A Golden State vibe at Mr Porter
Made in California’s range is laid-back luxe amid palms ’n’ surf
Luxury men’s e-tailer Mr Porter is paying retail homage to the Golden State with a Made in California campaign that highlights a dozen high-end menswear apparel and accessories brands with Cali connections, including Rick Owens, Outerknown, the Elder Statesman and Stüssy.
“So many of the spring/summer 2017 trends in menswear … could draw a line back to California style,” said the retailer’s senior buying manager Sam Lobban, “be it outdoorsy sportswear that’s going on or the ’90s skate thing or the color palette that some of the more casual brands are using or that L.A. sort of shabby chic, rock ’n’ roll-type vibe.”
He also noted that the notion of California resonates far beyond its borders.
“I grew up just outside of North London,” he said. “And there was, like, something about Californian style that always felt super-glamorous and exotic and luxurious and aspirational.… The idea of [a] super-cool, laid-back, sun-bleached, palm-tree haven was always super appealing.”
Eight of the brands with exclusive capsule collections on the site — the aforementioned labels as well as Simon Miller, James Perse, John Elliott and Mollusk Surf — have been part of the Mr Porter merchandise mix in the past, and four are new to the retailer: Amiri, Golden Bear, Noon Goons and Second/Layer.
Although all of the featured brands have some connection to the Golden State (Rick Owens launched his label here in 1994, for example, but is based in Paris) and some of the pieces are manufactured here (the Elder Statesman knits and Mollusk Surf Tshirts to name two), the Made in California moniker refers more to inspiration than geography.
Prices in the Made in California collection, which went live on Mr Porter.com on April 18, range from $35 for Mollusk’s retro-surf cotton T-shirts screenprinted with wavehopping dolphins or pelicans to a $14,900 made-to-order black leather motorcycle jacket with hand-painted, Swarovski-crystalembellished palm trees by L.A.based Amiri.
Other eye-catching pieces in the 145-piece collection include the Elder Statesman’s tie-dyed palmtree intarsia cashmere sweaters ($960), Golden Bear’s cardinalred leather-paneled varsity jacket ($390) and Stüssy’s bold tropicalprint shirts ($170) and swim trunks ($85).
This isn’t the first time the luxury shopping site has tapped into West Coast cool; back in 2011, the Porter posse decamped to California (not coincidentally, one of its biggest markets) to celebrate all things surf and sun.