paging chase atmo -

[e-RICHIE]

i have always been a clothes horse and style slut. while labels turn me off, brands attract me atmo. lately (in the past 10 years or so) i have been increasingly bothered by what i feel is brand whoring, for lack of a better term. when i wear my brooks brothers winter cashmere/wool coat, or my wayfarers, or my borsalino ties, or my bill's khakis, i wrestle with the connection. so many companies have outsourced over the years, or have been consumed by LVMH or similar, that i wonder if i am a consumer pawn in the marketing game. who really makes the stuff i wear? are my favorite accessories made by girls taken out of 7th grade and made to work in factories? i like my wardrobe and style tastes (and i never buy crap to my knowledge) so that should be enough, right?

[chasea]

Richie-

Truthfully, I've been a bit intimidated. Only after asking you did I realize I don't know anything about your off-the-bike-life. Hell, I barely know anything about your on or around the bike life. I'll finish up what I've got and send it out today.

Promise.

Everyone else-

AOW Style Interview #1- Richard Sachs coming soon(ish).

[dave1215]

i know this was intended for chasea
and his views undoubtedly will be more interesting
but here i'll add that i enjoy well designed and fabricated goods
but eschew labels for it's just free advertising at best and pretentious at worst

[bking]

when they pay me I'll wear it

[e-RICHIE]

Richie-

Truthfully, I've been a bit intimidated. Only after asking you did I realize I don't know anything about your off-the-bike-life. <cut>

i have spent a lot more time reading W (or even vogue) than i ever did with any bicycle magazines atmo. my inspirations comes more from les petite mains of the couture industry than from the metal, flux, and racing stuff commonly discussed in our threads here and in place like V atmo.

[chasea]

That statement, as well as your comment about branding has reassured me. Working on it now.

Thanks for being a good sport.

-C

[e-RICHIE]

That statement, as well as your comment about branding has reassured me. Working on it now.

Thanks for being a good sport.

-C

ya - reference the sunday article about hermes being on LVMH's radar atmo.
shit like this both interests me and bothers me simultaneously -

“There is a part of our world that is playing on abundance, on glitz and glamour,” Patrick Thomas, the Hermès’s chief executive, said during an interview the week before Mr. Galliano was fired. “And there is another part that is concentrated on refinement, and basically making beautiful objects.”

Hermès counts itself among the latter, and it wants to stay that way. “We don’t want to be a part of this financial world which is ruining companies and dealing with people like they are goods or raw materials,” said Mr. Thomas, the first chief executive at Hermès who is not a member of the family. “It’s not a financial fight, because we would lose that. It’s a cultural fight.”

i understand and feel both sides of the argument.

[chasea]

Email sent.