new york

boston chicago connecticut DFW los angeles miami new york philadelphia san diego sf bay area washington

The Feast leads you to the best places to eat, shop, and play in your city. Here's how we do it.

Forget Email, Send These Notes Instead | Next »

Launches by Jun 15, 07:03PM in Shop

Menswear Label Debuts, Slinging Limited Runs, U.S.-Made Pieces

Menswear Label Debuts, Designed by S.D. Native

On the designer's figurative inspiration board: "I'm a big fan of Mark Ronson in terms of style," says Michelle. "Even though he's been living in a suit and a pair of dirty Ben Sherman boots for the past two years, I like the way he takes traditional tailoring and does it a little bit differently. Shows a little more sock when he's standing, shortens his cuff a bit to show more accessories. John Legend also nails it; he always looks really proper." Photo: Fit & Supply

Photo: Fit & Supply

"Every guy needs a good-fitting woven," says creative director Courtney Michelle. "Regular guys who don't get their clothes tailored will have their shoulder seams too far down their arms, cuffs over thumbs, and it's sloppy. So if 90 percent of men in the world are not going to go to a tailor after buying a shirt, why can’t designers put out better-structured clothing?" Photo: Fit & Supply
On the designer's figurative inspiration board: "I'm a big fan of Mark Ronson in terms of style," says Michelle. "Even though he's been living in a suit and a pair of dirty Ben Sherman boots for the past two years, I like the way he takes traditional tailoring and does it a little bit differently. Shows a little more sock when he's standing, shortens his cuff a bit to show more accessories. John Legend also nails it; he always looks really proper." Photo: Fit & Supply
One of the runaway hits of the new line is this short-sleeve woven striped shirt, $67, with a button-down collar. Photo: Fit & Supply
The stripes on the bestselling shirt are faded black and cream, "an old-school Levi Strauss feel," says Michelle. "It's such a cool textile. I argued with the guy and got the very last roll of it. It's very railroad to me, a goldmine-y feel that the whole collection has." Photo: Fit & Supply
A tee, $22, with a rounded pocket and that's free of logos and neck label. It's ultra-soft, but, according to the e-shop's description, "not too thin." Options in white and with v-necks are also available. Like everything else in the line, the tee was made in the U.S. Photo: Fit & Supply
These 'Yachter' shorts are 100 percent cotton seersucker and retail for $60. Photo: Fit & Supply
Fit & Supply does a grown-up sweatshirt via its 'Comfy Indigo' crewneck pullover, made of a high-end French terry/Modal blend. Also in the shot: Australian Merino wool straight-leg trousers featuring custom hand-distressed metal buttons and a fit that's not too tight, not too baggy. Photo: Fit & Supply
An item every man should have in his closet? "A pair of flat-front chinos," says Michelle, who designed these khakis with a front yoke (generally, guys' chinos have yokes in the back) for more of an American workwear look. Photo: Fit & Supply
The lightweight henley of your dreams, style name 'The Don,' $75. Photo: Fit & Supply
The creative director, Courtney Michelle. She's worked for S.D. labels like DC, Osiris, and currently consults for Downtown-based brand Lovewright. But it was at L.A.-based (now defunct) brand Cash Crop where, Michelle says, "I matured as a men’s designer. It was there I designed peacoats and yachter shorts." Photo: Courtesy of Courtney Michelle
Next up for Fit & Supply? "Limited drops" in between seasons, during which the brand will change the fabric on existing pieces. According to Michelle, shoppers can expect in the holiday collection "a lot of color from us — navy and coral. We'll see how I can make that manly," she quips. Photo: Fit & Supply

PHOTO 2/11

As womenswear explores lace and fruit prints and mines YSL’s archives for inspiration, in the menswear realm there's a different movement underway. It's a revolution of reimagined staples and standards, an interest in meat-and-potatoes clothes but with some panache.

New SoCal label Fit & Supply — packed with killer wovens, chinos, and modal tees, and quietly exciting henleys and sweatshirts — launched this spring with that philosophy in mind.

“The Fit & Supply man ranges from ages 24 to 37; he loves fashion, and maybe grew up with a good pair of [Levi’s] Shrink-to-Fits and stellar limited Nikes,” says creative director Courtney Michelle, whose CV includes DC Shoes, Osiris and L.A.’s Cash Crop. “He’s ready to [wear] a Rag & Bone cardigan with a nice skinny tie, but doesn’t have the know-how to make that transition. That’s where Fit & Supply comes in. We help that guy transition without feeling uncomfortable or like he’s changing himself too much.”

The pieces in the collection are all made in the U.S. from American-sourced textiles, some of which were bought from mom-and-pop fabric stores and some of which are deadstock, so the styles are exclusive, numbering 60 to 260 pieces per look.

Another benefit to using local sources? It can keep production cranking along. The brand’s tagline is “Stock-Ready Goods,” a nod to another mission of Michelle’s, which is to streamline the manufacturing-to-retail model. After years as a production manager, she heard loud and clear that late-arriving stock (often delayed in China) is the bane of every store’s existence. “Every Fit & Supply piece you’ll see in a store was made to order,” says Michelle. “That’s why stores are so amped on us right now. [Store buyers] can check out our linesheet, tell us what they want, and it’s at their door in three weeks.”

Above, we take you on a tour of the new menswear brand.