The Discerning Brute: fashion, food & etiquette for the ethically handsome man » accessories

PINNACLE: Reinvent The Icon V.1

joshuakatcher — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 13:00:19 +0000

Happy Fashion Week! I am thrilled to officially announce the launch of PINNACLE. PINNACLE is a collaborative initiative for designers, artists, and other creatives who want to craft an accessory that symbolizes the growing anti-fur sentiment. Our first digital-tabloid is available online and can be downloaded and shared (a full-screen option will pop-up by hovering your cursor in the center):

The PINNACLE website, ReinventTheicon.com provides all the details about how to get involved and showcases contributions from designers, models, photographers, and artists. The gallery section is currently highlighting our maiden editorial story featuring wardrobe by Stella McCartney and John Bartlett and our spokesmodels, Karolina Babczynska and Adam Wallace (Ford Models), Photography by Gregory Vaughan, Styling by Joshua Katcher, Makeup by Brian Duprey, and Hair by Alejandra Nerizagal. Please pass this magazine along. As the weather grows colder, our fire grows fiercer. Joshua Katcher

Matt by Matt & Nat

joshuakatcher — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:29:50 +0000

The brand new, lower price point series by Matt & Nat has hits the nail on the head for what a guy needs in a bag. Check them out at Alter for yourself below.

Hot Belts, Bartlett’s Rescue & The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger

joshuakatcher — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:22:32 +0000

• The Elvis & Kreese collection of recycled fire-hose tube accessories is now on sale at Bourgeois Boheme! • John Bartlett, renowned designer and animal activist, will be hosting an animal adoption event at his 7th Ave Store. The North Shore Animal League is bringing their mobile unit full of adoptable mutt-igrees as well as a couple of puppy mill rescues. I snapped the image above of Bartlett's rescue pup Tiny Tim the last time I swung by his studio. Look at that face! Saturday July 31st Noon - 5pm 143 7th Avenue South New York, NY 10014 • Get your tickets now, and get up to the gorgeous Woodstock, NY! The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger (GOASTT) is the new project by Sean Lennon and his musical partner and girlfriend Charlotte Kemp Muhl. Their first album “Acoustic Sessions” is due Oct. 26 and being released by Chimera Music. Listen to samples here. Opening for GOASTT will be an acoustic set from Undersea Poem, followed by Woodstock locals Jonathan Donahue (Mercury Rev) and Amy Helm (Levon Helm’s band and Ollabelle) performing as a duo called Love Is For The Birds. The concert will be held on an open lawn at the Sanctuary in Willow, NY, directions here.

Red Hot Accessories

joshuakatcher — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 20:09:45 +0000

Recycled fire-hoses make pretty handsome belts and bags. Elvis & Kreese's collaboration with an international group of outstanding artists – Lothar Götz, Olivier Millagou, Paul Morrison and Simon Periton - has resulted in a striking and sustainably leather-free line of accessories, made completely from materials diverted from landfills. Over 45 tons of it thus far! Even their packaging is made completely of diverted waste, and 50% of their profits go to the Fire Fighters Charity. Thanks for the tip from reader, Gareth!

ULTIMATE Father’s Day Guide for the Ethically Handsome Dad

joshuakatcher — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 17:36:56 +0000

Every Father's Day, we get dear-old-dad the same old stuff, but being a dad is cooler and braver than ever! Most fathers want what's best for the family- and now he can also help protect animals and the planet too. The best part is, when getting these ethically handsome gifts for pop, you don't have to sacrifice style, taste, or pleasure. Nor do you have to compromise on what dad likes! These cool gifts are a spin on traditional Father's Day presents, from geeked-out gadgets and tools to socks and ties to sports gear and suits. I've even got recommendations for dads who have it all, from electric sports cars and motorcycles to Armani Bamboo Sports coats! Your father will be proud to be a personal hero to you and a superhero to the planet. Let's not underestimate what it means to be protector this Father's Day!

GIFTS:

• No one in the office will know! Organic Cotton Dress Shirts from Culturata, Velour, and Nordstrom. Organic cotton blows conventional cotton out of the water – growing conventional cotton requires the use of enormous amounts of pesticides, which has a huge environmental impact and presents health risks for those working around it. 25% of the world’s insecticide use and more than 10 percent of the world’s pesticide goes to cotton crops. In 2003, that amounted to about 55 million pounds of pesticides being sprayed on 12.8 million acres of cotton, according to the Organic Trade Association. • Organic cotton, bamboo, and banana fiber underwear & socks from Aussiebum & Nordstrom. Supporting sustainable and ethical fashion is more than just an outer layer. Keeping pesticides away from sensitive areas is something any man will get behind. . . • Sports gear: Carpenter Trade, professional baseball glove $280 In addition to superior performance, most people don't realize that the #1 cause of greenhouse gas emissions is from raising livestock for food and leather. Avoiding leather is one of the most powerful things to do for the environment. So have a custom made, professional-grade glove made with your dad's name on it. • Mens organic, cruelty-free grooming products and scents. The last thing you should give pop is a guilty conscience with products that have been tested on animals. Most razors and many mainstream grooming products are still tested on animals and are not made from recycled plastics, but these items are totally cruelty-free and sustainable. (Preserve, Jack Black, Herban Cowboy, the Body Shop) • Get your dad back into health with cookbooks, health guides, and diet books for dudes! The fireman's Engine 2 Diet, the Triathlete's THRIVE book series, Skinny Bastard, Meat is for Pussies, Vegan Bodybuilding and Tal Ronnen's amazing cookbook, the Conscious Chef. • Stock the Pantry with delicious, gourmet food! Who says eating healthy means eating sprouts? What dad doesn't love dark chocolate, smores, gourmet sausage, jerky, dips, and healthy, meaty meal-starters? • Cruelty-free Accessories from NOHARM, Novacas, Bourgeois Boheme, Matt & Nat, Truth, and The Vegan Collection. Also check out the solar-charged briefcase from Voltaic, or a recycled canvas and vegetable-based faux-leather handbag. All sustainably leather-free.

• Buy your dad a gift or experience on Charity Buzz and support your favorite charities. Hang with celebs, get backstage, go on trips, amazing experiences, sports tickets, memorabilia, delicious meals, and more!

• Satin Ties & Ties diverted from Landfills. With Jaanj's high-end, luxury, non-silk ties, you'll never miss the worms that get boiled alive. For cotton ties, the Hill-Side makes ties and pocket-squares from selvedge fabrics, diverting them from landfills and making really cool, classic square-end ties, pocket squares, and handkerchiefs. • For the Handy-Dad: Gadgets and tools or a Gift Certificate to GREEN DEPOT, an environmental living & building store. From recycled cotton insulation and a home composter to soy based paints and finishes, any dad into home improvement will love these gifts. • Lawn Order with Greenworks tools. From mowers, blowers, and log-splitters, to hedge-trimmers and cultivators, these greener lawn tools don't use fossil fuels and make self-sufficiency easy and green! • Vintage Sunglasses / Frames. The greenest gifts of all require no new resource extraction or manufacturing. Vintage is always an amazing option. Classic sunglasses are big right now, from aviators, wayfarers, and John-Lennon frames to the 50's Halo frames. • Enthralling DVDs of Oscar winner's and award nominees "The Cove", "Food Inc", and "End of the Line".

For the Dad with it All:

• Tesla Electric Sportscar. 0-60 in 3.9 secs, 288 hp, 236 miles per charge. Starts at $101,500 • Electric Motorcycle from Zero $9,995, or Brammo at $7,995

GUNAS

joshuakatcher — Fri, 28 May 2010 15:18:13 +0000

Distinct, industrial, strong, and detailed; On April 1st, 2010, GUNAS made its debut. We'll be covering a lot more from this emerging vegan accessories line, but I wanted to share a glimpse of some of their men's bags. We now know that from start to finish, the amount of energy required to create a leather hide is 20 times greater than what’s used to produce a synthetic material. Even Bill Bartholomew, a representative for The Leather Group admitted at the World Shoes Accessories ecoEthics Conference in February that “eco-friendly” vegetable tanning is just as polluting as chrome tanning. That's where companies like GUANS step in, making luxury vegan bags using PU/PVC-free materials such as ultra-suede, organic cotton, canvas, nylon, velvet, linen, cork, and a synthetic eco-lining and water-based glues. All bags are manufactured in Manhattan under fair conditions. Part of every purchase is donated to Earth Matters Foundation, India. Stay tuned for more about this line very soon. (Thanks to Olsen Haus for the leather research)

Eco Easy, LinkSkin & Tassels

joshuakatcher — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 21:19:15 +0000

In addition to doing an entirely line of vegan bags for women, London's Hyde SK by Sacha Knight features some fashionable unisex tassel-action. If you like the look of a belt-loop accessory (but don't want the disgusting, severed tail of a raccoon or fox hanging from your waist) or just an eccentric necklace, the vegan leather tassel could be your main squeeze. Trendwatching.com's "10 Crucial Consumer Trends for 2010" includes, at number 6, Eco-easy.

Eco-easy picks up where their extensive report from last March on Eco-Bounty left off. Eco-easy is stealth mode for green. In other words, industry needs to get green in a way that the consumer may not even notice, and legislation needs to be passed making choosing the "right" thing - well, not exactly an option to avoid. For example, Mexico City recently followed San Francisco in restricting businesses from giving out any plastic bags that are not biodegradable. I'd call it eco-common-sense. These reports are a must-read for anyone who runs a business with sustainability, ecology, and animal advocacy in mind. . Wild, Wild Horses. Today, thousands of Nevada's wild horses are being rounded up by the Bureau of Land Management unless there is a public outcry. Join IDA and contact the government to put a halt to this! Read the article, then Write a letter and call the White House: Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414 . .Wild LinkSkin, one of the only eco eye-wear brands, has a call-to-action on their website about global warming and polar bear extinction. Their products are recycled, recyclable, RoHS compliant and approved by an independent eco-label. Their frames are made without screws, soldering, or hinges.

Fall Back in Style

TheDiscerningBrute — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:00:18 +0000

Matt & Nat never disappoints. The new canvas collection is incredibly handsome, and made from recycled soda bottles, and recycled faux-suede lining. Better yet, you can win one of these bags! Email Matt & Nat at blog@mattandnat.com before August 30^th at midnight and tell them what MATT & NAT means to you in 250 words, the best men’s and women’s letters will win one of our new Fall 09 handbags. Steve Alan presents some nice, basic, organic shirts. We love the black and white, single needle check shirt! These tapered organic cotton pants, slouch pants, and shirts from the Australian company, Bassike are not for the faint of heart. But those gents that have a love for cutting-edge trends, check these out! Arn Mercantile offers up an organic Peruvian cotton "chore jacket" and some comfy pullovers. The Japanese company, Kato uses organic cotton from Zimbabwe to make these jackets and shirts.