Nau

Green Man: Nau co-founder Ian Yolles explains fashionable sustainability. [PSFK]

Not So Horny: “Vivid colors, flowing silk ribbons, and glittering bits of mirrors.” And you thought Vikings looked like this, silly goose. [Eurekaltert]

Incoming!: Suface2Air’s Spring/Summer 08 available now. [Word is Bomb]

The Boom Bip: The perfect footwear for the Ed Lover Dance. [Hypebeast]

The Barn Jacket: Seems we’re not the only ones with a fetish for waxed cotton. [A Suitable Wardrobe]

Def Junk: Russell Simmons officially launches his already launched hip-hop-on-the-back-nine fashion brand. It will suck. [Celebrity Brands]

How To Pronounce Comme des Garçons: Don’t blow this one. [Robby Wells]

International Champion: According to the Nielsen company Gucci is the most desired fashion line in the world. Tom Ford commemorates the success of his former employer by rolling over in his sable-covered bed and snoring. [Bloomberg]

High Kicks: Adidas has their Yohji Yamamoto. Now Puma has their Hussein Chalayan. [Fashion Week Daily]

Hang The DJ: Dear Elle UK, hitting “play” on iTunes does not count as “branching out.” [ElleUK]

Roger, Wilco, Out: StyleDash thinks Jeff Tweedy needs a style intervention due to his SNL appearance in a nudie suit. Similarly, we think Style Dash needs a music intervention due to their apparent ignorance of the Flying Burrito Brothers (video). [StyleDash]

Team Colors: An interview with sideline style leader and coach of the 5-and-11 49ers, Mike Nolan. [HuffPo]

Housing Futures: Figuring that all the collapsing real estate market needs is a fresh blazer, “Fashion Futurist Geoffrey Beane” (say whaa?) is teaming up with Century 21 (not the store) to redesign their iconic gold jacket. [Business Wire]

For Absolute Beginners: Buying into Mod style. [ModCulture via Retro to Go]

Best Men: Engineered Garments brings home the inaugural GQ/CFDA Best New Menswear Designers in America award (oh, and $50,000). [Men.Style]

Leading Lights: Luring men toward a new shaving cream is much like luring mosquitos to a high-voltage death. [NYTimes]

Historical Threads: Classic American style parsed. [A Continuous Lean]

It’s Not Easy Being Green: Kermit the Frog gets his slimy, webbed hands on Terry Richardson—or is that the other way around? [Skidknee]

Jeff Koons via Gothamist

Shirt Shift: Artist/Bulldog dissector Damien Hirst has created a line of almost Threadless-quality shirts to go along with his collection of $80,000 jeans. The man has brass balls the size of Volkswagens. Wait. No. That’s Jeff Koons, who also has a line of “meh” tees. [Gawker]

In The Trenches: The men of Duckie Brown discuss their experimental “treated silk” jackets. [Washington Post]

Keef’s Closet: Self-described “minstrel” Keith Richards wears women’s shirts and, as we always believed, doesn’t “do underwear.” [Times UK]

Club Cuts: Soho House members can now add in-house tailors to their myriad benefits. [NY Sun]

Crease is the Word: Don’t have pleats in trousers? Evidently, you are not a man. [Telegraph UK]

Posh Pack Rat: Step into the eclectic home of designer Simon Carter. [Independent UK]

The Nau Strategy: Slick, ruggedwear Nau may supplement their internet retail with physical stores. Whoh, stores that sell clothes. What won’t they think of next? [WWD, subsription required you cheapos]

It’s not all wine and roses in the fashion industry. With the r-word in full swing, a lot of worthy labels are closing up shop.

The latest casualty is Nau, an environmentally-minded activewear outfit that juggled technology and style better than most. Check out their website for a full message, but the gist of it is this: the jig is up.

More on Nau»

Apparently the recently-departed Nau isn’t quite so departed anymore. The Portland-based ecowear marque has gotten a much-needed and much-deserved second chance from Santa Barbara’s own Horny Toad. The Toad favors more casual (and somewhat unremarkable) button-ups, making it a somewhat unlikely brand marriage, but we’re too grateful to hold a grudge.

More on resurrecting raingear»

Now that Nau has been shuttered and unshuttered, it looks like the streets of Portland are once again safe for eco-friendly startups.

END seems to think so at least. The newly minted footwear company has been attracting all sorts of press with its green approach to the sneaker business. Most notably, the company is helmed by a former Nike exec, who may have felt inclined to atone for his employers’ less than savory labor practices. The shoes themselves are mostly earth-toned versions of what you can already find at Foot Locker, but the raw materials are decidedly different, based in recycled rubber and laces made from recycled milk jugs.

The shoes are slated to go on sale August 1 at REI stores, so we’ll have to wait ‘til then to see how they turn out.