HandCut Radio

This episode is a poignant one. Yes, believe it or not, this is the final episode of HandCut Radio. After three years and more than 50 episodes, we’re hanging up our microphones to pursue new projects.

But, before we go, we wanted to respond to one frequent request that’s come up while we’ve made this podcast. A surprising number of you have been in touch to ask whether someone could possibly interview Aleks, and now they have. For this special sign-off episode we asked Paul Croughton, editor-in-chief of the Robb Report to quiz our host on everything we’ve learned in speaking to so many fascinating and successful people for HandCut Radio. A huge thank you to Paul from the whole team here for taking some time out to record this finale episode.

We very much hope you enjoy.

We could think of no better way to wrap up this season of HandCut Radio than by revisiting an old guest, Mark Cho, co-founder of The Armoury and co-owner of Drake’s. We’ve called this episode “Mark Cho’s take on 2022” because a lot of the themes we explore – the ‘casualisation’ of style, the different ways men are reinventing suiting, the danger of hype and the saturation of everyone’s attention – feel very relevant to the moment we find ourselves in. We hope you’ll agree that this is a fitting end to our sixth season.

As always, thank you very much indeed for your support and for tuning in. Don’t forget to let us know what you think – leave us a review or drop us a DM.

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HandCut Radio is produced by Birch, the London based creative office of James Allen. Our theme music is by Joe Boyd.

HandCut Radio is proud to be sponsored by Thomas Mason, an historic mill that’s been supplying famous designers, shirtmakers and tailors with world class shirting fabrics since 1796.

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Show Notes:
Mark Cho — Website | Instagram

[03:12] The Armoury
[04:25] The Armoury City Hunter Jacket
[04:51] Horological Society of New York
[04:56] F.P. Journe
[06:03] The Armoury Cotton Sport Chinos
[08:03] Dayware Cotton 3 Pocket Blouson
[08:04] The Armoury Wool Casentino Road Jacket
[08:38] The Armoury’s Spring/Summer 2021 Lookbook
[11:42] The Armoury x H. Moser & Cie (HODINKEE)
[12:04] H. Moser & Cie
[14:10] Elliot Hammer
[20:10] The Armoury TV
[40:40] BODE
[41:02] Edward Sexton
[42:04] Lovat Mill

This week we’re bending the rules of our New York style season slightly, by interviewing fellow Brit, Jason Jules. Regardless, his new book Black Ivy: A Revolt in Style is extremely pertinent to this season’s theme, given its concern with mid-century American style. Aleks and Jason explore Black Ivy in this episode, of course, but we also hear about Jason’s fascination for cultural trend-spotting, his passion for jazz music and his admiration for progressive rap culture. It’s a fascinating conversation, this. We hope you enjoy it.

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HandCut Radio is produced by Birch, the London based creative office of James Allen. Our theme music is by Joe Boyd.

HandCut Radio is proud to be sponsored by Thomas Mason, an historic mill that’s been supplying famous designers, shirtmakers and tailors with world class shirting fabrics since 1796.

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Show Notes:
Jason Jules — Instagram

[05:28] Duffer of St. George
[07:58] Lynne Franks
[10:12] Honey (magazine, defunct)
[15:36] John Coltrane, Giant Steps
[16:02] Dizzy Gillespie
[18:06] Fred Astaire
[19:08] Al Capone
[20:16] David Bowie
[25:19] The Limelight (club)
[26:15] Round Midnight (film)
[31:22] Jazzie B
[31:26] Norman Jay MBE
[31:39] Trevor Nelson
[32:52] Stem Player
[32:54] Donda 2
[33:40] Frank Ocean
[33:42] Tyler, The Creator
[33:45] Pharrell Williams
[33:47] Nigo
[33:47] ‘I know NIGO!’ (album)
[36:16] Virgil Abloh
[37:10] Black Ivy: A Revolt in Style (book)
[39:00] Steve Urkel
[43:13] Summer of Love
[43:47] Long, hot summer of 1967
[51:28] ‘The Black Ivy Edit’ by Drake’s & Jason Jules
[52:08] Teal Madder Silk Fully Lined Bridle Leather Club Belt

Imagine that you’re a young, 20-something clothing designer, and you’re self-funding the growth of your label. It’s going well and you’ve invested heavily in your next collection. Then, picture an overnight flash-flood, a warehouse filled with more than three feet of water, and half that collection being written off. Peter Middleton, the founder of Wythe, found himself in that very position less than a year ago.

We wanted to talk to him about what the rollercoaster of building a young brand is like, and how he bounced back from this huge challenge. We also explore the formula that’s making Wythe an up-and-coming American menswear gem, and how Peter’s background in textile design informs everything he does.

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HandCut Radio is produced by Birch, the London based creative office of James Allen. Our theme music is by Joe Boyd.

HandCut Radio is proud to be sponsored by Thomas Mason, an historic mill that’s been supplying famous designers, shirtmakers and tailors with world class shirting fabrics since 1796.

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Show Notes:
Wythe — Website | Instagram

[07:42] L.L. Bean
[13:21] MRKET
[31:38] Rick Owens

This is the first of two ‘three years on’ episodes we’re featuring this season, with American brands that featured on HandCut Radio in the podcast’s infancy. Regular listeners will know that we’ve always admire Nicholas Ragosta and Agyesh Madan at Stòffa, and their work in building a luxury brand that’s as responsible as it is beautifully curated. In this conversation, we deep dive into how they’ve evolved the business over the course of the pandemic; introducing an impressive made-to-order e-commerce proposition, new limited edition collaborative “editions” of special products, and we touch on some of their pioneering responsible textile research, too.

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HandCut Radio is produced by Birch, the London based creative office of James Allen. Our theme music is by Joe Boyd.

HandCut Radio is proud to be sponsored by Thomas Mason, an historic mill that’s been supplying famous designers, shirtmakers and tailors with world class shirting fabrics since 1796.

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Show Notes:
Stòffa — Website | Instagram

[29:57] 11.11
[43:50] Edition 002
[44:24] Edition 003 (with Landon Metz)
[44:25] In Conversation: Landon Metz

This week HandCut Radio is coming to you from inside the pastel pink walls of F.E. Castleberry’s Greenwich Village atelier, as Aleks sits down with the brand’s founder, Fred Castleberry. Known for his creative, fashion-forward take on made-to-measure tailoring, and the dreamlike aesthetic of his campaigns, Fred has created a cult-brand with a razor-sharp point of view. He tells us about his grounding in design at Ralph Lauren, how he creates characters for all his campaigns, and why he sees clothes as conduits for different parts of his identity.

We hope you enjoy listening, please do leave us a review if you like what you hear!

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HandCut Radio is produced by Birch, the London based creative office of James Allen. Our theme music is by Joe Boyd.

HandCut Radio is proud to be sponsored by Thomas Mason, an historic mill that’s been supplying famous designers, shirtmakers and tailors with world class shirting fabrics since 1796.

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Show Notes:

F.E. Castleberry — Instagram | Website

[03:37] Rugby Ralph Lauren
[04:54] Unabashedly Prep covered on GQ
[17:32] ‘The heist of Dog with Lipstick’ Campaign
[20:13] Wes Anderson
[21:52] Schott ‘The Perfecto®’ Biker Jacket
[24:16] Doomed & FamousL Selected Obituaries (book)
[27:30] The Beatles: Get Back (Documentary)
[30:46] Help! I’m becoming a Sloane Ranger (Financial Times)
[31:55] BODE
[37:09] Celine
[40:28] F.E. Castleberry striped rugby
[40:39] St. John Womenswear
[43:08] Björn Borg
[43:17] David Bowie
[43:21] Jacques Cousteau

This week’s episode of our New York City special is something of a departure from our normal service, in that it’s much more about storytelling than menswear. You can blame Aleks for this; the chance to quiz Air Mail deputy editor and New York Times bestselling author Michael Hainey on on his extraordinary career was just too much to handle.

So, in this conversation Aleks explores Hainey’s career, gets his take on ‘finding your voice’, and hears Hainey’s thoughts on why the best journalists write up what they see, rather than what they think. The pair also chat through Hainey’s cathartic experience in writing his extraordinary memoire, After Visiting Friends.

If you enjoy listening, don’t forget to follow us on Instagram @handcutradio, and leave us a five star review – it boosts us up the podcast charts, and helps other listeners to discover HandCut Radio.

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HandCut Radio is produced by Birch, the London based creative office of James Allen. Our theme music is by Joe Boyd.

HandCut Radio is proud to be sponsored by Thomas Mason, an historic mill that’s been supplying famous designers, shirtmakers and tailors with world class shirting fabrics since 1796.

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Show Notes:
Michael Hainey — Website | Instagram

[10:33] Airmail
[10:48] Spy Magazine (defunct)
[12:55] Graydon Carter
[17:30] Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis
[17:31] Bret Easton Ellis
[24:10] Adam Rapoport
[32:22] L’Etiquette Magazine
[40:13] Stephen Glass, ‘Loving Lies’ (article)
[41:03] Shattered Glass (film)
[43:05] Joseph Bullmore
[48:29] After Visiting Friends by Michael Hainey (book)

Fun fact: when we decided to visit New York for this season of HandCut Radio, one name came up time and again: “you’ve gotta speak to Ouigi”, “oh, you’re headed to NYC, well then, make sure you speak to Ouigi…” So, we did.

Ouigi Theodore is a pillar of the NYC style scene, and the founder of much-loved store, The Brooklyn Circus. He speaks to Aleks about his pre-menswear career as a party promoter, explains why he’s building a community-driven “100 Year Plan”, and he talks about why life is all about how you dress to show up.

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HandCut Radio is produced by Birch, the London based creative office of James Allen. Our theme music is by Joe Boyd.

HandCut Radio is proud to be sponsored by Thomas Mason, an historic mill that’s been supplying famous designers, shirtmakers and tailors with world class shirting fabrics since 1796.

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Show Notes:
Ouigi Theodore — Instagram | Website

[01:28] The Brooklyn Circus
[03:36] Stevie Wonder
[03:39] Earth, Wind & Fire
[04:07] Brian Davis on HandCut Radio
[04:58] Stony Brook University
[11:46] PROJECT, New York
[13:38] Fabolous (rapper)
[14:12] Evisu
[17:37] Opening Ceremony
[29:11] Mobb Deep
[29:56] Black Ivy: A Revolt in Style (book)
[30:02] Street Etiquette
[35:13] Andre 3000
[47:32] Jason Jules

“The clothes that we think of as elitist came from a place of fun and irreverence,” says Jack Carlson, founder of New York based indie brand, Rowing Blazers. Over the past six years, Carlson and his team have democratised the clothes most associated with stuffy Ivy League and Oxbridge sporting institutions, giving them a new lease of life. We talk about this at length this week, as Aleks explores just how Jack has built a brand that feels fresh and inclusive as opposed to elitist and stuffy. Thanks for tuning in as always, we hope you enjoy listening. 

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HandCut Radio is produced by Birch, the London based creative office of James Allen. Our theme music is by Joe Boyd.

HandCut Radio is proud to be sponsored by Thomas Mason, an historic mill that’s been supplying famous designers, shirtmakers and tailors with world class shirting fabrics since 1796.

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Show Notes:
Rowing Blazers — Website | Instagram

[09:35] College of Arms
[13:35] Rowing Blazers by Jack Carlson [book]
[19:18] Barbour x Rowing Blazers
[20:42] FILA x Rowing Blazers
[20:43] Sperry x Rowing Blazers
[20:48] Harry’s Bar x Rowing Blazers
[27:28] The Jackal Magazine [defunct]
[31:42] Paul Winston; ‘Chipp Off The Old Block’ [article]
[33:37] Brendon Babenzien on HandCut Radio
[34:19] Vineyard Vines
[41:14] Rowing Blazers x Babar
[43:28] Rowing Blazers Medieval Manuscripts
[44:08] ‘Seiko’s New Collab With Rowing Blazers Is A Stroke Of Genius’ [article]
[45:11] Nike Dunk Low Georgetown
[46:07] Rowing Blazers x Seiko ‘dad hat’

This week, Aleks meets Brian Davis, the founder of cult vintage American menswear store, Wooden Sleepers. Brian talks openly and honestly about the rollercoaster ride he experienced during the pandemic, which culminated in the closure of his beloved Red Hook store. He also talks about how life as a father has changed him, and why post-lockdowns, Wooden Sleepers 2.0 is the best its ever been. This episode has to be one of our all-time favourites, we hope you enjoy listening.

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HandCut Radio is produced by Birch, the London based creative office of James Allen. Our theme music is by Joe Boyd.

HandCut Radio is proud to be sponsored by Thomas Mason, an historic mill that’s been supplying famous designers, shirtmakers and tailors with world class shirting fabrics since 1796.

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Show Notes:

Brian Davis — Instagram | Website

[02:30] Wooden Sleepers
[05:08] Thrasher (magazine)
[05:11] TransWorld SKATEboarding (magazine)
[05:12] Big Brother (magazine)
[05:46] Kurt Cobain
[14:19] A Continuous Lean
[14:20] Selectism
[21:01] Sid Mashburn
[22:24] @vintageprl
[45:04] Wooden Sleepers x J. Press
[45:19] Wooden Sleepers x Todd Snyder
[45:26] Wooden Sleepers x J. Crew