The Local Boy
Fashion Spotlight

The gentlemen from Loden Dager are unassuming individuals.  Their dress, to be sure, is impeccable but even their attire carries a sense of relaxed confidence that matches the calm, friendly demeanor which is so wonderfully refreshing in an industry of megalomania.  So it’s no surprise that their line can be described as nothing less than a revelation–a close to perfect collection for a balmy 2010 spring summer and an offering for fall winter that will leave jaws on the floor.  On-the-floor.

They’re strangely approachable and fantastically easy to talk to about nearly everything.  Alex tucks his hands into his jean pockets and braces the hem of a comfy looking shawlneck cardigan as  he chats away happily about old films and books.  Paul reclines by the door with two of my coworkers, breaking periodically from conversation to point out details and answer questions while some of us thumb through the line hanging in front of us.  It’s excellent.  We gawk and hold pieces up in the air to study like treasure maps.  They just smile.

There is no way to truly appreciate Loden Dager until you’ve physically held a piece in your hand, rubbed the soft fabric between your fingers, or felt the airy weight of meticulously knit cotton resting on bare skin.  Their line, the SS10 collection especially, is a complete tactile experience with a full gamut of materials that each feel and fall uniquely and wonderfully on your body.  Loden Dager doesn’t look like what the majority of what their contemporaries are producing right now, save basic styles and structure.  There is a distinct playfulness that’s always been present in their color palette, but more than that, their ever present relaxed tailoring has taken a slimmer but not skinny cut, preserving the comfort they’re known for while cutting silhouettes that are crisper and more refined.

SS10

Every piece has a rhyme and a reason.  That’s one of the things that immediately sets Loden Dager apart from the rest of the pack.  While most plan according to conventional menswear requirements, Alex, Paul, and Oliver work “backwards,” starting instead with a color palette and a few key fabrics.  Each season begins with these foundations and develops according to what the colors and textures inspire.  Their first collection was the student meeting a worker and the 1968 Paris student uprising: classic menswear detailing paired with tailoring that was unpretentious, functional, and above all wearable.  This season it’s free climbing and the gauzy material, block prints, and colors that come from the Americas (specifically Peru on certain pieces).  The talk of this collection has been the bottoms, where different volumes and cuts were developed based on pants that farmers wear.

“If you couldn’t tell, we don’t make clothes according to trends,” Paul confesses bluntly, “We make clothes for ourselves and our friends.”

That’s never a problem, because their taste is sinless and the group wields a collective set of skills and experience that carried two of them through Marc Jacobs menswear and one through vice presidency at Distributed Art Publishers.  Paul was developing the fabric at Marc and overseeing some styling while Oliver ran (and still runs) the tech department.  It’s safe to say they know what the hell they’re doing.  And that’s why every piece you hold in your hand is worth every penny on a pricetag that is surprisingly approachable.  Not only are the designs original, but if the fabrics weren’t specially developed in house they were sourced from equally special places.  They look different.  They feel different.  The collection currently in stores features 100% cotton in different weaves and textures, created in a Peruvian mill they use to develop new fabrics and put together in New York.

SS10

“We believe in the original idea of luxury,” Alex says, adjusting his glasses slightly.  ”Luxury isn’t necessarily just something expensive–it’s something you love so much you wear the hell out of it.”  With Loden Dager they wanted to make clothes their friends could buy and wanted to buy, clothes they could wear a long time even after trends had faded.  It’s ironic, then, that this fall is the first time they’ve introduced black into the line; they’ve never used black as a color before.  It’s more ironic that the debut was actually a production accident that ended up  meeting such overwhelming feedback they decided to keep it despite their usual preference for softer tones of color.

So where does the name come from?

“Letters…from all our names.”  Paul smiles knowingly.  ”It’s just a magical word…kind of like Häagen-Dazs.”  The two of them chuckle.  ”It’s a longing to travel,” Alex offers.  Strangely enough, it all makes a lot of sense.

Ongoing projects?

“We’re always trying to develop our version of the perfect tee shirt.”  The quintessential staple of modern western fashion?  But of course.  A simple medium, yet simultaneously irreplaceable and indispensable in its role and function–an appropriate mission for a brand sworn to practicality and “luxury.”  Who knew looking this good could feel so amazing?  They did.  Their name is Loden Dager.

Loden Dager Fall/Winter 2010 (shoes are Esquivel for Loden Dager):

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Spring Summer 2010 Collection available now at Opening Ceremony.

Official Site
http://www.lodendager.com

*Woven leather mocs from SS10 collection are First by Jeffrey Campbell.  They were too good not to include.

To see more from Caleb Lin, visit http://evilmonito.com/author/caleb/