am:pm - All you need all the time!

You can get all you need at am:pm and the other 24hr stores dotted around. Trouble is, somethings I can understand and then the others I am not quite sure of the contents!

Cow Books - Hunting Jacket Research & LETTERS

Two of the books I picked up at Cow Books yesterday in Naka Meguro. Hunting Jacket Research is a must have book for any guys into jackets. TL you will love it!

Tomorrowland DB Jacket

Walked past this window with Gareth, it was for Tomorrowland. Nice little DB blazer in the window, slightly workwear esque, On the right lines for the next pieces.

Letter from Japan

For those of you who met Gareth in the Beak Street store and wondered where he has gone, he has moved to Japan for the year to finish of his study. A strange place to go but he his learning Japanese so it kind of makes sense.

He loves his clothes and he loves Japan so it is a perfect mix, as our man on the ground he is feeding back information slowly so we don't get too excited and move over there! First installment is from Sophnet, really diverse, no detail spared and some things pretty hi tech. Looking forward to visiting and bringing a bit more of Albam to Japan.

Albam accessories & Soho's finest Cappucino

Sometimes you need to see how things look in the right environment, and there is always time to get a cappucino at Fernandez & Wells. The lemon meringue pies are also pretty special.

We are now bringing our leather accessories back to England to be made. This is our credit card wallet, at this moment in time probably not the best time to be using a credit card but cash is just as good and you know where you are.

In the same way we price our garments to give our customers a real value for money these items will also be the same. Made by the same guys who used to make the British luxury brands before they went offshore, they are quite special.

Belts, bags and more accessories will follow and be in the store and online for Christmas 2008. Check out www.albamclothing.com

The Explorer

We found the original jacket in one of the archives of a factory we work with. The original is a mountaineering jacket from the mid 70's. Double layer ventile, grown on hood, two way zipper. It turned out to be a brand that is related to one of our families which was pretty cool. So it is making a comeback, certainly not as technical by todays standards but for everyday use, it will be well above par for the job and you won't look like you're trying too hard. No Gore Tex, just double layer cotton ventile or Spinker Drill for the summer. Here is the Explorer.

One of our bikes

London has gone bike crazy, and it seems like it is the only way to travel around the centre. We may not have the best bikes but we love the bikes we have and are definitely looking to improve our bikes and build up an ample collection. From fold up Bromptons which are getting fully specced to steel frame track bikes we are getting there and most definite;y on two wheels!

The Ultimate Icon

For those of you who know us, then you will have seen a number of Steve McQueen books and images in our store and office. I was having a cup of tea with the owner of the shears (see the image below) and there was this picture of Steve on his noticeboard, to this day he is to me anyway the Ultimate icon. Hard to put into any other words than Steve McQueen.

The Cagoule

The cagoule nearly didn't make it into the range. It was actually an afterthought and came out so well that we had to do it. For those who have the burnt orange this is the rarest colourway as we only produced 25 worldwide.

We have seen a few guys wearing them around town and it still puts a smile on our face to see people wearing Albam. Something most labels take for granted but for us I don't think we will ever get complacent of seeing people wearing Albam and enjoying the garments, it makes everything worthwhile when people like what we do.

There are some more colourways of this piece and from feedback with a number of our customers we are putting the finishing touches to some new additions to this range, some in the same fabric types and others in new fabrics. If you want to know more then register on our site: www.albamclothing.com and we can let you know when they come in.

The Albam Shoe Wall

We finally got some spare time to get the shoe wall sorted in the store. There is more to come for the 23 Beak Street store so we can display our growing range. The shoe wall will now allow us to display the Grenson and Quoddy collaborations in the way they deserve. There are some sneakers due out in February 2009 which we are still working on but are looking quite special.