American Apparel

She Was a Young American: Come for the impassioned defense of American Apparel mastermind Dov Charney. Stay for the sexpolitative photography. [Radar]

Fancy a Game of Footy?: Solid unisex, yes unisex, kicks from Jonathan Saunders and Goa. [JC Report]

Francophila: French women - now more sexual than ever. C’est Magnifique! [Time]

Changing Seasons: In Spring, a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of seersucker. [A Suitable Wardrobe]

Our Girl Friday: It’s been a long workweek. Don’t you think you deserve two minutes of Rachel Bilson being impossibly cute? [Nylon]

Sex Change: The TMagazine site has switched over from women’s fashions and a shot of Natalie Portman to a George Clooney pic and menswear stores, which is pretty much an even trade. [The Moment]

Unintelligent Design: A sartorial history of the cinematic caveman. [The Globe and Mail]

Caught Red Handed: Pikey Colin Farrell tried to steal someone else’s model girlfriend because, hey, why not? [NYPost]

Courtly Love: Our favorite low-tops ever go back to their roots. [Hypebeast]

Easy Marc: Fake Marc Jacobs ads come from real jokers. [Forbes]

The Great Divide: H+M line Divided opens it’s first standalone store in the English-speaking world. No news yet on a US location. [Vogue UK]

Monarchist Republic: In other Brit boutique news, The Banana Republic opens it’s first store in England. No news yet on a US location. [Telegraph UK]

Vandalism: We might just have to break some windows and steal these new Raf Simons boots. [Hypebeast]

“From Caped Crusaders to Hoodies”: Sounds like Middle School to us. No, seriously, read on. [WSJ]

Board Liar: Some clever jasper was fronting like he was a board member of the Gucci Group. Why didn’t we think of that? Might have had something to do with 20 years of hard time. [DNRNews]

Fred’s Flair: Are you properly dressed for Fred Rogers Sweater Day? [Huffington Post]

Fashion Police: India has banned “Fashion Television” (which, frankly, we thought had been cancelled years ago). Next time you’re watching models traipsing down a runway on the tube, just remember how lucky you are to be an American. [MeriNews]

Chuck Rock: The collision of Converse and gabba-gabba-hey. [The Guardian]

Labor Pains: That BR sweater you’re wearing for casual Friday might have blood on it. [One World]

Along Came a Spider: We knew a kid in High School who drove an Alfa Romeo, which was so cool because it was as sexy as a Porsche but cost less than our used Saab SE. We don’t know what to think about this new one. [Luxist]

Deal Alert: Suit up for your next expedition at Freeman’s Sporting Club and then stop in for a cut and shave. Tell Van we sent you. [Racked]

Hairy Beast: Arctic Muskox is the new hotness, dontcha know. [A Suitable Wardrobe]

Outside The Lines: Martin Greenfield shares his craft with Band of Outsiders. [Men.Style]

Screen Shots: DJ/Designer Matt Creed professes his love for Gawker - meaning it’s only mere moments before they sully his good name. [VanityFair.com]

Duty Free: Paul Smith takes off at Heathrow, unlike some. [Vogue UK]

Rabbit, Run: Furry chic makes its unsettling debut at Tokyo Fashion Week. [Boing Boing]

“Composition with Yellow, Blue, and Red”: Nike goes all Neo-plasticist on us with the Piet Mondrian Dunk Lows. [NikeSB.org]

Goose Steps: The Cut hashes out this whole Adidas-Puma-Third-Reich thing. [NYMag]

Repeat Performance: Daniel Craig, star of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and some other stuff, wins GQ’s best-dressed award for the second year straight. [Vogue UK]

Signing Out: Portfolio’s fashion blogger Lauren Goldstein Crowe waves a “Peace the Fork Out” to the rest of the linkable world. [Portfolio]

Pig-malion: The classiest classy guy in the world of high class wants to play Henry Higgins to Ashley “The Governator” Dupré’s Eliza Doolittle, though we suspect she’s already had her elocution lessons if you know what we mean. No? Us either. [NY Daily News]

Big Top: David Coleman snuggles up to our favorite dandy fabulist and his long, thick hat. [NYTimes]

Hump Day: You totally owe us for these Alessandra Ambrosio shots. [Hollywood Tuna]

NY-LON Suits: Paul Smith’s London bespoke team takes a field trip to Soho (sorry, our Soho). [WWD]

Sidelined:And thus ends an epic season for the NHL’s Dennis Rodman. [NYTimes]

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: The Lookbook captures a sculptural dresser. [NYMag]

Miley Who?: You might have noticed that we’re not covering a certain controversial photoshoot by a certain 15-year-old teen-pop star in a certain general-interest magazine. Really, we’ve got better things to do with our time. [Maxim]

Saddle Up: If you’re excited about Country-and-Western singer Tim McGraw’s new fragrance, you might be a redneck. [She Knows Best]

Surf and Turf: Put on your bib - these Nikes are best with melted butter. [Trash Bag Aesthetics]

Long, Strange Trip: Our beloved Keef gets the weepy video treatment. [FashionIndie]

Watching the Detectives: In the In the Criminal Justice System the people are represented by two separate, yet equally important groups. The police who investigate crime and the tailors who dress them. These are their stories. [New York Times]

The Wright Stuff: This Grandpa Simpson mash-up is about as close as we want to get to national politics these days. [VanityFair.com]

Abboud Face: Meet Joseph Abboud’s newest label, Black/Brown 1826. [DNR]

Sensible Shoes: Armand Limnander’s picks for socially acceptable sneakers. [The Moment]

The Gospel According to Paul: Loden Dager designer shares his theories on manhood. [Dejour]

Heresy!: Tim Gunn tears apart the new Polgymaist chic—not like he wasn’t going to hell anyways. [AOL]

Pabst Can Coffin: And now we can die. [HuffPo]

Wrinkle-Free Suits That Look Good: For real? For really real? [We Are The Market]

England’s Finest: We don’t know many of the names on Esquire UK’s best-dressed list. We do know, however, that David Beckham is not amoung them. [IndependentUK]

Tennis Anyone?: Crocodiles kill more people in Africa than any other animal. These Lacoste’s are killers too. [Hypebeast]

Greener Pastures: Like it or not, John Deere is the new hotness. [DNRNews]

Ink Blots: Your new touch-senitive tattoo will receive even more female attentions than that Tasmanian Devil piece on your bicep. [PSFK]

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.

Picture Perfect: The only thing hipper and wackier than Adam Kimmel’s clothes are Ryan McGinley’s lookbook shots. [Selectism]

Newly Available: These starlets are all suddenly single. Have at it boyos. [Radar]

H&M is Pushing Menswear: Yes, but where to? [Fashion United]

Pull The Blinds: There’s something deeply creepy about Hussein Chalayan’s new T-shirt. [Men.Style]

Lanvain + Acne: Equals one very cool, very classy hightop. [Scotch and Plaid]

How to Get The Tom Brady Look: Giselle Bundchen not included. [Valet]

Squash is The New Golf: Yes! We can finally make good use of our super tight shorts! [Vanityfair.com]

Chic Rock: When we boot up Guitar Hero at home, we can only wish things like this happened. [Crave Online]

Sneakers have been getting flashier and flashier lately, but this marks an intriguing new development. The designer—Christian Lacroix, on behalf of Gola—ditches the 70s nostalgia that most mainstreamers are chasing and goes with something much more old-world. The combination of the embossed leather and the rich colors make this seem like a throwback to a previous century. If Louis XIV had worn sneakers, he would have worn these.

Veja has been around a while, but the fair trade sneaker company (and favorite of Josh Spear) has finally graduated from Adidas knockoffs and produced something worth buying for non-charitable reasons.

Behold the Grid. The color is “moonrock” and the look is decidedly spaceman-inspired. It’s simple, stripped-down, and just offbeat enough to warrant a second look from whoever you happen to be meeting. And, naturally, it blends perfectly with the rest of your monochromatic ensemble.

And just because it’s French doesn’t mean you’ll have to pay shipping charges. Click through for a list of stateside locations»

We spotted Clae at the capsule show in July, but we thought we’d take a moment to examine the full set. The looks range from low-key loafers to Thriller-esque hightops, but the middle ground is where the real action is.

After the jump, see our pick of the litter»

Quiksilver isn’t the only line with a forward-thinking label coming along for the ride. Adidas has managed to pull the same move without going to the bother of actually producing any shoes, or even designing shoes could possibly be produced. After all, why go to the trouble of putting together samples when all you really need are a few shiny pictures to send around the blogosphere?

Vagant let us know about this promotion, which comes courtesy of German sneakerhead Fritz Träumer. There’s the ultra-green sneaker, the Kraftwerk-inspired sneaker, and a few more, but we couldn’t help wondering…weren’t you supposed to put these on your feet at some point?

See the rest of the sneakers»

Belle du Jour: Kate Winslet steps into Catherine Deneuve’s shoes for the win. [FashionIndie]

Just for Kicks: What the world needs now, more than anything else, is crocodile skin sneakers. [Luxist]

The Writing on the Wall: A countdown of the top 25 parodies of Shephard Fairey’s Obama “Hope” poster. Sadly, Nate Dogg does not make the list. [Village Voice]

Dov Love: The cops are after Dov Charney, for all the obvious reasons. [PSFK]

Seavees is well on their way to becoming California’s finest shoe, but they’ve got more than sunshine on their mind.

The latest line (via Men.Style) is titled 9/63, in honor of the founding of color magnates Pantone. Of course, we’ve admired their work in the past, but we never thought we’d end up seeing them on a sneaker.

Unfortunately, they skip out on Mimosa in favor of seven more 60s-oriented color blends, but they’re richer choices than you usually see on footwear. It might be a bit hard to match, but this orange hue is our favorite. You’d better hurry if you like it, though: it’s a limited collection (as usual with Seavees), and only 1,963 are going on sale.

The sneaker/oxford divide isn’t what it used to be. Take Generic Man, for example. They’re one of the best sources for streetwear-ready spaceman sneakers, which carry a decent price tag but run a little low on prestige. But that doesn’t mean they can’t take on something a little more upscale.

These cap-toes aren’t exactly Alden material—there’s still no substitute for a real cobbler—but as far as avant-garde formalwear goes, it’s hard to do much better. It may be patent leather on the toes, but that just adds to the synthetic vibe created by the clever double-front and strangely clinical powder blue.

There’s also a denim-colored version, but we’re guessing you’ll want to keep things neutral.

Gossip: Leighton Meester’s Reebok spots have us reconsidering our stance on sneakers. [FashionIndie]

New Slang: NYMag brings us up to date on something called “Teddy Boy.” Apparently it’s not just a cockney epithet anymore. [The Cut]

Colored Pencils: The exceedingly twee world of pencil art. [NotCot]

Trained Fleas: A quick tour of the Brooklyn Flea, as curated by some of our favorite bloggers. [Cool Hunting]