18 East MFG - Good Things Coming
 |
| (Pictures from 18 East Mfg web and Instagram) |
"You all are going to go nuts when you find out what we plan to invest in next."
- Antonio Ciongoli, 18 East Mfg
- Antonio Ciongoli, 18 East Mfg
Those of you who have been longtime readers of this site will likely recall reading frequent praise of Eidos Napoli here. Eidos is Isaia's sister brand, which was formerly helmed by Antonio Ciongoli over from 2013-2017 after stints with Vineyard Vines, Ralph Lauren, and Micheal Bastian. During his tenure, Eidos continued to produce classic suiting and tailored apparel, but there was also a palpable, incremental but steady shift towards a more casual aesthetic that would come to redefine the brand, and - in my opinion - make it one of the most exciting labels in menswear. Over the course of his tenure, Eidos deservedly rocketed from a position of relative obscurity straight into the menswear spotlight.
In its later days, Ciongoli's Eidos was really starting to fully explore interesting texture, old-world fabrics, and alternative lines to the slim and slightly saccharine polish of the #menswear era - something the brand has seemed to readopt since Simon Spurr took over the reins last year. One could argue that Spurr's vision of Eidos may be truer to the core of Isaia's philosophy, but it should also be pointed out that Ciongoli's departure seemed to suck out with it all the soul from the brand and left present day Eidos feeling virtually indistinguishable from a multitude of contemporary luxury labels on the market today. The true root of the problem was quite possibly that Mr. Ciongoli's vision, at
the end of the day, simply did not match Isaia's expectation, and when that is the case in a relationship it simply becomes impossible for everyone to be happy.
While it was sad at the time to see Eidos' wings seemingly clipped just as the brand seemed to be developing into a direct product of Antonio's personal expression, fans were no doubt relieved to hear the news that he was taking on a position as Creative Director with multi-brand platform RRR and Roller Rabbit. Actually, the relief followed a brief period of confusion, as Roller Rabbit is primarily a womens and homegoods brand I daresay no one this side of the Y chromosome had ever heard of before. But looking through its products and story, one can see how it would be a natural match: Nepali cashmere, Peruvian pima, hand-stamped Indian block prints, favoring small teams of skilled artisans vs. large-scale factory production, and highlighting the hands that went into creating the garments in time-honored fashion - this is the sort of thing that Eidos was striving towards.
So it's with a sense of excitement and anticipation that many have been watchfully waiting to see 18 East Mfg, Antonio's new menswear brand, which releases in the US starting September 13th in three select pop ups - 180 The Store in NYC, Unionmade in SF, and Magasin in LA, and online on Sept 15th for direct to consumer sales. 10 units of each style will be at each physical location and 20 of each on the site. All 3 stores will also have 6 pieces of their own exclusive item that will only be available there and not online. The brand has already been up and running with a website and Instagram account teasing the debut collection, and I have to say it looks incredible from what we've been shown thus far.
Stand outs from the preview include an Atelier and Repair denim collaboration, a field coat made from Indian Khadi fabric and Himalayan Jacquard tapestry, and the type of texture-heavy handknits to lose sleep over in textiles like yak and wool or upcycled Nepali cashmere. Unsurprisingly, there are also some beautiful drapey pants like we were discussing recently, which I think look amazing in their fit pics.
From 18 East's Styleforum thread, here is the pricing:
All the shirts in the first collection retail for $95. Pants are $125-$145. Sweaters $295-$445 for 4 ply recycled cashmere. Outerwear $165-$425 for the belted cord/sherpa coat. Tees are $65 (hand embroidered) and $75 (hand blocked kalamkari prints).
To be honest (and as a self-proclaimed cheapskate), these are actually much cheaper prices than I thought they would be - by a lot. Antonio noted himself that "it's priced right and we aren't making a lot. This is not going to be an 'only shop on sale' brand like Eidos has largely been...Price was an important thing here. I wanted the whole collection to be made from beautiful, adventurous fabrics but whenever I stepped out like that in the past, the prices were always so high that it became hard to justify the novelty. With 18 East, if you think it looks cool, you should be able to get it, without price being a barrier of entry." I'm not going to pretend I go around buying $70 tees often, but this is one of those times I would justify paying full price for something.
In any case, like Biggie said - "If you don't know, now you know." I'd keep your eyes peeled for what's around the corner. I think you'll like what you find.
While it was sad at the time to see Eidos' wings seemingly clipped just as the brand seemed to be developing into a direct product of Antonio's personal expression, fans were no doubt relieved to hear the news that he was taking on a position as Creative Director with multi-brand platform RRR and Roller Rabbit. Actually, the relief followed a brief period of confusion, as Roller Rabbit is primarily a womens and homegoods brand I daresay no one this side of the Y chromosome had ever heard of before. But looking through its products and story, one can see how it would be a natural match: Nepali cashmere, Peruvian pima, hand-stamped Indian block prints, favoring small teams of skilled artisans vs. large-scale factory production, and highlighting the hands that went into creating the garments in time-honored fashion - this is the sort of thing that Eidos was striving towards.
So it's with a sense of excitement and anticipation that many have been watchfully waiting to see 18 East Mfg, Antonio's new menswear brand, which releases in the US starting September 13th in three select pop ups - 180 The Store in NYC, Unionmade in SF, and Magasin in LA, and online on Sept 15th for direct to consumer sales. 10 units of each style will be at each physical location and 20 of each on the site. All 3 stores will also have 6 pieces of their own exclusive item that will only be available there and not online. The brand has already been up and running with a website and Instagram account teasing the debut collection, and I have to say it looks incredible from what we've been shown thus far.
Stand outs from the preview include an Atelier and Repair denim collaboration, a field coat made from Indian Khadi fabric and Himalayan Jacquard tapestry, and the type of texture-heavy handknits to lose sleep over in textiles like yak and wool or upcycled Nepali cashmere. Unsurprisingly, there are also some beautiful drapey pants like we were discussing recently, which I think look amazing in their fit pics.
From 18 East's Styleforum thread, here is the pricing:
All the shirts in the first collection retail for $95. Pants are $125-$145. Sweaters $295-$445 for 4 ply recycled cashmere. Outerwear $165-$425 for the belted cord/sherpa coat. Tees are $65 (hand embroidered) and $75 (hand blocked kalamkari prints).
To be honest (and as a self-proclaimed cheapskate), these are actually much cheaper prices than I thought they would be - by a lot. Antonio noted himself that "it's priced right and we aren't making a lot. This is not going to be an 'only shop on sale' brand like Eidos has largely been...Price was an important thing here. I wanted the whole collection to be made from beautiful, adventurous fabrics but whenever I stepped out like that in the past, the prices were always so high that it became hard to justify the novelty. With 18 East, if you think it looks cool, you should be able to get it, without price being a barrier of entry." I'm not going to pretend I go around buying $70 tees often, but this is one of those times I would justify paying full price for something.
In any case, like Biggie said - "If you don't know, now you know." I'd keep your eyes peeled for what's around the corner. I think you'll like what you find.
Comments
Post a Comment