‘Designed between London and Seoul’ runs the tagline for a brand new collaborative assortment from British label Stefan Cooke – led by the eponymous designer and co-creative director Jake Burt – and South Korean menswear model, Stable Homme. Some 5 years within the making, having been delayed by the onset of Covid-19, it sees Stefan Cooke’s sharply outlined aesthetic, mined from the subcultural silhouettes of the 2000s and its music scene, meet the innate ease of Stable Homme, a stalwart of South Korean style. Since its creation in 1988 – the identical 12 months as Seoul was placed on the map as host of the Olympics – its founder Woo Younger Mi has drawn inspiration from the eclectic gown codes of town’s streets, which could span work- and sportswear, mountain climbing apparel, or Americana.
Which is why it was necessary for companions Cooke and Burt to go to Seoul, regardless of the gathering having largely been designed in London, the place the pair dwell and work. ‘We visited in March to evaluation the preliminary prototypes and stood in a room with their design workforce for 3 days to make the edits and notes collectively,’ they inform Wallpaper*. A few of the items, which span leather-based jackets and hoodies adorned by ceramic studs, utility jackets and denim shirts, have been ‘stress designed’ on the spot, a course of solely made doable by ’the extraordinarily skillful workforce Stable Homme have’. Afterwards, it was a whistlestop tour of town – Cooke and Burt needed to depart to launch their collaboration with Mulberry in Tokyo the subsequent day – visiting markets, ‘consuming unbelievable meals and purchasing for analysis’ (in addition to partaking in native liqueur with the workforce).
Stable Homme designed by Jake Burt and Stefan Cooke
(Picture credit score: Pictures by Theo Sion, courtesy of Stefan Cooke and Stable Homme)
The gathering itself started with acquainted influences, centring round three songs they each ’listened to on repeat’ of their respective hometowns ‘circa 2009’: A Picket Field by Manufacturing facility Flooring, Drum Courts by These New Puritans and Redlights by Salem. It led them via what the pair name an ’American Attire doorway’ – a reference to the Los Angeles-based label synonymous with the period’s type – a temper bolstered by a analysis journey that noticed them rifling via the charity retailers and thrift shops of Maine and New York.
‘Music has at all times been an enormous a part of our identities; we have been really each in numerous bands as youngsters,’ they clarify. ‘Our musical finds are one thing we share amongst our closest buddies and collaborators, and we had been listening to a few songs bootlegged round 2009 proper earlier than we moved to London to go to school. There was a connection between the way in which the music was made and the garments the bands wore – nothing showy however with a consideration – we simply needed to keep in mind that time and funnel it into the wardrobe we created right here.’
(Picture credit score: Pictures by Theo Sion, courtesy of Stefan Cooke and Stable Homme)
Nearer to dwelling, influences from Fifteenth-century armour found in London’s Wallace Assortment – the rivets inspiring the studs throughout the gathering – lend the items the gleefully disorientating really feel, directly acquainted and unusual within the pair’s signature type (among the label’s earliest items have been trompe l’oeil, whereby a picture of 1 garment was transposed onto one other to surreal impact). In the identical vein, within the Stable Homme collaboration, photocopied prints seem on T-shirts constructed like American soccer jerseys, whereas a shearling pilot helmet is folded in half to create a saddle-shaped purse. ‘We simply folded it in half and it immediately grew to become this unbelievable cross-body bag,’ says Cooke, who notes it’s his favorite piece within the collaboration.
The marker of the gathering’s success, which is able to launch on 9 August 2024, was the approval of their very own longtime collaborators, just like the photographer Theo Sion – who captured the accompanying marketing campaign – and artwork director Bruce Usher. ‘We wish individuals to really feel informal when carrying this assortment,’ they are saying. ’Theo and Bruce tried items on after we shot the marketing campaign and it seemed actually pure on them. They’re actually fussy dressers, so it says lots!’
Stable Homme designed by Jake Burt and Stefan Cooke is accessible from Stable Homme’s web site from 9 August 2024.
solidhomme.com
(Picture credit score: Pictures by Theo Sion, courtesy of Stefan Cooke and Stable Homme)
Supply: Wallpaper