Two US powerhouse lables, Levi’s and Brooks Brothers, have collaborated to create an range of denim made in the USA. In an effort to support and promote home industry and reaffirm America’s familiarity with the look of a Brooks oxford and a pair of Levi’s – a favorite amongst many.

The range will consist of the 501^® jean, 505^® (the zip-fly “sibling” of the 501^® jean) and the modern 514™ Slim Straight cut.  Each pair is crafted in a factory in LA [using imported materials] and will retail for $148.  These jeans will be available at Brooks Brothers boutiques nationwide and online after July 29, 2010.

What a clever way to reestablish a brand by using a cooperative effort between two houses – time will tell if this becomes a promotion trend, like the pop up shop.

Henry Holland’s collection at UK big boxer Debenham’s is worth a look, and likely a buy.  While most Target collabos end in buyer’s remorse or incredible disappointment, the HH x D collection seems to be created with enough gusto to fly by the superficial thumb rub, and appears to be just funky enough to warrant spending a few dollars (or pounds) to acquire these very blendable pieces.

I was a skeptic (let’s not mince assumptions here), but I swung into the Glasgow Debenham’s this weekend and had a view of the Holland pieces up close and personal.  While they aren’t anything to shout at the moon over, they’re fun, [fairly] reasonably priced, decently constructed for a high street diffusion and utilize the qualities that we love most about Holland’s past ranges – stripes, checks, dots and a uniform feel.

There were a few definite standouts; the stripe crop top (£18), pink sash tee (£14), purple check button up (£30), lilac checked blazer (£40), lightweight khaki parka (£49), polka dot overnight bag (£20) and the khaki sweat blazer (£35).

Japan’s Kumiko Watari has created the newest knit craze in the world of class kitsch – this is the debut of MIGH-T!  These knits are about to be released to select boutiques across the globe, and are about to be the new must have casual wear.

After Kumiko Watari graduated from Kyoto’s City University of the Arts and studying at London’s Central Saint Martin’s College, she embarked to create her own visual exploration.

The AW10 collection is entitled Space Sweets, and takes inspiration from the tapestries of the sky.  These pieces are just the thing for those enjoying the fun of Opening Ceremony, and looking for a new designer to pool statement pieces from.

London’s Labour of Love and No-One, Tokyo’s Nanamica and Le Charme de Fifi et Fafa, Yokohama’s Shop Cabaret, Osaka’s Kakavaka, Saudi Arabia’s Anma and New Zealand’s Broken Puppet will be holding MIGH-T’s FW10 season.

Sassy prints in light, windswept fabrics are the cure for soggy spring blues, and pieces like Sienna Rose‘s bring a perfect combination of boho cut, summery prints and fabric that dances on your body.

Sienna Rose appeals because it’s not clothing for the modern hippie; you can combine the tank top to the right with a cream leather bike jacket, grey drainpipe jeans and you’re a perfect living hybrid of the cold bike woman and soft, nature driven print lover.

Sienna Rose is carried at a multitude of big box stores and boutiques – check out the directory for shops closest to your ‘hood.

Religion is one of my favorite rock inspired UK brands, and it’s easy to understand why.  Religion is very English, affordable and quirky; perfect for the building blocks to your edgy summer styling.

Religion’s flag top and dress are easily the most eye catching of the group, and far more affordable than most pieces of this style.  The rough and tumble designs are also quite lovely, especially the Ladder 49 torn dress with tails.  The Rock Taupe dress follows the same distressed look, while the lattice dress is a more refined style within the same vein.

The brand also follows a very 60s macabre feel; the Mask Girl tee, Smoking Girl 60 dress and the Ex-Ray Skull tee are just a few examples of what Religion has available.  Last of all are the Victoria drape, Forest silk screen print skirts and the asymmetrical Simple leather jacket, which happens to be very Rick Owens.

R13 isn’t your run of the mill design house.  They create with leathers what most wish they could, only this is incredibly thin, washed leather- check out the close up.  If you’re loving that, catch a glimpse of it in black ($992), or the full armed jacket version ($1001)… completely fantastic.

If you’ve been wondering why you haven’t been familiarized with the delights of R13, it’s because the label only launched in FW09 – we’re only second season into this lovely label!

The denim vest to the right is a sweet morsel, and the SS10 lookbook is filled with more of the same deliciousness.

For the gotta-get-em-nows, R13 is carried by SSense (Canada & US) and Colette (Europe).

LnA is a streetwear brand expanding rapidly.  They aren’t just about leggings anymore – these are prime street wear pieces that offer an attitude of LA and layerability and sass of New York.

The new pieces causing such excitement is the cropped mesh tee ($101), metallic elastic waist mini skirt ($88), the geo mesh tee ($92) and the best piece of the new LnA gear being the fish bone cut out tee ($128).  All of these pieces have a personality of their own, and are affordable for each being a statement piece.

Check out the entire LnA SS10 collection for the whole picture of what they’re giving us in time for the delightful summer months.

Yes, it’s lookbook time for high street retailers everywhere. The newest addition is Aritzia‘s Wilfred line. A sampling of the lookbook images are shown in a slideshow below.

The pieces look very cold weather friendly and minimalistic (as we expect from Wilfred). I did like the oversized batwing knits and the sheer tops, but nothing else screamed “buy me!“.

Thoughts?

House of Holland is a label that I find myself experiencing an intense love/hate relationship with, and I’m having more trouble loving Henry Holland’s new designs as the seasons pass.

I can look past the website that hasn’t really been updated since 2007, and I can even move on from Agyness Deyn being featured no matter how her hair cut goes downhill, but the de-evolution of his pieces is truly disturbing when seen from such a young, fresh designer.

The slideshow below identifies three looks from each season (not counting the t-shirt line that was One Trick Pony); Stephanie & Axl (2007), Passio Factionis (FW08), Sex/Lies & Volleyball (SS09) and the latest Color Me Happy (FW09).

You can clearly see where Holland started out with an eclectic mix of successful experimentation in Stephanie & Axl and gradually went to a far less intense and haltingly mature look with Color Me Happy. It seems that Henry has lost his drive to create his opinion pushing creations that made him what he is today, and that worries me.

I can’t tell you how much I was pining for the studded pieces of Stephanie & Axl, purple and green tartan in Factionis, and the polka dot smattering of the Volleyball collection, yet I felt almost nothing towards Color Me Happy. The statement Happy piece for me was the intense mongolian fur coat and the cut out boots, but beyond that I nothing stirred in me at all.

One thing that Holland has shown to be unstoppable in is his footwear; every season had its shoe or boot, and every season these were impeccable.  Can’t we have that for the pieces as well? I want to have this HOH cake and eat it too!

I hope this apparent visual ‘maturation’ isn’t something that anchors down the House of Holland label for much longer.

Come back to the eclectic light, Henry Holland! Life is better with a little bit of crazy!

Follow House of Holland and demiCouture on Twitter

Get ready to explore the outer limits with Topshop’s Unique line this fall – it seems the range known for it draping fabrics and explorative style is taking us a route paved with shine.  A few pieces have been released at the moment, though the full range is not yet available as of today.  I love the high shine dress!

Oh yeah, the leather leggings are coming back.

Prepare yourself.

Oh yes, Mike & Chris are back from the brink of bankruptcy and appear to be more impressive than ever before.

The three pieces below are particularly impressive and quite observant of current FW09 trending; they are the hooded zip up jacket ($855), studded drape vest ($535) and the very coveted double breasted hooded jacket ($785).

Sadly most are out of most humble budgets, but we can dream can’t we?

Brose, a new Canadian luxury label has released their FW09 lookbook, and the dresses are divine.

The images below are my pick for the best garments shown; my particular favorite being the top left dress [the Molly] that has all over crystal detailing ($995). Any of these pieces would be the ideal launch point when dressing for formal events.

The line has been picked up by Holt Renfrew‘s Bloor, Yorkdale and Montreal locations, as well as jacflash and via the official site.

Dace has officially released their FW09 collection. As a bonus, you will receive a gift with any FW09 collection purchase.

Even if you’re not in the mind or state to shop, check out their lookbook; the photos are truly lovely.

I like a nice off the radar brand that provides you the necessary styles without a wallet gouge; MinkPink does just that.

Considering that MinkPink has a Balmain clone red leopard print tank that sells for $25 (CA), you can expect that the upcoming pieces from their FW09 collection (shown below) should be fairly affordable as well. An average price for their dresses is about $120; their ‘Breathless’ dress is $118.

I’m loving their continued presence of the leopard print as well as plaid and shiny effect fabrics. Trust me, this is exactly what you’re going to be looking for once September hits (or sooner).

Everyone’s favorite supermarket clothing like has come up with a new addition – Joe Fresh Beauty.

The line has already hit Superstore shelves in their Joe sections, and the price points are actually quite reasonable. For instance; lipstick or mascara is $6, a bronzer or lip gloss will cost $8 and cheek tints or eyeliner is $4.

Some items to expect when visiting shops are 61 shades of makeup, 8 lip products (69 shades); 7 face products (47 shades), 13 makeup brushes and 13 cosmetic accessories; including eyebrow grooming and pedicure kits.

I wonder if the quality will be comparable to that of familiar drugstore brands? If anyone has tried this line, please drop comments and let us know what you thought.

It’s a shame when garbage like this happens to good companies (and good people).

Hayden-Harnett‘s “Iskia” sandal has been unceremoniously ripped off by shoe copycats Lovely People (how ironic, no?).  It’s clear that there are always brands built off taking inspiration from other brands (Jeffrey Campbell, etc) that would otherwise be out of the general public’s reach, but I find this to be a little rediculous.

The HH original sells for $238 while the knock off Lovely People version for $128; that is still over 50% of the original price! Not to support the idea of design cloning, but it’s a shade easier to deal with the notion of a high street brand making a sibling to a piece costing upwards of $800 (such as Jeffrey Campbell’s Balenciaga sandal rip offs) that the ordinary public would never be able to afford.

We also have to accept that elements of copying exist in every aspect of the fashion industry, but items such as the sandal by LP below seem far too brazen to be acceptable.

How do you feel about the matter? Does it matter to you when designs of reasonably affordable brands get ripped off by only slightly more affordable ones?

For all us Marcello fans, Fluevog appears to have made us a spacetastic version.

I’m assuming the price will hover around $269 (this is historically what the Marcellos have been priced at), though I figure since this one is all metallic the price point will be a shade higher.

These Marcellos are set to be released in March.

SS09 menswear has the perfect colored footwear accent.  To achieve this look, check out the Miliken boot by Fluevog.  Coming in both evergreen and olive, this boot will compliment the emerging colors in your wardrobe styling effectively.

I really love how new life has been breathed into the combat boot.  More often details get lost in a black-on-black design situation, though that is definitely not the case for either of these colors.

You get full view of the triple buckle, spray painted toe detail and multi colored leather pieces.

Milikens run at $425.

With the a flat, colored heel the Heron boot is exactly what the urban warrior needs for adventuring in a concrete jungle.

I particularly enjoy the gray version with the red block heel and contrast stitching. There is an entirely black sibling, though that version lacks creativity and doesn’t have distinct character that the gray pair does.

The distressed leather, slight wrinkling and double strap gives the boot an authentically worn look, while the red accents keep the design up to date.  I’m quite pleased to see a pointed toe; this keeps the boot design sleek, streamlined and fluid while moving with your legs.

The Heron runs $459, so start saving now!

M.A.C. cosmetics is launching their collaboration with Japanese icon Hello Kitty today.

As you can see below, the result is a darker Kitty than we’re used to seeing, though it’s a smart move from M.A.C.’s branding team.  The released products are rich and colorful; perfect to set off your SS09 wardrobe.

Prices range from $46 for a four pot eyeshadow kit to $13 for branded HK nail laquer.  Will you be partaking in this pussy craze?