There’s no stopping Simon Spurr. The English-born, NYC-based menswear designer and four-time nominee for various CFDA awards has just taken the plunge, and taken his acclaimed tailoring-based brand online. And it’s great, save for a few unforgivable copy errors here and there (“The brands clean and timeless aesthetic” – really, really?) and the presence of – shudder – a “celebrity” press section.
^ Simon Spurr’s e-commerce site launches today
Still, Spurr really doesn’t get half the love he’s due on this blog. As an Englishman abroad – and in NY, specifically – Spurr fuses his v. English tailoring heritage with the easiness and understated edginess of a more New Yorkian aesthetic.
The result is a look that’s commercial and easily marketed (and swiftly seen on the backs of every cringe-inducing celebrity from castrati Justin Timberlake to rom-com bore Zac Efron), but that’s also guaranteed to secure you a few appreciative nods, design-wise.
Take, for example, the Autumn Winter 2011 collection, which – although a tad too literal in the Luke Skywalker referencing (see look-book shots…) – is a perfect blend of wearability, interesting cuts and unexpected pairings of fabrics.
Spurr says of the collection: “[it] pushes the boundaries of sartorialism by juxtaposing custom-made fabrics and materials against one another to create movement” – fashion jargon. But he also states, that a “reduced color palette allows the eye to focus on texture, fit and proportion, reflecting a definitive and dramatic point of view”, which is an accurate enough observation and perhaps also the collection’s strongest trait.
Lightsaber-y look-book shots a bit old hat but undeniably appealing all the same…
There’s also an Inspiration section (film stills, shots of architectural feats etc.), an area devoted to the less-formal, denim-based Spurr brand and a wealth of videos to pore over. Despite my seemingly tepid enthusiasm, Spurr really is a designer worth watching, if only to marvel at his powerful combination of business acumen and aesthetic awareness.
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Shop Simon Spurr here. Read a Q+A with the man himself here, courtesy of The Gilt Man.
EDIT: I’ve just been informed that the site currently available is the beta version, and I’ve been assured that all typos will be corrected when the final version goes live later today, so I can quit my cribbing, I suppose.
