Step into the Wayback Machine @ Artilleri, Akeyo

March 6th, 2008 at 02:07pm Ryan Darragh

Nobody does vintage fashions quite like Antonia Marat.  I think her feel for and expression of the carhop era are second to none.  My only complaint is that she doesn’t spend all of her time designing for men.  You ladies are lucky. 

But I will gladly take home any if not all of Antonia’s menswear and be happy.  Her new tanks for men (L$130 each) come in three styles: Skull Artilleri, Lucky Number 7, and 8Ball Flaming Skull.  The ribbed fabric, double-stitched hems and wrinkle shading are realistic without calling attention to themselves, so the graphic designs can really shine.  Oh, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that subtle pec definition reinforces your masculinity for the poodle-skirt crowd.  These tanks come on jacket, shirt and undershirt layers and include an underwear-layer extension for tucking into low-rise jeans.  Add one of Antonia’s jackets if extra toughness is called for.

Antonia’s new Jonas Jeans (L$130) come in basic black only (don’t let’s go inappropriately crazy with the rainbow colors–it’s 1955, for cryin’ out loud!) and include pants, turned-up prim cuffs, prim hip/wallet chain, and ankle socks.  They’re worn casually unbelted, and the turned-up cuffs reveal the raw underside of the denim fabric.  The wrinkles make the jeans look skin-tight, a good look for you, and the lack of wear fading makes it clear that these babies are brand-spankin’-new, not an oldie dragged forth, unwilling and protesting, from the closet.  Although James Dean might have worn these, I can imagine Sal Mineo wearing them more easily than I can Jimmy, especially if Sal had been a bit more of a bad  boy and not such a puppy dog.

Permissions on all items are Modify / Copy / No Transfer.  Grab these at Artilleri (artilleri 192, 123, 26).  New stuff is conveniently located on signboards at the main entrance.

I have to give the nod to Express for pushing me to get my ass over to Akeyo and check out these new Chucks.  Designed and sculpted to within an inch of their virtual lives by Akemi Yoshikawa, these hightops are more flexible than you might expect just from this picture in their virgin, out-of-the-box charcoal-grey coloring.  Through the magic of scripting, you can choose from a dozen different colors for the main shoe, laces, lace rings, and tongue on both shoes together or each shoe separately–just touch one of the shoes and click through the menu choices.  Okay, so four shoe components at twelve color possibilities each on two shoes equals…let’s see, the combination formula is…and carry the one…well, the sign in the shop says there are 281,474,976,710,656 combos!  I methodically tried each one and even took pictures, but I was afraid the bandwidth suck would take down the site if I posted them all.  Sorry, I’m kidding, I have no idea if this number is right–but I did play around and found that the vast array of possibilities ranges from the ridiculous to the sublime.

But wait, there’s more!  You can also resize via the touch menu.  The sizes range, as Akemi says, “from finger size to schoolbus size.”  Frankly, this is far simpler than resizing the shoes manually, trying to get the sizes to match, and then re-positioning the shoes on my feet.  The out-of-the-box size appears to be just right for size 10 feet.

Akemi’s success here is both technical and artistic.  The canvas fabric and rubber sole edging textures are beautifully detailed; the laces are looped only to the instep, and one is casually untied.  Thoughtful and clever touches like this make me smile.

Oh, and as if all this weren’t enough, you also get socks. 

At L$600, these aren’t inexpensive, but considering that you’re getting not just one but untold millions of differently colored shoes, I think they’re worth it.  I didn’t see a demo pair, but a California King sized shoe is on display in the shop for your inspection.  Permissions are Copy / No Modify / No Transfer.

Snap ‘em up at Akeyo (AKEYO 127, 104, 64).

Disclosure: Seen in World: Yes | Review Copy: No | Friends List: No

Notes: On Ryan: "Dante" skin by Lost Thereian (Naughty). "Creeper" hair and Buddy Glasses by Antonia Marat (Artilleri).

Entry Filed under: Akeyo, Artilleri, Casual, Jeans, New Items, Period, Shirts, Shoes