Loreak Mendian -Margin 09

On Monday I rolled down to the Music Rooms to check out the Margin Trade show. The last time I attended this Trade show was a few years ago and on that occasion I was pleased with the selection of brands on show. This year there was some good and some very bad stuff available to view.



Printing onto basics might bring you good return in the first season but to sustain longevity your definitely going to have to look at cut and sew.
Consumers are looking for quality over hype now. A message to all brands....we've got wise to your production.

Back to Margin. There was a stall at the back that caught my eye, you could see from the rail that they had their cut and sew game down and even the branding was kept to a minimum. The brand turned out to be Loreak Mendian. Most of you will remember the brand from the collaboration they did with Vans last year.



Based in Spain in the Port of San Sabastian Loreak was born in 1995 and was created by Xabi Ziriklain and his business partner Victor Serman. Xabi's background is that he made a name for himself by designing aeroplane wings, the level of skill needed to undertake this job is second to none. The pair state that the brand finds its influences from 'art, music and architecture'. On Monday Richard the brands distributor took me through each piece and showed me how all the panels are carefully put together, no cutting corners and paying very close attention to the detail.

Some of the images from Margin...









And for the ladies...







Another collaboration to look forward to this year is the Loreak Mendian x Camper ankle boot. I have to admit I'm a snob when it comes to shoes, its the part of the outfit where I think you need to spend money. When I saw these I knew straight away this was my shoe for the summer. A kind of half Nautica shoe and half Indian Moccasin this is by far my most anticipated shoe release of '09. Such a 'clean' shoe, a word that most brands these days want their collection to be described as. The shoe is available in black, white and grey (pictured). The girls are looked after too with a near identical shoe.



Shouts to Dan King of Urban Industries and Fatsarazzi who I held court with about the current climate and also a big shout to Richard and his girlfriend who are doing big things with Loreak Mendian.