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COLLUSION THROUGH INSPIRATION
ADVISOR PARKA : ‘INSPRIRED BY JAMES LAVELLE EDITION’
Denham’s occasional flirtation with collaboration-based projects manifests itself with a different spin within the S12 collection. Unlike the double-label “Collusion” projects with A Child of the Jago and Precinct Five which proceeded it, the Advisor Parka INSPIRED-BY J.L. Edition was motivated more by pure inspiration.
The design team at Denham are longtime fans of James Lavelle. His music often fills the studio during crunch-times and his influence on style and culture can be seen around the Denham workspace where album-art from Unkle and Mo Wax records, garment-samples from Surrender, and toy designs from Medicom are among the artifacts that serve as silent role-models for their own work. So, when fate brought the Denham team face-to-face with James Lavelle it sparked a very particular type of new energy in the studio.
At the time of their first meeting, Denham’s S12 collection was just getting underway with thematic atmosphere borrowed from Indochina. Tribal indigo work wear from the hill-tribes of the region and iconic military garment design from the Indochine and Vietnam conflicts were key parts of the team’s research. A Denham interpretation of the classic M65 Fishtail Parka Shell was slated to be one of the new collection’s flagships.
Thanks and apologies to Mr. Lavelle and the various other creatives whose work was pirated in order to put together this quick teaser originally used for the project's internal launch at the Denham design studios in Amsterdam.
Most noteworthy of these being enormously talented John Nolan of Streetlight Films who created the Pointman robot and the video material which was cut-and-pasted here. A project which he conceived as part of the "Daydreaming With.... James Lavelle" exhibition [more via this link]. The original version is breathtaking and can be see HERE.
After meeting Lavelle, the team was inspired to develop a special edition of their new Advisor Parka.
They brought together the most progressive materials including an indigo-rubberized nylon from Italy’s famous Limonta mill.
They created a hand-painted tiger-stripe camouflage and hid mirror-written lyrical references to Lavelle’s song; The Answer and they printed it on a rich cotton/viscose blend lining.
They integrated a thick piece-dyed sweatshirt hood using a construction borrowed from the Canadian army and they attached it with rugged Talon hardware.
Design for the Advisor Parka owes a debt of gratitude to three specific jackets housed in the Denham Garment Library.
1. The basis for the style is the iconic US Fishtail Parka used in the Korean War and popularized by the mods in Brighton during the mods vs rockers era. Since then the Fishtail has gone on to become a wardrobe staple for some of the most influential figures in music. The original's roomy hand-stuffer pockets [A] and signature fishtail back [B] were both retained within the Advisor Parka.
2. The second inspiration was a US Army Field Jacket of unknown origin purchased at the Rose Bowl in L.A. This item had been "field-modified" in a way that was typical for soldiers in Viet Nam. A cool-to-the-touch deployed nylon parachute was stitched into the jacket as a lining fabric to increase comfort. This resulted in camo on the interior of the jacket [C], an effect reinterpreted for the Advisor Parka.
3. The third inspiration was a Canadian Army Cold Weather Parka which featured a very simple hood-zipper system [D] and content-specific pocketing [E] both of which ideas were integrated into the Advisor.
Research by Denham's art director Ali Kirby unearthed an inspiring bit of graphic design history. During WW2 the british Department of Defense helped provide printed fabrics for women to use in the Make Do & Mend effort during wartime austerity measures. The D.O.D. hid pro-England propaganda statements within these florals and paisleys which were designed, supposedly, to be absorbed by the wearer when she looked in the mirror where a garment she had sewn for herself using these fabrics. Kirby employed this mirror-writing technique when he created the hand painted tiger camo used throughout the parka.
They worked with upcoming audio brand Frends – “because there is no I in frends” - to style a complimenting variation of the company’s newly launched Frends Light Headphone which is included with the parka. This marks the maiden-voyage for the new Light model with its innovative memory foam ear cushions, tap-to-answer/advance control earcup and the highest audio fidelity available on the headphone of this size.
The Denham Advisor Parka Edition of the The Light headphone features a headwrap fully upholstered in the same combination of Limonta rubberized indigo and tiger-camo lining. The ear cups are also laminated with the Limonta rubberized indigo and rich Leather ear pads are held within polished yokes which have been custom engraved with fragments of Lavelle's lyrics.
Limonta Mills, Italy
We're pleased as hell with how this project worked out and we're proud that it could be part of the new Spring 2012 collection. But as stoked as we are about the final product, we're equally excited to have had the chance to hang out a bit with James Lavelle. His interests, tastes, knowledge and talent go well beyond the world of music within which he's best known. His command of all aspects of visual and design culture is equally impressive and there's nobody we'd rather burn an evening with up in the Denham Garment Library shooting the shit and talking about our favorite garments. Mr. Lavelle,... -it was our sincere pleasure sir.
