Cycling fans will want to spend some time exploring this gallery. Brooks England gives us a preview of the 2012 edition to the John Boultbee collection of cycling jackets with the introduction of the Elder Street MK1. It is a beautiful mix of old and new tech.

The casual Elder Street blazer is made from Fox Brothers tweed (a Savile Row textile supplier for some time) which has been specially treated to make the fabric water repellant, but the true story lies in the small details: shaped sleeves cut for cycling, an angle storm welt back pocket, a reflective Boultbee strap on the underside, 6mm topstitching…

The John Boultbee Elder Street is meant to look incredible on and off the bicycle while being built tough to work under any environment you are able to safely cycle or walk in. Timothy Everest designed.

Photography: Selectism.com

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Brogue boots have been practically growing on trees the past few months. This is less a complaint than an observation, and this latest ornamental oddity comes from a tête-a-tête between debonair designer Mark McNairy and Atlanta boutique, Standard.

And an odd trio it is, though in the stop-and-take-a-loving-longer-look way. Two of them walk on leather soles—one of them tan grain leather with red wool flannel and the other brown grain with hunter green—and the third comes in black grain with navy cloth and moves under you on a durable pillow of white Vibram Cristy.

This latter option might be our favorite, thanks to the contrast between the dark leather and the gleaming sole and the more understated upper of black and dark blue. The red and green offerings are tight, no doubt, but could verge on being costume-y. Still, big ups to McNairy and Standard for making something that’s become commonplace look not so common at all.

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Back in 2005, Bono and his wife, Ali Hewson, founded the EDUN line to bring awareness to trade in Africa and beyond. While no major campaigns have occurred under the Edun name, both Bono and Mrs. Hewson have been featured in Louis Vuitton campaigns with the mention of Edun and the African connections.  It all changes for Edun with their debut campaign photographed by Ryan McGinley. The new Edun advertisement campaign features six photographs each featuring one of six species of butterflies – all indigenous to Africa.

View full looks the campaign shots for Edun in our gallery.

Maybe not the most fashionable backpack you’ll see this year, but undoubtedly one of the most rugged. Chrome has always been a front-runner where durability and wear-ability are concerned—this happens when you spend over 15 years making sought-after bags for bike messengers—but we too often associate their wares with those undoubtedly functional but rather unsightly seat-belt buckle clasps on the ubiquitous shoulder bags.

This Yalta bag, however, keeps it nice and simple. While not as minimal as Outlier’s recent entry in the roll-top backpack field, the Yalta has the advantage of four colorways (as opposed to Outlier’s white-only). Jungle—happily not a cammo print; just a nice olive green—Asphalt and Snow are nice monochromatic entries. The 3M Night, meanwhile, is black with a reflective front panel, which is eminently useful while outrunning cars on a bicycle. Make no mistake, these bags are tech (waterproof; built in laptop sleeve; EVA foam back panel; sternum strap … ) but with most of the tech hidden away, they are in crossover territory.

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Amazing what a difference a pair of pinking shears makes. This collab between Italian shoemaker Buttero and British online “sneaker boutique” Offspring keeps it simple, making a few simple tweaks to their classic-looking Tanino sneaker. Most noticeable is that zig-zagged edging around the toe-cap and heel collar. The round leather laces are another nice touch, as is the leather footbed, making for an incredibly austere but also playful pair of shoes. These puppies will be available in two colorways—petrol blue and deep maroon—through Offspring’s site and their London retail outlet come spring.

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I opened up the Macbook Air after a couple of weeks to find a stash of more first looks from the European tradeshows last month. I’ll do my best to pin them up today. It would make me sad to not share.

Viberg Boot fanatics: enjoy these looks from the Viberg collection for Autumn/Winter 2012. Note a few new models as well as a range of outerwear that falls into that heritage/workwear/man range. Well made of course and attire-proper if you appreciate this sort of thing. We love the boots.

Photography: Selectism.com

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Today we bring you a larger but still somewhat veiled view of Commune de Paris spring/summer wears, which we previewed late last year. There are some fetching clean looks represented but we’re finding their mission statement this go-around a little overwrought:

“Commune de Paris 1871 claims to embody freedom, insubordination, resistance to the dictum of a fashion which creates uniforms and over-sells fleeting moments. This revolutionary propaganda corrupts our youth and erodes the foundations of the Moral Order.”

All the smoke machining, Molotov cocktailing and disguising going on here jives with this line of thinking, but it also sounds like a bunch of meaningless doublespeak. Who knows, maybe their tongues are deeper in cheek that we are realizing or maybe something is getting lost in translation. Semantic quibbles aside, we like the crispness of their button ups, the clean patterns used throughout and the anti-professorial leather shoulder patches on the “Sweater Malakoff.” And while printed tees are not heavy hitters in our wardrobes, the silkscreens presented here have an alluring balance of outsider art simplicity and upscale ambiguity.

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American artist, Ed Ruscha gets the Polaroid treatment from Band of Outsiders to highlight their Spring/Summer 2012 collection. The pop artist follows a fine line of what we’ll call “Polaroid ambassadors” for Band of Outsiders who express the wear of their garments in casual and often normal environments. Sure the open fridge and pit bull in the lot may not resonate with all, but the clothing will.

More looks in our gallery…