Oroton designs for men
Designing for men is not as easy as it looks.
THE world of design is so fluid and inter-related that it’s not hard to imagine how someone with an industrial design background could do well in the fashion retail industry as well.
Such is the case of senior designer Nick Clarkin, who is part of the design team for Australian luxury fashion brand, Oroton.
“It helps with the technical understanding of seeing how a product like a bag is put together,” said Clarkin at a recent interview in Kuala Lumpur.
Oroton, founded by businessman Boyd Lane in 1938, is best known for its elegant and shimmery mesh material women’s evening bags.
Today, the brand offers a range of accessories and apparel for women and men, jewellery, leather goods, fragrances and even beauty products.
Each year, the creative team’s designers pick a destination to travel for inspiration for their new collections.
Ideas for Oroton’s Spring/summer 2012 collection were put together from a journey to Copenhagen in Denmark, which is steeped in design history.
The city provided the team of Oroton designers a closer view into design history, product and materials.
According to Clarkin, their visit to museums, art galleries and even furniture exhibits provided them with a great library of photographs that helped inspire the Spring/ Summer 2012 collection.
The men’s accessories collection includes bags, small leather goods, belts, cufflinks and gift items.
“We learn where things come from and, for example how a particular piece of furniture is put together. are used The in way furniture, clips or or buckles furniture, how leather is translated into the men’s accessories. There are many clean lines from Scandinavian countries and we try to represent as much as we can in our new collection,” said Clarkin, who hasas been with Oroton for a decade andd whose forte is men’s accessories. ies.
The men’s pieces embody clever practicality with texture, tonal leathers and suede featuring folios, briefcases, wallets and accessories in hues of Oxblood, d, Daschund and Stone.
One gorgeous piece that stood out in the Spring/ ng/ Summer 2012 men’s accessories is the he sleek-looking suede A4 folio or document uin sleeve.
“Suede is a beautiful material and the zippers in this folio portray a very elementary design, right down to the stitching. It comes in two shades, namely Smog and Black,” he says.
With suede being a material that requires some maintenance and therefore not quite as popular a choice for the pragmatic Australian man, Clarkin pointed out that it will likely do well in Asia. He believes that Asian men are rather fashion-conscious, and will embrace such fabric and shades.
Another document sleeve that will make one fawn over it is the piece that has literally taken its inspiration from a soft leather sofa.
“Its hidden seams, invisible stitching and soft curves are reminiscent of a fine piece of leather furniture, complete with a new clip and lock design,” Clarkin explained.
For a document sleeve, it has a bulky feel to it that some may prefer for better protection of important documents or simply for the way it feels in your hands.
Following an exploration trip by the designers, Clarkin said that they will pencil in ideas and sketch all drawing designs.
“For wallets, which are the flatter patterns, we usually rely on software so there’s a lot of computer work involved. However, for larger bags, such as a weekender, sketches are made to see how the bag drapes es when a softer r and larger piece of material - is used,” he said.
Until 1998, all of Oroton’s products were manufactured Australia, but t they are now produced in China.
“We select the best quality of raw materials, and work with tanneries in Italy and (South) Korea for leathers,” he said.
“Once the design ideas are approved, the designers work directly with the factories and they go through all the detailing ing from stitching, colours, padding for shoulder attachments and customised hardware that we have developed.”
To inject news in the designs, Clarkin added that they regularly refresh a range using new techniques or materials. “In fact, suede is used for the first time in something as large as the A4 folio. “As we extend our products to the Asian market now, it becomes easier to inject new ideas as Asians are clued in on fashion styles. And
accessories enough to venture and acquire new designs and colours,” he said.
“Suede is not going to be a bestseller but we believe in making products that we will be proud of. We expect this to do well in Asian markets.”
With expansion plans for Asia, and inspiration for the brand’s 2013 Spring/summer collection, the Oroton designers went on an exploration journey to Beijing, Singapore and Malaysia.
“While in Beijing, we noticed so much attention paid to details, especially in the architecture, artwork and prints. The city is steeped in history; something simple like the stone walkways in the Summer Palace has so much detailing. It was as if they left no stone unturned in designing the palace. From this, you may see some ideas turn up in a piece of hardware or influence the texture in our accessories,” he said.
So, is it easier to design men’s accessories compared to women’s? w
Form is important and function is critical when it comes to design, but men are very pragmatic, according to Clarkin.
“When men see a reason for a particular design, they appreciate that. It is trickier to design men’s accessories because coming up with something simple is actually very difficult, and you can’t trick a man!” he concluded.
The Oroton Spring/ Summer 2012 collection collection is available at Oroton boutiques at Suria KLCC KLC and The Gardens in KL, and 1 Utama Shopping Centre in PJ, Selangor. Small leather goods are priced between RM280 aand RM570, while w bags are priced between RM940 and RM1,RM1,900.