Store Spotlight: Ashtray (w/ Interview!)

ASHTRAY, a clothing store based in Orebro, Sweden, blends independent designers
with larger brands to get a electic and “rousing” collection. The store’s goal is to
“create a venue for people with a genuine interest in clothes,” which I believe they’ve
already accomplished.
ASHTRAY carries some of the latest, most praise-worthy collections from Swedish designers
and has aspirations of carrying more international brands in the seasons to come. If
shipping costs ever strained your thoughts on purchases from abroad, ASHTRAY offers
free shipping worldwide and is tax-free to EU customers. Unheard of if you ask me.

The team at ASHTRAY was cool enough to reply to a few questions via e-mail so be
sure to at least check ‘em out at ashtray.se.

How many people make the ASHTRAY family and how long has it been around?

We are four persons behind ASHTRAY. We started up with two when we started up the

store November 2007. Our online shop was released in February 2008.

What's been the most positive aspect of change at Ashtray since opening?

When we first opened up our online shop, the majority of our customers were from

Denmark and Sweden. Today, people from all over the world shop at ASHTRAY,

which is very positive.

Tell some thing about your customers.

While most of our customers are aware of designers’ background, some shop here

pretty much because they like to buy good-looking clothes. It is the shoppers who

are interested in knowing the "story" behind the clothes really inspire us.

Who in the fashion industry might you all find particularly inspiring?

There are a few names out there. Besides our labels, there are brands like BLESS,

Giuliano Fujiwara, Number Nine, Rick Owens, Damir Doma and Patrik Soderstam

(to name a few.)

Does the store have any projects in the work? Any parties or collaborations?

Yes, we’re working on some projects right now but we can’t reveal any details at

this stage. We’ve done collaboration with art galleries, agencies and some

designers in the past, which we hope to see more of in the future. The store is

just a small part of the ASHTRAY company.

Your store “editorial” shoot was executed pretty well. Tell us about that.

The editorial was a fun project that we did the last second with some of our

friends, actually. We plan to shoot some new photos soon, which will be up in December.

Are there any prospects of an ASHTRAY clothing line?

No.

Are there any magazines you have placed around the store\?

We have Livraison mag and fanzines from Cederteg Publishing. There are also some

magazines in our ground store, which we unfortunately don’t display, online but we’ll

probably extend our magazine selection next season, online and in-store.

What new lines have you picked up? What’s coming in the future?

Our latest received designers lines are HEDERUS, The Local Firm and So Last Season.

We’re in fact the only retailer chosen to distribute So Last Season. In the future we hope

to offer more international designers.

And what's the most surprising place you've ever had to ship an item?

It was to Macau, which is a special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China.

Macau is located 65 kilometers west of Hong Kong and is commonly known as

“Asia’s Las Vegas.” We had never heard of Macau before that, and had to “Google” it to get

to know where it was located.

The item shipped was an A Bug Collection tee, whose shipping costs matched the tee cost.

Not a good bargain for us, but it was a fun surprise to have a customer from Macau — a place

that we didn’t know existed.

photographer: emma arvida byström

stylist: ylva fred

make-up: fanny sandberg

models:

rasmus/kid of tomorrow, eddie/kid of tomorrow, olivia/mikas, david , miranda, einar

Comme Collaborating

Moving from one collaboration to another — today Louis Vuitton will unveil a collection of leather accessories designed by Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons in the three-month LV/CDG combo store located in Tokyo’s Aoyama high-fashion shopping district. The occasion celebrates 30 years of LV in Japan, according to WWD.

The partnership came to light after conversation between Jacobs and Adrian Joffe, Kawakubo’s husband, and president of Comme des Garçons International according to reports. Marc Jacobs, artistic director of Louis Vuitton, admires the Japanese label and is wholehearted on the joint venture with CDG, chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton Yves Carcelle told The Moment.

Kawakubo described her designs as ‘party’ bags to the NYT: a monogram bags — one with multiple slender handles, a Papillon bags with animal-shaped charms dangling on, two small evening purses with long leather handles, and two tweaked iconic LV designs from the ‘70s — the Petit Marceau and the Sac 2 Poches — nostalgic references to the bags on display when Vuitton first opened up in Japan.

In a prepared statement released to the NYT, Jacobs said, “I find it wonderful to think that 30 years ago, this immense talent, someone who has inspired so many others, was inspired by Louis Vuitton.”

This, of course, isn’t the only European collaboration CDG has aligned with this coming season — the worldwide Swedish fashion line H&M will debut the fruit of an affair to remember this 13th of November.
The men and women’s collection is “pure Comme des Garçons,” Kawakubo told W Magazine.

Comme des Garçons — meaning “like boy” — offers a “mostly black and with Japanese tomboy airs,” that includes “a range of tailored jackets, many deconstructed, along with cropped pants, baggy shorts and a variety of skirts in stretch wool,” reports W. Polkadot and color-blocked shirts for men and a “showpiece” dress with “dense Victorian ruffles,” altogether with a unisex scent completes a cohesive collection that’ll be sure to have people lining up outside the stores… to auction it on eBay for those of us with no H&M in close proximity. All good!
Nonetheless, Comme Des Garçons broadens horizons amongst fashion fan demographics this fall and share promise for more surprises in the label’s 40th anniversary in 2009.

(I've come to find many of H&M's images have been requested blogs to remove collection photos. Check out their website to scope 'em out. Or look the collection up at Selectivism.)

Looking Forward To:Lanvin x Acne Capsule Collection

Alber Elbaz, collaborating with the Swedish design firm ACNE (Ambition to Create Novel Expressions) on a 28-piece denim collection, sought to “go back to a product that has a dream to it,” he’d told The Daily. The head designer at Lanvin wanted to craft “desirable denim, from raincoats, tuxedos, corsets, and shrugs,” he explained to style.com in Paris at the Blue Soirée in the Hôtel de Crillon salon, where London DJ team Horse Meat Disco spun some tunes for the transvestites, Parisian A-listers, models and more gathered to celebrate the collaboration.
The purpose of the partnership wasn’t about “signing hardcore contracts,” he said, rather about something mutually fun and creative with the “young, energetic, sexy Swedes” Elbaz detailed to The Daily. (See ‘em for yourself.)
The Lanvin x Acne denim capsule collection will have a line of jeans ranging from $550 to $650, coats running $1,200 to $1,500 and jewelry and handbags upwards of $1,500 and more. Find pieces at Barney's and Bergdorf Goodman this November.
And while the guys get the short end of the stick on number of pieces from the collaboration, there’s these sick all-denim high-tops from the capsule collection at Sarah/Colette's blog will make the want of many. ...Lanvin and Acne, did you really see them screwing this up?

VidFlip: Acne SS/08 Lookbook

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For further information on Acne, read about how the label is bringing Stockholm to to the states with their first American studio at Refinery29. The article includes an interview with creative director Jonny Johannsson and photos of the new studio store.