Apaches spotted in a Los Angeles alley, near Mister Freedom® store…

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All rite, before you start calling Five O, let’s just say that the boys and I decided to have fun yesterday and Ms. Jordan shot away…
Nothing to alert the medias about, but we decided to share our goofin’ around. Featured in the photos are pieces of our MFSC Les Apaches Spring 2011 collection:

* MFSC Gilet de Ville
* MFSC Chemise Calico
* MF® Bourgeron Biribi
* MFSC Pantalon Ouvrier
* MFSC Pantalon Apache
* MFSC Chemise Fantaisie
* MF® Casquette “Deffe”

We had more fun than what it looks like on those photos.
No humans were harmed in the shooting of this photo session. Maybe just my pride when i realized i have to lose a few pounds. Anyways…
Cheers,

MF®

(If anyone wonders, John, Nico and I do NOT take ourselves seriously.)

Email jordan@misterfreedom.com or john@misterfreedom.com, or call 323-653-2014 for infos. Sorry, Nico NOT available for bachelorette parties…

Mister Freedom® x Sugar Cane “Les Apaches” (Part. 2): Chemise CALICO

 

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  MISTER FREEDOM® x SUGAR CANE Spring 2011 Collection “Les Apaches”: The long-awaited for MFSC CHEMISE CALICO is here!

No comment on the situation in Japan, I am sure you are following the news as closely as we are. The SUGAR CANE factories have been stoically coping with the tragedy and it is amazing that they have been able to deliver anything at all. Tip of the hat, Sirs. 

Elegant shirting is a large part of our MFSC Apaches collection, and without further ado, we introduce the chemise calico in two versions: An indigo blue Calico and a white Calico. Inspired by late 1800’s European cotton printed shirting fabrics and several vintage swatches from MF® Archives, we went back to early techniques of discharge printing to produce these textiles in Japan.

SPECS:
PATTERN:
All original MFSC pattern, inspired by early European shirting.
FABRIC: All cotton fancy Broadcloth, 3.5 oz. Exclusively woven and printed in Japan for MFSC. Limited run.
A) Indigo dyed base, discharge calico print.
B) White base, indigo calico print.
BUTTONS:Authentic French 1900’s-1930’s New Old Stock glass buttons, also referred to as boutons Briare, because of their regional origin (Finding them in France was a real wild goose chase…)
DETAILS:
* Original MFSC pocketing
* Full button front with secure “belly flap”.
* Lower button placket tab to secure shirt to trousers waist button. (there is a photo of Amedeo Modigliani out there, sporting one of those traditional shirting tabs…)
* Back yoke passe-cravate, to keep scarf or tie in place.
* Back panel and cuff early shirting traditional shearing.
* French style gussets.
* Collar and button placket facing with indigo dyed solid popeline.
* Original woven MFSC rayon labeling and sizing tab.
CONSTRUCTION: Tailor type single needle french seams, no overlock nor chainstitch. 100% Cotton thread, extra high stitch count.
PACKAGING: The shirts come in an individual old school chipboard box, exclusive to MF.
The original oil painting was masterfully executed by Mr. PATRICK SEGUI of RIVETED blog fame, and a paper print of his artwork will be featured on the Apache Collection box tops.
SIZING: All the Apache shirting is sized/labelled in french.
35(Xsmall), 37 (small), 39 (medium), 41 (large), 43 (Xlarge), 45 (XXlarge)
SHRINKAGE: Both fabric options are RAW and unwashed, and will shrink lightly with cold wash/hang dry.

Garment designed in California by MISTER FREEDOM® and manufactured in Japan by Sugar Cane Co.

Available RAW (unwashed)
A) Chemise Indigo Calico
Available Sizes XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL
Retail $359.95
B) Chemise White Calico
Available Sizes S, M, L, XL
Retail $359.95

Call John or Jordan at (323) 653-2014 or mail john@misterfreedom.com or  jordan@misterfreedom.com  to get yours while they last. We ship internationally. We thank you for your support.

 

Mister Freedom® x Sugar Cane: VESTE OUVRIER…V’la les Apaches! (Part. 1)

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Veste_Ouvrier_FRONT Veste_Ouvrier_BACK
 Veste_Ouvrier_CHEST Veste_Ouvrier_COLLAR

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MISTER FREEDOM® x SUGAR CANE Spring 2011 Collection “Les Apaches”: VESTE OUVRIER

Voila l’été…et voila les Apaches!

I would like to thank everyone involved in making this collection a reality, all the believers, supporters, risk takers and hard workers, especially our friends at Sugar Cane Co   for their unconditional support with this new MFSC collaboration.

MFSC Veste Ouvrier (workman’s jacket):
Inspired by early french work wear gear, the first installment of the MFSC Apache collection is a our version of a french worker’s coat. We combined elements of several 1900’s to 1940’s pieces to make our veste ouvrier. We kinda like that one…

SPECS:
PATTERN: An original MFSC pattern and fit, inspired by early french bleu de chauffe.
FABRIC: Two options (fabrics loomed in Japan exclusively for MFSC):
A) INDIGO Métisse: 9.7 oz. indigo dyed twill blend, 70% cotton and 30% linen, un-sanforized. The yarn core is white, the indigo outer has a purple blue shade typical of early french indigo work clothes. Fades, bleeds and reacts to sun light…
B) INDIGO Rayure: 8 oz. indigo/white  warp and black weft striped twill, herringbone weave, white selvedge, un-sanforized (respectfully lifted from a late 1800’s swatch of french textile). Fades…
BUTTONS: Original MFSC Corozo natural wood buttons. (aka “vegetable ivory”, corozo buttons where an hi-end option for suiting from the 1900’s to 1940’s). Five button-front.
DETAILS:
* Original slanted button holes, to keep straight vertical closure.
* Inside white cotton twill pocket backing, to reinforce pocket top edges.
* Concealed chest pocket, with flap covering the MFSC woven label (NO visible branding/logo, so you don’t feel like a billboard…).
* Cinch back belt, with original french NOS metal sharp-prong buckle (DISCLAIMER: guaranteed to mess up your car seat, but we figured they have been around on battle fileds and in factories since the 1840’s, so we’re taking the risk in 2011…). The buckle is removable and you can switch to one that fits your needs.
* Concealed chin strap.
CONSTRUCTION: Tailor type single needle french seams, no overlock nor chainstitch. 100% Cotton thread, oxidized black/brown colour.
SHRINKAGE: Both fabric options are RAW and unwashed, and will shrink lightly with cold wash/hang dry.
SIZING: The Apache collection is sized/labelled in french! (all the way, baby…).
92 (small), 97 (medium), 102 (large), 107(Xlarge), 112(XXlarge)
PACKAGING: The garment comes in an individual old school chipboard box, exclusive to MF.
The original oil painting was masterfully executed by Mr. PATRICK SEGUI of RIVETED blog fame, and a paper print of his artwork will be featured on the Apache Collection box tops. Merci M’sieur Pat’…
LIMITED EDITION: For US and EU, a total of 130 jackets were made
A) 70 pieces of INDIGO Métisse veste Ouvrier
B)
60 pieces of INDIGO Rayure veste Ouvrier

Garment designed in California by MISTER FREEDOM® and manufactured in Japan by Sugar Cane Co.

Available RAW (unwashed)
Sizes S, M, L, XL, XXL
Indigo Métisse
(solid): Retail $579.95
Indigo Rayure
(stripe): Retail $549.95

NOTE:
The Indigo métisse veste ouvrier featured in the above photos has been worn ‘in the field’ on/off for about 2 months, washed cold about 5 times, minimal soap, hang dry. NFS. Production jackets are NOT distressed and are available UNWASHED only.

Call John or Jordan at (323) 653-2014 or mail john@misterfreedom.com or  jordan@misterfreedom.com  to get yours while they last. We ship internationally.

Mister Freedom® x Sugar Cane SPRING 2011 Collection: “Les APACHES”

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And now, Mesdames et Messieurs…

MFSC  Spring 2011 “Les APACHES”

The Paris of the Belle Époque (1900s) saw the emergence of a certain type of street outcasts. They lived in secret dens in the seedy and dimmed outskirts of the City of Lights, abhorred honest labor, hunted the Faubourgs and Quartier de Halles, and danced in local Guinguettes and dives, decked out in flamboyant outfits.

They were called Les Apaches

Issued from the French lower working class, with a lack of education and absence of Future, they regrouped in loosely organized neighborhood gangs. Abiding by their own hoodlum code of honor, they woke up late, spoke the obscure slang Jare, and wore specific flashy clothes. Their dandy accoutrement combined with intimidating attitudes imposed both respect and fear from the Parisians and their police.

For 30 years, Paris’ Apaches gangs marked their territories by terrorizing honest bourgeois citizens, committing petty  larceny, pimping and street fighting their lives away. For those who had ducked the knife and the bullet that bared their name or the ravage of the “Grande Guerre” (WW1), it was the inevitable outcome of Biribi or the Bagne de Cayenne.

In the 1920’s one a many high society dame was spotted mingling with charismatic Apache groups in local Java dance halls, letting her hair down in a famous Dance Apache, immortalized later by Hollywood (“Charlie Chan in Paris”, 1935) and several Broadway Shows. The French movie Casque d’Or (1953) relates a true story of a famous Apache event that took place in 1905.

Bourgeois newspapers of the period and universal fascination with the underworld turned the reign of the Apaches into a mix of myth and imagery that will forever mark the Paris of the 1900s to 1930s…

 

These are the premises and backdrop of the MISTER FREEDOM® x SUGAR CANE Spring 2011 Collection.

Influenced by early French haberdashery and work clothes, European tailoring and Old World silhouettes, this new venture is a departure from the “Americana” inspiration of previous seasons. After extensive research and development we turned a corner onto an unfamiliar avenue (Rue de la Grande Truanderie?) to offer this new look of the Old World…

The collection includes:
* Fancy shirting in printed calico fabrics, cotton jacquard, indigo “Métis” (cotton/linen weave) and pastel color dyed cotton pique.
* French workman outfits in cotton/linen indigo “Métis” twill and indigo ticking.
* Fancy city clothes in intricately woven stripe cotton fabrics.

 

More to come….

Mister Freedom® “SCUTTLER CAP”, NOS wool tweed edition, made in USA. (March 2020 inventory UPDATE)

Mister Freedom® SCUTTLER CAP, NOS Wool Tweed edition.
Made in USA.

(This is a March 2020 updated version of this June 2018 post.)

If you are in a Peaky Blinders or Jack Sparrow kinda mood, here is the latest addition to the original MF® “Scuttler Cap” pattern. Initially introduced in 2013, this hat is our interpretation of the popular vintage newsboy eight-panel cover.

While Paris of the Belle Époque had its ‘Apaches’, Manchester enjoyed the ‘Scuttlers’, all victims, misfits and drop-outs left by the wayside of the Second Industrial Revolution…
In “Teenage, Creation of Youth 1875-1945”, British writer Jon Savage describes their attire this way, quoting a period account from the head missionary of a Manchester orphanage in 1890:

“…the “professional scuttler” wore “a puncher’s cap”, “narrow-go-wides” trousers, narrow-toed brass-tipped clogs, and heavy customized belts with designs, picked out in metal pins, that included serpents, stars, and pierced hearts. The “boy expert” Charles Russell observed that the Mancunian variant wore “a loose white scarf”, with hair “well plastered down upon his forehead”, “a peaked cap rather over one eye”, and trousers “cut – like a sailor’s – with ‘bell bottoms’”

The fabrics of our “Scuttler Caps” have been NOS (New Old Stock) textiles, 1940’s to 1970’s. This latest one is a wool tweed with a very textured grain and a definite vintage demeanor.
Please note that the sizing paper label stitched to the back of the cap, a reference to vintage packaging, is easily removable and not part of permanent branding.

The MF® Scuttler Cap is designed and made in California by Mister Freedom®.

SPECS:
* An original MF® pattern inspired by vintage 1930’s newsboy eight-panel caps.
* Genuine kangaroo leather sweatband (stretch-proof and rot-proof).
* NOS cotton biased tape seam piecing.
* Made in USA.

SIZING:
To avoid confusion, we recommend wearing the Scuttler Cap as-is, without rinsing it.
We measure the sweatband in centimeters. If unsure, measure your head with a metric cloth tape measure to determine your hat size. Kangaroo leather will not stretch or shrink but the hat crown might loosen slightly with normal wear.

CARE:
Professional cleaning only. Do not machine-wash.

Available raw/unwashed.
Limited sizes available per fabric option. See updated inventory here.
57cm
 (~ US 7 1/8)
58cm 
(~ US 7 1/4)
59cm
 (~ US 7 3/8)
60cm
 (~ US 7 1/2)
61cm 
(~ US 7 5/8)
62cm 
(~ US 7 3/4)

Available from www.misterfreedom.com and our Los Angeles brick & mortar store.
Email sales@misterfreedom.com or call 323-653-2014 with any questions unanswered above.
Thank you for your support.

Christophe Loiron
Mister Freedom®
©2020