285: I went to Stockholm for you guys
And Hampus von Hauswolff tells us how he wears it.
Welcome to Magasin Menswear. In a dedicated monthly send, Louis Cheslaw surfaces choice products worth your consideration, explores larger conversations shoppers are—or should be—having, and taps a smart dresser to share how he wears it.
First up…
It’s a fun, dangerous time of year to be into menswear, with new AW24 collections dropping what feels like daily. I’ll just say that my personal standouts so far—from the many I’ve been fortunate to try on in stores and showrooms—are some of the quieter pieces: Studio Nicholson’s woolen View Shirt (heavy, drapey, in a rare actually dark navy), Lady White Co.’s V-Neck Snap Sweater (perfect brown, large armholes, and a slightly cropped waist), and mfpen’s Washed Twill work jacket, which also combines a generous amount of room up top with a really nicely lifted waist.
I caught up with my friend Tedi recently, and liked his jeans. Turns out they were from GAP! The ‘90s Loose Jean, which he says is all he wears. The silhouette is very similar to the Our Legacy Third Cut, and while the fabric treatment on OL’s is more interesting, for $70 vs $440 you can’t really complain.
Rising Toronto design studio Body of Work already had a hit with its highly coveted, always-sold-out Loam sneaker. I think its new (velcro!) release is going to be another. (They give off a similar nice energy to the new Blackbird Spyplane x Oboz shoe—itself a less-branded, more-purple alt to the enduring Merrell Moab Low.)
I enjoyed realizing that the lovely barn jacket Aaron Levine wore recently is actually a Dôen piece marketed to women. More of this!
If you’re dissatisfied with your daily bag situation, my affection for my black Tough Traveler Toucom backpack is deepening every day. Handmade by a family-owned business in upstate NY, it’s the most ‘Neutral Good’ item I’ve ever owned—down to the endearingly terrible website and lifetime warranty. And it never seems to run out of space.
A Stockholm shopping report
Stockholm’s siren call as a shopping destination grew louder and louder for me over the past few years. It began with loving Saman Amel’s color palette, increased as I learned about Our Legacy’s Workshop, and finally became impossible to ignore when I met the extremely dialed-in (and extremely kind) buyers from Stockholm boutique Nitty Gritty in Paris this May. So, with a free weekend last week, a budget saved up, and an itch to get out of London, I booked the short flight to finally inhale it all.
Nitty Gritty
Again, the real reason I came. There’s nowhere in London where I can try on pieces from the likes of Auralee, Evan Kinori, COMOLI, MAN-TLE, and Oliver Church, to name just five of their almost 100 stocked designers. (The selection is in large part down to the curation of head buyer Hampus von Hauswolff, who I’m excited for you to hear from below.) I knew the shop was an institution—it’s been open in various guises for 33 years—but I wasn’t ready for how large the space was, and quite how much they’d have in. The current range, which included a bunch of cropped Barbour jackets from the brand’s harder-to-find Japan line, is enough alone to make me recommend you visit Stockholm, even if the below stores didn’t exist. I liked this Orslow shirt and this Sunflower zip sweater the best.
Our Legacy Workshop
This was honestly a pretty moving experience. The workshop is where Our Legacy deconstructs and then rebuilds its sitting old stock into brand new, one-of-one pieces, then sells the experiments for much lower prices than the originals. Even better, all of that happens in the same space you shop in—washing machines overdying old pieces are rumbling away just below the shelves. The stock changes weekly, but the in-store only, souvenir Bart Simpson print tees (always a hit on Grailed) are readily available. I left with a white raw silk shirt and black corduroy jacket for under $300 combined.
All Blues
Jacob Skragge started this jewelry brand in 2010, when far fewer men were interested in wearing rings and necklaces. In that time, he’s taken the collection from simple starter bracelets to experimental designs (like a “Ruined Omelette” micro-collection), and ended up today nicely in the middle—selling confident designs that play with form and shape, but still have some gravitas. The store is an experience in itself, too—all designs are kept in a glass vault, while the walls were left totally as he found them—a confident approach when your store faces Tiffany, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton. When we met, Skragge was also using his necklace to hang his sunglasses from, which I thought was a nice move.
Chimi
Just really interesting, fairly priced sunglasses in a satisfying space. No wonder they came up in send two.
Also worth it…
Second Sunrise sells the best Japanese denim—Sugar Cane, Japan Blue, Orslow—but also bits from fabric-obsessed Tender Co, and the healthiest stock I’ve ever seen of Warehouse T-Shirts: the softest and thickest tees in my weekly wardrobe. Archive showroom Ettresex had a selection of vintage Margiela and Helmut Lang alongside fun novelty graphic tees. There’s also an Our Legacy flagship, an Acne Studios Archive, the Saman Amel atelier, the Morjas hybrid store-cafe, vintage Americana at Broadway and Sons, and some of the world’s best socks at CDLP. And all of this walkable in a weekend’s work!
How Hampus von Hauswolff wears it
Nitty Gritty’s soft-spoken, thoughtfully dressed, Stockholm-born head buyer Hampus von Hauswolff hasn’t given an interview before. Honored he spoke to us.
What’s the oldest piece you have that you still wear?
I wear this Comme des Garcons striped shirt once a week. I've had it for10 years, and before that my dad wore it, so it has been around for quite some time, but still looks pretty much the same as one you'd buy today. It's called the Forever shirt—they still make it in France. So that, and a pair of vintage Levi's orange tab 565s that I still wear after a decade also, even if the waist is getting tighter.
What's a good purchase you made recently?
The Paraboot Kaptain Sunshine moccasins—really, really comfortable and they go with everything. I've been wearing them since I got them.
What's a non-clothing brand you like?
For scents, I recently started wearing Ink by Perfumer H. I'm really enjoying it. It's a bit on the heavier side, but that's a nice change from the fresher Comme des Garcons Wonderwood that's been my go to for quite some time.
If you were just to scan your wardrobe, which designers tend to take up the most space?
It's really mostly Comme des Garcons. I like to go to Japan and find their older pieces for very cheap, which are a bit more interesting in terms of shape and fabric. But honorable mention for Auralee, vintage Levi’s jeans, some Margiela and some Yohji. But older Comme is pretty much the main one.
What do you buy in bulk?
Lady White T-shirts, because of the fit, fabric, colorways, and overall quality. Typically the Athens shirt because it's quite a nice boxy fit, but they recently made a style called the Municipal Shirt, which is the one I bought multiples of this season. It's a bit more on the slim side, but also thicker.
Is there anything you're hoping to pick up soon?
I've been looking for a suit jacket to wear as some lighter outerwear. I have one, but it's a bit on the looser side and I would prefer something more fitted. There's a Comoli “half coat” coming in that I want to try, which could be it, and also a half-zip sweatshirt from this new Japanese brand called A.Presse that I really have my eye on. I'm hoping I can make it work with my allowance.
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The Body of Work shoe 🔥