I've missed your air Mr. Hare

Mr Hare Aw10. Orwell, Genet, Bazin and Truffaut. Photo by Marley Lohr.

The folks over at Selectism might have beaten us to the punch in sharing these images from Mr. Hare's AW10 look book but they are so damn good, they are worth a double take. As mentioned previously, for AW10 Mr Hare looks beyond the English Channel for inspiration and focuses his attention on Paris and the French New Wave Film movement in particular. The release of his look book has reminded us just how much we loved this collection back in February... (as you read the rest of this post I suggest you listen to Skee-Lo)...

It all started with the Orwell. Mr Hare wanted a shoe just like this for about twenty years and thankfully he created them. Photo by Marley Lohr.

"For me the AW10 collection was inspired by the city of Paris. The cigarette smoke stain that a smoking ban can’t erase. The shitty clubs. The chic fight. The never appearing taxis. The snooty girls. The complex. The language. The Attitude. God! I love that city. I remember standing under the Eiffel Tower aged 10, with all my classmates and marveling at the sheer decadence of pure aesthetic, Paris had, but London had never struck me with. Paris had an air and it was graceful"

Mr Hare on his inspiration

Truffault. Cuban Jodhpur in Vitello Lucida

In the build up to this collection, Mr Hare was also obsessed by the idea of men in heels. “I wish I was a little bit taller. I wish I was a baller!” Prince, Bowie, Bootsy. The court of Louis XV. Many great heel wearers but can anyone think of a modern day great heel wearer. When Mr Hare raised this point he was reminded of Sarkozy and the derision surrounding his choice of footwear. The gauntlet had been thrown down and it just so happened to take him back to Paris...

"Wearing two and a half inches of heel will change any mans perspective quite literally. You see the world from where other people see the top of your head. On naming my Parisian Man Heels I decided this. Andre Bazin was a French film critic who’s writing influenced the new wave of French film makers, Truffaut, Godard and others, whose contribution to film went on to change everyone’s perspective about what cinema could be."

Mr Hare on the new additions for Aw10.

Truffaut are my particular Cuban heeled favourites

The New Wave filmmakers were linked by their self-conscious rejection of classical cinematic form and their spirit of youthful iconoclasm. Many also engaged in their work with the social and political upheavals of the era, making their radical experiments with editing, visual style and narrative part of a general break with the conservative paradigm. The names of a few of its prominent pioneers, Francois Truffault, Jean Luc Godard and Andre Bazim are given to the most radical shoes, the sexy Cuban heels.

Truffaut once again, simply beautiful. Photo by Marley Lohr.

It takes a particular type of man to be able to wear the selection of heeled shoes. I stand at five foot and ten inches small and have often dreamed of a late growth burst to take elevate me to my ideal height of six foot one. As genetics have left me wanting, perhaps I could turn to Mr. Hare's leather creations for a stylish hoist up? Last summer Susie purchased a wonderful and inspirational book in 'Cheap Chic' by Caterine Milinaire and Carol Troy. It contains a thought provoking piece entitled 'Fashioning the body beautiful' by Jean-Paul Goude which I often find myself re-reading, the below paragraph in particular...

"I've always art directed my appearance. Naked, I have short legs. When I was a kid, I was doing men's fashion illustrations for a Le Printemps department store in Paris. I gradually realised that hese drawing were actually a projection of how I wanted to look. On paper I was elegant, long legged, broad shouldered, slim, etc. One day I decided to make the fantasy real, so I visited John Lobb, the bootmaker in Paris."

John-Paul Goude in 'Fashioning the body beautiful' for Cheap Chic.

Goude was a firm believer that minor body enhancements, like heels or shoulder pads could greatly transform and ultimately enhance the male silhouette. I appreciate that these won't be for everyone but why should they be? I know Skee-lo will be all over these. The idea of fashioning the body beautiful fascinates me. I could certainly add an inch or two with Mr. Hare's Truffaut.

Photo by Marley Lohr.

Besides Godard, Truffaut and Bazin the ‘Miss Your Air’ collection contains many of the Mr. Hare classics, Miller, Kerouac, Fitzgerald and Orwell, all imbued with ‘Airs and graces’ that bring them more in line with his rose tinted perception of Paris. They are also joined by the incredibly handsome Huxley wholecut in ‘Vitello Lucida’ featuring the exquisite Mr. Hare brogue pattern. Last but not certainly not least, the much loved Genet loafer will finally be going in to production for AW10. Mr. Genet was Mr. Hare’s first ever loafer. It is something of a cad of a loafer holding six tassels of soft velvet, trailing at a rakish angle. There are few men with the romantic heart and cold blooded confidence to rock these, but for those who do, Mr. Hare and myself salute you.

Genet is one cad of a loafer. Photo by Marley Lohr.