Congratulations to The Armoury opening a new location in Tribeca, Manhattan. I think Tribeca is quite good from an aesthetic perspective. Beyond the specific products, The Armoury represents a lifestyle and a philosophy. They are traditionalist but also very on target in terms of the tastes of this moment. Their type of the classics is where the mainstream market is headed. The big spending bankers and such are definitely moving in a handcrafted more sartorial direction. Everyone is tired of the flashy logo brands – even people that styleforumers might like to think lack the taste. Most customers in HK have been foreigners based there working in investment banks or corporations, but there is also an increasing flow of Mainland clientele who are mostly interested in buying shoes. Though more spoiled for choice than their HK counterparts, New York men will find brands not available so far in the city and better value for the very top quality than anything else in the market. Mark has scoured the world for products that offer the very highest quality without the silly prices that go with brands like Lobb, Hermes, etc.
Author: stylites
Nels Frye is a freelance writer, photographer, consultant and stylist, based in Beijing. Focuses are on street style, other consumer trends, and broader social issues.
Senli on Frye on Facebook
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15 Top China Fashion Bloggers
The Independent Fashion Bloggers website has a list of the top fifteen China fashion bloggers that includes Stylites. Most of these blogs are probably best left untouched unless you really enjoy the voyeurism of seeing what some fashionable young girls in Hong Kong are wearing every day. Beyond my site, the only other one that really merits being included in your bookmarks is Black Renaissance. The author writes about issues like eco-fashion and the history of retail in China. It is doubtless one of the top blogs for learning about this area, and will be included when Stylites comes out with its own list of the top Chinese fashion blogs, which we should be releasing soon.
Stylites intern Justine Schepers gives us her reactions to the blogs on the list, which she found mostly to be more useful for understanding the tastes of the authors and current fashion trends than for getting a look into the China fashion and style sphere.
My Twitter
I’m not sure if many of you know, but this is my twitter. I do update it every so often with various brief pearls of silliness. Follow me if you dare.
LifeStyle Website
My magazine LifeStyle finally has a decent website. Have a look when you have a chance!
Stylites Virus-Free
Stylites.net had such a virulent set of viruses that it took a skilled programmer two months to eradicate them. As I understand it, without my even knowing it, my blog was one of the major hosts for links to sites selling Cyallis, Viagra and all the other knock-offs of those hardened bestsellers. It is likely that these spammers were making upwards of 10,000 USD a month just from the hidden links they had inserted in my site. I wish I could have had my cut. So Stylites.net is finally back to normal. However, the plumet in traffic caused by rejection from google search results and other factors gives me pause to think about new directions for the site.
The Pride Price
For all of June at Senli and Frye in Beijing, ask for the Pride Price to receive a special gift with your order of a suit . Email tailoring@stylites.net to schedule an appointment.
Under Repair
Stylites has some kind of awful virus that our tech support has been trying to cure for several months. We apologize for the interruption in regular programming and promise that we will be back and badder than ever very soon.
More on the Marketing Position
Afflux MCC is looking for an imaginative, energetic, diligent young professional with strong media ties who excels at generating buzz for clients. The environment, team, and projects are fun and stimulating but the workload would be rigorous. Foreigners and locals can both apply but fluency in Chinese and no visa requirement are a must. Salaries will start low but rise as more clients are signed on. Best are those with PR, event management, or media experience.
Tasks will include the drafting proposals in Chinese and English, building and maintaining relationships with media, and compiling clippings reports. Resumes can be submitted to nels@stylites.net.
Advertising on Stylites
Stylites is a great place to promote your products if you focus on the China market. Local fashion media love the blog and we remain the primary English language site in this sphere. Advertising can be bundled with advice on your market entry strategy, including your consulting calls.
We would also like to welcome our latest advertising client, Go-British, which is now having a mid-season sale for its Facebook fans.
Summer Internship? Marketing Job?
Want to learn more about media, fashion, or PR in China? Are you a college student or recent graduate interested in becoming an editor? Perhaps you it is time for a summer internship at LifeStyle Magazine, find out more below.
Also, an Integrated Marketing start-up is looking to hire a couple people for managerial and assistant roles here in Beijing. The work environment, team, and projects would be quite fun though the work would be rigorous. Needed are young people fluent in Chinese who don’t require help on visas. Best are those with PR, event management, media, or proposal drafting experience.
More from Vintage Ride
Here are a few more images from the Beijing Vintage Ride. My images and those of Wang Peng also appear in this post on S Magazine.
Cardinal Moments at Dior
Photos: Penn
It was almost as if he was there to exorcise the demons that were raised during the Dior show, with its occult and militaristic references. I did not get to find out why this young man decided on an outfit that suggested the scarlet cassocks cardinals of the Roman Catholic church though he skipped the hat.
Style.com’s Beijing Man: Jeffrey Ying
Photos: Penn
Jeffrey Ying is now the main man covering events for Style.com here in Beijing. Here is his piece on the Dior Homme show.
Dior at CAFA
Photos: Penn
Dior Homme staged its first-ever fashion show outside of France on Thursday at the Central Academy of Fine Art (CAFA) in Northeastern Beijing. Long-loved by local fashionisatas, this was the most eagerly-awaited event of the year, up till now. Purportedly, other brands even changed the timing for their events to avoid being lost in the media excitement surrounding this event. Etro was supposedly to be staging a major fashion show at CAFA this year, which now not going to be on until 2014.
Designer Kris van Assche gave adoring audiences a line-up of black, midnight blue and white that was well-received, as expected, though some commented that Prada had done this years ago. My own critique, if you can call it that, was more related to the sinister, dystopian feeling of the show. My immediate feeling at the end was that I just seen an army of futuristic stormtroopers from a conformist perfect society in a controlled by technocrats well-versed in the occult. The triangles within a circle made me think of the all-seeing eye on the US dollar, and van Assche said it was a reference to men’s societies at institutions like Harvard. Others spectators seemed to agree that there was a certain feeling of the National Socialists.