Issue #44 | The Drake’s by Aaron Levine Capsule is Everything I Love About Drake’s and Aaron Levine
Plus, quantum field theory & more
What a world, eh? Here we are. Even though it’s been quite a week, I wanted to post a little something, because I like doing this, because thinking about clothes soothes me, and I think that’s reason enough.
Here we go…
The Drake’s by Aaron Levine Capsule is Everything I Love About Drake’s and Aaron Levine
There’s a real skill to eBay shopping and thrifting. It took me a while to realize this but it’s true. It’s not just buying, it’s collecting. It’s not just searching, it’s strategic hunting and fitting the things you find into a whole.
There’s a certain aesthetic in Brooklyn, where I live, that has existed since I moved there and which I see everywhere in my neighborhood. It’s a wardrobe that seems to consist entirely of items bought from thrift stores. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with any of the particular items I see people wearing—many of them are pretty cool—it’s that they’re thrown together and worn at random, without any rhyme or reason: a pair of wide leg jeans, an ultra-baggy sweatshirt with a few holes, a Carhartt jacket, some kind of five panel hat or beanie. It’s always some version of that, and EVERYONE is wearing it. The result, I find, is quite boring. There’s no guiding principle; or maybe the guiding principle is simply “thrift.”
Aaron Levine, by comparison, is a master thrifter. The style director and menswear designer has talked about how he still gets most of his clothes from eBay. He thinks of something he wants, and then spends time digging around until he finds the right one, and purchases it for not a lot of money.
The difference between Levine and my Brooklyn coffeeshop-mates, is that he has a guiding principle. He knows his personal style inside and out and everything he buys and wears is built off of an idea he has created in his mind—My Style. Everything is an extension of Aaron Levine. I think there’s a big and noticeable difference between finding a style that works for you and building out from there, and just going to L Train Vintage, buying a bunch of random stuff, and, voila, that’s your style.
This week Levine launched a capsule collection with Drake’s, and it’s a perfect combination of the things I love about his style and the brand’s. From Aaron: The emphasis on comfortable clothing worn with thought; the appreciation of fits of the 1990s; and mixing and matching and experimenting with items that all point back to the original concept of My Style. From Drake’s: The unparalleled quality; the modernized classics; the easy, flattering fits and silhouettes.
Levine, who has designed for Madewell Men, Abercrombie, and has his own line launching soon, is Instagram famous for his airport bathroom selfies he regularly posts since he’s constantly traveling from his home in Ohio to New York and elsewhere:
The capsule is inspired by these posts in a way. Here’s how Drake’s explains it:
Featuring a refined palette with a focus on black (a bit of a first for Drake’s,) our friend Aaron Levine has worked closely alongside Creative Director Michael Hill, diving into the Drake’s archive and drawing on a few of Aaron’s favourite vintage pieces, resulting in a 20-piece collection loosely based on everything you might need for a few days of travel. A suit and tie for meetings and dinner; rugged denim and a jacket that can handle a bit of weather for walking around the city; cotton jersey, a cap and comfortable shirting for airports and hotel lobbies.
It’s really a stellar collection. Some of the standouts include (and I love how the color scheme here seems to be inspired by faded black ’90s Levi’s jeans, which he wears all the time): Charcoal Wool Mackinaw Jacket; Black Check Cotton Two-Pocket Work Shirt; Black Cotton Games Blazer Mk. II; Grey Boucle Wool Half-Zip Fleece Jacket; and the Black Cotton Twill Baseball Cap.
Here’s another thought about the collection I think the man himself would appreciate: You could easily use it all as inspiration and go on your own eBay/L Train Vintage deep dive and build yourself a similar capsule at a tenth of the price. These pieces are inspired by longstanding and versatile wardrobe staples that are available in abundance elsewhere, if you look hard enough. Happy hunting.
The Little/Big Things
A few odds and ends, bits and bobs:
This got me thinking: “Is There a Crisis in Seriousness?”
This is pretty funny: “We’re Way Past Heroin Here”
This story collection I’m reading is a great reminder of the balming effect of great writing: Runaway
This 2019 rom-com made me laugh this week: Plus One
If you ever need to get out of your own head and be amazed, take a break from the news and the apps and go on a deep dive into quantum field theory, for the reminder that we and everything else might just be made up of tiny ripples in fields that stretch across the entire universe. How about that?!
Have a good weekend. See you back here soon.
Mitch
Question? Comment? Suggestion? Caught a typo? Email me at mitch.moxley@gmail.com
