot - or as close as possible to it. In the end I widened my search from just Holland to the whole of Europe and found guys in London, Cologne and Amsterdam. I shot them at wherever they lived - their house, their city. And this was the best thing about the whole shoot - they talked about their city and their lives there and I just shot while walking around with them. It was great to hear their stories. I grew up in a tiny village in Friesland - which is a small province all the way in the north of Holland. Although I hated it then and it was a big struggle to get out of there, I do realize now how important my years were there. So it was just nice to hear theirs and to be part of it for a day.

R: How was the exhibition received?

J: Great! I got lots of press and I have been busy doing fun stuff ever since!

R: Your shots feel raw, unpolished and at times candid - why is this important to you?

J: When I create a story I want it to be about the moment, not the technique. With this story I shot on everything from disposable cameras to medium-format Hasselblad to Polaroids. I want the viewer to think he or she is looking at random photos that anyone could have shot. The connection should be the moment the photos where shot - like a certain look on the models face, movement or emotion. You won’t get that emotion with that stupid, pretentious, big and unnecessary equipment on the set.

R: You trained with the super talented Erwin Olaf, how was that and what was the most interesting thing you learned from him?

J: I was about 17 and I really had to move away - my life in Friesland was not working for me anymore. So when I had the possibility of interning trough my school I sent Erwin an email. He invited me over and the next Monday I was working there. Looking back I was a little young maybe, but the people were welcoming. I could sleep in the make-up room, the lunch was free and I had like 200 new friends all at once, so it was fine with me. What did I learn? Hmm… I learned that drugs are fun. I guess I also learned some lighting techniques and Photoshop.

R: You lived in Melbourne for a year working as a freelance fashion photographer - why Melbourne?

J: By the time I was ready to leave for Melbourne I was about 22 and found out that drugs weren’t always fun ;) I was also a bit sick of the city and felt like I was stuck (all over again) so I wanted a break. I felt like this break had to involve a lot of sun, beach and friendly people. Melbourne is the most livable city in the world so that made it easy. I also lived in Sydney for three months but that wasn’t very nice. I partied 24-hours a day (23 to be correct, they close the clubs from 6 to 7 am) and was a bit tired of it after a while. I never intended to shoot, but when I finally landed back on my feet in Melbourne I started shooting some stories which got published in a fashion magazine and I kept working for them from then on.

R: What about the surfers?

J: Yes, they are hot! I’ve lived on Bondi Beach though so I was over it after a while. I got more into the skaters.

R: You’ve been around - which city to you think has the hottest guys?

J: There is something about Swedish guys - not just their accent. So uh, Sweden?

R: You live in Amsterdam now - how is it? Where do you hang out?

J: It’s nice to be back, and I’ve made some amazing friends here since coming back. Fashion-wise its getting better and better. We have a very nice and energetic new generation coming up. I’m sure some of them will be known internationally as well. For fun I usually go to Studio80. It’s a gayish, dark, grungy dungeon were most of the fashion kids hang out.

R: What are you working on now?

J: I’m shooting almost everyday. It’s mostly editorials for international magazines. And mostly guys. I’m also going to London, Milan and Paris in the upcoming month. And next Month I’m starting to work on a new exhibition that I’m going to shoot my friends for, so I think that’s going to be fun!

R: Who would you like to work on next?

J: Cole Mohr. He is amazing, I would love to shoot him. He’s also on the cover of DANSK magazine at the moment.
all images ©Joost Vandebrug

While everyone is busy covering the Establishment during New York Fashion Week, we decided to check out New York-based American menswear designer Tim Hamilton. It wasn’t a runway show, but an up close pants-in-your-face presentation - a small army of obscenely pretty boys (seriously, are you kidding me?) on pedestals in an open studio space, turning the tables on the photographers by staring directly into their cameras. So sexy. I’m going to call it ivy league preppy gone bad seed. (Maybe gone trade.) Texture, stripes, fur, shiny things here and there, and swaths of candy colors. Tuxedo shoes, glammy fur collars, perfectly crafted skinny suits, motorcycle jackets, smoking jackets, and lots of hats. All in one collection, and all beautiful. And the knit pants! Skin tight knit pants! Damn.

Casting by Douglas Perrett. Make up by Jillian Chaitin. Hair by Ramona at Bumble and Bumble. Production by Heather Cantina and Ian Bauman at Double NY Productions. Shitty photos above by Weston

So, I wake up this morning and peer into my little “news box” (which is essentially an RSS feed, but I prefer to call it a “news box” because it sounds more appealing to me this Wednesday morning. Whatevs.) and read some nonsensical bullyshit about a mural in the ever popular (but rather style-deficient) Abercrombie & Fitch being yanked down in one of their Virginia Beach store locations by local police. The mural is a picture of some shirtless boys running in a field, and one of them is pulling his strategically ill-fitted jeans up to meet his waist. Pretty standard for A&F.

So, you wanna know the really mind-melting, future-ruining, pornographic element that caused a moral breakdown for one Virginia Beach police officer? OMG, you are soooo not ready for how sick and filthy this is, are you? It’s really bad, you sure you wanna read on?

Ok, here you go . . .
Dude is showing ass crack.

Actually . . . fuck I dunno, a 1/8 inch of ass crack.

YEP! That’s the depraved image that turned this police officer into a witch-hunting lunatic on a mission to wipe out the indecency of this mural (pictured above) in a beach town famous for drug trafficking and frat boy date-rapists. Nice to see our tax dollars hard at work.

Heres what USA Today had to say: “One depicts three shirtless young men from the back, walking through a field. The man in the lead appears to be about to pull up his jeans, which have slipped down enough to reveal his upper buttocks.” The other image features a topless woman whose “breast is displayed with her hand covering just the nipple portion,” Virginia Beach police spokesman Adam Bernstein tells the paper. Earlier in the week, Bernstein says an officer asked the manager to take down the photos. “We strive for voluntary compliance, but when they weren’t taken down we had to issue a summons,” he tells the Newport News Daily Press. “This is steps [sic] our city takes, because we have a reputation of being a very family-friendly city.” The Associated Press says it couldn’t reach the company. The manager faces up to a year in jail if convicted of violating the city code that makes it a misdemeanor to display “obscene materials in a business that is open to juveniles.”

Now, we all know the manager isn’t going to serve time, but c’mon, “obscene materials in a business that is open to juveniles”? Puh-lease! You wanna know what has “obscene materials in a business that is open to juveniles”? Google.

I used to be a sneakerhead, but it all just feels a little over…no? Once upon a time you could find a tasty pair of Ltd. edition sneaks (or trainers for our British friends), that were actually Ltd edition i.e not available in every Footlocker in the land. Now every neighborhood has a ‘rare’ sneaker store, and every banker to be found in the Meatpacking on a friday night is wearing them. So the search for individuality has become ever more strenuous. I can’t be paying $350 for a pair of Dior sneaks that look no different to All Stars, but I will pay $35 for these rather lovely Kung Fu shoes. Exclusively available at the Shaolin Temple in NYC’s Chinatown these sneaks are perfect  for all us boys who need encouragement to  ‘Train Harder!

Earlier this week East Village Boys dropped in backstage at the Buckler show to check out the hot clothes and the hot boys. In a lot of ways, Buckler is to Rock and Roll in 2008 what Vivienne Westwood was to Punk in the 70’s, and the Fall 2008 collection is one of his best. Buckler describes it as inspired from “…the Dalinean concept of delirious phenomena; a delusional fabrication of irrational logic with hallucinating undertones… The designs are narrated as a Grimm fairytale; eccentric and visually deceptive…” and he describes the print themes as “ominous, almost sadistic… mocked by classic bowties.” Fucking hot.

If you want to see the clothes, check out the Buckler stores - one in the meatpacking district at 13 Gansevoort, and his new store that just opened in Soho this week at 93 Grand, but if you want to see what was going on backstage, check out our pics.

Design and show concept by Andrew Buckler. Styling and casting by Gino Tavernaro. Make up by Mark Edio for The Smashbox Cosmetics Team. Hair by John Warren at Rizzieri Salon with the RUSK artistic team. Photography by Weston.

Tom Ford has never shyed away from the controversial, carefully trolling the thin line between art and porn. You may have checked out the viral for his recently launched mens fragrance; Tom Ford, that takes inspiration from, among other things a ‘tit fuck’. Well some cheeky web boy has decided he’s had enough of the tits, and would prefer to see some ARSE!! Check it.