It’s not exactly Barbour season for me, but while my Bedales & Beauforts sleep in my closet waiting for their triumphant return this fall, the factory where they were made hums right along at a fever pitch making great-looking and long-lasting outerwear.

Last summer I was thinking about embarking on a trip around the U.K. visiting the British factories that turn out the classic menswear items that captivate me (like my “Made in Italy” trip). As it turned out, I didn’t end up having the chance to organize the trip —I still might do it, eventually— but I did manage to tour the Sunspel factory last fall, which was my first exposure to “made in England.” Recently I was invited as a guest of Barbour to see their factory and home office in South Shields, near Newcastle, England. No brainer.

The Barbour Factory was on a much larger scale than I had anticipated. I knew the brand was popular with healthy distribution, but I was not expecting to see so many workers. The workforce on the factory floor was almost entirely women —which was also surprising. It felt a lot like the Red Wing Shoe Co.’s Plant II in Minnesota, different product all together, but a similar vibe. Having worked with Red Wing for the past few years, and there’s a strong similarity in company structure (each is family owned), historical significance, brand loyalty and manufacturing facilities. Walking around Barbour felt just like walking around Red Wing. I had never made the connection before, but it makes sense in hindsight considering the company arrangements and approach.

Barbour’s factory was almost entirely manually operated, there is very little automation and almost all operations are performed by hand. The amount of jackets in progress was impressively stupefying. I wasn’t expecting to see so much product in work, but the scale of things didn’t disguise the high level of craftsmanship that was on display. The level of proficiency and speed in which the sewers converted rolls of fabric into finished outerwear was impressive. And much like the other factories I have visited in the U.S. and abroad, everyone that works at Barbour was patient, kind and proud to show me around. It’s reassuring to know a product I enjoy so much comes from such a good place. It’s like meeting your favorite band and having them turn out to be great people; only makes the music better. [BARBOUR]

The photos below are from the Barbour repair shop where old jacket go to be reborn as “good as new” jackets. It’s also where my Bedale was repaired on the spot.

The guys at Valet put together a travel feature with tips from frequent travelers about how they pack and the bags that they use. I chimed in to talk about the way in which I organize my stuff when I am on the road. Specifically, I spoke about these small Kelty x Beams zip bags that I picked up last fall in Tokyo.

I use the big one as my “International Economy” bag (which I only bring when I am flying a redeye to Europe or to Asia in steerage). It holds a travel pillow, Nalgene bottle and a pair of Muji travel slippers (because you don’t want to hit the highly trafficked economy bathroom in socks). It can also be used to pack a pair of shoes or hold dirty laundry on your return. The middle-sized bag is for electronic accessories—chargers, an international power converter and even a spare memory card reader. If I didn’t always leave everything in this bag, I’d inevitably forget something.

When you travel drink lots of water, use a Rimowa, bring along a power strip and pack bags in bags for very specific uses. [VALET: BAG CHECK]

• Absolutely insane: The man who rode thunder. [Huckberry]
• For sale: 1953 Ferrari 340/375 MM Berlinetta ‘Competizione’ [RM Auctions] [Pictured]
• Breaking down the advances in beer can technology. [Bon Appetit]
• Incredible modular mahogany furniture designed by Charles Eames in 1941. [Covenger + Kester]
• All one needs is a good pair of American made board shorts for summer. [GQ]

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I wore Sperry Top-Siders every summer on Cape Cod as a kid. (to be precise, I wore the Authentic Original which is pictured above.) Over the years I have continued to wear them and love the brand because of those great memories growing up. I love all of the associations that Top-Siders embody: preppy, summer, clam bakes, sail boats, beaches, vacations and so much more. I love that the laces won’t stay tied until you get them wet and I love the history. With all of that said, in 2004 I stopped wearing Top-Siders altogether.

That summer I needed a new pair and I went to the store to see if there were any original Top-Siders that were actually made in the USA. I knew they would cost more, but I just felt like the shoes I had been wearing didn’t age all that well, and more than that I really wanted something more authentic. After a long search I couldn’t find any Sperry Top-Siders that were made domestically. I wasn’t really surprised, but I was disappointed so I just stopped purchasing shoes from the brand.

The other day, after a long time of not even really even considering the brand as an option, I went to Sperry’s website and there it was: Sperry Top-Sider Made in Maine collection. I was pretty astonished, and pretty happy to see that the thing that I had hoped for so long ago had actually come true. I just discovered this collection the other day on the company website (oddly, this was sent to me last year but I completely missed it — maybe its because I wrote them off? Looks like the same thing happened to James Fox last year) not in a magazine and I didn’t catch any word of this other places.

Sperry re-released the original Top-Siders in the classic colors and they are all made in Maine. I have not tried them on yet (can’t decide which color to buy, I honestly want them all), but it appears that the shoes are made from the Sperry lasts to make sure the shoes are the traditional Sperry boat shoe shape / proportion. Just looking at them in the photos you can see they look much more hand made than the imported Top-Sider. Obviously there’s a huge price difference, so I would expect to see this and expect higher quality leather. I will report back on this more when I get my pair. (If any of you have seen these in person, please report back).

When I started ACL, it was my hope that companies would at least give consumers the option to buy U.S. made versions of their products, as opposed to only offering imported goods. This is exactly what I had hoped to see and I hope people vote with their wallet and show Sperry that it has made the right decision. [SPERRY TOP-SIDER MADE IN MAINE]

Sperry also produced this video about the Made in Maine collection. It’s a nice little video (which could have probably been cut down by about four minutes) which speaks to what went into making this collection. The factory where these shoes are produced also makes several other hand-sewn shoes that shall remain nameless, though you all would know them.

In their respective fields, both Benjamin Clymer and Kenyan Lewis have followed their passion, creating a new path for themselves, and have at the same time made an important contribution to the cultural and creative conversation. To tell the stories of these creative individuals ACL has partnered with Timberland to create The Experts, a symposium of the people around us who, like Timberland, hold significant the values of craft, process, provenance, art and style.

Benjamin Clymer, the founder and editor of the watch website Hodinkee has done more to bring the often lofty world of fine timepieces into an arena that is equal parts unpretentious, inclusive and informative. It’s a delicate balance that was struck out of his genuine passion for horology. This is his story.

Benjamin wears the Abington Camp Chukka and Abington Waterproof Raincoat from Timberland®.

Kenyan Lewis is an artistic and multifaceted prop stylist, artist, sign painter and interior designer. He’s the type of person who can create aesthetic solutions for nearly any application. Over the years, Kenyan has created beautiful custom signage and interiors of nearly every stripe in New York and abroad. Like his work, Kenyan’s story is unique.

Kenyan wears the Timberland Boot Company® Wodehouse Chukka and the Stratham Leather Bomber from the Timberland® Earthkeepers® collection.

The Experts: an ACL series celebrating the people who inspire us to keep innovating and creating every day, and who like Timberland, have a mutual respect for well-crafted style. Learn more about the Experts here.

It’s always on my calendar, the first day of the first Brimfield flea market of the year. At this point we have a plan in place. Drive up Monday night to get a hotel, wake up early and have breakfast in Palmer and then we do the show for exactly one day. By late afternoon we head back —this time making a detour to see Mr. Frank Pepe— and then back home. Easy as can be, and just enough Brimfield until next year.

Two things to say about this year’s outing: 1. the weather was perfect, good temps and no rain. 2. I didn’t buy one thing. That’s never happened to me before, but it doesn’t really bother me either. I enjoyed just being out there and seeing the people and all of that old stuff. This time around it felt like I was having plenty of fun just taking pictures. No promises for next year when I’m sure I will be back to my old tricks.

Go to Brimfield at least once in your life. Walk around, be at a field when it opens, eat a Pilgrim sandwich and maybe even find some treasures to buy.

The demise of Detroit has been widely documented, almost to the point of nausea. I grew up hearing a similar song in Cleveland. If you live there or are from there, it makes you want to fight even harder. I can understand how Detroit feels; that underdog spirit is what makes me fly the Cuyahoga flag high every chance I get.

What’s crazy is what is really going on in the Motor City. There’s a beginning of change and some pretty astonishing things are happening. The road is long, but the desire to rebuild is there. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens to this great American city.

A few years ago Steven Alan (the man) introduced me to a few guys who had an ambitious plan to start making watches, bicycles, leather goods under the long mothballed shoe-polish brand Shinola. As much of the product as possible would be made in America, that’s what they told me. Made in Detroit to be specific. To say I was intrigued was an understatement. They asked me to come out to Detroit a few years ago (early on in this process) to see everything, but as I often do with brands I wanted to wait a bit and wait and see what was going to happen. It’s easy to talk the talk, it’s hard to actually make these kinds of things happen.

After time things progressed and the watch assembly was up and running, the bikes were in production and leather goods were becoming available. What I heard as talk in a meeting two years earlier had become real life things. It was time for me to visit and see with my own eyes what was really happening. What I saw in Detroit at Shinola was exactly what they talked about, though in action in real life. They are assembling watches with Horween leather bands in a super clean and modern facility just a large glass wall away main company offices. (Incidentally, the parent company of Shinola also owns Seattle-based Filson that is a client of my firm Paul + Williams; full disclosure and all that good stuff.)

I told my dad about what Shinola was doing and he was astonished. “Making watches in Detroit?” he said. “What?”

“I know” I said. “It seems crazy but it’s for real.”

Though along the way there have been some skeptics. Some are concerned of the fact that the watches are quartz, and that they are made from Swiss parts and only assembled in the U.S. These are valid points, but I think when you look at the pricing and the aesthetics of the time pieces there’s a ton of value built in. This is not even considering the fact that they are really put together in Michigan with a Horween strap.

What Shinola is doing is an ambitious undertaking and the amount of investment up until this point must have been huge. When’s the last time you heard about a company that has gone to the great length of opening a manufacturing facility of this complexity, training workers and simultaneously building a brand as developed as this? Let me tell you, I follow this stuff closely and I don’t see it very often. Honestly, I’ve never seen anything the likes of this. Shinola has put a lot on the line, and for that I have immense respect for the brand. This is just the beginning too, who knows what this can become.

It’s my view that what Detroit needs is more thinking like what is exhibited at Shinola. To recover, Detroit needs to embrace the unconventional ideas and its own inner-weirdness. It needs to start projects that draw out the skeptics (some city governmental integrity wouldn’t hurt either). That’s what in my mind will lead to a strong economy and bright future. [SHINOLA]

The Factory:

The office looking into the factory.

Some of the many small leather goods. This stuff is really nice. Every Shinola product has a unique numbering embossed on it —from watches to bikes to notebooks— creating a nice little extra something. After not too long I really got to liking this detail. An example is pictured below.

The Hill-Side x Shinola shoe shine towels to go with the shoe shine cream and brushes — a direct nod to Shinola’s past.

The Shinola bikes are made from steel frames (manufactured in Wisconsin) with disc brakes and internal hubs using Shimano components. The bikes are well made and handsomely designed. If you live in NYC, this would only work if you never leave it locked up outside on its own. Knowing crazy bike people, some are going to scoff at these; that’s for sure. The prices are not exactly cheap, but there’s no denying you are getting a lot of bike for the money. I’d ask to have some branding removed — the chain guard specifically would be quick to go. On the whole, I like these guys though.

• Levi’s Made & Crafted Design Director Miles Johnson talks inspiration. [Hypebeast]
• 40 lessons for a happy life. [Medium]
• Great business advice from Life is Good CEO Bert Jacobs. [Wall Street Journal]
• A Man of Record: Gay Talese and his bunker. [The New Yorker]
• A simple (and beautiful) life by the lake in Tasmania. [Betty Wants In on Vimeo] [Pictured]
• Bonus: Barns are painted red because of the physics of dying stars. [Smithsonian]

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I’ve been meaning to go and see the Best Made Co. offices for at least the past two years. Communication flew back and forth, I just never seemed to make it over there, and not for lack of desire to check it out. Further confusing the whole situation was the fact that I basically walked by the place on my daily walk for years. I have no excuses. Well, it now seems that my procrastination has paid off, because by the time I found myself on White Street in NYC the studio had morphed into the first full-blown Best Made Co. shop that opens its doors today.

Housed in a quintessentially skylighted TriBeCa space —which was previously used by it’s former tenant for crafting fine art— the handsome well-designed nook of outdoorsy-ness occupies most of the space with a new loft and catwalk in the back that will still serve as the Best Made Co. offices. The front of the store is open to the public during the week, with a larger offering opening up for the weekends. The store offers everything that’s available on the e-commerce shop including a strong selection of painted axes (which judging from my Instagram can be quite polarizing), the Lightweight Cruiser, mugs, prints, knives and all sorts of other interesting stuff. And the brand doesn’t wholesale, so if you want it you have to order from them directly online or stop by this new outpost.

At the new shop, everything is beautifully designed and aesthetically pleasing regardless of your level interest in the outdoors. At its core, Best Made Co. is a celebration of good design and utility in its purist form.

There’s an optimistic spirit of adventure and inclusiveness built-in to the shop and the brand. You can feel it when you visit and also when you talk to brand founder Peter Buchanan-Smith. To me it’s seems increasingly rare that you encounter positiveness like this. Read the comments on my Instagram from last night and you’ll notice that it isn’t always an inclusive and response back. So many seem to want to take things away from people simply because they feel differently about how others approach a shared interest. “I’m into the outdoors and I don’t like your expensive axes so you aren’t a real outdoors-man.” That’s what I am hearing. I feel similar negative vibes coming from those that are into cycling about what you ride and what you wear. There are so many opinions and so much pressure to conform. It’s bullshit. Dress how you want to dress, wear what you want to wear and ride what you want to ride. Live and let live. Don’t pressure others to conform, it just makes you look insecure. You should be happy that people actually choose to get outside and do things that they enjoy. Happiness is not a zero sum game.

Like they say at Best Made: Be Positive.

 [Best Made Co. | 36 White Street, NYC]

• How to eat in Rome like an expat. [The New York Times]
• Five years later, Leffot still sets the standard. [OM]
• In 1897 a Pasadena to Downtown L.A. bike path was planned. [Vice] [Pictured]
• McDonalds Theory. [Medium]
• Archival ACL: The truest Americana. [The Kodachrome Archive]
• Portraits of those who value craft, style and well made things. [The Experts] [Sponsored]

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