We’ve borrowed from the boys before, and new menswear label Faculty ticks too many boxes to resist. Here, seven reasons why you should check it out.
Larry Peh (below) is a fussy man. The creative director of award-winning design and branding company &Larry says so himself: “I’m very picky. My staff will all tell you that.”
And with Faculty, the new menswear label he launched last week with partners Lenz Fan, former brand director of Wanderwonder, and Lyn She, Peh has another outlet for his pickiness. “Faculty is all about improving on things that we don’t like, from materials to cuts, and adding refinement where we can,” says Peh, who was named Designer of the Year in last year’s President’s Design Award. “We call it Faculty because the label hopes to use mental faculties, intelligence, grey matter, to overcome gaps in function.”
Faculty’s first collection, now at curatorial space K+ (03-14/15 Scotts Square), is called S.R. – after a mysterious subject that goes unnamed. But that’s the only morsel of whimsy you’ll find among the pieces here – everything else about Faculty is grounded in function and common sense.
Here, seven reasons why you’ll want to stock up on the label’s staples, from socks to hand-damaged jeans.
1. Clever details
There’s no end to the list, but here’s my favourite: The cuffs on the Oxford shirt (below, $249) come with two buttons so you can adjust the circumference – large if you’re wearing a chunky bracelet or watch, small if you’re going bare-wristed or with fine jewellery.
2. The clothes are made to withstand tropical heat
The T-shirts ($79-$179) are made of a thicker cotton fabric than you’ll usually find at stores here, but that’s why they’ll keep their structure better throughout the day, with minimal creases and rumpling, even if you’re out and about all day.
3. The sleek yet comfortable cuts
Everything’s cut to fit smaller Asian figures, so you won’t feel like you’re swimming in the clothes, even if these are menswear. Peh deliberately had the shirts cut shorter so there’s no need to tuck them in, but you’ll still look neat and preppy.
4. No ugly folds, even when you sit down
Those bits of trouser pockets that stick out when you sit down? It’s another one of Peh’s bugbears. So he designed the pockets of these chinos (below, $259) to cut further inwards – which means minimal protruding bulges.
5. You’ll score big with denim geeks (Peh is one of them)
The damaged selvedge jeans (below, $719) is made of denim from the hallowed Kuroki Mill in Japan. Roll up the cuffs (the Kuroki Mill signature for its selvedge denim is this particular seam) and watch serious denim-lovers fall over themselves.
6. The clothes will survive abuse
Climb a tree, scale a wall – challenge these pieces. Peh says the shirts are double chainstitched (the way factory workwear is made) along the side vents and front placket, so the seams won’t break easily, not even if you yank at them hard.
7. The colour palette is black, white and neutrals. Everything in this collection will match everything you already own.
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