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Ikire lays it down, the road that I must follow.
Over the years, you develop relationships with online contacts after seeing each other for so long on so many different venues. Wale, who runs the fantastic blog lessgentlemen, has been an eFriend of mine for a long time now. When he contacted me a few months ago to let me know that he was starting a line of his own, I couldn’t have been more happy for him. What I didnt know, was that he was as talented as he is nice.
Ikire Jones, his new line of accessories and ready to wear, is based off of a strong African influence. It incorporates bold, vibrant colors of the region, and has some very unique imagery. I recently purchased my first item, a handkerchief entitles “New Lagos”, a stunning display of browns and blues, punctuated by strong reds. The wool/silk blend feels like paper thin cashmere, and the hand rolled edges rival some of the best I have seen on a square. The quality is as strong as the imagery and colors here, all hand made in Macclesfield. I cant wait to get this in a pocket, truly. The blend of colors used here will be great with most anything. Its one thing to make a pretty pocket square, but to make one that looks great in the pocket with all colors interplaying with each other is another.
My friend Derek over at Die, Workwear! recently wrote about the beauty of Rubinacci pocket squares and the same theory in this great article. I think that if he were to rehash that article with Ikire Jones included, you would find the same results.
Wale, of course, if you follow #menswear, has been a presence for years and is his own best model. The Ikire Jones site is full of slick, rich photography, and gorgeous page layouts featuring him in his wares. While we all cant be as photogenic as he is, these products work on most anyone who appreciates color and pattern. Not only that, but he puts a lot of vintage photos from the African region that inspire the patterns on his blog. Its quite interesting to see them and how they inspire his work today.
I strongly suggest picking up one of these squares, I know Im already working on the next.
You can visit Wale’s blog at www.lessgentlemen.com, and you can shop the collection at www.ikirejones.com.
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