Pitti Uomo & Union Berlin

Pitti Uomo & Union Berlin

This past summer I had skipped the clothing fairs of Union and Europe all together. And then lately I've been haunted by the feeling that I should keep going. So I booked a trip to Berlin. Last minute I added Pitti in Firenze. I thought, "I have to go to Pitti at least once". My maternal grandparents come from the Tuscan city of Lucca. Italian small town haberdashers are the reason I wanted Ford General to exist.

Pitti is held in a medieval Fortress, Fortezza da Basso. The peacocking is hard. Well, peacocking exists everywhere it turns out. The point is that you are influenced by every city you go to and the sensibility found there. Knowing that textiles had been moved on the Arno river for thousands of years and walking around pre and post show using my broken Italian as I navigated the direction of the shop back in Old Town Chicago, made the whole experience, worth it.

From both sustainable & artistically driven mindsets in the industry, I've heard a subtle and wise mantra about buying clothing: there should be a reason a brand exists.

To be sustainable and undesirable is not sustainable. To exist and be duplicative or low in quality seems utterly pointless as well. I don't want to offer products to Chicagoans that are duplicative or low in quality. I don't desire unsustainable mindset for business or planet. I want highly desirable objects for their quality & provenance. They should have reason for existence and be low quantity. And they had better look good. If an object looks and feels good, the wearer will take care of it (I lost a sweater in Berlin & this incident mangled my senses for some hours, even days). I also once had a teacher in theatre, here in Chicago, that said objects are alive. The argument went that objects carry energy with them. Well, if one buys into this line of thinking, my goal is to trade in garments that will carry great energy.

I met one Dutch designer and their splendid team in the "Attic" section of Pitti Uomo. (The Attic was essentially the only room I needed to work at Pitti based on the desires of my shop direction). The designer had created cloth encased passports with journal pages so that the garments bought by clients could have their stories memorialized and passed down.

The ethos was pervasive beyond the passports. The collection was being made up of dead stock materials. It wouldn't be enough though to have this mindset. The collection would have to be fetching-- and I thought it was for my part. We will style it into the collection we've accumulated at the ford general. 

REASON ENOUGH

Hul Le Kes will weave, feed, play, and blend alongside Hansen Garments, De Bonne Facture, Fleurs de Bagne, Universal Works and denim brands. We have our own take on masculinity. We are menswear that is sartorial and messy and strong. It is Midwestern American and European.

I think it is worthy. The ones that have understood and enjoy our curation--that is enough. Plus the food in Firenze was, as always, soul invigoration.

We also picked up the wax cotton coat makers Manifattura Ceccarelli while at Pitti. They had outfitted the staff at the Fortess with their product and that was a brilliant campaign with a sort of cause. I had been eyeing the brand for a few years and I am excited to bring such a nice product, made in Italy, to Chicago.

Ray (who works at the shop and is lovely in many ways) and I were standing in the Mercato Centrale in Firenze when a guy appeared next to us with a Maglificio GRP beanie on. I asked in my loud and heavily accented Italian if I could ask him a question. He turned around in North American English and said we could just speak in English. Nat was from Canada and Maine but has lived in Tuscany for over 20 years. We spent a great portion of the night hanging out with him and bouncing stories around. He had worked Pitti, because he is the creator of a performance sailing shoe.

Nat was kind and interesting. He was great to hang with south of the Arno and then in the salon of the Palazzo BnB. Pitti was worth it. To be on the streets of Tuscany. And Nat was a reminder that I only want to work with brands that are kind and honest.

Curation of brands has a style and ethos. I want the clothes to drape well on people. Because I thinking looking good feels good. I also want the clothes to carry an energy of solid goodness. The clothes are alive with the energy of the maker and the energy of community that buys them.

Some how we woke up and were off to Berlin in a stupor flash. But not before having breakfast---like only the Italians can do. I love a hotel breakfast in Italy. Always have and always will.

PRIMA & CHILL

The Union show is held in an old Kuhlhaus, essentially a 4 story warehouse for ice. There is nothing corporate about this atmosphere. The food, beverage, and even grass flows at all times as a simple matter of hospitality. I had orginally gone a year ago because Hansen Garments shows there and their collections make up the heart of my store. The show is heritage and quality based. However, everything evolves.

Felix, who organizes the show had asked that I return. He is great at what he does. I am very inspired to create in Chicago what exists in Europe in terms of multi-brand stores. The curation and consistent quality is reason enough to exist.

There is also something about the coming together at Union. It is a community. A community from all across the world now. Trading in quality. One night I stumbled upon a dinner at a greek place with the guys from Indigofera. They are based in Sweden and make a fine collection of denim and shirting etc. Their tag and other writings will explain that they're out to make "Prima" clothes. Prima in Swedish is equivalent to quality. And here's the thing: their clothes are cool and super prima. But they're great guys to hang out with. Chill and generous on many levels. They're also like Hul de Kes ----making clothes that are such quality and energy ---that the wearer will want to pass them down to the next generation.

I wrote this (thank you so much if you've read it) because I want ford general to exist for a worthy cause. I wanna carry satorial cloth & I wanna carry Prima denim. I want travelers and Chicagoans to stumble and stay at my place and pick up objects that are alive. Alive with quality and purpose. This brings us together and can be felt in our daily lives. I want the things I become obsessed with----the ones I get a jolt of energy from when I put them on.

So, I made the journey for a second time. Here's to that. Here's to Chicago deserving the selection of the highest quality but reasonably everyday clothes.

If you like what you're reading and feeling. Visit us on Wells in Chicago and we'll chase those objects and conservations that are alive with meaning.

I am learning and inspired. By all those there and the street fashion. We are now hiring for a tailor, to build a department at ford general for repairs and alterations. This is invigoration. This is purpose. Onward.