I guess it doesn't make to much sense talking Spring/Summer while the snow is covering the country but we are due all the new stock in very soon which for us means eagerly waiting for our UPS man Dave to turn up while we're wielding stanley knives ready to get stuck into the deliveries. It's also time for us to round up all the lookbooks from our brands to give you a good idea of what to expect the next couple of months. First up is Folk, Spring/Summer 13 adds a little bit more sophistication to the collection compared to previous but without losing Folk's much adored playfullness and attention to detail. Every garment in the collection is carefully curated from the overall design to every button and thread.

As the idiom expresses 'The devil is in the details' and when it comes to London based Folk Clothing they could of came up with this term as its the details, time, effort and thoughts that go into each collections design process that means Folk stands out on a rail, not be being out there, wild or putting a third sleeve on a shirt, but by simply taking easy to wear garments and carefully choosing where these details are to be found, be it a hidden pocket, stitch detail or button everything is thorough while be understated. It's this design ethos that Folk started with and still champion to this day that makes us fall for every collection and makes us proud to present to our friends and customers. Check out our Spring/Summer Folk Clothing Collection here.

We are the first to admit we enjoy being the denim geeks that we are, if that's shameful then so be it but the boundaries the indigo fabric can reach are limitations that not many fabrications can achieve, the ability to change shape and aesthetic along with what we as indivduals do in them gives denim it's beautiful character that only leather can compare to, if only we got better looking with age! The Spring/Summer 2012 collection by the Japanese denim experts brings not only a array of well crafted, premiiumquality denim's and washes to the denim bench but also some brilliant apparel to compliment.

"As the dark end of the street turns into the bright side of the road, we see the AW11 man at Edwin emancipating himself from his solitary existence in the shadow’s of lone crusading, by ingratiating himself into a tribe, his desire to roll with likeminded souls underpinned by a feeling of kinship and belonging, and a need for buddies.
The road trip aesthetic is maintained for SS12 albeit lighter in hue and tailored towards Big Sur as opposed to the Mid West. The bike, the intoxicating odour of petrol and the need for speed remain.
To ascertain the season’s highway aesthetic is to dissect the look and feel of the Edwin motorbike brotherhood ‘Sons of the Summer’ thereby illustrating the highlights of what is the most comprehensive spring summer collusion of fabric, function and form from Edwin for many years." EDWIN Japan.

With the awareness surrounding the current resurgence of garments taking inspiration by rural middle class lifestyle's one of my favourite outerwear options this season has drawn it's inspiration from another social and historical background, the Donkey Jacket is regarded as typical of the British manual worker, deriving from the wool sack coat worn by workers in the 19th century, the Donkey Jacket is a short button coat that is typically crafted from unlined black or dark blue woollen fabric and had plastic paneling covering the shoulder blade yoke along with the jacket usually owning two spacious hip pockets and occasionally an inside 'poacher's pocket'.

As a truly iconic silhouette, the Donkey Jacket will almost certainly become part and parcel of most refined men's sartorial arsenal as its a wardrobe staple that not only holds a history, it is a substantial jacket that can be utilised in many an occasion. The Donkey jacket in particular we would particularly recommend having a closer look at is this premium reworking of this classic workers jacket by Mr Oliver Spencer, combining classic styling with subtle modern detailing and tasteful fabrication, it's not just because it's my favourite jacket in the store, but also because of the craftsmanship and attention to detail that has gone into making this classic British Workwear piece fitting for the modern man without waylaying the features that give's it the classic title it deserves. Mr Spencer's take on the Donkey jacket see the sublte yet brilliant designing of this worker's jacket having it's shoulder yoke topped with waxed cotton as opposed to the usual leather and the body of this tailored classic crafted from melton wool. The Navy blend Donkey Jacket also features foreman patches crafted from the same waxed cotton fabrication, full front button fastening, button fastened throat tab and waist adjusters, three front patch pockets and one front welt pocket along with two internal breast pockets makes this workwear piece as functional as you could hope for while the fit is clean and smart as we know and admire from every garment we select from Oliver Spencer's collections. Also it's a label we always admire to see in the clothing we present, even more so from our British brands, the 'Made In England' cotton tape label can be found at home on the inside pocket of the Donkey pocket where it sits with pride.

There is no escaping the fact that Oliver Spencer is a modern British brand and this comes with no surprise that he designs and crafts British classic's that are most importantly wearable, are interesting in design and detail to result in elegant clothes that are brilliantly put together.

Universal Works have a somewhat simply ethos, but nevertheless it's a ethos that made us fall in love with the clothing and more importantly Mr David Keyte and his team have stuck to their philosophy season upon season to craft good honest menswear, with a focus on offering quality garments with a great fit. There's no great vision or message with Universal Works, its garments for everyone, clothing made stylish by its owner while being easy to wear for every occasion with the use of great natural fabrications, a lot of unstructured tailoring and uncomplicated detailing and instead turning to being well cut and craftsman made.

One of our favourite's for this season on the outerwear front has been the Peak Parka, it's a classic take on the classic parka coat through David Keyte's eyes. Crafted from 100% navy cotton twill, the waxed outer has been complimented by a removable quilted liner making it the perfect versatile coat during the forever unpredictable British weather. With featuring such as a drawstring detail to the hood, storm flap with leather football button fastening and zip fastening, two smaller button down flap chest pockets, two large button down hip pockets, internal drawstring waist, hem and inner pocket makes this a functional garment while being a great aesthetically. A coat that has already broke some hearts in store the Peak Parka is a great choice for all year round outerwear, can't really ask for such more from a coat than that can we...

With the colder days now here no doubt everyone as done the same as us and hit the panic button for the Winter Coat search. This normally occurs once a year and it doesn’t get any easier as selecting that one outerwear piece that will become your best friend over the Winter months and will look after you protecting you from the elements. There’s a lot of weighing up to do, the design, the brand, the fabrication and so on, with this is mind and how sure you have to be here’s a investment you won’t look back at twice, the Canvas Overcoat by Folk Clothing is a great Winter option.

Having become a well known regular with us and being a well established Folk favourite, this mid weight overcoat is a novel design that encapsulates both classic features of a double breasted overcoat while being merged with contemporary styling. This modernist approach of a classic design by Cathal and the Folk team means the Canvas Overcoat is practical and versatile, while it’s a smart substantial winter option that will serve and protect during the height of Winter, it also has a removable button out padded chambray lining allowing the coat to be worn when the weather does decide to pick up, being in England we never usually get our hopes up.

To no surprise the Canvas Overcoat is full of Folk signature detailing, I say this because the beauty to all Folk’s pieces is the detailing is always subtle and functional, serving a function on the garment while always having a great attention to the detail. Crafted from a hardwearing 100% cotton from a Belgian supplier who has supplied their military for many years, the cut of this Overcoat is really workwear inspired with a wider, straighter body. With hand cut removable vegetable tanned leather straps, Corozo Nut Buttons, Folk embossed brass buckles (crafted by a small forge in the UK), Stitched underarm detailing, drawstring detailing and a ticket pocket that holds a iphone if that’s your mobile phone of choice, this Double Breasted Overcoat  is a all-rounder, a name given to many but truly only applies to a selection, whether it be worn to the office during the week or to the pub at the weekend it’s good food for thought for that adventurous search that is the perfect Winter Coat.

At Weavers Door we never like to let our favourites be known because we truly feel to have a favourite is the decision of the individual, to be decided by that individual for reasons of their own. With that being said, we do however get giddy over every collection we are lucky enough to present from our good friends at Folk. The London based label have a vision to create simple everyday clothing with subtle, innovative and more than often than not playful detailing.

The iconic furniture designer, Charles Earnes, once said “the details are not the details, they are the design”. This is a concise explanation of the design ethos behind Folk’s thoughts and design approach in both their clothing and footwear collections. By not trying to re-create the wheel in terms of style design and function, Folk instead focus on developing our own fabrics, trims and design details to create easy wearing garments with that little bit of something extra that sits Folk alongside but apart from its peers, letting the craft of the clothing do all the talking.

Over the past few seasons, Folk have been working hard at developing their own trims, whether its buckles, buttons, pop studs, hand dipped cords or leather straps. They are very passionate in their beliefs that it’s a very important part in what they do and what helps them make their clothes a little different from the rest. Our good friend Anton from Folk recently visited one the Folk suppliers, who as it happens is up our neck of woods, just outside of Liverpool and is a bit of a master craftsman at transforming the design ideas the Folk creative’s conjure up and turn them into reality. The images in this post are compliments to the Folk team and give you a flavour of what he does and the craftsmanship that goes into the Folk detailing they are widely known for in their clothing.

Back in 1995 when  Fraser Moss and Jimmy Collins borrowed industrial designer Raymond Loewy’s slogan, ‘You must create’, in order to name their nascent clothing label they couldn’t have realised what a clarion call those words would become. The label swiftly came known as YMC, took it’s initial inspiration from workwear, the football terraces of the early 80s, the tradition of outward bound attire and American and British military wear. From the uniforms and sportswear they borrowed precision and crisp functionality and from punk they took a dark humour and well aimed iconoclasm. YMC were and will always be defined as much by what they are against as what they are for.

Since it’s creation, YMC has slowly and quietly evolved into a highly sought after and significant label, and one of many Weavers Door is proud to present to our friends and customers. Now amongst the prime exponents  of a highly British form of modernism in clothing design, opting to follow in the precept that form follows function and stepping aside to those who rush towards the fleeting, transient and contingent outlook on design, allows YMC to be free from fads and fripperies, and are as close to timeless as clothing gets.

For this Autumn/Winter, YMC have put distinct signature design twists on traditional winter pieces and fabrics, presenting modern silhouettes and textures combined with influences from the uniforms of 1960’s US serviceman, and the UK air force of World War II. Some of the key pieces of the season that have stood aside for us are the Quilt Jacket, a YMC regular which has been nicely moved along in an enzyme sand wash, the fantastic Duck Coat, which is an amazing goose down and feather coat. YMC’s collaboration with Gloverall continues this season with an update of the classic duffle shape featuring a shawl collar, dual press studs and traditional rope and  toggle fastening, there is also a name tag in the interior of the coat requesting your name, rank and blood type just incase you didn’t have this information on your person. Long known for their impressive quality knitwear, this season see’s the offering being no exception to the norm with a showcasing of woollens from pop colour cashmere jumpers to preppy collegiate cardigans and the Fair Isle knit pieces speak for themselves and have become a somewhat YMC classic and deservedly so. Other key styles that have got us excited is the traditional British hunting style in a jersey version of the classic American athletic baseball sweatshirt.

YMC are a prime example why Weavers Door champions heritage and strong identity, it’s the ethos behind YMC that has allowed the successful building of a loyal following of like minds who enjoy clothing for what makes it special and individual: being beautifully tailored, ingeniously understated and full of hidden details. To view the full YMC collection at Weavers Door jump to here.

We recently had a really nice feature in London based Blog 'Lineage of Influence'. A really great blogpost and kind words were said so a big thankyou to Lineage of Influence, much appreciated:

New on the Menswear shop scene is Weavers Door in Liverpool. The shop’s only been open for a few months but is already starting to make a name for itself and I thought I’d feature it on the blog to bring it to more people’s attention.

The guys say of themselves: “Weavers Door is a Liverpool Independent born from a desire to offer the finest menswear from the best brands. Our aim is to continue to strive for best and nothing less. In a world swamped with poor quality goods, we can only survive if we seek to inspire and be inspired. We support the brands with authenticity and quality which is often overlooked. The Best items from the best brands.”

 With a stock list that includes the likes of Alife, Baracuta, Barbour, Carhartt, Clarks Originals, Edwin, Farah, Fred Perry, Folk, Garbstore, Gloverall, Grenson, Lee, Nudie, Norse Projects, One True Saxon, Original Penguin, Penfield, Universal Works and Wrangler Blue Bell it’s easy to see the above statement being true. And this will be further bolstered with product from Oliver Spencer, Redwing and Natural Selectism for the Autumn/Winter 2011 season.

Based at Cavern Walks on Harrington Street, it’s a decent sized shop, not too big, nor too small and the whole fit out is nice and simple – it’s not all minimalist lines and stark white, instead it’s inviting and cosy, which is what the place is all about. With plenty of product on the shelves to be browsed it’s one of those shops you can spend ages looking around and would always leave with something (or maybe that’s just me and my shopping habits).

It often feels that the blog can be quite London-centric, and with everything we have down here it sometimes seems like the fantastic Men’s stores that exist outside the capital get a bit neglected, so it’s time to redress the balance. Even though Weavers Door is still in its infancy it’s no doubt going to become a firm favourite for those in the North of the country that like decent clothes.

So if you’re in the area drop by, say hello and check out what the guys have got to offer. For more information on the shop, or to use their online store, go here: Weavers Door.