Despite the pervasive dominance that skinny and slim fit jeans in the most diverse colours and washes have imposed on men’s sartorial options over the last few years, it is the regular cut model in a shade of dark indigo that offers the best dressing options to the urban male professional. A pair or dark denim jeans can be versatile enough to be worn during many work situations and complement an elegant look for a night out. However, finding the right jeans that match this profile is not always easy.

While trawling through what seemed like an endless list of websites that search engines seamlessly chain together, my research eventually reached an end when I came across the Replay Jeans at Mainline Menswear, and particularly the Replay Willham Vintage Regular Jeans model.

Despite featuring what can be described as a standard fabric for jeans (a 12.5oz dark blue flat finish denim in 100% cotton) and details that one would normally expect in this sort of garment (namely, embossed buttons on the fly and five pockets – including two at the front with a small coin slot within the right pocket), the Willham is part of the new Replay clothing and jeans collection that features discreetly stylish details such as a logo stitched on the front left pocket and a cream woven trim on a front and reverse belt loop with red stitching.

I ordered them swiftly and had them delivered within a couple of days. Once they arrived, I tried them on and the first thing that impressed me was the softness of the fabric. Following my credo that jeans only fit properly after being washed at least once, I put them through a regular washing machine cycle and allowed them to dry normally. Once they were ready to be worn again, I noticed that the feel, colour and fit had not changed at all, which was surprisingly good news. Furthermore, after wearing them out a couple of times with white shirts, I could not find any signs of staining whatsoever.
In a nutshell, finding the right pair of dark jeans that makes you feel stylish may be difficult and time-consuming but it’s certainly not impossible. And once you find them you may end up behaving just like I did with my Replay Willham jeans: wearing them for days on end, safe in the knowledge that I now know where I can go back for more.

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Visitors can access the centre from a large plaza leading to two entrances that cut the geometric facade along a diagonal axis. On entering the building, a sculptural pleated interior leads people through the atrium into the main foyer. In addition to a theatre that will provide a regular schedule of activities, the centre also features a restaurant, a media lab, a lecture theatre and an art gallery.

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The 4.5 m height party wall and roof eaves have been fully used with shelves and storage, while integrating a staircase to access the mezzanine level. Throughout the home, which is located in the Camden neighbourhood of London, a plain colour palette allowed the owner’s personality to shine through in the objects, art pieces and books on display.

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Scheduled to hit River Island stores in two tranches in September and November 2013, the collection conjures a sense of urban rebellion inspired by military garments and sportswear, as evident in the prevalent camouflage prints and mesh fabrics. Silhouettes combine fitted and loose lines in pieces such as cropped tops, bomber jackets, column dresses, relaxed knee-length shorts, oversized jumpers, sporty lingerie and hotpants.

A range of high-heeled boots, strappy sandals, rucksacks and beanie hats complements a collection that, although not entirely innovative on the design front, will undoubtedly prove to be popular with Rihanna’s fans.

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A case in point of how such preconceptions lead to a partial or inaccurate understanding of a nation can be found in the perception of Brazil as being essentially a land of sun, samba, beaches and football, forgetting that it was also the birthplace of some of the most talented artists, composers and novelists of the twentieth century. For decades, and owing to successive waves of political instability caused by formal and informal dictatorships, and extremely conspicuous social inequity, Brazil’s cultural identity suffered and failed to substantiate its worth to the rest of the world. However, a new award programme that celebrates Brazil’s burgeoning artistic talent under the moniker ‘Movimento HotSpot’ is beginning to realign the interpretative gaze that the rest of the world has of this creative powerhouse.

According to Paulo Borges, president of the National Institute of Fashion and Design (IN-MOD) and founder of the initiative, Movimento HotSpot was founded in March 2012 (with public funds and private sponsorship) with the intention to find and reward new creative minds in Brazil, and generate democratic platforms to showcase their talent. In a country with nearly 200 million people occupying the fifth largest national territory in the world, the ambition to remain open to all manifestations of ingenuity was resolved by running scouting events in numerous locations over a period of 16 months. This touring programme allowed 1,642 applicants the opportunity to present their ideas and fight to continue in the run by showing their worth throughout several elimination stages.

The last phase of the inaugural Movimento HotSpot was held at the University Anhembi Morumbi in São Paulo under the title ‘Idea Pool’. This consisted of putting the finalists through a creative immersion environment of collaboration with curators and other candidates in the 11 categories that make up the movement: Architecture, Beauty, Design, Fashion, Film, Graphic Design, Illustration, Music, Photography, Scenography and Ideas. After a thorough selection process, the winners received their individual prizes worth R$ 10,000 each at an awards ceremony held in the Memorial da América Latina in São Paulo on 31 July 2013.

The Architecture award went to 28-year old Gustavo Utrabo, a graduate from the Federal University of Paraná who also studied at the University of Barcelona. After completing his degree in 2009, Utrabo returned to his native Curitiba and set up his architecture practice. Since then, his work has garnered praise by his peers and critics, and was featured in Wallpaper* magazine’s ‘Born in Brazil’ issue in May 2010.

In the Fashion category, the award went to sisters Laura and Lorena Andrade Vieira who also won an investment fund worth R$ 150,000 to develop a collection that will be shown during the next São Paulo Fashion Week and become available in the 178 stores of the Riachuelo brand across Brazil.

The youngest winner of the night was 17-year old Gigi Suleiman who charmed the judges in the Music category with songs that she has been composing and singing in Portuguese and in English from an early age.

Manuela Marçal Yamada, a 24-year-old enrolled in the Ideas category, was the grand winner on the night, receiving R$ 200,000 to implement the recycling concepts underpinning her ‘Project Botiá’. Also chosen from the Ideas pool, Argus Caruso Saturnino received a special prize funded by WGSN that will enable him to attend the WGSN Trends Day in London and take part in this influential brainstorming event where cool hunters and scientists from around the world gather to discuss future lifestyle trends.

Other winners of the scheme included Juliana Dadalto (Beauty), Lucas Loff Ferreira Leite (Design), Matheus Mayer Mombelli (Film), Daniel Coronel (Graphic Design), Marina Rebouças Martins (Illustration), Francisco Emidio Contente Pereira dos Santos (Photography), Paul Waisberg (Scenography), and Felipe Zuccoli Rezende and Andre Cruz (Ideas).

Aware of how their own creativity is born in Brazil but can be translated into practical results on a global scale, the winners of the first Movimento HotSpot are graced with possibilities beyond the prize money that fund their dreams. They are the talented makers of promising ingenuity whose work will deserve a reinterpretation of Brazil’s past and present cultural importance by many generations to come.

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In order to address the challenging renovation of an inner-city Victorian terrace on a narrow plot, the designers at Fearns Studio conceived the Bondi house as a first floor timber tube positioned above a ground level brick box behind what was left of the original building. The added spaces under the old house include a street-facing lounge and a small courtyard that connects a bedroom to a bathroom, which, in turn, are joined by a long corridor that leads from the front door to the open-plan dining, kitchen and living area. From this communal area, stairs lead up to two more bedrooms and a shared bathroom. In addition, a guest bedroom and bathroom were added above a garage at the bottom of the garden.

Skylights allow light into the ground-floor rooms while defining spaces and offering privacy from neighbouring homes. Large glazed doors also break the areas of the house by opening the interior of the house to the garden courtyards. Despite the concrete floors, a feeling of warmth is created throughout the house by the white plaster on walls and ceilings, as well as the oak wood in kitchen units, furniture, windows and doors.

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The collection, which will be available in selected River Island stores and online from mid September 2013, features traditional silhouettes with utilitarian details across pieces such as workwear-inspired distressed denim trousers, textured heavy knits and statement print shirts. In addition, the collection relies on geometric patterns, florals and rich colours such as burgundy, navy and teal to highlight with an otherwise neutral colour palette. Outerwear is particularly strong with a few pieces expected to be popular with fans of the brand, namely the blue check cropped jacket with chrome hook clasps and patch pockets, and the double-breasted navy overcoat with wide lapels and contrasting herringbone sleeves.

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Created in 2010 by London-based duo Giangiacomo Postir and Marco Baruzzi, Mazorin was developed to address the needs of men whose face skin suffers from stress and dehydration as a result of working long hours or of spending large periods of time travelling either as part of a daily commute or on business trips. After studying the lifestyles of urban professional men in order to understand their skincare needs, Postir and Baruzzi started working with dermatologists and industry experts to find the most effective ingredients, formulations, packaging and branding for their burgeoning enterprise.

In order to achieve the highest quality possible, Postir and Baruzzi agreed that Mazorin’s products would only contain active ingredients and would therefore exclude Parabens, mineral oils, synthetic colours and untested fragrances. For the packaging, the duo invited two Italian architects to design bottles and boxes that would evoke an image of timeless masculine style. And the brand’s name came from the word for “mallard” in Friulano, a language spoken in the Friuli area of North Eastern Italy where Mazorin’s labs and production are located.

The names given to the different Mazorin ranges also reflect the founders’ background in the financial industry (as well as their targeted audience) in what was intended to be humorous puns: ‘Face Value’ includes products for daily skin maintenance such as the Optimal Face Maintenance moisturiser and the Optimal Skin Nourishment supplement, and ‘Liquid Asset’ is used for products with instant revitalisation properties that reduce visible signs of fatigue such as the Pre Meeting Face Vamp gel/tonic and the Working Late Eye Serum roll-on eye gel.

I started my trial of Mazorin’s products with the Optimal Face Maintenance moisturiser, which when pumped from the stylish bottle onto my fingers for the first time didn’t induce a very positive first impression: the texture of the liquid white cream resembled that of sun creams that are not easily absorbed. However, after rubbing it on the face, the product proved me wrong: a slight shine finish and a not entirely unpleasant fragrance lingered for a few minutes but soon disappeared, leaving no residue.

At night, I used the Working Late Eye Serum that, like so many eye products these days, is applied with a small metal roll-on spherical dispenser. However, the serum reaches the sphere via an ingenious pumping mechanism which means that users can control how much they want to apply. On application, the lotion felt cool on the area under the eyes; however, like any eye cream, it will take much longer than a few weeks to see any results.

What really stood out of the range, to my surprise, was the Optimal Skin Nourishment food supplement. Having tried similar products in the past with no success, I was sceptical about these pills. However, a few weeks after I started, I noticed that my skin felt more supple and moist. Most importantly, the supplement worked in a visible way to others: it may sound like a made-up statement for a review but a few weeks into taking the two pills every morning someone at work paused to look at me and said “your skin looks great”, the kind of compliment that I don’t normally hear. Now, this comment can be interpreted as a happy coincidence but, after someone was able to see what I was also feeling on my skin, I couldn’t fight the realisation that Mazorin’s Optimal Skin Nourishment food supplement does improve men’s facial skin with undeniable visible results. In a nutshell, The Style Examiner’s verdict is that, if you are in the market for an effective range of men’s skincare, Mazorin is certainly worth a try.

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