Proper Magazine is a men’s magazine based in the North West of the UK. Sure, they add to the current wide bunch of menswear magazines out there, but quite unlike the others, the good guys at Proper are not taking things (or themselves) too seriously. The witty gags and on-point commentary tossed around with a healthy attitude make Proper a pleasant exception among the rest of the pack.

Featuring Ian Paley of Garbstore, Takeshi Ofuchi from Post Overalls and the British heavyweights Mikkel Rude among others, the new issue # 10 is out very soon and available for pre-order at the moment through their website. It’s over 100 pages in full color, bound but not stapled. And oh, it seems they’ve got something of a feature of our little project with Fredrikson up in there as well… Take a look!

www.propermag.com

About:Blank is a young no-brand design company  that makes minimal paper notebooks. Minimalism has been one of the key paradigms connecting Asian and Finnish design philosophies for a long time now, and About:Blank, with its operations divided between the Far East and Northern Europe (mainly Seoul and Helsinki), is a great example of this connection. Only this time the mutual sense of minimalism is taken a step further than usually. About:Blank’s manifesto “Nothing is everything, fullness is emptiness” speaks for itself. The notebooks are stripped down of all auxiliary elements to the very gist of what they fundamentally are. Add to this the use of thick, acid free paper, a newly patented binding technique and impeccable Japanese manufacturing and you have a new classic that is sure to last a good while.

We had the opportunity to talk to Seungho Lee, one of the partners in the company, that resides here in Helsinki at the moment. See the interview after the jump.

Mashmarket: What’s About:Blank and the philosophy behind it?

Seungho Lee: About:Blank is the pursuit of emptiness that is full of possibility. We try to keep the essence of products and make them good enough.

MM: How did notebook manufacturing come about? Why are they manufactured in Japan?

SL: We have tried several different manufacturers in Korea to make a minimal yet fulfilling product, however the outcome did not meet our highly raised expectation. After the painstaking trials and errors, 500 samples of which we still have in our garage in Korea, we were right adjacent to resigning from our aspiration–the binding, the white lines, and even the minimal packaging seemed impossible. As our last try we have visited Tokyo and met our manufacturer who were exhibiting in a book fair. They are based in Nagano, Japan, and they are the only company on earth who can make About:Blank notebooks.

We’ve been trying to make a simple and perfected notebook in every sense, which we believe we have not achieved yet – in other words we think there is still room for improvement. In our case, improvement doesn’t mean adding things, rather it’s more about contracting until it is good enough. It is not only about the notebook itself, but rather about the system of whole life cycle. We know it’s not easy, but we are young, stupid and courageous enough to challenge.

MM: What do you think are the greatest assets of “classic” notebooks in comparison with all the digitized alternatives around today?

SL: I won’t go into the beauty of aging products and how “classic” paper notebooks can carry so much more feeling than “digitized information” because we all know that. Digital devices are great to share and store things, and even to create. They will evolve making more and more convenient things possible so that more people will adopt this way of creation. When a person gets an idea, however, paper notebooks are always the best media for quick visualisation and iteration. I am sure that there are very few people today who finish writing a book only on paper, but most of the key ideas and inspirations starts from a scratch of paper.

Basically I think they are so very different – both having pros and cons. If the world becomes full of people who cannot do anything without digital devices because they don’t know how to hand-write and hand-draw, it will be a scary moment for me. It’s probably too much dependence.

MM: How do you manage your time and operations between the two continents?

SL: It’s not too difficult nowadays with advanced technology. We have iPhone, Whats App, Skype, Google Docs, DropBox and so on – we talk, chat, text, email all the time as if we are in the same city. We just need to know which one gets to bed what time.

MM: Seoul is the current World Design Capital and Helsinki will be the next one. Has this affected your business in any ways, and if so, how?

SL: Actually not really. However, KIDP, Korea Institute of Design Promotion has helped me take the challenge further with a large amount of grant called “The Next Generation Designer” programme. With that help, I could fly to Tokyo, Nagano to find manufacturer, and to London, Paris, New York to do the market research. KIDP is a government agency, funded by and under the supervision of the ministry of knowledge economy.

MM: What’s next in the pipeline?

SL: Recently Hyunsun Park, a furniture designer of Folding Chair that has been featured in Monocle, Arbitare, and Dwell has joined us, and we are pushing the chair to the pipeline. There is also a desktop-furniture project but we are not sure when we’ll be able to introduce both of them to the market. We are aiming at Copenhagen Design Week 2011.

MM: Thanks for the interview!

About:Blank notebooks are available in our online store.

www.itsaboutblank.com

Images by Seungho Lee.

Please visit them at www.theflowmarket.com.

We recently came across an interesting company called IOAN. We wanted to gain more insight into the company and decided to have a few words with Juan Diego Gerscovich, who’s behind it all.

What is Industry of all nations? Where and how did it began?

IOAN is a new company that works with intact regional products from around the world; founded in Los Angeles, USA in April 2010.

How do you source your products?

production, product and consumption should be inseparable; we produce where the product belongs.

Can you give us some examples of communities you work with?

Working together with groups in big metropolis, example: our upcoming winter shoes made in Mexico City by well established local manufacturers, to communities in the countryside of South India, where with IOAN Jeans orders they have already regrouped themselves to be able to produce and respond to this new demand the world is needing from them.

Is it hard to find manufacturers that you can trust?

It is a 50/50 situation, we will only trust and work with good responsible companies, with honest, socially and environmentally conscious leaders where the $ is not the only aspect they see.

What are the most important attributes that you take in mind in designing a new product?

IOAN does not design, we compose. We are putting together a selection of products that represents what humans are until now, looking at the past, present and most important to the future.

I’ve seen your espadrilles which will be in our shopping list for next summer, but what else is IOAN coming up with?

We are launching in 20 days the first collection of jeans in the most amazing colors all dyed from natural pigments, in 100% organic denim, made in India. It takes approx 6 months for each batch of Jeans to be produced and their is no contamination left behind.. Apparel, chairs and more is already in production for the upcoming months.

Appreciate your time Juan. Cheers and good luck!

www.industryofallnations.com/

Podcast number four by Magnus Blomkvist.

Magnus is behind the Helsinki based collective called Nerd Network. Please visit them on 13th of November in Nolla where they will be playing with Cosmo Vitelli & Ali Renault. Nice!

Nerd Network presents: Cosmo Vitelli & Ali Renault on Facebook.

“The sun is rising, the air clear, the city unfolds below you as you reach the top of the bridge. Your legs are spinning fast, heart pumping, maybe you are sweating just a touch. It’s a magical feeling of exhilaration and liberation that comes from riding a bike in a city. Inside trains, humans are imitating sardines, while drivers stall and stew in their own exhaust. The cyclist however is completely free, in motion, almost flying, a huge smile wiped across their face.” –Outlier.cc

The sartorial gap between clingy road cycling apparel and casual office wear is obvious to many who commute their way around the city with a bicycle.  In order to catch that liberating but yet transient feeling of free riding, you shouldn’t at least be thinking about your clothes whether you’re racing through a tightly squeezed alley circumscribed by taxis or locking your ride before entering an important meeting.

NYC-based Outlier was founded a couple of years ago with a clear aim to offer a solution to this fairly simple, but surprisingly prevailing dilemma  — the lack of appropriate clothing for cyclists in the city.  In order to combine comfort and style, Outlier sources the globe for rare high quality fabrics and brings them down for construction to the Garment District in NYC where local tailoring still takes place. Merino tees and wool hoodies, water and abrasion resistant 4-season pants and waxed cotton caps are some examples from their collection that has gained well-earned respect from their own local community to a growing international following.

Outlier’s founder Abe Burmeister was kind enough to talk us a bit about the young company’s operations so far.

Mashmarket: How is the garment district in NY at the moment?

Abe Burmeister: It is both amazing and very much at risk. There is still a vibrant community of production in the Garment District, there are lots of resources for getting things done and lots of specialized business that make it a great place to design and produce clothing. But at the same time rents keep rising and it’s difficult for the industrial business to compete with the design firms, ad agencies and architects on rent so the whole district is always under economic siege.

MM: How do you choose the materials you use? Do you do a lot of experimentation?

AB: Lots of research and lots of experimentation. We travel the world looking for stuff, and also dig in historical resources to track down forgotten fabrics. Then we take the materials back to NY, start making garments and testing them. We don’t just look at technical stuff though, we care a lot how the stuff we use looks and feels. The stuff needs to function, but it also needs to be comfortable and good looking so that people want to wear it all the time.

MM: Tell us a bit about the special features that come along with your products?

AB: Depends on the product, but here a few things:

Self-Cleaning — We use a special nanosphere treatment on a lot of items that makes them stay cleaner. It basically means you can be a lot more active and not worry about messing up your clothes. You can ride a bike with a cup of coffee in your hand and not worry about spilling it. You can sweat and not worry about smelling bad and you can ride through mud puddles and not worry that your pants will be dirty when you show up at your destination.

Breathability — This is really important to us, clothes that breathe well are more comfortable in a wider range of situations. We use some of the most breathable fabric in the world.

Moisture management — For base layers we use material that pulls moisture away from you and stays feeling dry for comfort. Further away from the body we use highly water resistant materials that prevent rain from getting in. And we make sure it’s all as breathable as possible. The net result is that you stay comfortable in the widest range of situations.

Durability — We always use the toughest possible material that doesn’t compromise the functionality. Our pants in particular should last far longer than clothes made from cotton or polyester. We like materials that can take a beating and still look and feel great.

Range of Motion — Our clothes are designed to move better, both in a bike and in day to life in general. Sometimes it’s because we use four way stretch fabrics and sometimes it’s because we create designs that move better. Our clothing is designed to give an incredible freedom of movement.

MM: What do you consider the best equipment for biking in the rain?

AB: The most important thing is to find the right balance of breathability and water resistance. A lot of rain gear keeps all the water out, but makes you sweat so much it doesn’t matter. For the urban cycling we do we find it’s much better to have a very breathable fabric that keeps out light rain and dry very quickly when indoors. Our pants do that very well. Jackets are trickier, we aren’t really happy with the Gore-Tex type fabrics, they just don’t breathe well enough, but we are working on something.…

MM: The sense of community seems to be really important to you guys. How would you describe your community at the moment and what’s your ideal community like?

AB: We’re involved in a lot of communities really. There is a big bike scene here in New York which we are part of. Then there is the Garment District and all the small companies involved in making clothes. Plus there is our neighborhood, we all live and work within a mile of our office and showroom in Brooklyn so that’s important to us. Finally there is a whole international community of people who make and appreciate quality products, so there’s this whole community of people we run into around the world and chat with online.

MM: We’re always thinking about producing ethical goods ourselves but run constantly into the same problem, the price. Do you think brands should just skip the middlemen (shops, distributors) and try to sell the product directly to the customers and thus offer more reasonable prices or better quality?

AB: Yes.

MM: What are the key elements in terms of longevity for a company like yours?

AB: We are only two years old! We’ll tell you if we get there.

MM: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

AB: We just make stuff, we don’t try and predict the future.

MM: Cheers Abe!

As a final note we would like to recommend to take a look at a very nicely written piece here (alongside a NYTimes article) about the costs and pricing of non-cheap fabric-cheap labor-chain store type of clothing, where the Outlier guys exhaustively break it down for those not game with the facts yet.

http://outlier.cc

Del Toro is a small company run by three student friends who have taken a bold step into manufacturing classic velvet slippers. Hailing from Miami, Florida, the company has been in operation for a few years now and has found its market by rationalizing this usually very high end related (and overtly expensive) item without compromising a bit on the quality. The shoes are handmade in Spain and the embroidering is done in-house in Southern Florida. The company founder Matthew Chevallard shared some of his thought about Del Toro just a while ago.

Mashmarket: How was it to start a company as students?

Matthew Chevallard: Starting the company as students was extremely helpful because in the end it was just a real life experiment in which we had a lot of resources to facililate us. It was also a time where if the company succeeded it wasn’t a life a death situation so we were able to learn through the trial and error process and really become a stronger company through experience.

MM: Besides the reasonable pricing, what do you consider your greatest assets compared to big high end companies?

MC: Our greatest asset I would say is our youthful and edgy approach to Velvet slippers and shoes in general. Our ultimate ambition is fashioning these shoes to a younger demographic which traditionally would have never considered endorsing velvet slippers. We achieve this goal by redesigning the silhouette of the shoe to being more of a loafer then an old traditional General Cornwallis shoe of sorts…

MM: Can you discuss some of the (biggest) obstacles you’ve had to overcome during the years of operation?

MC: In terms of obstacles they are constant. Nothing is easy and especially not in the shoe industry. We have run into a variety of obstacles all of which ultimately made us stronger. To name a few, manufacturing and production is the most difficult. Especially in terms of providing unique custom shoes it is truly difficult.

MM: How do you control the production overseas in Spain?

MC: We control the production overseas in Spain through frequent visits and maintain in house embroidery in South Florida.

MM: Where do you Del Toro in five years from now?

MC: I would like to see Del Toro five years from now as a fully fledged lifestyle company selling not only fine footwear but also accessories and hopefully one day apparel as well.

www.buydeltoro.com

Photo by theselby.com

Rick and Michael Mast are the Mast Brothers, the only bean to bar chocolate makers in New York City. In a relatively short time, Mast Brothers chocolate has become very popular. The whole process of making chocolate by hand from sourcing the beans to handwrapping the bars surely sounds like a challenge for just two guys, but the challenge is in fact the reason that excites and motivates the brothers the most to getting their hands dirty every morning. As they sharply note themselves, their approach is a new way of handcrafting food, or more precisely, an old way that is (perceived) new again.

Rick and Michael operate in an old factory located in the heart of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where a strong sense of  village community among fellow small culinary entrepreneurs, like Marlow & Sons, Spuyten Duyvil, Urban Rustic and Blackbird Parlour, is prospering. The area is a perfect marketplace for local chocolate that is more than just a candy bar. Indeed, the spirit of the craft embedded in these carefully prepared products does not go unnoticed easily.

This video by The Scout makes the brothers’ dedication to their work seem almost magical. Highly enlightening and recommended.

Our podcast series continues. Number three by Fummer.

Fummer made a new mix to our podcast series. Pay a visit to his blog also and make sure you visit Fummer’s and Dj Fiskars’ Wild Combo club at Siltanen every third Saturday of the month.

Subscribe to our podcast updates here.

We are more than pleased to present our first product collaboration together with Finnish hat manufacturer Fredrikson. The product is a reconstruction of a forgotten classic cap made of the finest wool available. Fredrikson, with its long, vivid history, traditional ways of manufacturing and upmost respect for ethical values, was a perfect partner to work with in this special project.

Fredrikson is the milliner for us Finns. Various of their models have been a staple in our grandfathers’ wardrobes, and not even after ages of heavy use have they lost a bit of their form or appeal. Classics never die, they only get better, and this woolen cap is a great example of that. It has lasted for decades in the heads of athletes and statesmen and hopefully continues to do so for many more to come with this reintroduced version.

Early design phase and the first prototype.

Background

The woolen cap was originally taken into use by the Finnish civil militia in the early 1900s. The Finnish national team adopted the cap to boost their performance in the Winter Olympics in 1936, 1948 and 1956. Due to its firm construction and adaptive ear flaps it was even suitable for the high-flying ski-jumpers. Later in the century the legendary Finnish president Urho Kekkonen has been among the proud wearers of the cap in several occasions. The original name of the model,” Urho”, is believed to stem from the president.

The archives.

Despite being an integral part of Finnish heritage, this woolen cap has not been in production in its original form at least in past three decades. It is an honor for us to present a remake of the timeless classic. The model is based on the original design, where we have added a small, natural white detail on the brim to identify this one time collaboration. There is only an edition of 100 caps manufactured and labeled together with Mashmarket, and all the products are exclusive to our online store.

Product details

The cap is made of wool with a warm lining inside. The earflaps with strings, which by default are knotted on top of the head, can as well be hung loose on the side or be tied together through the two holes in the brim for better shield against cold winds. The materials and design make the cap weatherproof, and it is guaranteed not to lose its shape even in extreme conditions or in heavy use.

Fredrikson

Fredrikson was founded in 1887 by merchandiser Anton Fredrikson. After several years of producing neckties and bow ties, he decided to expand his business to hat design. Through over its 100-year history the company has been producing a diverse range of products from fur accessories to patterned damasks and leather gloves, but has now returned solely to its core expertise, hats.

Fredrikson is still a privately owned company and one of the most respected hat manufacturers in Northern Europe. With deep roots as family business, local production is highly valued, and the original factory in the town of Jyväskylä in Southern Finland is still in full effect. The manufacturing process of every single hat involves a great deal of handicraft by skilled artisans following in the footsteps of the old masters.

The company hosts an in-house research unit for analyzing and mapping out suitable materials from different suppliers to meet their ethical criteria. Fredrikson only uses certificated, high-quality materials. New products also feature recycled materials and fibers. Fredrikson’s ethically responsible stance comprehends both the manufacturing and the materials — another reason why we are so glad to be part of this release.

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www.fredrikson.fi

The product is now available in our online store.

Photo credits Matti Tanskanen.