Opinion BY Armin

Hörst gets Hot

Hörst Dusseldorf, as its name implies, is a German brand — sold and distributed by a Canadian company based in Montréal — of high-end clothing for men that includes shirts, suits, pants, and other accoutrements to make a man feel more man than slob. (Their site seems to have broken down in the last hour or so). This past December, they introduced a whole new look designed by Montréal-based Lg2boutique.

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Opinion BY Armin

Nooka goes Bold

Established in 2004, Nooka is a product and fashion design company whose fame rose with the introduction of a wrist watch that displayed the time in a rather unconventional way — while the hour of the day was displayed in a big bold number, the minutes were rendered through a horizontal bar that filled in as the hour went by. From there, the watches’ display got more abstract and playful and with more success and recognition, Nooka has grown into a full brand of products, from the original watches to belts, wallets, eyewear, and even fragrance. Nooka has a bit of a funky new-agey philosophy, i.e., “Creates physical manifestations of ideas”, or “Promotes universal communication via the form and visual language of fashion and design” or “Brings a techno-progressivist set of expectations to the world of ordinary objects.” A little too frou-frou for me, but I’ll bite, because sometimes the world can do with less serious things. The in-house design team at Nooka has just completed an identity redesign.

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Opinion BY Armin

Mango Ripens

Established in 1984 in Barcelona, Mango is an international fashion brand for women and men with fun, friendly, accessible clothing. While they have a small presence in the U.S. they are very well known in Europe. Mango currently operates over 2,000 stores in 105 countries and counts with more than 8,000 employees. I remember there being a store in Mexico City and it used to be geared towards a younger demographic but it seems like they have upped the age range and have introduced a new logo that is aimed at a more mature audience. The new logo was designed in-house.

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