Strong Suit designer fills young, hip fashion niche
Little Rock designer Jamie Davidson is all in favor of the young, hip guy who wants to dress up, just not in his grandfather’s suit.
So Davidson — whose creations include the Tre Vero line at Dillard’s as well as the erstwhile Normandy Monroe with co-founder Padgett Mangan— has created Strong Suit, a line of fine suits that marry Italian fabrics and old-school styling with a slimmer silhouette. The line will make its bows during a launch event at 6 p.m. Oct. 24 at The Independent, 3608 Kavanaugh Blvd.
“I think that the market really wants this,” Davidson says from the floor of his River Market studio.
Instead of suit jackets that are fused — which involves gluing a fusible interlining to the fabric shell of the suit to help it keep its shape — Strong Suit jackets are lined with the traditional (and more expensive) horsehair canvas. “So we have Italian fabrics and a canvas front — and we’re offering all that for a retail price of under $600, which is unheard of” nowadays, he says.
Looking for stores to carry the line, Davidson and his team took GQ’s list of the 25 best men’s stores along with a similar list run in Esquire magazine and “compiled about 20 stores that we thought
would be the best stores for us to sell … and we went out and we sold every one of them,” Davidson says.
But Strong Suit will not show up in mall department stores. The Independent, which has affiliates in Rogers and Fayetteville, will carry the line exclusively in Arkansas, which falls in line with Strong Suit’s niche market.
“We’re not trying to clothe everybody. It’s really a very specific look.”
It’s perfect for the young men who have tapped into what Italians call sprezzatura — “this idea of mixing your tailored wardrobe with your casual wardrobe … the idea of taking your suit jacket and wearing it with jeans, or a sport coat and wearing it more casually. … I really feel that this is kind of where fashion is headed right now.”
Davidson estimates that Strong Suit will appeal to men ranging from college-graduate age to about 50. Near the top of that range “is probably a guy’s who’s a little bit more health-conscious and a little bit more fit … than the broader, 40- to 50-year-old range out there.”
The line includes yearround suits in basic colors, such as solid navy. Also included are some fall flannels — two sport coats and two suits — that are a bit heavier but, as a nod to the milder Southern weather, are still comparatively lightweight. Davidson hopes to eventually introduce dress shirts and neckwear to the line.
SHADES OF GREATNESS
Those who haven’t yet visited the new Oakley store that opened Aug. 30 in Park Plaza are postponing quite the adventure. The store, which I recently toured, includes a way-bigger-than-expected selection of sports gear, casual and activewear, luggage and backpacks.
The headliners, of course, are the gazillions of sunglasses in various styles and color themes, from breast cancer awareness to sports teams. But at Oakley it’s not just a matter of looking cute in a pair of shades. Optician David Ballou, who runs the store’s optical center, explained the technology that fits prescription eyewear — a sci-fi-looking device that fits onto frames and records measurements via camera — and demonstrated it with the help of store manager Emalee Long.
The ready-to-wear sunglasses selection included the Forehand ($120 and up), which I tried in polished black, with black iridium lenses. They’re a softened, feminized version of that Jack Nicholson style, with great comfort and glare-reduction qualities. My husband, Dre, was equally impressed with the futuristic-looking Style Switch sunglasses ($160 and up), polished black, with jade iridium lenses and gray switch-out lenses.
Also, Oakley stores recently began offering a high-tech ski goggle called the Airwave 1.5 ($649), which “combines the company’s best goggle technologies with a heads-up display that integrates Wi-Fi, GPS, MFi Bluetooth and more with a host of onboard sensors to bring new possibility to the alpine experience.” Skiers can access information transmitted directly to the eye via widescreen graphics — a device called MOD Live provides a heads-up display perceived to be the size of a 14-inch screen that is 5 feet away, so refocusing the eye isn’t necessary. The goggles measure speed, distance, and height and airtime of jumps as well as the temperature. Buddy Tracking allows wearers to find and track friends who have the same Oakley technology, and it connects with most smartphones.
The Airwave is at Oakley stores, Oakley.com, Apple. com and Apple stores.
HAPPY 30TH
Powder & Smoke, the luxury gift boutique, will celebrate its 30th anniversary Oct. 21-26 with drawings for door prizes and a trunk show by Alwand Vahan jewelry.
Now located in Pleasant Ridge Shopping Center, 11525 Cantrell Road in Little Rock, the shop got its start on North Fillmore Street in the Heights from 1983-1991, then moved to Pavilion in the Park. It has been in its current location since 2008. When owner Mindy Stewart first opened the shop, “I had no idea what I was doing initially,” she says. “I just knew what I liked and hoped that other people wanted to buy it. Back then, we had, like, one candle line, one jewelry case, etc.” Now there’s a wonderland of things to choose from … Bond No. 9 fragrances, Judith Leiber bags, J. Strongwater handmade boxes, English Hotel Silver pieces and much more. The store was recently named one of the Top 25 Gifted retailers for 2013 by Gift and Decorative Accessories magazine. For more information, call Powder & Smoke at (501) 225-5353.
CASE STUDIES
MapiCases, which offers leather iPad, iPhone, smartphone and e-reader accessories, offers these eye-opening accessories for fall 2013:
The Sia Handbag ($160), a purse for an iPad or other tablet. It features slide-out handles and a front pocket to hold business cards, pens and other necessities. Feel free to kick the tablet out to use the item as a handbag or small briefcase.
The Myra Wallet, a handsome, unisex iPhone 5 case and wallet designed with three pockets to store money, credit cards or IDs. The Myra secures an iPhone with a snap closure while allowing access to phone buttons.
And you can’t beat the Nicea Book. Crocodile-embossed or glossy, it comes in an iPhone 4/4S Leather Purse model ($70) for those who’ve been left behind in the iPhone evolution; for those who haven’t, there’s an iPhone 5/5S Leather Case with Removable Wristlet ($80). Visit mapicases.com.
Dressing Room is published biweekly. Got fashion and beauty news? Contact Helaine R. Williams, Dressing Room, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, Ark. 72203, or email: hwilliams@arkansasonline.com