Tactile delights for SS17

The Spring Summer 2017 collection continues on the path of creating a durable and expertly-crafted wardrobe for the contemporary man, bringing streetwear and Italian sartorial tradition together. 

The collection draws on the adventure and romance of travel in the pre-Jet Age. The color palate of military greens, tans, blues, and rich reds evoke exotic exploration, from the great outdoors to the sumptuous interiors of classic hotels. As ever, President’s cuts no corners when it comes to materials – among the season’s tactile delights are top-shelf denims and chambrays from Japan, luxurious Tuscan leather, and premiere cottons and wools from Loro Piana and Sabotini, respectively.

All-new pieces include fresh swimwear and a versatile Travel Pant in super light poplin, while the outerwear is marked by key pieces such as a novel Field Jacket with a hand-painted camouflage poplin exterior, a must-have biker jacket,  a Nappa suede bomber and over all light fabrics and interesting colour combinations. 

Signature pieces, such as the classic pocket-T are seen in new cuts, fabrics, and colorways while evergreen classics such as P’s crewneck sweater in Japanese fabrics return to make you crave it again.

See the full Spring Summer 2017 collection here.

Interview: Aaron Stern

President’s in conversation with Aaron Stern, our SS17 artist-in-residence.

You’ve published several books and have worked with many blue-chip clients. Tell us about your background and trajectory as a photographer?

I grew up taking pictures, drawing, painting, and writing but didn’t think I’d be able to make a living in those fields. So, I owned a creative agency for much of the 2000-2010 decade. We produced concerts, fashion shows, screenings and helped connect brands with musicians, artists, actors, writers, etc.

Over the years, I had been photographing the people I met, the shows I produced and places I traveled. I started posting these images as a personal diary around 2006 when the blog was born. It caught on and I built a small following. Sam Shipley and Jeff Halmos published a book of my photos in 2011 called Everyone Must Be Announced. I still had a few clients after the crash in 2009 but agency had closed. After the book and a show supporting it came out I started getting commercial work.  That allowed me to focus solely on photography.

Give us the backstory of your photograph President’s has chosen to represent the SS17 collection. 

The image chosen by President’s appears on the cover of my third monograph, Horizon Avenue.  I had just spent four days in San Francisco on an assignment for American Vogue.  Three of those days I was in the car either scouting or just wondering aimlessly taking pictures.  These images would eventually be used to create Horizon Avenue. 

So I was returning from the San Francisco trip and in a car on the way home from Newark Airport I shot this picture.  Believe it or not the road from the airport that feeds into i-78 is covered in tall beautiful grass, like in the photograph.  I must have been to Newark hundreds of times in my life and had always wanted to stop. 

Tell us about your technique. What is your go-to gear? 

Depending on the job or project I use 35mm and 120mm film, both black and white and color.  The current two books are both shot entirely on 35mm film, Horizon Avenue and We Live Behind The Moon Sometimes.  I mostly use Leica M bodies and lenses. 

I am interested in the idea of loss and love, how they affect the landscape around us and in our minds.  I believe we create narratives for ourselves and those narratives shape how we view the world.  Every city, town or rural area has a different affect of course on how we each shape these stories – as well as how we live, sleep, eat, relationships we form and or break. My intension is to explore these themes using pictures and mostly through the narrative of a monograph.

You’ve lived in New York for years. What’s your relationship with the city? Is it your favorite city in the world? 

My family came to New York in the early 1840s. While I grew up in the DC area, I spent summers here and a lot of my childhood visiting family. I moved to New York permanently in June of 2001.  There were still pockets of what I had always envisioned living here would be like. Unfortunately, the global economy, social media and of course 9/11 changed all that. 

Living in New York is like one long rejection. Around every corner there is someone smarter, harder working, better looking, richer, funnier – that obviously just humbles the shit out of you on a daily basis, but it also is pretty inspiring. Couple that with the never-ending pounding of over stimulation: cars honking, overheard conversations, couples fighting and crying on the street, a solitary person yelling into their phone, bars on every corner and people spilling out of them at all hours, kids laughing, construction workers cat calling from the tops of pointless scaffolding, the almost certain chance of running into someone you know or haven’t seen in twenty years, the F train that seems to never come, the Daily News’ and NY Post’s unavoidable and absurd daily take on the world, the sarcasm of NY1…

What I love about New York is that you are surrounded by almost 10 million people who have a similar sensibility in some way as yourself.  We are resilient and proud to be here no matter how much you hear us complain or say otherwise. For me I find the convenience of things helpful in focusing on what is important to me, my work. Within two blocks of my apartment there are two 24 hour bodegas, two grocery stores, two Duane Reades, a bank, two dry cleaners, a gym, a hospital, several restaurants, bars and the 1,2,3,L,F,M,A,C,E trains and yeah, the food’s pretty great, too.

Who are your style icons? 

Steve McQueen?  Does everyone say that?  I’d love to just wear head to toe Nike.

Robert Geller and Phillip Lim are two friends of mine that are designers who’s own personal style I admire.   

What is it about President’s that resonates with you and your style? 

Clean, comfortable and refined.  Not really interested in anything fancy or constricting. I’d rather not think about it at all, and it seems that President’s fits with that idea of keeping it fresh and yet simple.

Mismo for President’s

Every season, we join forces with fellow brands with a common vision to make something new and special. This season, we collaborated with MISMO, the Danish luxury accessories house for an exclusive capsule collection. MISMO for PRESIDENT’s celebrates Nordic functionality and fuses it with contemporary Italian elegance. Two qualities we are proud to share with MISMO are a sharp eye for detail and a long-running and uncompromising search for superlative materials. We combined these strengths to make for limited-edition accessories that express the essence of both brands.

The MISMO for PRESIDENT’s collection elegantly captures the unique identities of both brands. Together, they forge a strong bond between product and wearer. Each sophisticated design is created to accommodate the agile explorer: a sturdy backpack, a sleek tote, a functional pouch and an expressive card holder. Each piece is constructed by Mismo to be hard-wearing and durable, just like every PRESIDENT’s garment.

Exteriors feature MISMO’s classic cotton-nylon canvas, developed exclusively with the Limonta atelier, which is paired with locally sourced, vegetable tanned Tuscan leathers from PRESIDENT’S. MISMO is known for its solid brass finishes, and in the new pieces allude to versatile interiors, with flexible pockets and compartments lined with  PRESIDENT’S iconic crisply striped cotton.

The collection is rich in both tactility and composure, and each piece celebrates traditional craftsmanship through the lens of sartorial modernity.

Shop the collection at MISMO.

Interview: Sebastiano Tomada Piccolomini

President’s in conversation with Sebastiano Tomada Piccolomini, our AW16-17 artist-in-residence. 

You’re an accomplished photojournalist. Tell us a little about you and your path to where you are.

Photography was a passion that came out of nowhere. I have no idea how, where, or when I began learning to use a camera.

During my college years at Parsons and The New School, I began assisting a few fashion photographers – Wayne Maser and Steven Klein were among them. The experience directed me to want to pursue photography as a career but not in the fashion world. After being hired on a regular basis by a French agency for editorial and portraiture work, I was offered the opportunity to cover a story in Afghanistan. Since that job and from that exposure to the Middle East and Asia, my work began to concentrate specifically on war zones. I soon found myself in Libya, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. It all started in summer 2009.

 

 

And you’ve spent a great deal of time photographing around the Middle East – Syria, Afghanistan, Libya and elsewhere. What’s been your experience in these conflict zones?

War Zones are terrifying and fascinating. Terrifying because only in a war zone can you fully understand to what extent the human race is willing to do in order to establish an idea. Fascinating because only in conflict can you really understand the resilience and the power to survive and to fight for one’s own rights.

 

 

Tell us a little about your AW16-17 campaign image from Cuba.

I had always been intrigued by a country so geographically close to the United States, yet at the same time so unaccessible to American citizens that I had to go there myself. Another reason was the fact that the country was undergoing economic transition, and I wanted to experience the country’s culture in its purest form. I spent a month in Havana and the neighboring countryside observing the environment and the people.

 

 

What do you think it takes to make good, original photography in Cuba? Since it’s been so high on tourists’ radar over the past few years, it seems most of what you see from there looks very similar.

Perspective and being able to control the light, and what the environment has to offer is what makes a good picture in any scenario. We can almost say that everything has been visually captured, either by our naked eye or by our digital accessories like cameras and phones. It is up to us to take a step back, give some time to our eyes to fully understand our surroundings and focus with a critical eye what everyone else might find ordinary.

 

 

You split your time between New York City and Beirut, right? That’s a big contrast. What’s Beirut like?

I lived in Beirut in 2013.. I wish I could go back.

You were born in the U.S., but grew up in Florence, just like President’s. Is there anything in your sensibility and work that you feel is particularly Italian?

Everything I do is a result of my past and therefore I like to think that a lot of my sensibility comes from my Italian education. Its a known fact that Italians take longer to create things but when they do, they are impeccable. I am not saying that my work is perfect, but I take my time when photographing.

 

 

What is it about President’s that resonates with your style?

President incorporates beautifully tailored garments and modernism without being obviously trendy and is easy to wear. These are by far my favorite elements. Also how can you not like something that comes from Florence – it is the epicenter of Italian culture!

In the Details

They say the clothes make the man, but it is the details that make the clothes. If the generations of Italian saper-fare that goes into each and every President’s garment has taught us one thing, it is that quality and excellence come from doing the small, subtle things very the best way possible.

We always start with the finest fabrics: Egyptian cottons, quality cashmeres, and selections from esteemed Italian textile houses Larusmiani and Loro Piana. Each is chosen according to its performance, its feel, its drape, and the way it wears over time. And because no fine fabric performs on its own, the way in which we put them together is equally important. We break a few tried-and-true rules of apparel design when it means making a better garment. For example, unlike any industrial apparel brand, and unlike even the vast majority of luxury brands, we make use of the strongest, most durable stitching methods, even if that means more time and cost.

Denim
All of our denim is fine Japanese selvedge, and sewn together with antique machines with double and triple stitches for natural wear and the maximum longevity. Our tags are made of Santa Croce leather.

Linings
The inner layer of your clothes are rarely seen by others, so it is quite common to pass them over or pay little attention to them in order to cut costs. But we know that linings are critical: you are in intimate contact with them and feel them every minute you wear the garment. For that reason, President’s takes special pride in its linings, from the reclaimed Indian wallpaper print in the Kadavu Jacket to the wind-resistant parachute lining in the Freddy Jacket.

Elevated Basics
Even the most casual garments deserve some love. From our classic T’s to our minimal Crewnecks in Japanese cotton or fine cashmere, we find that basics made well out of the best materials last longer, wear better, and they’ll become beloved staples in your wardrobe.

Hardware
Whether it’s the brass zips on a bag, the real bone buttons on the Giza shirt, or the reinforced button enclosures on the indigo selvedge Blazer, we pay special attention to the parts of the garment that go through the most stress. Solid hardware makes your garment look brand new for longer.

 

See the SS16 Lookbook. 

 

Interview: Sean Michael Beolchini

President’s in conversation with Sean Michael Beolchini, creative director of  Super Sunglasses.
Photos by Heather Sten.
You’re a total renaissance man – you’ve done so much. Can you give us a brief background of you and your work? 
Oh! That’s the first time someone ever said that to me! But I honestly don’t think I deserve such a grand title….
I think it just came pretty organically by having the luxury of freedom and following what I liked to do. I studied graphic design in school, with a masters in art direction and creative direction in publishing, and to conclude a second masters in photography. Professionally, with Simon and Daniel Beckerman, we went on to create PIG MAG (2001 circa), where I spent 10 years as photo editor and assisted Simon with creative direction. This is where I built my strongest contacts and experiences. The same team started SUPER in 2007, and with Daniel at the head of the brand I had to pull out my design background…and here we are after 10 years!
I owe a lot to the Beckerman brothers, Daniel and Simon, and for being in the right place at the right time – I really learned everything from and with them, they are like brothers to me.
Tell us a little about the store and this space. How long has it been here on Howard St.?
The 21 Howard street address is RETROSUPERFUTURE®’s first flagship store, worldwide. The beautiful downtown space defines our identity and sense of community. As you enter you can experience our shop – it’s the place you can find the most complete selection of SUPER ever-made. In the back we have our office – that’s where myself and the US team work everyday. And last but not least, we have our productive basement where 8Ball Zines has a residence and where they run all of their projects from radio to gallery to zine workshop. The entire space is always very alive. It’s a lot of friends, a lot of talking, good music and a lot of life! We are there day and night….

For us it’s a dream come true! We wanted to have a space of our own, where we can do what we want, any way we want. We needed to express the brand’s identity and I feel that we designed and created one of the most exceptional optical stores in the world. The architect Andrea Caputo and his studio contributed a lot to this construction, and I am very happy we did this together.
The choice to open the first store in NYC came naturally. We needed to make an international statement.

You’re Italian and American, right? How do you think your multiculturalism has shaped your style and taste?
Yes, born in America from two very Italian parents. I am a very lucky person.
Multiculturalism has definitely helped me shape my ability of understanding various markets, which in my opinion is one of the hardest parts of this profession. Once again, thanks to my 10 year experience with press allowed me to travel non-stop, and be a guest at festivals, events and meetings. Media is really freedom and power. I would really love to get back into it. Let’s see how it goes.
What are the biggest differences between Milan and New York? Is the food really that much better in Italy?
The multiculturalism and variety NYC offers is the biggest difference for me.
Funny you mention food, because this multiculturalism is represented also in the food, and maybe that can be the best way to metaphorically represent it: NYC offers every single food and cuisine of our world. Whatever it is, you can find it in NYC, and probably at the highest level.
Milan on the other hand, does offer a better quality of the actual material food/produce than NYC: the vegetables, fruit, the mozzarella, cheese, bread, olive oil, wine… but if you want to eat well, you need to stick to the Italian cuisine. There isn’t much cultural diversity in Milan.
Can you tell us a little about the philosophy of Super sunglasses? You guys share the Made in Italy ethos with President’s, but why else do you think the brands work well together? 
From its birth, it has been SUPER’s goal to make quality eyewear with fresh and wearable designs at honest prices. Historically, Italy was and still is the leading manufacturer of eyewear, and in these hard times in Europe, we thought it would be perfect to keep the operation in-house. I feel that  President’s works in a similar way with its independent freedom and what our beautiful country can offer.
What are some of your go-to’s for inspiration?
Honestly, I don’t have a real strategy or formula… I like to ride my bike and think as I look around me. I’d like go to good book stores, like Strand or Dashwood or Printed Matter and stay there half day, or go to galleries like DIA Beacon in upstate New York. Then I go to our store and start sharing ideas and end up riding the streets (again) for hours looking and reacting to what I see. I really think weed and riding around plays a big role. I don’t like to be inspired by the internet. It’s too much information, too much all at once and I get lost and confused. I need to keep it simple and free in my head.

President’s in Port Magazine

One of our very favorite titles on the newsstand, London style and culture magazine Port Magazine, got a little presidential in their SS16 release. This 18th issue marks their 5th anniversary–we’re always impressed at how well this independent magazine has established itself as a strong point of reference in such a short time–and features dual covers with Pritzker Prize-winner Tadao Ando and influential novelist Will Self.

President’s makes a few strong showings this time out, first up in a story on British actor Edward Holcroft, seen below decked out in P’s SS16 Legend horse hide bomber and Made in Japan crew sweatshirt. The piece is also accompanied by the debut video for the new Ways of Seeing column, in which Holcroft speaks about his craft and shows the Legend off nicely.

There’s also an ace writeup (above right) on our long-running Private Collection, through which we work with one artist-in-residence photographer each season to embody the campaign through photography.

Earlier this season, Port also interviewed our SS16 artist-in-residence, Alessandro Simonetti, shot in his New York City home studio by South African photographer Kent Andreasen.

The new issue of Port is currently on newsstands around the world, and be sure to check out the video here.

Big congratulations to Port on the 5th anniversary!

Interview: Alessandro Simonetti

President’s in conversation with Alessandro Simonetti, our artist-in-residence for SS16.

How’d you get your start as an artist? 

I’ve been immersed in the visual world since I was a child. I spent part of my youth in Rome in the early 1980’s and have vivid memories of the raw scene that was the Trastevere in those years. Photographers and artists of all sorts hung out at our place. I was exposed to drawing quite early – it wasn’t until later that I got into photography, but remember handling cameras since I was really young. I studied art and can say that at about 16, I really started to shoot what I liked. At first it was in a really naive way, but compared to my mates at art school, it was much more deliberate.


You’ve been a New Yorker for a few years now, right? How has the city treated you? 

New York is still the place where I envision myself living for a while. Despite the fact that everything has shifted from the streets to online – it doesn’t really matter where you operate from at this point – the city is still generating so many interesting possibilities. Many things I’ve done here or people I’ve met could hardly have happened in my home country but NYC is a bitch.

You’re quite well-known for documenting subcultures around the world. How did that become something you focused on? 

I started to shoot what I was surrounded by, so at the beginning it was mostly hard core graffiti activities on trains, my skater mates (probably a dozen kids), and any kind of music that was coming from squats. These were the hidden aspects of subcultures that I lived in first person – they were reclusive aspects of society, and so even when self hidden, they still intrigue me as a choice of subject. A horserace in Kingston, Jamaica, underground fetish meetings in the U.S., and fighters in Senegal are all subjects I’ve shot that aren’t necessary related to a subculture in the way we think about the the Punk Scene, but aren’t necessary under any spotlight. That’s when I find it interesting. There’s a common thread in all my work, and its a sort of anthropological – not academic – interest in certain kind of people and behaviors in society.

Over time, I’ve stepped away from the sensationalism of documentary photography and the necessity of ‘explaining’ through images, and instead find myself getting closer to subjects. This is to the point that I decontextualize the subject itself, and am not concerned with relating the image to a concrete reference.

Tell us about the photo of yours President’s selected for their permanent collection. 

That image is from a negative of my early time in the USA in 2006. I was in L.A. for a story on weapons, and this was shot in Venice Beach.

I was captivated by how the kid playing handball was surrounded only by geometric cross-sections offset by greyscale and numbers. The numbers themselves are in turn dived into sections as stencils. The four blocks remind me of the iconic logo of Black Flag, designed by Raymond Pettibon.

I submitted a few images when President’s asked me to think of a subject that not only would work as an advertisement of the brand and personal collection, but would also work as a print on a T-shirt.


What do you consider your most essential tools as an artist? 

Artists have always been a reflection of their times, but if in the past we were be able to categorize an aesthetic in decades (60s, 70s, 80s, now 90s…), I feel that nowadays languages and trends last six months. Everything is digested so fast that an artist’s responsibility to read and representing his time has really become quite a challenge! I would say consistency is a good tool for an artist today.

Do you have any style icons?

My dad and Joe Strummer.


Do you think anything about your style – personal or artistic – is particularly Italian?

As Italian, I probably wouldn’t be able to see it. Still, I believe being raised in a country where every corner speaks of history, one is ingrained with valuable aesthetics. I don’t know if my origins are reflected in my style. You tell me…

What is it about President’s that resonates with you and your style?

I love simplicity, and I see many pieces that might be references to iconic pieces of Mods or Skinheads and I definitely love those styles. I’m also quite happy with the fact that the pieces are crafted in Italy.

Super x President’s for SS16

For Spring Summer 2016, we have released two new sunglasses in collaboration with SUPER BY RETROSUPERFUTURE®. Starting with two of the Italian eyewear brand’s most iconic models, Paloma and América, we have reimagined summer shades for the PRESIDENT’s man.

The rounded, classic Paloma makes its second appearance in the PRESIDENT’s collection this season in new colourway, Classic Havana, and finished off with gold-tone details. The new, squared off América, on the other hand, comes in a translucent matte green with silver-tone accents. In fitting with the mainline collection, the sunglasses are Made in Italy, and feature green tinted precision lenses by famed German optics house, CARL ZEISS.

P’s Paloma and América are now available at select retailers around the world.

Interview: Jey Perie of Kinfolk

President’s visited the Kinfolk Shop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn recently to hang out with the guys and meet partner Keith Abrams and creative director Jey Perie. Last week, they welcomed the SS16 collection to their store with a party and an exclusive T-shirt featuring artist Alessandro Simonetti’s campaign photo for the season.

We interviewed Jey, who was looking fresh in the handpainted white/sky blue parka from the collection.

First up, give us the Kinfolk elevator speech. 
To me, Kinfolk is 8 years of friendship, successful design projects, exciting trips around the world and long conversations about the most random things in life… Besides that, we managed to open and run a bar in Tokyo, a café and nightclub here in Brooklyn, a multi-brand retail store and a clothing label.Who’s the “Kinfolk guy?” Who wears your stuff? Who shops here? We try to be as inclusive as possible. We have a pretty diverse (in both age and background) group of friends and associate and they all represent in one way or another the Kinfolk man. Our common threads is a love for Art and Music, traveling and all the pleasure that goes with it.
Who decorated the Williamsburg store? It’s so dope.

It’s a team effort, a lot of the Art and collectibles are actually from few of our partners’ personal collections. My focus is more the clothing and the brand selection. Our partner Salah Mason and our friend at Antifurniture have been doing a great job at curating a complete library of Art, fashion and design books.

Kinfolk is well-known for its judicious curation of brands – you guys have a very focused mix of established and emerging labels. hat eventually blow up in the fashion cities around the world. What drew you to President’s?

A friend introduced me to President’s in 2012 at FOG on Lafayette street. The store did not last but a good first impression always does. When doing our buy for Stone Island at M5 showroom I was happy to be reintroduce to the brand. The brand philosophy and aesthetic go perfectly with what we are trying to accomplish here at Kinfolk and it was the right time for us to bring President’s to our corner of Brooklyn.

Who are your personal style icons?

Serge Gainsbourg, Thelonious Monk, Moshiro Mifune, Fidel Castro.

Do you have a favorite piece or even favorite detail from the SS16 collection?

The simple white tee with President’s chain stitch is the piece I will be wearing the most myself. When I introduce the brand to customers, the piece I am usually the proudest to present is the white and sky-blue light weight parka. One of a kind print. It’s a unique piece.

Where do you guys hang out in Williamsburg?

When I’m not at Kinfolk, I’m usually down the street at Cafe Mogador. I also spend time in Manhattan where I have my studio, trying to combine the best of both borough.