Men's Second Style

If you remember the 1980′s movie “The Abyss,” in which a group of explorers discover intelligent life at the depths of the ocean, you will understand why my first visit to the clothing store Lookr was, to say the least, a little eerie. The clothing store is just below the surface of the water and is enveloped by the darkness of the sea. To enter the store you must swim through a fog of cold water and up through a hole in the floor of the complex.

The salt water and bright light from chandeliers will keep you squinting until you realize that the interior of this clothing complex is nothing like the darkness that surrounds it. It is filled with plush and comfortable furniture and any visitor would love to cuddle up within and take a nap.

The clothes have been reviewed by our very own Damen Tenk.

But I had to review the man behind the clothes, Adam Soler. His view of Second Life and his reason for creating clothing is just as interesting as the location he chooses to sell them. You will notice that on some of his cozy sweatshirts he has printed two numbers separated by a colon. If you are from a Judeo Christian background you will recognize these as Bible verses. I have not seen anyone in the fashion industry design clothing of this type and I began thinking of a series of question I had to ask Adam Soler.

Blink: What do you enjoy most about fashion in Second Life?
Adam: I’m a graphics designer in RL, and I work with the web a lot in my work. Fashion in Second Life allows me to deliver creative solutions over the web in fresh new ways.

Blink: What do you feel you can bring to men’s fashion?
Adam: I come to men’s fashion in Second Life with a passion for graphics and illustration I hope to be able to combine my love for my work with my skills to execute them in this new environment, and to offer great quality products to SL residents. I wanted to give something to Second Life – that’s what Lookr is for.

Blink: When I walk around the Lookr store it is apparent that you have a Christian Theme. Other online reviewers have ignored or tried dismissing this fact by reverting attention back to the quality of the product. I want to know why you have incorporated Judeo Christian symbols and themes into your designs?
Adam: I’m a Christian, I feel that a person’s relationship with God is the best love story anyone can tell. I don’t by any means want to paste biblical references all over the products that I create; that’s more to the tune of ‘bible bashing’ than sharing poetic creativity with people. If a product wants that poetic creativity, I feel that there’s a lot to be said and seen from things such as the Bible which have invaluable messages of many different kinds.

Blink: Do you feel that your faith based clothing line may get in the way of people seeing the quality of your clothing?
Adam: Lookr will offer many different clothing solutions – all of which will have different ideas behind them, different feels; people can choose to buy what they like. Faith means more than ‘religion’; I hope people will appreciate the depth, thought and effort gone into my products.

Blink: What does faith and Second Life mean to you?
Adam: I see Second Life as 3D Web. The web offers connectivity and interaction with others, like a telephone or a RL conversation. Faith is something in us all – applicable wherever we are.

Blink: Philosophy Question: Does God Exist in Second Life?
Adam: I believe there’s 3 answers to questions like this. “Yes”, “No”, and “I’ll ask him when I get there.” Second Life isn’t mentioned in the Bible, but I believe my previous answer to be true here also – I’ve prayed with people face-to-face, over the phone, in instant messaging clients, in Second Life … God doesn’t have a cell phone but he calls.