VICTOR BANKS; ROUGHLY POLISHED

PORTFOLIO.1707

VICTOR BANKS

i.s.1707
by Jo Reiner Widjaja

"Men are simple, they put on a clean shirt pair it with a great pants, and finish the look with some awesome shoes, and they're done."  Yea, we wish that were true, but the fact is nowadays men are as just as complicated as women when it comes to putting on an outfit. Or probably in someways men are even more complicated! How? Well for starters, men have tendencies to want to be looked in a certain way by people; They want to look stylish but not so well put together that it shows that they're putting too much effort on it. They want a suave style yet still rugged and effortless, something easy and simple but still owns that cool factor. Polished yet rough. Introducing Victor Banks, a Indonesian based label with a Canadian designer as its creative head. 

"Men are simple, they put on a clean shirt pair it with a great pants, and finish the look with some awesome shoes, and they're done." Yea, kita berharap hal itu adalah kenyataan, tetapi faktanya hari-hari ini pria sudah memiliki kerumitan berpakaian sama seperti wanita. Atau bahkan mungkin saja pria lebih rumit daripada wanita! Bagaimana bisa? Well, for starters, pria memiliki kebiasaan untuk ingin terlihat dalam pandangan tertentu oleh sekitarnya; Mereka ingin terlihat stylish tetapi tidak terlalu rapi sehingga terlihat terlalu berusaha. Mereka menginginkan gaya yang suave (charming, polished, sophisticated) tetapi  memiliki sentuhan yang kasar dan terkesan effortless, sesuatu yang terlihat sederhana tetapi masih memiliki faktor coolness tersebut. Polished yet rough. Perkenalkan Victor Banks, sebuah label Indonesia yang dimulai oleh seorang Canadian Designer. 

Inspired by classic men's style, vintage work wear, and Canadian heritage look, Victor Banks really does represent a polished look that's sophisticated but with an added edge of casual wear in it. An awesome line that we identify as a roughly polished menswear. Establish in 2010, Victor Banks now within its first year of existence reminds us very much of early shades of Carlos Campos's designs. Carlos Campos, a New York menswear label that recently named one of the finalists of Vogue CFDA 2011 Fashion Fund. Carlos Campos is a label that has always been known to embodies the epitome of a man's suave style, redefining classic man's style with a twist of today's edge and retro fashion. And we do see a lot of Carlos Campos's early existence and designs in Victor Banks's. We think with more attentions to details and more craftsmanship Victor Banks is looking up to a very bright future. 

Terinspirasi dari gaya klasik lelaki, pakaian vintage, dan Canadian heritage look, Victor Banks benar-benar merepresentasikan penampilan-penampilan yang polished dan sophisticated  ditambah dengan sentuhan gaya yang edgy sebagai pakaian siap pakai. Sebuah lini yang awesome, dan dapat kami sebut roughly polished. Berdiri sejak tahun 2010, Victor Banks yang masih dalam tahun pertama-nya mengingatkan kami terhadap jejak awal Carlos Campos. Carlos Campos adalah salah satu designer New York yang baru-baru ini dinobatkan sebagai salah satu finalis Vogue CFDA Fashion Fund. Carlos Campos adalah lini pakaian pria yang telah dikenal untuk menjiwai puncak gaya lelaki, meredefinisikan gaya klasik lelaki dengan sentuhan gaya edgy masa kini dan sesuatu yang bersifat retro fashion. Kami dapat melihat banyak gaya dari Carlos Campos yang dicoba untuk di implementasikan dalam desain Victor Banks. Kami berpendapat dengan lebih banyak perhatian akan details dan dengan lebih banyak penggunaan teknik, Victor Banks akan memiliki masa depan yang cerah. 

Image Courtesy of Carlos Campos New York

Victor Banks's first collection, "The Timeless Now" displayed clean looks with buttoned up shirts, symmetrical prints t-shirts paired with tailored tapered pants, and what's interesting is;  Cole Johnson the designer for Victor Banks gives the looks a little twist by playing with details. Camel colored fabrics used as belt loops and pocket lines of the pants giving an awesome effect in its pairing with the grey/cognac colored pants. The looks were accessorized with skinny belt, bow tie, suspenders, and leather boots. The looks were utterly clean and polished, casual and down to earth.    


Koleksi pertama Victor Banks, "The Timeless Now" menunjukan tampilan-tampilan looks yang bersih dan polished dengan buttoned up shirts, symmetrical prints t-shirts yang dipadukan dengan tailored tapered pants. Dan hal yang menarik; Cole Johnson sang designer untuk Victor Banks menunjukan sedikit sentuhan gaya dengan menambakan looks dengan detail-detail kecil. Penggunaan kain berwarna camel sebagai belt loops dan pocket lines yang dipadukan dengan tailored pants berwarna grey/cognac. Selain itu tampilan looks yang ada pun di aksesoriskan dengan skinny belt, bow tie, suspenders, dan boot kulit. Tampilan looks yang sangat bersih, polished, casual, dan down to earth.

Whilst for their second collection, Victor Banks are showing a collection that's fully inspired by Bandits, Bohemians, and Bachelors. Shirts detailed with indian-esque prints, knitted sweater with heavy texture and bold color, dyed tapered pants, and even a metal button detailed hunting pants. The model showcasing the looks was screaming "bandit" inspired figure, styled with bohemian outfits, and was accessorized with a classic newspaper boy hat and fringed suede boots. 


Sedangkan untuk koleksi keduanya Victor Banks menunjukan koleksi yang terinspirasi dari Bandits, Bohemians, dan Bachelors. Kemeja-kemeja yang di detailkan dengan print yang memiliki gaya indian, sweater rajutan dengan tekstur yang berat dalam warna yang bold. Selain itu Victor Banks pun menampilkan dyed tapered pants, dan hunting pants yang di embellished dengan kancing logam. Sang model dalam campaign-nya pun memiliki penampilan yang sangat cocok dengan tema yang ada, it screams "Bandits!", dimana sang model di padukan dengan gaya pakaian bernuansa bohemians, dan di aksesoriskan dengan classic newspaper boy hat dan fringed suede boots. 

Victor Banks really does provide us with polished looks that would still look rough at the same time. Where guys could still look sophisticated yet rugged. You can find their products on  The Goods Dept (Jakarta), Somewhere (Bali), and Blackmarket (Singapore).

It will be a sin not to share the savviness of these indie talents with the rest of the world.

So. Feel free to explore.exploit.and express your brain out.

explore.exploit.express

i.s.1707