Sound the trumpets, I’m making a post today on our last new designer for the summer- A’N’D. I’ve posted before about this label, and when we decided to open up our own shop they were at the top of my list of designers to carry. Sometimes conceptual fashion can be a bit too weighty and serious, and this is most definitely not the case with A’N'D. Their tongue-firmly-in-cheek approach is one of the main reasons I love this label so much and have decided to stock it at the shop. Anyways, without further ado, here’s a little babble about their latest Spring/Summer collection, courtesy of yours truly.

Azumi & David always pick a theme to work with each season and for Spring/Summer 2010 they satirize the now ubiquitous rock chick trend with their ‘Rock Chic’ collection. Of course, this obviously brings to mind the usual rocker girl cliches like leather, tattoos, zippers, and all black clothing. A’N'D twists these cliches into surprisingly versatile pieces like a black lambskin paperbag waisted mini skirt that’s constructed to look like the bottom half of a mens’ dress shirt. The classic leather wallet gets a skull with wings tattoo stamp, and a black leather tote is slashed in half by chunky zippers so it can double as a foldover handbag or a roomy tote you can slip a laptop into. These are super nice, beautifully made pieces. Click over to the store to check it all out.

I was curious as to what Pelican Avenue was up to, and recently revisited the website. I’d caught the Hanging Garden collection/performance as it was posted about pretty frequently, but the collection just prior to it, Intakt (masked models made me think instantly of Miyazaki’s Spirited Away), I hadn’t seen much on. Anyways, apparently Pelican Avenue recently participated in some fashion shows in Shanghai and Vienna and pieces from both Hanging Garden and Intakt were presented. Really, what I love most about Pelican Avenue, and this will come as no surprise, is Lerch’s consistently singular vision. I still can appreciate pieces from her collection from nine years ago-she does what she does and does it well. Bravo to that, especially in a time of fast fashion and suffocatingly omnipresent trends