Saint Augustine Academy
|I breathed a sigh of relief when I first discovered menswear label, Saint Augustine Academy. Since its inception in 2002, the Sydney-based team have risen to cult-status amongst individuals with a keen eye for sophistication and intelligent design. Playing on the lifestyle of a modern rock and roll star, the designers at Saint Augustine Academy are heavily inspired by the rock nouveau ethos that surrounded bands like The Jesus and Mary Chain. Designers Alvin Manalo and Adrian Amores met in the mid-90s whilst studying economics at Macquarie University (not exactly feeling destined for fashion design). As chief designer, Alvin had no fashion design skills before beginning the label, but has since created consistently contemporary and sought-after designs each season.
Abstracted tees with off -centered cuts, tailored tuxedo jackets and skinny denim are key staples of the Academy’s aesthetic. Saint Augustine Academy focuses upon an underlying elegance with a strong emphasis on sharp cuts and unexpected prints. The limited colour palette that the label uses insists upon maintaining the rock star lifestyle in darker, night-life tones. The latest collection to come from the Academy is Psycho Candy 08/09. All I can say, is boys beware; this could change your outlook on fashion, in a very good way.
Tagged: Australian fashion, street wear, Sydney fashion labels
RELATED
If you’ve ever wanted to work your alter ego’s dark side without looking like a total emo, now’s your chance. New kid on the block Ben Pollitt is shaking things up with his label Friedrich Gray. And the best part about it? Pollitt’s androgynous range has a little something something for everyone. Read more
Zanerobe goodies for a fashionable Christmas
We’re buzzed about a few items in particular in the latest range from our friends at aspirational street-wear label, ZANEROBE, who we’ve been fans of since we launched Lost At E Minor back in 2005. Our faves at the moment include the Chuck Navy shorts, with rolled cuff; the Curtis Brown Sunnies, ‘with full rim metal detail in a round vintage frame’; and the Acapulco Navy Tee, with twisted side seams. Stocking fillers? Hell yeah. We’ll take them all for Christmas. ZANEROBE is hanging in the cream of stores, including Australia’s David Jones, Japan’s Barneys, the USA’s Nieman Marcus, Nordstrom and Saks. Or just get into it online. Read more
The last time we heard from Melbourne label TV, they were busy preparing for their debut at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week. Since then, the girls behind one of this year’s most talked about labels have delivered a stunning collection. Read more
Also by JENNA BLACK
Monkey and The BrownMan t-shirts
Eco-friendly fashion just got hotter with new Sydney label Monkey & the BrownMan. Whilst the name may confuse you, their threads won’t. Collections consist of a range of unisex basic tees, kids wear and accessories. Inspired by surf culture and contemporary design, Monkey & the BrownMan create all their clothing from 100 percent organic cotton.
New Eyes Open exhibition at the Ambush Gallery
New Eyes Open, sponsored by We Are The Image Makers and Semi Permanent, will feature new work by thirty Australian artists, the majority of whom are emerging artists, with an aim to reinvent and open your eyes to contemporary Australian art. Amongst those showing are Kareena Zerefos, Ben Frost [above] and Jirat James Patradoon. New Eyes Open runs between April 1 and 9 at the aMBUSH Gallery in Sydney’s Waterloo.
Ruby Smallbone’s Winter 2009 collection
Australian designer Ruby Smallbone takes us into the chill of Winter with clockwork pieces and sharp cuts. This Sydney-based label is fast becoming an international hit with its distinct mix of European tailoring and street-inspired style. Ruby Smallbone’s Winter 09 collection proves there is a fine line between art and fashion, creating the perfect fusion of luxury fabrics within a creative and unexpected aesthetic.
YOU'RE SAYING (0)
No comments yet.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Surrealist painter Heidi Taillefer’s work is super intense and swarming with details. They have a sci-fi/fantasy quality to them. Not too shabby. Read more
If it’s not enough for you to butter your toast, try imprinting a fun design on it. Perfect for those people who need something more than coffee to put a smile on their face in the mornings.
I don’t care if Jimmy Hendrix was dragged kicking and screaming from where he lies, put through a torrid round of detox, and handed an invisible guitar – a Flying V carved out of the bones of Robert Johnson. It would still pale in comparison to this. Read more
The Suit Up exhibition comprises a number of artworks from various Australian street, comic, and illustration artists, each of whom has applied their unique style to that ubiquitous — yet, rarely tapped — canvas, the playing card. The designs have been produced as giclee prints, signed and numbered by the artists, and are limited to 10 prints of each design. Real-size decks of cards have also been produced for sale. The Suit Up crew is a close-knit group of predominantly Melbourne-based artists who are passionate about Australia’s ‘low-brow’ art scene, which is more collaborative and less ego-driven than much of the the high-brow art world. The exhibition runs between February 13 and 25.
My Kid Is Gifted is a site where people share hilarious and gifted kid stories and sayings. It’s aditcive and nearly impossible to not crack a smile at the adorableness of it all.
Tallest Man on Earth, the rasping Swedish folk singer-songwriter and one of the unsung heroes of 2008, recently recorded the beautiful song A Field of Birds, a nice adjunct to his summer album release, Shallow Grave. His sound is so loose and unmanicured, and carries a poignancy reminiscent of the rusty, early Bob Dylan.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Using Kyoko Hashimoto’s popular design, these acrylic earrings are made with unique hand formed sterling silver sleepers that make them light enough for everyday wear. Part of Kyoko’s collection, I Blame the Uni, (pronounced ‘oo-nee’, the Japanese name for sea urchin) and inspired by her experiences in the underground club scene of Tokyo.
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
Here are a couple awesome pieces by Matt Leines that were recently on display in the Doubting Thomases exhibit at Nudashank gallery in Baltimore. Gives me ideas for Halloween. Read more
Cookie Boy’s creative cookie designs
I don’t eat cookies, so good thing Cookie Boy’s cookies are little pieces of art too pretty and cute to eat. Read more
Michelle Blade’s psychedelic artwork
Michelle Blade’s washed out paintings are deceptively simple, her washy acrylics creating psychedelic textures and conjuring ghostly figures from the past. Read more
Matthew Dear’s Black City album totem
Our friends at Ghostly International are releasing Matthew Dear’s Black City album as a limited edition ‘totem’. A what? A totem – a limited edition metal bar used to access a private music chamber. Cool! Read more
The return of the Brionvega rr226
Italian brand Brionvega has resurrected the classy Radiofonografio piece first created in 1965. The updated version is just like the original turntable/radio unit, but also has a CD/DVD player.
This Powder Necklace features a pearlized Turbo Cinereus shell with tiny holes drilled into the bottom, filled with a sparkling silver-colored powder that when gently tapped, sprinkles a light dusting on the wearer’s chest. Designed by Stephanie Simek. Read more
If you have a Twitter feed that focuses on cool pop cultural things and you’d like to swap Tweets with Lost At E Minor and other like-minded Twitterers, drop us a note (with Tweet Swap in the title). We have a system in place and we’d like to have you in on it! [illustration by Brad Fitzpatrick]
FOLLOW US
DISCOVER MORE
SO...
SEARCH: Can't find what you're looking for? Do a search..
IS IT GOOD FOR YOU TOO?
We hope you're enjoying your time on Lost At E Minor, but it's not over yet. Got something to share? Tell us about it and we'll look to publish it. If you want to have your work featured on the site, we'd love to hear from you. Pssst, we also have an online store stocking some of the goodies we feature on the site.
If you're a media agency and want to use this platform to connect with our readership, then drop us a line and tell us about it. Oh yeah, and we do digital consulting for cool brands that want to reach the sort of demographic that visits this site.
