An Exploration of Australian Menswear Designers
Many overseas consumers can identify with well-known Australian brands such as the famed COOGI or Ksubi (primarily made famous overseas by rapper A$AP Rocky), but may tend to shy away from what else Australia has to offer in the menswear department.
As a country, Australia is visibly and culturally different from so many others, and as so, Australian designers are influenced by a myriad of unique and distinctive inspirations. Although compared to womenswear, there are few thriving Australian brands that make their break worldwide. Whether it be the lack of men interested in certain areas of fashion in our country, or the fact that the clothing market here has been mainly reserved for women for many years (albeit has been expanding rapidly for the last five or so years). Nonetheless, I am confident in saying that what they do present is done well - we’re understated, but we’re quietly making moves down here.
Strateas.Carlucci
[strah • teece karlu chii]
In making their entry to the world of fashion in 2012, Peter Strateas and Mario-Luca Carlucci have successfully made their international mark through their Melburnian brand, Strateas.Carlucci. The defining moment of their international outreach lies in their debut at this year’s SS16 Paris Fashion Week, among the likes of Haider Ackermann, Raf Simons and the house of Valentino.
This is not the only achievement for the pair though. In the past twelve months, Strateas and Carlucci had not only achieved GQ Australia’s Fashion Designer of the Year, a Prix De Marie Claire Award, but also a double regional win in both men's and womenswear in the prestigious and highly-acclaimed International Woolmark Prize.
The brand approaches their design with an ethos grounded in timeless minimalism, distinctly shown in their most recent collection - Myopia - engaging a sartorial yet avant-garde approach with the choice of fabrics such as crushed silk and luxurious wools.
Their webstore can be checked out here.
Song for the Mute
Strongly backed by the illustrious menswear personality Nick Wooster, quoting, “unique, not only to anything I’ve seen in Australia but quite frankly, anything I’ve seen in the world,” Melvin Tanaya and Lina Ty’s Song for the Mute has been making waves for quite some time. Founded in 2008, the brand has scooped up a lineage of awards for their work - and it’s worth mentioning one of them being the coveted L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival Designer Award.
It appears that over the years, Melvin and Lina have presented Song for the Mute as an evolution of their own understanding and commitment to their brand. Silhouettes and colour changes have become softer and bolder simultaneously in recent collections, as they have seemed to have settled into a rhythm with what they are producing. Fabric choice is, for the most part, sourced exclusively from mills in various parts of Japan and meticulously hand-picked for their lines, ensuring their material choice reflects as much character as the cut and fit of their clothing.
As of June, their online webstore is fully up and running, but their products can also be found at retailers by the likes of SSENSE and Fallow, among others.
Bassike
[ˈbei-sik]
Established in 2006 by Deborah Sams and Mary Lou Ryan, the Sydney label Bassike is a well-known Australian favourite. Their brand philosophises around well-designed and constructed basic everyday clothing with an underlying commitment to sustainable production and fabric choice. They aim to integrate the relaxed Australian feeling into the look of their clothing, seamlessly combining it with the simplicity and integrity of Japanese design.
Favouring an ‘androgynous fit’, their clothing is built to last and encourages the wearer to take care of it for the long run, but to also watch it age as it is worn. Bassike in itself presents the broadest appeal to the market, as it is essentially, all in all, a clothing brand for good quality, well-made basics.
Bassike is available on its webstore, as well as Australian retailer, David Jones.
SHHORN
Carefully formatted around a passion for absolute precision and control from fiber to final garment, SHHORN presents a craft mostly heard, but rarely seen in the fashion industry. The brainchild of architecturally-trained and self-taught designer Sean Tran, SHHORN strives towards experimentation in design and materials, forming every piece with meticulous detail, giving it a “mind of its own”, in quoting the designer himself. His approach to design, alongside the incredible talents in-house textile artist Grace Wood, is strongly footed in an exploratory and eccentric motive to create individualistic clothing that caters to all.
Each piece made is upon order, thus those who purchase will be presented with something more than just a garment, but a manifestation of a true passion for quality.