Over the course of the last few seasons, London-based designer Makin Jan Ma has used his eponymous label as a means to establish fully-realized personas for characters in an ongoing art project encompassing film, music and painting.  Central St. Martin’s grad Jan Ma describes himself as a filmmaker first, evident in the elaborate backstories he creates for his two main characters Guts and J. Sky, whose wardrobes and homes are brought to life in the segmented lookbooks for each collection.  J. Sky for example, as depicted here by model Felix B, made a fortune off of a Polish porn site and tends to forget birthdays.  The garments that make up the SS11 collection are similarly idiosyncratic, an androgynous mix of sheer fabrics, silk shirts, moon and camo prints and simple shorts.  Makin Jan Ma will be on hand this season at (capsule) Women’s New York, and will also debut a picture novel based on J. Sky and a collaboration with guitarist/model Raoul Colvile to set Guts’ journey to music.  See more from the SS11 collection below.  (Steve Dool)

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Big news over at the (capsule) offices. We’re expanding!  (capsule) NY will now take place in 2 venues—the Angel Orensanz and The Puck Building, so we can better accommodate some additional brands we love but previously didn’t have room for. (capsule) Vegas, still at the Venetian, will be in a slightly larger ballroom. And now that we’ve gotten the attention of the menswear market, we’re hoping to create some (capsule) magic for the women’s market as well, with our first-ever women’s show in NYC, also at the Angel Orensanz.

Mark your calendars! Here are the dates

Jan 18-19 2010  (capsule) NY men’s

Jan 22-24, 2010 (capsule) Paris men’s

Feb 16-17, 2010 (capsule) Las Vegas men’s and women’s

Feb 22-23, 2010 (capsule) NY women’s

Check the website for updates. If you’re a brand who would like to apply to exhibit, please click here.

Tripleworks Denim Goods of Japan is showing a few models of shuttle loomed denim at (capsule) show. Some of the more interesting models – “Natural,” “Future,” and “Permanent” Indigo Denim – allow for the buyer to choose what level of wear they’re looking to get out of their jeans. The “Future” Indigo Denim is specially treated to allow for the denim to “break in” colorwise at a quickly pace than their “Natural” model. On the otherhand, the wearer looking for a pair of jeans that are blisteringly difficult to fade should choose the “Permanent” Indigo Denim. All three are cut from 16oz selvedge and look great. Good to see them at the show. (selectism)

 The unspoken rule of thumb for menswear tradeshows in years past: "more limited" or "more expensive" usually meant more excitement from buyers and the press. This year, not so much. The more people I talk to, the more I hear a new democratic ideal emerging—and a greater enthusiasm than ever for well-made products, reasonably priced.
Case in point: Blk Pine Workshop, a new canvas accessory line from the makers of Vancouver‘s Maiden Noir, a line that’s been putting out quality selvage denim and streetwear-influenced basics for years. (Because they’re only distributed in a few U.S. stores, they’ve remained more or less under the radar here.) The Canadian provenance notwithstanding, these bags are made and inspired by the old U.S. of A. The five-piece collection, which debuted here at Capsule, will retail for around a hundred bucks a piece if show buyers are smart enough to snap them up. (men.style)

The Hundreds had some nice things to say about (capsule). Here’s an excerpt: "We haven’t shown our line at a Vegas tradeshow for a year now, and with perhaps good reason (I won’t really get into that).  So after we turned down invites from some others, we decided to entertain the idea of showing our Spring and Summer 2010 range at Capsule, which has been a thriving, successful, exclusive tradeshow based in New York, but now showing in Sin City. Capsule is not your typical Vegas tradeshow. All the women were tastefully dressed.  No stickers.  No loud horrible music.  And virtually no complaining.  That’s a big deal."  See the full report here.

Mark McNairy previews his Spring 2010 collection of oxford shirts and ties at (capsule) show in Las Vegas this week. Oxford shirts are being produced in North Carolina while the ties remain manufactured in NYC. Be sure to also explore the Mark McNairy shoe offering for some of the best classic footwear out there. (Selectism)

(capsule)

Tuesday & Wednesday

Sept 1-2, 10 am -7pm

Murano Ballroom, Venetian Hotel

We’ve been a fan of Billy Reid for several seasons, and since he’s opened his menswear shop on the Bowery last year, we feel like we really got to know him and hisdown home, Southern hospitality and aesthetic. When he launched his own collection last season for wholesale, we took notice. Now, the designer is making the line more widely available, and will be showing SS10 at (capsule) Vegas. We caught up with the designer, asked him a few questions and got a preview of his SS10 collection after the jump.

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We’ve been a fan of Samantha Pleet since she launched her eponymous label in 2006. She’s seemingly a one woman dynamo, designing, painting, making films, playing music, designing menswear, curating an Urban Outfitters pop up shop in LA and more. In 2009 Pleet received an Ecco Domani sustainability design award for her work on the premiere collection of Bodkin. This season, she joins the (capsule) community. We caught up with her and got the scoop on her new swimwear, upcoming film, and SS10 collection. Read more after the jump.

Samantha Pleet will be at (capsule) Vegas, Sept 1-2 at the Venetian Hotel

photos by Jacqueline Di Milia and David Black

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