A few years ago our girlfriend Leah said men are the new women. She was clearly ahead of the curve as menswear keeps getting bigger, better, and vainer each season. The contemporary menswear tradeshow Capsule is in town. Organized by community member We Are The Market and Brand Pimps, the five floor extravaganza in the Lower East Side has brought out the best of breed for men's market week in New York. We took some time yesterday to explore the five levels of fashion in the Angel Orensanz Foundation on Norfolk Street.

We were tremendously impressed with the quality of the labels on display this year. Many traditional staples in the streetwear community were included but the real joy was the younger labels making their debut. We will be covering Capsule throughout the week focusing on designers of note.

It's crazy how the smallest stitch or hemline can turn the denim world upside down. We thought A.P.C. denim news warranted a shoutout for this very reason. Our network partners, We Are The Market and Bored & Beautiful both gave a little nod to the newest jeans being turned out by the French brand. To put it in context, A.P.C.'s New Standard jeans, although there are more narrow cuts, are often thought of as hipster jeans. These jeans, so widely worn, so rarely washed, have become so notorious that the brand has decided to turn out a less trendy version, namely, the Petit Standard. In case you don't know French, that translates to "Mini Hipster" so now boys girls afraid of looking, as Bored & Beautiful puts it, “like fledgling rocker trendies from the 6th arrondissement of Paris, Harajuku or the Lower East Side” can walk in confidence.

The good thing about trends is that they often reference something you can still find in your Dad's closet, your local thrift store, or JCPenney, if you look hard enough. That said, the up-and-coming Southwestern prints were scoped out by our Network Partner, We Are The Market, by way of American old-timer Pendleton Woolen Mills. If you haven't heard of them that might be because you're a New Yorker, and you grew up with Marni rather than these Americana stock brands. Pendleton Woolen Mills is the sort of catalog-based brand that outfits American parents with dependable sweater sets, chinos, and flannel shirts. Among these sensible knits and cottons are home furnishings, blankets, and accessories that draw upon the company's Southwest Native American heritage. Check out our trend forecast for these prints, and We Are The Market's sweet find.

Our network partner, We Are The Market, always scouts out the best emerging menswear labels. We are not the sort to be put off by menswear, hell, we've more Steven Alan in our closet than we do Agent Provocateur. In their post on menswear line Mjolk, carried in New York by BBlessing, the Fall 08 collection is revealed and damn if it isn't good enough for the girls. To that end, we've put together a few outfits that rip on the Fall 08 collection. Let's call it styling, shall we? For more on Mjolk, including quotes from the designer and a review of the Fall collection, check out We Are The Market's editorial.











More Shoutouts!

This week, a creaky wooden building in the Lower East Side hosts the Capsule trade show where emerging menswear labels get sized up by New York's hippest retailers. Capsule, like any tradeshow, is charged with the energy of the unknown and the anticipation for what could be. One thing is for sure, the era of the urban gentlemen is in full-effect, where even the downtown hipsters will be dressing like dandies, as soon as Odin, Opening Ceremony, and Oak get their hands on these lines. (As an aside, we don't think we've ever seen so many handsome men occupy the same space at the same time. It was like a fourth dimension.) This year's show was sponsored by We Are The Market, a long-time Coutorture partner.


After the jump, our top five favorites at the show and a gallery of the event for your viewing pleasure.