#aspaceunboundedbytime

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Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho in Dune (2021)

Forget the spice, the fabric must flow! Swoosh!

This is as if someone has been reading my mind. I simply cannot wait.

Denis Villeneuve’s Dune opens in theatres October 1st, 2021.

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Lauren Manoogian Autumn/Winter 2020

Why is it that no one is making clothes like these for men? As a man, you currently have three options - you wear a suit and pretend that you live in Prohibition-era Chicago, you dress in the latest logo tees and hoodies and go shoot videos of you and your friends doing parkour/skateboarding/not showering for a living or you buy chinos and oxford button-downs at the mall inside a store awash in the most depressing, unflattering white light.

There is an opportunity for someone willing to make simple, sophisticated, high-quality, forward-looking-yet-timeless garments in natural fabrics and colours. Who is willing to take it? And once you make these clothes, can you please sell them and not just show them? I’m looking at you Hed Mayner. Thank you.

Image via vogue.com

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Havaianas

The fashion industry caught my attention when I was around fourteen or fifteen years old. As with other subjects of my interest, I wanted to know it all and I didn’t want to have any doubts about my knowledge, nor hesitations regarding my choices. And since one can only learn about quality and taste through trial and error, I tried to experiment as much as time and money would allow.

Take footwear, for example. I have worn lots of different kinds: Adidas Superstars, a pair of Calvin Klein shoes that I adored, those Gucci velcro sneakers that were so popular in Europe, Birkenstock suede Arizonas, Superga 2750s, Church’s Consul oxfords, Saint Crispin’s loafers, FEIT Hand Sewn Slippers and many, many more.

After all these years, one option stands out amongst the rest - black Havaianas Top. Those who know me know that I care deeply about details. When I moved from Switzerland to Thailand, I suffered because there were no simple flip flops available on the market. Who in their right mind would want to wear Billabong, with their wave prints on the soles and webbing straps? No one, of course! But for the next six months, I walked around Phuket in an electric blue and black pair like an Aussie bro does through Bali. It seems crazy to think about it now but back then I longed for a pair of Havaianas. 

One would think that because Havaianas are designed after zōri, there would be strong Japanese contenders, right? Wrong! I would expect MUJI to offer a better flip flop but for all their talk about simplicity and sophistication, in this case MUJI is not enough. The ones they sell are hard, feature transparent, yellowing straps and would never look good, not even if worn while cleaning the bathroom.

Luckily, Havaianas has grown globally and I am now able to purchase a new pair whenever required - which is increasingly often since it is the only footwear I want to wear lately. I love to glance at the clean reinterpretation of a timeless Japanese design. Even though they incorporate a Greek key pattern on the strap, a rice grain pattern on the footbed and a brick pattern on the outer sole, they still feel tasteful, subdued, modern and most importantly, global. Exactly what I think the future of humanity should be like!

Photographed by @luisugarte