The “Party Jacket”, Mister Freedom® x Tailor Toyo 50th Anniversary Limited Edition Spring 2015

Party Jacket Mister Freedom Tailor Toyo 2015

Party Jacket Mister Freedom Tailor Toyo 2015

 

Party Jacket Mister Freedom Tailor Toyo 2015

Party Jacket Mister Freedom Tailor Toyo 2015

Party Jacket Mister Freedom Tailor Toyo 2015

Souvenir shop at Camp Reasoner (1968) Courtesy Doc Chapman 1st Recon Bn

Souvenir shop at Camp Reasoner (1968) Courtesy Doc Chapman 1st Recon Bn

 

“Party Jacket”
Mister Freedom® x Tailor Toyo
Toyo Enterprises 50th Anniversary Limited Edition

There’s your common Fashion Industry introduction:
* Men’s cotton Jacket, embroidered, reversible. Awesome summer look! Won’t last!
* S to XL
* Import
* $ 749.95
* Buy Now.

And there’s the MF® saga version mentioning Ancient Rome, for the semiotics-inclined.
Here she goes:

It had been a very long and muggy day in that Oklahoma rag house, sorting through endless bales of used clothing as a recently-promoted vintage buyer for American Rag Cie in the early 1990’s. Back then, a few mills, who’s core business it had been for decades to recycle textiles, exporting containers of graded wearables to Africa and Asia for a few cents on the pound, and chopping the rest into wiping rags for the military or automotive industry, allowed selected pickers to come extract their ‘crème de la crème’. You would teach the grading staff in Spanish, then show up again some 3 months later to rummage through some understanding of your vintage clothing tutorial, in the form of several thousand-pound bales. It was all in the details: loop collar shirts, Hawaiian prints, side gussets, gabardine, rayon, Harris tweed, cotton madras, specific labels like Arrows or McGregor, ‘big three’ jackets (Lee Levi’s Wrangler), no acrylic or polyester, and… the mighty 501. The word selvedge had yet to become a social media hashtag, and these were times you’d rescue 1940’s beat-up Levi’s XXs from the ‘cut-to-rags’ or ‘#3 grade’ bins.
If I remember well, and I never do, the “light mix” (shirts, dresses…) was about $1.75 and the “heavy mix” (coats, #2 quality…) about $1.25 for Mid-West rag houses.

It was around 1992. No barrel activity. Each grading section had turned silent, quite the relief after 12 hours of distorted rancheras blasting from dozens of boom boxes simultaneously playing local AM radio shows. A sign I had earned my $7.00/hour for the day at Oklahoma Waste & Wiping Rags, OKC, OK.
On the way back to my Motel 6 color TV-equipped room, I traveled in style all expenses paid, I decided to stop at a road side Salvation Army store for some LP digging before the drive-through grub. I don’t remember anything about the 50 cents record bin, but i’ll never forget pulling a pristine quilted embroidered jacket off the women’s section, with a $9.95 price tag…
‘Japan jackets’, as most called them at the time, very rarely came out of rag houses for some reason, probably ending-up on Africa-bound cargo containers, mixed in bales of Chinese embroidered silk robes and shiny nightwear… Well, I had just scored an early 1950’s New Old Stock reversible Korea tour jacket, of vibrant gold blue and burgundy silk, with flying eagles and roaring tigers… and with its original paper tag dangling from the zipper pull!

Of little impact to me at the time was the specific maker mentioned on that advertising paper flasher. Finding a garment with its original packaging was the only way to ID the manufacturer of these souvenir jackets, as they tended to never feature a sewn label. The paper ticket read “KOSHO & Co”. Sounded Japanese…
Although damaged from sun exposure and moths today, this is probably the only piece of clothing I kept from that period.

1950's Souvenir Jacket from Kosho & Co. (book by Toyo Enterprises)

1950’s Souvenir Jacket from Kosho & Co. (book by Toyo Enterprises)

Some 12 years later, around 2004, I was approached by three well-dressed Gentlemen in Los Angeles, wanting to discuss a potential collaboration between Mister Freedom® and Sugar Cane Co. They announced themselves as Mr. Tanaka, Mr Fukutomi and Mr. Onma… from TOYO Enterprises, a renowned Japanese garment manufacturer I knew from its Sugar Cane Co fame.

Established by the Father of its current President, the avid Hawaiiana and Sukajan collector Mr. Kobayashi San with whom I would later be honored to share a bi-annual handshake, TOYO Enterprises had been supplying Yokosuka PX and local shops since the mid 60’s. Everything from 501-replica blue jeans (originally featuring a gold star stitched on the rear pockets) to assorted americaji  (American casual) goods, all the way to embroidered silk souvenir jackets popular with American military men stationed in Japan at the time. Serendipity has it that KOSHO & Co, an old established Japanese fabric trading company, had merged with TOYO Enterprises around 1965. Mr. Kobayashi’s team took over Kosho’s Sukajan business, and has been leading the pack since then.

Tom, Fukutomi and Honma from Toyo Enterprises (circa 2007)

Tom, Fukutomi and Honma from Toyo Enterprises (circa 2007)

Today, TOYO Enterprises is comprised of several specialized divisions, whose high standards are recognized worldwide: Sugar Cane Co, Buzz Rickson’s, Tailor Toyo, Sun Surf… 2015 marks the company’s 50th Anniversary.
For an insider’s look at Tailor Toyo’s expertise with Sukajan (スカジャン), check out this recent TV documentary (you can fast forward to 01:15), a glimpse at popular Japanese television shows targeting the young generation, English-speaker friendly. Omoshiroi! 🙂

Around the corner from Toyo Enterprises current HQ location in Ryogoku (an industrial neighborhood of North East Tokyo famous for its Sumotori schools and nightlife as exciting as a DMV appointment) stands a small shamisen shop run by an affable old Sensei I once met. In the store window are displayed official USAF aerial shots of the flattened out neighborhood, dated 1945. Recounting brutal stories about the death of thousands from US air raids during WW2, Sensei kept smiling, politely but genuinely, as if fully detached from that past. We respectfully bowed, he went back to his stringed instruments, and I went back to my fancy clothes.
If American air raids were designed to expedite the resolution of WW2 and hasten Japan’s surrender, and allegedly saved lives on both sides, these photos next to Toyo’s five-story building always remind me of the survival spirit, resilience, hard working ethics and magnanimous attitude of the Japanese… Today, the country boasts the “World’s second largest developed economy“. Not too sure what that exactly means, but it sounds pretty good. Sure is a remainder that, given the possibility, fast forwarding from bitter to better is a good idea. Some should try that in the Middle East.

Back to our jacket.
Before becoming a popular trend with Japan’s youth, from innocent fashion to ‘borderline’ xenophobic statements (see Yanki, and right-winger trucks blasting propaganda in the streets), these colorful ornate jackets were local-made souvenirs for Armed Forces personnel, a military habit probably inherited from the old naval tradition of customizing one’s gear (Liberty cuffs, painted sea bags…).
Japan, Korea, Germany, Vietnam, Philippines, Middle east, Panama… “Souvenir Jackets”, “Party Jackets”, “Cruise Jackets”, “Tour Jackets”… a little bit for everyone. Some liked the generic eagle-tiger-dragon off the rack, some custom-ordered more personal designs, some wore them while partying on liberty, some flew missions with them, some brought an irresistible kid size specimen home…

Genuine military tour jackets have played the role of flashy gang colors for bands of brothers. They have featured salty nicknames, testosterone-filled mottos, innuendos, personal creeds, specific branch pride, not-so-PC novelty patches, unit patches, dark cynical quotes in unexpected multi-colored flamboyant embroidery… Anything to cloak death under a devil-may-care veil, a requisite for men of the Armed Forces who give their life in combat so that you and I don’t have to.
Although not souvenirs but in the ‘customized military gear’ family, World War Two saw everything from sexy pin up strippers to bomb-toting Disney cartoon characters (corporately repudiated today) readily hand-painted on pilot flight jackets and fuselages. For years, authentic USAF type A-2 leather jackets featuring custom painted nose art, cockpit ‘party jackets’ if you will, have fetched top dollar. Against all odds, replicas of these have entered mainstream Japanese streetwear since the 1980’s, some jackets even featuring fictitious “Enola Gay” artwork.

In spite of being high-ticket collectibles as well, souvenir jackets from the Vietnam era tend to be lesser crowd-pleasers, with messages displayed usually conveying a more skeptical and cynical attitude towards the Kool-Aid, a sentiment well relayed by the many crudely engraved Zippo® lighters of the period.
The term “Party” applied to jackets/hats/suits refers to the fact that these often flamboyant garments were intended to be worn on R&R or around the mess hall rather than on operations in the boonies…
The Vietnam types were sometimes re-cut from uniforms, recycled out of quilted camo poncho liners, nylon parachutes, denim, silk kimonos… often mixing whatever fabric was available. Apart from the typical “When I die I’ll go to Heaven…” kind, party jackets of that period came in many shapes forms and colors.

Such war memorabilia is still sold to tourists in Vietnam today. The Dan Sinh Market, in Hoh Chi Minh City, is still filled with “authentic” replicas, such as gas masks, Special forces cloth patches, dog tags etc…, a man cave contributing to a small local artisan economy.

Sometime last year, we were honored to be approached for a collaboration with the “Tailor Toyo” label on a sukajan type jacket, to mark the 2015 fiftieth Anniversary of Toyo Enterprises. Wholly immersed at the time in R&D related to the Vietnam War, it was an obvious choice for me to blend that jacket in the current Mister Freedom® “Saigon Cowboy” mfsc collection. I could have safely gone with apparently neutral eagles and tigers, but opted otherwise.

If we are usually pretty subtle with MF® garments, preferring minimal branding and ornamentation, this ‘Party Jacket’ would be different. Being reversible would help convey human duality, yin & yangpile & face, good & evil, Jekyll & Hide, Cheech & Chong
I do believe Man is an adorable serial-killer panda. Now that’s a good T-shirt.
Our ‘Party Jacket’ would require an individual reflection. Doing research is admittedly a challenging concept for the keyboard cowboys of the sheeple community, but like the French say, “c’est comme l’auberge Espagnole, on y trouve ce qu’on y apporte”. This idiom, originally referring to the absence of catering in old Spanish inns, roughly translates to ‘you will only find there your own contribution’, or ‘what you get out of it depends on what you put into it’.

Are you taukin to me?

You talkin’ to me?

And for the few not yet asleep, here are more random historical clues…

Colonial policy is the daughter of industrial policy.
Jules Ferry, French Prime Minister, in 1905.

It had been a national hobby in old Europe to busy fleets and commanders with royal orders to sail the four corners of the Earth in quest of both riches and heathen souls to convert. Under divine blessing, wigged men in tights invited themselves on distant shores and competed for power, empires, spices, precious metals, trade goods, raw materials and cheap labor force. Spaniards, Dutch, Portuguese, Brits and French were at it since the 16th Century. Whoever the expansionist, the bottom-line message behind the mission civilisatrice of colonialism was simple: spread the gospel but bring home the bacon. Bacon, no pun, which could prove useful back home, to reverse seven centuries of Spain and Portugal Muslim occupation. Thousands of nautical miles away, in colonized hostile jungles, while the bon sauvage strived to find salvation in his newly embraced religion, missionaries would occasionally develop a strong disposition for trading wares… All was well.

If the seafaring merchants who originally dropped anchor in Viet Nam as early as 1516 were Portuguese, the French were the ones who ultimately dropped their suitcases in the 1850’s. Followed some hundred years of tumultuous imperialist presence in Indochina, France’s only beachhead in Asia. Colons got busy milking the jungle ‘white gold’ (latex from rubber trees), while France cashed in on its Opium Monopoly scheme (the French Governor built an opium refinery in Saigon in 1899, manufacturing a fast burning mixture that guaranteed both high consumption and hefty profits). Ultimately, the imposed system stirred enough Vietnamese national pride and resistance to get France kicked out in 1954, and the US to throw the towel in 1973.

Now that I’ve lost everyone, let’s bring in the Marquise de Pompadour, royal mistress of Louis XV, and a big Elvis fan, obviously. Louis XV, renowned womanizer and ruler of the French from 1715 to 1774, made decisions some claim lead to little events erupting a few years after his passing. Although truly successful in cultural achievements in the domain of the Arts, Louis XV’s mostly unpopular reign did contribute to his successor and grandson Louis XVI’s rendezvous with Louisette (the guillotine, not the dame), on a cold winter morning of 1793, Place de la Révolution in Paris.
He also is responsible for ceding France’s territorial claims in North America to England and Spain, the reason why I have to type all this in English, and why Céline Dion’s French sounds funny.

Who first pronounced the words “Après moi, le déluge“, today a quaint French expression which literally translates to ‘After me, the flood‘, is lost to History and Versailles’ corridors. It is attributed, however, to either Louis XV or La Pompadour. Its meaning is also largely open to interpretation and subtle nuances, from the irresponsible “I don’t care what happens after me” to the threatening “Watch what’s coming to you after I’m gone“. Most today use the expression with its “F*ck it” or carpe diem (seize the day) connotation, probably less relevant to the original intended meaning of egocentricity and self-importance. I personally understand it more in the 18th Century Hellfire Club motto sense: “Fais ce que tu voudras” (Do what thou wilt). But what do I know.

The pertinence of this “Après moi, le déluge” royal statement embroidered on our jacket is left to the reader’s own judgment. It could refer to some European attitudes during past colonial ventures (Patrice Lumumba would agree)… It also could refer to carpet bombing of ‘boxes’ in Vietnam-Cambodia-Laos, a scheme to demoralize the enemy, with impressive KBA (Killed By Air) scores.

…we’re going to bomb them back into the Stone Age.
General Curtis ‘old iron pants’ LeMay (Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force), pondering on the capability of America’s air power in 1965.

The air campaign concocted by American war strategists to bring communist North Vietnam into submission kept the USAF quite busy during the 1960’s and 70’s. The People of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos might not relate to such bucolic names as Farm Gate, Ranch Hand, Iron Hand, Arc Light, Rolling Thunder, Barrel Roll or Linebacker… but will remember the 7,662,000 tons of bombs dropped on them during the course of the war.
Difficult to grasp such figures for us lucky enough to not even know what an enemy detonation sounds like. I heard artillery while living in N’Djamena, Tchad, in the mid 70’s. But distant and muffled, and not incoming. I didn’t live in a tunnel either.
As a reference, South East Asia got three times the ordnance tonnage used during the Second World War and its wide spread theater of operation…

During the Vietnam conflict, using everything from B-52s high-altitude raids to Skyhawk strafing attacks, the Air Force was to drop “anything that flies, on anything that moves”, dixit National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger, caught on tape relaying recent presidential instructions down the chain of command in 1969. Now if that’s not Realpolitik

Some bomb types were given colorful nicknames by ordnance personnel, such as snake eyes, pineapples, or the charming daisy cutters. At the Air base, an explosive case could receive a custom painted graffiti before the sortie, often a considerate nod to the enemy, in popular wartime humor fashion: “Preparation H”, “It’s not the gift but the thought behind it”, “Birth Control”…

To this day, in South East Asia, unearthed aluminum ‘vintage’ bomb shells are being recycled into everything from spoons to jewelry by local rural artisans. With 25% of its 10,000 villages still plagued by UXOs (Unexploded Ordnance), Laos holds the sinister record of the “Most Bombarded Country in the World”.
No other Nation has seemed envious enough to claim that title since 1973.

In French, the Reaper is a Lady, she’s always on time. “Vive La Mort” (literally ‘Long live Death’) is a reference to the 1965 French movie “La 317ème Section”, directed by Indochina War veteran Pierre Schoendoerffer. During a scene in the Cambodian jungle, Sergeant Willsdorff, a seasoned man o’ war portrayed by a convincing Bruno Crémer, lets out a hearty “Vive la Mort, Bon Dieu!”, a devil-may-care attitude acknowledging we are all ultimately doomed. For Willsdorff, death is an Art de Vivre (watch here around 08:50), or as Bruce Lee put it (in his 1971 “Long Street” character), “to learn to die is to be liberated from it (…) You must learn the art of dying“.
Sometimes attributed to the French Foreign Legion, the expression “Vive la Mort” is historically more likely the battle cry of soldiers of fortunes and mercenaries.
The cinephile will also note that in Apocalypse Now (Redux), Coppola pays respect to “La 317ème Section” by quoting the egg metaphor reference of the Viet Minh demonstrating their victory over the French at Diem Bien Phu: breaking an egg in his hand, the character boasts “the white runs out, the yellow stays.

Bruno Cremer 317eme Section

“Vive la Mort, Bon Dieu!”Bruno Cremer, 317eme Section (1965)

Pax is Peace, in latin. The original “Pax Romana expression refers to a 200 year-long state of relative Peace achieved by prosperous Rome with its empire, some two millenniums ago.
More relevant to our jacket and applied to the United States, the formula Pax Americana relates to US foreign policy post WW2. For some, that policy carries connotations of imperialism and neocolonialism, blatant or disguised. For others, it is an ideal balanced situation, with America at its center as the World’s Peace keeper, a role only the strongest Nation on Earth can achieve, guaranteed by fire power domination. During the Vietnam conflict, the formula was put in perspective.

Sorry About That” and “Be Nice” are references to popular quips amongst American soldiers during the Vietnam conflict.  These Americanisms were also used as the tittles of two illustrated paperbacks concocted by Ken Melvin in 1966-67. Both collectible vintage pamphlets pop-up on eBay from time to time, and even pass the Amazon PC Police. Additionally, a “Sorry ’bout That” arc red patch was a common feature on customized head gear and jungle shirts during the Vietnam conflict.
Along with the Nguyen Charlie comic strips published in Stars and Stripes from 1966 to 1974, featuring VC and GI caricatures competing for survival, this literature aimed at empathizing with and entertaining US troops in the field. They are a window into America’s not-so-distant past.

The hand-embroidered patch on the ‘relatively’ discreet denim side contrasts with the cluster of the jungle-hell camo and its apparent gung-ho statement. Surfing in wartime Vietnam has been addressed in a previous post while introducing the MF® Tiger Board Shorts.
Do note that, at the time of drawing the patch, i was not aware that a “China Beach Surf Club” actually existed. Again, who needs imagination with History at hand…

There it is.
Thanks for reading.

Peace,

CL

This “Party Jacket” matching our Saigon Cowboy Spring 2015 mfsc collection was designed in California by Mister Freedom® and crafted in Japan by Tailor Toyo and Sugar Cane Co, two branches of Toyo Enterprises, for the 50th Anniversary of the company.

SPECS:

FABRIC:
* Fully reversible garment.
Side A
: 10 Oz. indigo-dyed 2×1 denim, solid white ID selvedge. Milled in Japan.
Same fabric as our Utility Trousers and Jacket.
Side B:  100% cotton ERDL ‘lowland’ camouflage printed popeline, 4.75 Oz. Milled and printed in Japan.

DETAILS
* Inspired by US military Tour/Souvenir/Party jackets.
* Fully reversible.
* All original artwork on ERDL side rear panel.
* Original hand embroidered chest patch on gold tiger stripe background.
* Expert machine embroidery using traditional Japanese kimono-making techniques.
* Three patch pockets on each side.
* Covered 1950’s sukajan style reversible “TYE Tokyo” metal zipper.
* Very Limited Toyo Enterprises 50th Anniversary Edition.
* Made in Japan.

SIZING/FIT:
The “Party Jacket” comes raw/unwashed and will shrink to tagged size.
We recommend an original cold soak, spin dry and line dry.
I usually wear a Medium (38) in mfsc jackets and am a comfortable Medium in this jacket, with room to layer.
Please refer to sizing chart for cold rinse/line dry approximate measurements.

Party Jacket

CARE:
Launder when hygiene dictates and common sense prevails.
Due to the intricate embroidery, this jacket is relatively fragile and prone to snagging. Hand wash. Fully un-zip the jacket before washing. Cold water, eco-friendly mild detergent and line dry. Fraying of the patch edges is normal and to be expected.
Patina will develop according to activities and frequency of wear.

Available RAW/unwashed
SIZES:
X-Small (34)
Small (36)
Medium (38)
Large (40)
X-Large (42)
XX-Large (44)

RETAIL $749.95

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

The Continental, OD, ERDL popeline, blue chambray. “Saigon Cowboy” collection mfsc spring 2015

Mister Freedom Continental Saigon Cowboy Spring 2015

The Continental: “Bush” Model

Mister Freedom Continental Saigon Cowboy Spring 2015

The Continental: “Cholon” Model

Mister Freedom Continental Saigon Cowboy Spring 2015Mister Freedom Continental Saigon Cowboy Spring 2015

Continental-Cowboy-(1)

 

Mister Freedom Continental Saigon Cowboy Spring 2015

The Continental: “Cowboy” Model

 

 

The ‘Continental’
Mister Freedom® “Saigon Cowboy” mfsc Spring 2015

 Cho Lon, a long time ago…

Piasters changing hands Rue des Marins, Triad run parlors, the infamous Bay Vien, ‘Maitre de Cholon‘ and the feared Bình Xuyên gangs, White Mice patrols, the yellow walls of the World’s largest gambling hall rivaling in decibel with Macao’s roaring finest, hazy opium dens, snake wine and fine Cognac, white nón lá and garrison caps, local taxi girls and international high society, áo dài and white linen suits, stalled Citroën 2CV and frantic cyclo-pousses, Bastos cigarettes smoke-filled cabarets… while thousands of sampans rest on the Arroyo.
And a stone’s throw to the East, the ‘Pearl of the Orient’: Saigon.

It is not out of nostalgia for its colonized past, with men in white pith helmets or OD M1, that Ho Chi Minh City is still referred to as Sài Gòn by some Vietnamese nationals today. This serves as a subtle reminder of the violent troubled past of that South East Asia corner of the World, hinting at the controversial topic of the reunification of Vietnam achieved by the communist-lead North in 1975. For locals, choosing the name Saigon over its official HCM City version is not pure semantics, but a political statement that conveys a lingering identity crisis.
It is the stuff of wars to leave everything in grey areas. Nothing ever stays black or white for long. Lines had plenty time to get blurry during the 30 year-long civil war that opposed North and South Vietnam, a territorial split originally prescribed by an international band of concerned experts arguing at a Geneva round table in 1954…
I recently had a conversation with a person of Vietnamese background, born in North Vietnam in the 1960’s and of Chinese parents. You’d figure that would put you on the celebrating side after the war was won… Turns out her family joined the ranks of the three million refugees who were to flee the Indochinese peninsula in the years following the victory of communist North Vietnam, China and Russia’s protégé.
The troops of General Võ Nguyên Giáp, the Northern national hero and victor of the French Army in 1954, would claim Saigon in April 1975. Everyone who had sided with or fought for South Vietnam feared the purge. The Saigon government, backed by of a long-disillusioned America, had been the wrong horse to bet on. Hanoi was the new sheriff in town, the cadres his deputies.
As Saigon was falling, one could witness surreal scenes of men stripping down to their skivvies, watching triumphant soviet-built T-54 NVA tanks roll into town. Some roads leading to the capital were littered with abandoned ARVN uniforms…
Vietnam’s American war was officially over. But not everyone’s woes.

Yes we defeated the United States. But now we are plagued by problems. We do not have enough to eat. We are a poor, underdeveloped nation. Vous savez, waging a war is simple, but running a country is very difficult.
Phạm Văn Đồng (Prime minister of North Vietnam from 1955 to 1976) reflecting in 1981.

Fall of Saigon (April 30 1975) Photo Jacques Pavlovsky Sygma CORBIS

Abandonned ARVN uniforms, fall of Saigon (April 30 1975) Photo Jacques Pavlovsky Sygma CORBIS

But let’s rewind a bit and take a stroll down Đồng Khởi, better known to some as Freedom Street.
The bustling downtown artery of the South Vietnam capital had been named Rue Catinat up until the end of the French occupation in 1954. It would be renamed Tu Do Street for the next twenty years. Tự Do means freedom in Vietnamese…
In its early days, Tu Do Street was lined by colonial architecture buildings housing offices, institutions, hotels, cafés, and an array of small boutiques and family-owned businesses. At number 132-134 stood Vietnam’s first hotel, the “Hotel Continental”, a Saigonese landmark since 1880, built ten years before a certain Nguyễn Tất Thành (aka Uncle Ho) was born. Owned by an allege member of the Corsican Mafia for years, the Continental had welcomed guests from all walks of life. Its clientele had been a lively mix of French rubber industry magnates aka ‘Michelin men‘, spooks, opium addicts, celebrities, quiet Americans, diplomats, thrill seekers, Air America crews, visiting mistresses, writers, stringers, tipsters, gangsters, opera singers, war groupies, plain tourists… Some guests were at times a combination of a few of the above. Current affairs were constantly being discussed and gossiped about at the Continental’s terrace (aptly nicknamed “Radio Catinat” by some), and the international press found enough material there to feed flows of dispatches heading to a fascinated foreign audience.

In the 1960’s, as Westmoreland demanded more and more troops be sent ‘in-country’, most of them 19 year-old GIs, demand for local ‘entertainment’ grew. The Tu Do Street eclectic mix of establishments inevitably turned into Sleazesville. Still, next to its air-conditioned cabarets, Saigon tea dives and massage parlors, one could find yard goods boutiques and honest tailor shops. Skilled Vietnamese and Chinese thread and needle specialists mixed traditional and European influences in custom creations, targeting both a civilian and military personnel clientele unaccustomed to affordable bespoke fashion.

“... he was dressed in one of those jungle-hell leisure suits that the tailors on Tu Do were getting rich cranking out, with enough flaps and slots and cargo pockets to carry supplies for a squad…
(Excerpt from the ever relevant ‘Dispatches’ by Michael Herr, 1977)

(Vintage photo credits: Visual time travel courtesy of the internet, photos sourced herethere and everywhere. Gratitude to the owners of those flikr accounts for making their photostreams publicly available, for the sake of History preservation. Full credit to those who originally snapped the shots and chose to share them. I try to give credit to the best of my knowledge. Viewer discretion advised on some albums, war is hell.)

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And now, at last, a few words about our “Saigon Cowboy” garment du jour.
The Mister Freedom® ‘Continental‘ shirt/jacket only features four pockets and might not qualify as jungle-hell-ready, but a glance at its intricate inside construction makes it look quasi tailor-made. For the detail-oriented who opens a garment to check its structure, the combination of bias tape piping and fabric selvedge is quite pleasant to the eye, if we may say so ourselves. Our Continental might have had its place in a Tu Do Street store front window display.

Style-wise this jacket is a combination of several influences: fancy 1950’s-70’s unlined tropical gear, short sleeve blazers popular with the African elite, safari-type pocketing, elegant uniform silhouette, whiffs of colonial empires, Old World tailoring, Larry Burrows‘ wardrobe… and the mighty Sun Zhongshan suit, a favorite in China since 1949.
Our ‘Continental‘ overall pattern is adapted from a vintage late 60’s custom-made jacket, the work of a Vietnamese tailor by the name of My Nha, located at 827 D. Nguyen-Tran (unidentified city).

As much as I liked that vintage jacket, I figured we all could live without the 100% polyester fabric of the original sample. We opted instead for the following three textile options:
a) The “Bush” model (not to be misunderestimated): 100% cotton mil-spec OD popeline shell / 100% cotton Buzz Rickson’s USN selvedge blue chambray lining yoke.
b) The “Cholon” model (for the man of leisure): 100% cotton BR’s USN selvedge blue chambray shell / 100% cotton ERDL camo popeline lining yoke.
c) The “Cowboy” model (special jungle-hell edition): 100% cotton ERDL camouflage popeline / 100% cotton BR’s USN selvedge blue chambray lining yoke.

For those into Making Ofs, some boring bits behind the MF® Saigon Cowboy woven rayon label this season:
Our ‘local tailor’ looking MF® label combines the yellow background with three red stripes of the flag of South Vietnam and, for a USO flavor, the red white and blue of Old Glory. The specific rectangular shape with beveled corners seems typical of Vietnamese custom tailor woven labels of the period that I have seen.

The “Continental” is designed in California by Mister Freedom® and manufactured in Japan by Sugar Cane Co.

SPECS

FABRICS
Three options, fabrics milled in Japan:
a) The “Bush” model: 100% cotton mil-spec OD popeline shell / 100% cotton Buzz Rickson’s USN blue chambray lining yoke.
b) The “Cholon” model: 100% cotton BR’s USN blue chambray shell / 100% cotton ERDL camo popeline lining yoke.
c) The “Cowboy” model: 100% cotton ERDL camo popeline / 100% cotton BR’s USN blue chambray lining yoke.

DETAILS
* Pattern inspired by tropical tailor-made attire, with a sober ‘Mao suit’ influence.
* Yes, we dared make a short sleeve blazer.
* Elegant tailored uniform-like silhouette with elaborate darting.
* Two chest flap pockets, one pencil slot.
* Two lower flap cargo pockets, ‘invisible’ stitch.
* All inside seams finished with OD color bias tape, unless selvedged.
* Corozzo wood buttons, golden brown.
* Two-piece back with vent.
* Made in Japan

SIZING/FIT:
Our ‘Continental’ comes raw/un-rinsed and will shrink to tagged size after a rinse/dry process. All three options will approximately shrink to the same measurements.
We recommend an initial cold soak, spin dry and line dry. The wrinkling ensuing this process is normal, in line with the ‘tropical’ look effect.
If you are a Medium in mfsc shirts/jackets, you are a Medium in the ‘Continental‘. Because of the specific cut, the darting and requirements of this blazer-like pattern, this shirt/jacket will not fit every frame. For instance, the arm construction, although comfortable, disqualifies this jacket as beach-volley attire. There are no expansion pleats.
Please consider the measurements below for an idea of the proportions and resulting fit.

CARE:
Launder when hygiene dictates and common sense prevails.
Hand wash or delicate cycle machine wash. Cold water, eco-friendly mild detergent and line dry.
Patina will develop according to activities and frequency of wear.

Available RAW/unwashed
SIZES:
Small
Medium
Large
X-Large
XX-Large

RETAIL $329.95

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

The Evac Jak, Experimental Camouflage, “Saigon Cowboy” mfsc Spring 2015

Mister Freedom Saigon Cowboy Spring 2015

 

Mister Freedom Saigon Cowboy Spring 2015

Mister Freedom Saigon Cowboy Spring 2015Mister Freedom Saigon Cowboy Spring 2015

Mister Freedom Saigon Cowboy Spring 2015

 

Evac Jak, Experimental Camouflage
Mister Freedom® “Saigon Cowboy” Spring 2015

After an Homeric attempt at an introduction of both our intentions and the background of our Spring 2015 “Saigon Cowboy” concept collection, here comes the time to actually unleash its first chapter. Straight off the steamy jungles where the panthera tigris, majestic beast of the night, roamed free. Until…
…whomp-whomp-whomp-WHOMP-WHOMP-WHOMP…
(skies fill with green UH-1s above the canopy, “Ride Of The Valkyries” plays)

It’s show time… sit back and cringe.

It is a documented ancient tradition for warriors to adorn themselves with the furry hides of ferocious hunted creatures, in order to appropriate and hog specific powers from the animal kingdom.
This practice seems to have extended to modern warriors by way of printed cloth known as camo. From the leopard-print cowboy hats of some US advisors in Vietnam to the flashy cheetah-print fatigues of the General Mobutu’s Armed Forces of Zaire in the 1970’s, it can be said that there is no end to human creativity in the concealment business.
To quote the New York Times in a camouflage-related piece back in 1917, “It is a wonderful opportunity, this game of hokus-pokus“.
Nothing spells human ingenuity like painted zebra stripes on a donkey or battleship to fool the enemy.

For the past 100 years or so, commercial or military camouflage has continued to appear in all kinds of shapes, colors, forms, at various levels of justification. See the “Disruptive Pattern Material” brick (ISBN-13: 978-1554070114) for a potential camo coma.

In the printed camouflage family, the military ‘Experimental’ group is of particular interest to me. It features patterns painstakingly designed by boards of experts that never made it to standard issue status, from either lack of interest, failure of the field tests, budget issues, fluctuations in theater of deployment according to where the evil enemy of the month hides, etc…
Specimens of obscure patterns are sporadically unearthed and sometimes shared by collectors, such as this handsome “MacLaren” for instance. Some patterns are only known to be in existence from a brief feature on an official publication or rare field test photo set. Whether one-of-a-kind individually hand-painted for a specific mission, or produced in small batch/tested in combat/pulled as inconclusive, there’s gotta be some interesting stories about these experimental camouflage pattern in the Fort Belvoir archives (US military’s headquarters for camouflage R&D in Virginia), or the Natick Labs file cabinets…

In an effort by the Clothing Division of the Office of the Military Planning Division to financially recover part of the cost of R&D, it is plausible to imagine that rolls of obsolete experimental camouflage fabric ended up being sold to jobbers or Army/Navy surplus stores, eventually cut & sewn into tarps, hunting clothes and civvy fatigues. Obscure sample runs and seconds from the stock pile of a fabric-printing mil-specs contractor could also surface out of nowhere after liquidation…

For the Mister Freedom® Spring 2015 “Saigon Cowboy” collection, I thought of temporarily playing camoufleur. But how does one ‘invent’ a camouflage? Relieved of the overwhelming pressure of having to help save or take lives, I was still shooting for something that would look more legit than foofoo. Besides the early realization that most assignments are better left to professionals, off we were on our merry way to come up with the first ever ‘original’ MF® ‘flage! Oh boy…

As most camouflage patterns are an interpretation of a predecessor (the 1980’s Woodland is an evolution of the 1960’s ERDL leaf pattern), I felt less shame borrowing the famous amoeba shapes of the P1942 “Frog Skin” we had used for the Map Shirt of our Sea Hunt days . We opted for the same sturdy 100% cotton HBT white base fabric however, the same painstaking rotary-print technique (not computer printed or over-dyed), and the same concept of a reversible fabric.
The fun part was selecting the colors… and determining where exactly the MacLaren-inspired sparse lime green amoebas looked best.
After going back for weeeeeks to the drafting table, with color swatches and unsatisfying protos, going bananas and obsessing about visual contrasts & blends, face & reverse, we managed to settle on ONE pattern, in several options.
If our approach is an obvious nod to the Beach & Jungle sides of 40’s USMC reversible Frog Skin gear, the MF® Exp. camo combines camouflage with a simple solid side. The solid side cachou color is a reference to the caramel-like color typical of 1930’s French military canvas gear. Please note that if our fabric is technically reversible, the resulting garments are not.

For confusion sake, and to make sure everyone feels as in-the-fog as we do, here is a list of MF® Experimental ‘flage options available this season (please note that, depending on distribution in a specific Country, not all options are available). The face/reverse options are:
A) LoLand out (jungle, darker)/cachou in.
B) HiLand out (arid terrain, lighter)/cachou in.
C) Cachou out/HiLand in.

Wearing an early proto jacket of the MF® LoLand camo the other day at the Rosebowl flea market, it was quite satisfying to be asked by a puzzled seasoned militaria collector “What Country is that?”… Made my day.

The MF® Exp. camo is featured on two pieces of our “Saigon Cowboy” Spring 2015 collection.
* The Evac Jak.
* The Utes.

MF® Experimental Camouflage Spring 2015

MF® Experimental Camouflage Spring 2015

 

First to hit the LZ this season is the “Evac Jak”, a snap closure cotton jacket.

For the inclined, a bit of approximative History and semantics follows. Read or fast-forward, but as always make sure not to quote me on anything that requires exactitude…

The name we picked is a reference to MEDEVAC, the call sign for helicopter ambulance and crew in charge of medical evacuation during the Vietnam conflict. For the 1st CAV who forged its own, a MEDEVAC crew consisted of an Aircraft Commander, Co-Pilot, Crew Chief, Door Gunner and a Medic. Defying the odds of survival by most likely landing in a hot zone, these men gave their lives to save others’. Statistics have it that, among the ranks of American soldiers fighting in Vietnam, “nearly 98% of those wounded in action were evacuated from the battlefield alive.
That courage qualified the dustoff crews as a trooper’s best friend on the battlefield. For the wounded soldier, the sound of that Huey coming to the rescue was sweet & sour music, the sight of that flying Red Cross meant a ticket back ‘in the world’.
In a war that dragged over a decade, in-the-field gallantry could only be sustained by the relative reassurance of knowing someone was coming to lift you out of the muck on time. Countless accounts of courage and sacrifices from those MEDEVAC and DUSTOFF crews have been published.
Similarly, the NVA (=the communist North Vietnamese Army, China’s protégé opposing the South Vietnamese Army, aka ARVN, America’s protégé… just look it up) went through great length to carry their fallen away from the battlefield for proper burial ceremonies. Faced with fighting the most powerful Nation on Earth, NVA and VC troops needed the guarantee of a better afterlife to accomplish the impossible…

Back to our fiction…
Because a specific helo pilot-issued jacket didn’t seem to happen during the Vietnam conflict, we decided to come up with one. The style of our “Saigon Cowboy” Evac Jak is inspired by 1960’s US Air Force flight suits, 1950’s French army field jackets and Vietnam era flyboy gear, with an in country-made flair. Pilots and flight crews occasionally had custom local-made gear to replace the standard Gov’t issued garb, as period photography hints. Camouflage appealed to some airmen, should they themselves get to experience waiting for a dustoff… The one-piece flight suit also proved unpractical and some pilots, fixed wing or rotary, opted for the jacket (shirt)/pants combo.

To accentuate the local-made meets custom Saigon tailor ‘vibe’, we have ink-stamped sizing in a manner reminiscent of CISO-supplied military garments. The “US” stood for sizing following American standards, as opposed to the “A” stamp differentiating  Asian standards garments. See the book “Tiger Patterns” (ISBN-10: 0764307568) for more on that.

For the anecdote-oriented few, the idea behind our MF® “mfsc Tailleur” woven label being somewhat concealed on this jacket (bottom of the inside front panel, and not in its expected back yoke position), is to highlight the contrast between name-branding and the signature of a local tailor. Oddly enough, in the past, legit tailors tended to sign their works in a conspicuous spot. Famous Brands today do it on the outside, with voluminous logos.

The Evac Jak is designed in California by Mister Freedom® and manufactured in Japan by Sugar Cane Co.

SPECS

FABRIC:
Somewhat original Mister Freedom® camo pattern, double-side rotary screen printed (one side solid, one side camo), white 100% cotton Herringbone Twill (HBT) fabric base.
Fabric milled and printed in Japan.

DETAILS:
* Inspired by vintage USAF flight suits and French military field jackets.
* Un-lined, no overlock seams.
* ‘Bat sleeves’ arm pattern.
* Flight suit typical slanted chest pockets with mil-specs replica 1950’s US Air Force metal “CROWN” zippers.
* Large lower cargo-type pocket.
* Concealed snap front closure.
* Arm pen pockets.
* Wrist snap cinch tabs.
* Round collar with removable chin-strap
* Underarm mesh screen eyelets.
* Intricate front/rear shoulder yoke.
* Flat felled seam construction, 100% cotton thread.
* Non-reversible.
* Made in Japan.

SIZING/FIT
This garment comes raw/unwashed and will shrink to tagged size after an original cold soak/line dry. Further shrinkage to be expected with the use of hot water and heat dryer.
All MF® Exp. Camo fabric options will shrink the same.
If you are a Medium (38) in mfsc jackets, you are a Medium in the Evac Jak.
Please refer to sizing chart for measurements reflecting a 30mn cold soak no agitation/light machine dry.

Mister Freedom Saigon Cowboy Spring 2015 Evac Jak

CARE:
Launder when hygiene dictates and common sense prevails.
Machine wash. Cold water, gentle cycle, eco-friendly mild detergent and line dry. We recommend turning garments inside out to avoid marbling of the fabric during the washing cycles.
Because the base HBT fabric is white before being printed, toning down of colors will naturally occur. This fading should not be considered a quest nor a defect, only the natural consequence of the wash/wear process over the years.

Available RAW/unwashed
SIZES:
Small
Medium
Large
X-Large
XX-Large

RETAIL $429.95

Available from www.misterfreedom.com, fine retailers around the World, and our dusty Los Angeles brick & mortar store.
Email sales@misterfreedom.com or call 323-653-2014 with any questions unanswered above, like what happened to D) Cachou out/LoLand in???!
Thank you for your support

Introducing “SAIGON COWBOY”, Mister Freedom® mfsc Spring 2015

(Photo credit Tim Page ©1969)

(Photo Tim Page ©1983, Bob Hope Show, Long Binh amphitheater, 1966)

 

 

Mister Freedom Spring 2015 Saigon Cowboy CENSORED

Considered offensive material removed 01/08/2015

 

Mister Freedom Spring 2015 Saigon Cowboy

Mister Freedom Spring 2015 Saigon Cowboy

 

Mister Freedom Spring 2015 Saigon Cowboy CENSORED

Considered offensive material removed 01/08/2015

 

 

Mister Freedom Spring 2015 Saigon Cowboy

 

“SAIGON COWBOY”
Spring  2015 mfsc Collection

 

The obscure title “Saigon Cowboy” could mean many things (camera snatchers on cyclos, flamboyant pimps…) but in our case refers to a colorful Vietnam War era US military slang expression. According to several period accounts, it was a derogatory term used to describe ‘in-country’ personnel, along with freshly flown-in reporters from the eager international press, stationed away from the front line. Saigon was safer than the boonies. The real danger, ‘where the metal meets the meat‘, was beyond the tree line, in the elephant grass, in the jungle, in the rice paddies… Garrisoned in the Vietnamese southern capital, a “Saigon Cowboy” looked the part, sipped drinks at the Continental, all clad in custom-made jungle fatigues or safari gear, pockets everywhere, but never saw real combat. 1960’s military expressions like chairborne commando or garitrooper carry a similar, easier to visualize meaning.

But let’s rewind a bit…
Some of you are by now familiar with how I use slices of approximative History as backdrops of the Mister Freedom® capsule collections. Trends are of no interest to me, fads not inspiring, and that market well cornered anyways.
I also have an urge, at times, to rationalize my involvement with the fashion circus by mentioning, to who chooses to hear it, issues pertaining to the garment industry and rarely addressed by fashion media thriving on advertisers.
You know my broken record: “Think more, buy less“, impact of fashion consumerism, absurdity of garment factory distressing, cost of goods vs. bargains, Country Of Origin, ethics in garment manufacturing, payola in some product-reviewing media, etc…

I do know my limits however, and stick to the occasional whining. The real task of changing things on the ground is better left handled by professionals who, hopefully, know what they’re doing: sincere volunteers, no-nonsense environmental activists, local labor laws authorities, apolitical humanitarian organizations (MSFRed Cross, Clean Clothes Campaign…)

In mentioning serious issues, I usually strive to ‘keep it light’, PC or not. The International news feed is depressing enough. Sugar coating comes in handy as you don’t catch flies with vinegar. At the risk of aggravating mobs of righteous keyboard cowboys, I believe goofing around about grave issues tends to wake up lethargic brains, and ultimately does more good than harm.

Saving the universe one planet at a time.

Looks like another mission for Super Zero…

Sometime in 2013, while doing research on our “Sea Hunt” venture, I felt the need to, go figure, highlight the absurdity of war. Specifically the avoidable kind. Much of the Mister Freedom® catalog shows all the respect I have towards the Men and Women of the Armed Forces. This respect will remain unchanged, family heritage and personal views. But like most thinking adults I know, I also hate the reality of war and find the term cannon fodder physically sickening.

I wanted to talk about that duality via a clothing collection…
World War II (1939-1945, if you ask the French), a source of inspiration for designers for years, was too remote. It was in black & white, had ‘glamour’ attached to it, had celebrated heroes, and benefited from a somewhat simple ‘good guys vs. bad guys’ scenario.
Ask the person next to you about the Korean War (1950-1953) and you’ll realize that, unless you fought it, it pretty much went under the radar.
By contrast, the Vietnam War (1965-1975… officially) was a showstopper. Along with its harbinger the Guerre d’Indochine (1946-1954), both felt harder to rationalize, comprehend and legitimize as they dragged on. Whether actively involved or remotely witnessing it uncensored on live TV, everyone had an opinion about it. From the fall of Dien Bien Phu in 1954 to the fall of Saigon in 1975, the Vietnam War (known as the American War to the Vietnamese) was to split public opinion worldwide, and still confuses people to this day.

No event in American History is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now.”, reflected Richard Nixon in 1985.

It seems there is no easy way to summarize that conflict without falling into stereotypes, or getting in trouble with either of the “1,2,3,4 WDWYFW” crowd or the “Zip it hippie” bunch.
Whichever side of the fence you stand on, high command learned to mix the following ingredients, in random order, to guarantee the perfect ‘soup sandwich’, aka ‘goat rope‘:
Cold war, defunct dynasties, obsolete colonial hierarchy, religious rivalries, SOG recon teams, Uncle Sam, Uncle Ho, Chairman “uproar in the East, strike in the West” Mao, 17th parallel, 317ème section, 1st Lady Madame “barbecue” Nhu, crooked political chess board, puppet regime, coups and counter-coups, quiet American spooks, corruption, Russian advisors in black fatigues, American advisors in black pajamas, Laos and Cambodia black ops, red scare, the Corsican mafia, Air America, Victor Charlie, the Big Red One, Peace signs, Kim Phuc, monsoons, burning monks, stringers, “Five O’Clock follies“, jungle cadres, Search & Destroy, Bob Hope, Hanoi Jane, tunnel rats, freedom birds, punji sticks, B-52’s, montagnards, green berets, bouncing bettys, go-go dancers, Jimmy Hendrix, sappers, imperialism, gallantry, ranch hands, hippies, napalm, Pax Americana, General Giap, Rolling Thunder, Martin Luther King, war groupies, draft dodgers, grafters, incompetence, attrition, PacificationVietnamisation, patriotism, fragging, profiteering, agent orange, purple haze, television, heroism, utter confusion, Saigon tea, bennies and Rock’n’Roll, five consecutive US Presidencies…
A winning recipe for a ten-season HBO show today, but a sure promise to not reconcile the interests of diametrically-opposed cultures back then, losing many hearts and minds in the process.

What truly went on in South East Asia during those tragic somber years relies on who lived to tell, but will mostly depend on who you ask (or read). Some will replay each battle, from Ap Bac to Khe Sanh and explain how things could have turned. But that’s not the point.
What most agree on is that the quagmire resulted in well over 3 million casualties globally. And more PTSD than medical knowledge could handle. Lucky enough to not be one of the 58,002 American casualties or that war, returning Namvets realized how ‘popular’ they were back ‘in the World’. In Vietnam, ghosts of victims are still haunting the living today, as it is believed that violent death condemns the soul to endless wanderings.
No one will ever forget, some never forgive…
Heavy stuff.

Well, the topic hardly sounded like a good idea for a conversation at a Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, American, French or Chinese family dinner table. Let alone a sound choice as the backdrop for a 2015 clothing collection.
All the signs flashed Charlie Foxtrot… KEEP OUT!!! Better stay safe, focus instead on fashionable dilemmas such as length of chin straps, facial hair grooming, perfect denim washes, ultimate length for selfie sticks, etc… I did consider backtracking last year, go PC, drawing unicorns and rainbows instead of experimental camouflage.
But I was too far gone, somewhat hypnotized by what went on in Vietnam, how and why, mesmerized by the subculture it created, then and now. The thing about the past is that it did happen, right or wrong, and whether we like it or not. It seems more constructive to me to learn from it, rather than sweeping it under the rug. Studying the past might not prevent History from repeating itself, but could help anticipate what’s incoming after choosing to invade distant countries, eventually putting the old adage ‘only the dead have seen the end of war‘ to rest.

Yes. You do that.

Yes. You do that.

So Nam it was, and I’ll let the US Department of Defense handle the complaints for those whose ON/OFF switch malfunctions.

I had to dig deeper. Looked up obscure-sounding acronyms, ARVNMACV-SOG, CISO, LRRPs, PSYOP… each opening squeaky doors leading to a disturbing fairly recent past. For a well-documented background, there were the 7000 page-long “Pentagon Papers“, declassified since 2011. In order to not completely lose my mind in the R&D process, I passed. I limited my research to countless radio show podcasts, period photos, recorded interviews, books such as Neil Sheehan “A Bright Shining Lie” (1988), Tim O’Brien “The Things They Carry” (1990), and Michael Herr cultish “Dispatches” (1977) to name a few. Several film documentaries also helped me get a perspective, and provided plenty material for insomnia and confusion. Some were just pure chronological footage, some took different perspectives. “Sir No Sir” (2005), “FTA” (1972), “In The Year of the Pig” (1968), “La Section Anderson” (1966), “Vietnam’s Unseen War – Pictures from the Other Side” (2002), “The Quiet Mutiny” (1970), “Hearts and Minds” (1974),… all the way to the recent “Unclaimed” (2013). Besides the famous usual suspects, I kind of avoided Hollywood on this one, although I did take a break with, beware, joke in-coming, “Tropic Thunder”.

It quickly became clear to me after a few pages of Tim Page or Larry Burrows photography books that the Vietnam war was no John Wayne’s “Green Berets” borderline-glamorous depiction. Interestingly, vets accounts have even blamed that movie for getting grunts shot in Vietnam. Eager boots in starched fatigues dropped ‘in country’ would go Hollywood-style gung-ho at times, flak jacket off, especially when an AP camera was filming… But there was just no take two with live rounds, sorry ’bout that.

I realized I was just making civvy clothes here, not Kurtz’ wardrobe, no GI gear replicas either. The essence of the period, place and events felt complicated to interpret into wearable pieces. The gruesome reality of that war didn’t help, so I had to go somewhat of the “M*A*S*H” route rather than the “Hamburger Hill” end of the spectrum. To put the collection together, I opted for gallows humor and its risks, crude 1960’s war slang lexicon, high doses of fiction and lots of imagination, as I was never there…

Magically, the concept appeared all summed up in this quote from Michael Herr, seasoned war correspondent for Esquire Magazine in Vietnam (1967-1969) depicting a newbie reporter eager for some in-country scoops:

“... he was dressed in one of those jungle-hell leisure suits that the tailors on Tu Do were getting rich cranking out, with enough flaps and slots and cargo pockets to carry supplies for a squad…
(“Dispatches”, 1977)

This Mister Freedom® “Saigon Cowboy” capsule collection is not a mere fashion statement. It is not intended to be controversial for the sake of it. It is not shocking for the show. It is not an attempt at offending war veterans, communities, the People of Vietnam or any nationals of countries involved or affected by that conflict. It is not meant to revive bygone or dormant animosities, nor to create new ones. It is not made to raise eyebrows but rather open a few eyes. The historical backdrop of the Vietnam war is used as the premise for an individual reflection about the absurdity of war and the age-old well-documented duality of Man.

When released, around April 2015, each piece of the collection will come with a ‘manual’, ie. a brief introduction post with a few links to click on, for those who have the patience.
Our “Saigon Cowboy” experience will be out of the comfort zone for some. But if it plants just one thought-provoking seed out there, then the risk was worth taking.
There it is.

Peace, get some.

Christophe Loiron,
Mister Freedom®

Photo courtesy Rich "Jonesy" Jones 1969-70

Mercedes-Benz or Peace sign? Photo courtesy Rich “Jonesy” Jones 1969-70

 

Zippo Vietnam