AD of the WEEK - MASSIMO OSTI

The Massimo Osti archives have been plundered in the last couple of years and the legend is sure to live on as the MA Strum collection goes from strength to strength. We have selected a few key pieces from this Springs designs and pics will appear here soon.

Our Ad of the Week appeared in the Arena Homme + magazine in the Autumn/Winter of 1995. Massimo Osti Production was the label Osti wanted to be available to as many people as possible. So much so that in March of 1996 a womenswear line was unveiled in Milan.

With the clothes still being of the highest quality, prices weren't exactly on the cheap side with jackets still approaching the £400 mark, but as with all of Osti's garments, quality was the key element. The 'Technowool' in the Ad was a creation of his which incorporated wool with nylon jersey to make it more durable without the wool losing its breathability and softness.

Massimo Osti Production ran from 1995 to 1998.

At the bottom of the list of stores is a website for the company. This at a time when the internet was still in its infancy, therefore showing Osti's perception of significance.

HIGHLIGHTS 2010 - JACKETS

Here at 80s Casuals we saw many highlights during a very productive year. One of the most pleasing was the success of the Seafarer Jacket from February. Production was limited to just 100 of each colour and the deep red became an instant favourite with stockists asking for more of the same but we kept to our promise of only manufacturing the 100 stated. This exclusive policy will run throughout the forthcoming year.

The Seafarer was up-dated later in the year as the Seamaster with us re-working parts of the design including a new hood and differing the pocket shapes.

At the moment we are awaiting two new jacket samples for this Spring/Summer and a soon as they arrive we will immediately put the pics on here. Another jacket sample we expect in the next couple of months is our "Made in Japan" model. This may be a website exclusive but that depends on the manufacturing and import costs. More news to follow on this shortly.

SPRING 2011 SNEAK PREVIEW

Spring 2011 sees our first foray into designing a short sleeve shirt. Our stimulation comes from an era rich in style and character. The mid 50s American Ivy League look has captured the fashion world by storm in the last few years and its influence was also to be seen in the American Preppy and British Modernist scenes of the 60s. A key element of this look was the button-down shirt.

We love the finer details attired to this garment including a loop on the back of the shirt for hanging in a locker room and a back collar button which would keep a tie straight. The box pleated back gives a comfortable trim fit, whilst the breast pocket on the shirt became essential after the demise of the pocketed waistcoat during the 40s.

The 80s Casuals Short Sleeved Shirt due in Spring will come in two Limited Edition [100] colours of Navy and Blood Red/Navy Gingham. The shirt has a shorter point button down collar, a contrast coloured back collar button plus a leather back loop and a small leather patch on the pocket corner which will be embossed with the 80s Casuals logo reminiscent of the metallic Newman badge of the 80s. All buttons will also be embossed with 80s Casuals.

We will list all stockists as soon as we are ready to distribute the shirts in Spring.

SEAMASTER CAP - NEW COLOURS

As there seems to be no let up in the cold Winter weather, we thought it best to introduce a couple of new colours into our Seamaster Cap range. The initial run of Navy and Beige sold within days of going on sale and again these two new colours of Marl Grey and Black will be limited to just 100 of each. The 100% lambswool hats are due towards the end of January and can be a Winter wardrobe staple for many years to come. Again exclusivity is of the essence with the colours not being reproduced again after this initial run.

FIORUCCI MADE ME HARDCORE

This year saw a revamp of our website but in the process we put to one side a few interviews we had done over the previous few years. One such interview in 2006 was that of Mark Leckey, an eventual winner of the 2008 Turner Prize, whom we had attributed with the first piece of 'Casuals' related art. Mark grew up in a working class family and attended Everton games in the 80s dressed in his usual attire of Casual clobber.

In 1990 he exhibited alongside Damien Hirst but it wasn't until 1999s 'Fiorucci made me Hardcore' that Mark Leckey came to prominence. The video is a collective of British cultural references from Northern Soul in the 70s through to the late 80s Rave scene. The Casual era has a voice over of iconic brands associated with that period. Marks work often encompasses an eclectic mix of popular culture and this work has often been imitated with many 'found-footage' works now becoming common practice.

Here we have the video "Fiorucci made me Hardcore" in its entirety. Its only in the last year that the full video has been available to view fully again since a Tate showing almost 10 years ago.

THE ART OF EMBROIDERY

Here we have a video of the Embroidery process used on our T-Shirts and more recently our 'Challenge' range of Sweatshirts. The decorative art of embroidery has been around for many centuries and used to be a mark of wealth and status.

As can be seen in the video, this computerized machine embroidery uses digitized software to stitch our logo onto the T-Shirt. The process although time consuming still adds a unique personal touch to the finished product.

The music is "Don't ever let nobody drag your spirit down" by Delta Maid who is one of our ones to watch for the forthcoming year.

http://www.myspace.com/deltamaid

The E.P. "Broken Branches" is available to download from ITunes now;

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/broken-branches-ep/id373520221

MERRY XMAS TO ALL

A very Merry Xmas to all of our viewers and customers.

A big Thanks for your support throughout the year, it is greatly appreciated.

We have a few plans in place for Spring/Summer 2011 which we shall preview

during the next few days of this festive period.

new CHALLENGE SWEATSHIRT

The latest in our line of 'Challenge' Sweatshirts has finally made it in store

just in time for the latest cold snap

http://www.80scasuals.co.uk/shop3.html

Celebrating the 'Mille Miglia' Italian endurance race, the sweatshirt is limited to just 100 in total. Sir Sterling Moss takes pride of place as the only British winner of this Challenge in his Mercedes-Benz 300SLR. The number on the car 722 being his start time 7.22am.

The race was the inspiration behind the Massimo Osti C.P.Company goggle coat

of the same name.

This distinct design should be re-produced on a T-Shirt in the next couple of months also.

NEWS UP-DATE - MADE IN JAPAN

80s CasualsJapan is now very much up and running. The guys running the agency and looking after our brand hope to see a significant amount of growth in 'Casual Culture' throughout Japan in 2011, so much so that there is a possibility of the '80s Casuals' book being translated into Japanese.

Another plus side to this partnership is the opportunity for us to have some garments manufactured in Japan. The Japanese have an impeccable reputation for attention to detail using fabrics of superior quality. Their consumers are sticklers for these standards and Japan now leads the way in retail design and workmanship.

80s CasualsJapan are now collaborating with ourselves on an 'Adventure Series' of Jackets specifically for the Japanese market, although we will import a hand full for those customers of ours who require that extra bit of exclusivity.

The jacket will be manufactured using a body of Cordura 1000 fabric (Strongest material in the world ) with other parts (pockets etc) being made from Teijin one-up Tarpaulin [fire-proof and water-proof). Also all zippers are YKK Japan model. Totally 100% Made in Japan.

We are at present waiting for samples before going into production and will keep everyone up-dated here on these developments plus any other work with our partners.

WE ARE THE MODS

Our final new design of 2010 brings together the Mod culture with a cross reference to Kev Sampsons "Awaydays" book cover and the tagline "A Way of Life" from the Quadrophenia poster. Using original scooterists with their vintage customised scooters, Our inspiration comes from 1979 which saw the release in cinemas of Quadrophenia. Many teenagers took it upon themselves to dress in the sharp clothes of the Mods before the emerging Casual culture became the stylish alternative.

The T-Shirt will be on our website tomorrow and in stores this friday. Stockists include STUARTS, HIP, HENRY BRUMMEL,

80s CASUALCLASSICS, STONE, CAMISERA and PRIDE.

OUR FRIENDS IN THE NORTH - ABERDEEN

Known as the first club to take on the Casual Look in Scotland, Aberdeens lads were inspired by the visit of Liverpool in the European Cup during October 1980. From that day forward the fashions changed and before long the Aberdeen crew were known as 'Aberdeen Soccer Casuals', taking on a uniform of expensive sportswear.

After being in-undated with requests for their own personal T-Shirt we thought it was about time to produce one with an old image of the Pittodrie Stadium from the hill.

Available exclusively from our website from tomorrow.

http://www.80scasuals.co.uk/shop1.html

SEAMASTER JACKET UP-DATE

The remainder of the navy Seamaster has finally arrived at our distribution centre. Therefore all stockists will take delivery by the end of this week.

It was nice to see the jacket make an appearance onto a couple of websites this week including the fantastic Umbrella Magazine blog http://www.umbrellamagazine.co.uk/

Umbrella Magazine is a free online mag worthy of an hour of anyones time and the latest issue[2] is available to download now.

We also hear the Seamaster was tweeted about on the Esquire site.

STRANGE TOWN T-SHIRT

A new "Strange Town - Train Station" T-Shirt is about to be distributed to stores this week. It's an up-date on the "North - Train Station" best seller from a few years back. After many requests for the North T-Shirt we thought it was about time we introduced a few more fashionable characters in an array of designer goods including the classic Burberry Mac and the sought after Arctic Parka.

The 'Strange Town' place name comes from the Jam hit of the same name which includes appropriate lyrics such as "You can't be weird in a strange town,

You'll be betrayed by your accent and manners," and "You've got to wear the right clothes".

These Train Station T-Shirts are popular with all stores as we have individualized the station name to include the home town/city for some stockists.

Check with your local store for the Limited Edition home town T-Shirt.

EVEREST SWEATSHIRT PICS

The first in our 'Challenge' Series of Sweatshirts is now ready for distribution. Our website will have a supply of the "Everest" Limited Edition collection by the weekend plus these stores have exclusively ordered also. Ran, Hip, Planet, Solefood and Casual Clobber. Each Sweatshirt is numbered by the left cuff and is Limited to 100 pieces per colour in total.

80s CASUALS. JAPAN

Over the last few years 80s Casuals has supplied a few stores across Europe. The Netherlands, Italy, Eire, Hungary and Russian shops have all placed orders as their customers demand a touch of 80s British culture.

Now we are pleased to announce a partnership with a Tokyo based agency. 80sCASUALS.JAPAN have placed an order for a range of our garments with the intention of wholesaling to clothes shops and eventually opening their own store.

The two guys behind the project have a history of retail including 2 youth culture stores [U.S. Hip Hop and Latino] plus a Lambretta Scooter Business.

We wish them the best of luck in this new venture and must say how much of an honour it has been to supply a Japanese market that is at the forefront of fashion design at the moment.

http://80scasualsjapan.blogspot.com/

URBAN GENTRY SWEATSHIRT PICS

Here we have the first pics of our Urban Gentry Sweatshirt which is due in stores next week.

Using the best embroidery thread and a 7 colour print the design epitomizes the 80s era with the Head bag playing a major part in Awaydays travel throughout the decade.

The new 80s Casuals signature appears on the left sleeve close to the cuff.

The sweatshirt itself is a top of the range American style crew neck, super heavyweight 320gms with a soft cotton rich finish and includes a re-inforced back yoke and a ribbed trim to the neck, cuffs and hem. The heavy stitch density gives the garment a longer life span than ordinary sweatshirts.

Our website store will have some stock hopefully over the weekend with these stores having exclusivity in the next week.

Hip, Solefood, Ran, An-X with Terraces and Hip also taking stock of some Hooded Tops.

WARRIORS T-SHIRT

The Warriors T-Shirt shall be available this week.

The final instalment in our trilogy of T-Shirts celebrating one of the most iconic films from our teens. It was the 45th year since the books publication and this final design has the gangs or 'armies of the night' as they are known printed around an image of Swan. These are the gangs who gave the Warriors a rough passage home to Coney Island.

Exclusively available from our website plus these two stockists; Stuarts and Henry Brummel.

SEAMASTER JACKET LATEST.

The first of the Seamaster Jackets arrived today and should be available on our website tomorrow evening or on Monday. The colour is a Matte Grey with the Navy Blue to follow later in the week. Our store has only 20 pieces of the Grey colour available with the remaining 80 of the Limited Edition 100 going to our usual outlets later this week.

URBAN GENTRY SWEATSHIRT

Best Company Sweatshirts from the late 80s are remembered by us with great affection. Italian Designer Olmes Carretti was inspired by the fleece fabric of some American clothing and he set about using emblems and logos on Best Company sweatshirts as his interpretation of a young Europeans fantasy of America. The look was adopted by the Paninari culture of Italy before being taken up here in the UK.

Each of Carretti's designs transmits a message and emotion and it's this strategy which we feel 80s Casuals emits in its T-Shirts. Therefore we feel we should follow in Olmes' footsteps and develop Sweatshirts along the same lines. Each design involves a print procedure involving 7 colours before the wording is embroidered with a gold nylon thread.

We already have two "Challenge" designs in production, the Everest and the Mille Miglia, each limited to 100 and being numbered. Our new design 'Urban Gentry' will be produced at the same time as its T-Shirt in the following two weeks.

Again numbers will be very limited and besides our website the Sweatshirt will only be sold exclusively in Ran, Hip, An-x, Terraces and Solefood. rrp is £55.

THE END T-SHIRT

"The END" T-Shirt will be on the website this week along with the Liverpool Paisley design.

Ran in Liverpool will have both designs with Hip in Leeds and Stone in Mirfield both stocking "The End" T-Shirt.

This will hopefully be the prelude to the publication in book form of all 20 issues of this iconic 80s fanzine. At present we are in talks with a museum to have a small exhibition to co-incide with the release of the book, possibly in May 2011.

ARENA AD of the WEEK

There's been a resurgence of interest in Timberland of late as the company has brought out an Abington range of boots. This was the original name of the brand until they named a shoe Timberland in 1973 and it became so popular they changed the company's name to it.

Timberland produced the first waterproof boots in the 60s by fusing the leather uppers to the sole without stitching.

The Arena ad comes from the late 80s and the added interest in it is the detailing that is put into the boots from the insulation of Ensolite and Thinsulate to the Vibram sole.

RAN - 10th Anniversary VIDEO

Celebrating their 10th year in 2010 are Ran. Originating in Manchester their second store on Bold Street in Liverpool opened in 2006.

Ran has the distinction of stocking the 80s Casuals brand from its very early days of "trainers on T-Shirts" and has continued to support the brand to this very day.

Here we have a short tour of the Liverpool store with accompanying music from Owls* whos song "Sound of the Call" is available to download for free from the Bandcamp site. http://owls.bandcamp.com/track/sound-of-the-call

FINAL WARRIORS T-SHIRT

The final piece of our trio of commemorative T-Shirts is designed and will be in stores soon.

The Warriors second-in-command Swan takes centre stage and becomes acting Warlord as the group attempt to make their way back to Coney Island. Amongst those attempting to collect a bounty for bringing the Warriors to justice are a host of gangs listed on the T-Shirt.

Stuarts and Henry Brummel have exclusivity as well as our own website www.80scasuals.co.uk

NEW LIVERPOOL PAISLEY T-SHIRT

Bob Paisley is arguably the greatest manager of all time.

In his 9 seasons in charge of Liverpool F.C. He won 6 Championship titles, 3 European Cups, a UEFA Cup as well as 3 League Cups in a row and was named Manager of the Year in 6 of his 9 seasons in charge from 1974 to 1983.

We honour 'a gentleman' with an artistic collage T-Shirt that encompasses Liverpool's two Cathedrals, the Liver Bird and two significant Casual points of interest from the early 80s. Lime Street station had the infamous graffiti "Ordinary to Chelsea" sprayed upon its entrance wall plus the Wade Smith shop which became a mecca for the trainer obsessed youth of the North West.

Bob himself appears with the European Cup which he won on three occasions during a period where travelling abroad certainly broadened the horizons of the youth of the day.

The tagline is one of many Paisley quotes from his time at Liverpool.

BOSS MAGAZINE 11 INTERVIEW

The latest edition of Boss magazine has just been released and the lads at the fanzine have published a recent interview we did for them. Although produced by Liverpool fans the mag has a generic appeal with this issue covering such topics as Glastonbury, an interview with Politicians and the Times football editor, plus the usual music reviews and local cultural observations.

The publication is available here http://www.bossmag.co.uk/ for the measly sum of £1.

NEW COLOUR RAMBLER JACKET

The quick sell-out of the Summer Rambler Jacket had the stores crying out for more of the same. Not wanting to disappoint we have produced what maybe the last jacket in our small Rambler collection. The Navy coloured Jacket is as usual restricted to 100 pieces and will be available at the main 80s Casuals stockists across the country in the next week. Our website www.80scasuals.co.uk should have a supply by this weekend.

SEAMASTER PICS

Our supplier has sent us pics of the Seamaster Jacket after the slight modifications had been put in place. From the sample sent a couple of months ago we have altered the collar to incorporate a belt-buckle fastener, plus the two front pockets were rounded to give it the classic English touch.

Colours being supplied are Matte Grey and Navy and Only 100 have been produced in each colour.

Stockists will be taking delivery from the second week in November. RRP £85.

NEW T-SHIRT - THE END

It doesn't take much for us to get all nostalgic here, so after catching the recent airings of 80s drama "Boys from the Blackstuff" we knew the time was right to approach Peter Hooton of The Farm fame and commission the rights to print a famous cover from his "END" fanzine.

'The End' became a catalyst magazine and the forerunner of others including "Boys Own" and "When Saturday Comes". By Issue 13 a readership high of 5000 were enjoying witty observations of everyday life of the average match-goer.

2011 sees the 30th anniversary of its first publication and talks are at an advanced stage about publishing a book of the full 20 issues printed.

Our T-Shirt has the cover which depicts Bernard Hill as the iconic character Yozzer Hughes from The Blackstuff. First screened in 1980 as a 'Play for Today", the drama became a series in 1982 and is best remembered for its powerful depiction of desperation due to the high levels of unemployment. Yozzers phrase "gissa job" holds as much prevalence today as it did all those years ago.

The T-Shirt will be available during November at selected stockists.

LIVERPOOL BOYS BOOK

"The Liverpool Boys are in Town" book is now sold out. Published by Bluecoat Press in December 2008, the book was limited to a run of 2000

and looks like it will not be re-printed.

Initially "The Liverpool Boys" was written, self published and printed in 2004.

300 were made and numbered but the response was so great that they sold out in two weeks.

A re-run was then produced with 2200 of the do-it-yourself book being sold over a four year period until Bluecoat Press totally re-designed it with added pics and a touch more extra written material. Thanks to all who have purchased the book over the years.

NEW T-SHIRT - URBAN GENTRY

The latest line of T-Shirts are in the production stage and should be arriving in stores

at the start of November.

Amongst a selection of new designs is the Urban Gentry Tee. The title and image suggests a time when up-market sportswear and designer labels produced for the affluent folk or gentry of Europe were liberated from the continent by working class kids brought up on the run down council estates of Great Britain. The ideal accessory being the ubiquitous Head Bag.

80s CASUALS NEWSLETTER

Our website www.80scasuals.co.uk has this week started a newsletter to all subscribers. The content of which will include many exclusives and money off deals. To subscribe click the following link http://eepurl.com/bk7P5 and you will be added to the list.

The first newsletter went out this week and included an exclusive 40% off offer as an introduction and thanks for everyones support over the years.

1990s ARENA AD of the WEEK

Our Arena Ad this week shows the inspiration for the forthcoming MA Strum T-Shirt design which should be in stores at the beginning of November.

C.P. Company moved into the FlatIron Building in New York during the buildings restoration period of the early 90s. As the ad says 'the FlatIron was something that was beautiful yesterday and will be beautiful tomorrow' which was how Massimo Osti viewed his designs. Now we witness this fact with MA Strum re-producing some of the finest Osti jackets, which show his commitment to craftsmanship and quality.

80s CASUALS BOOK RE-PRINT

It appears that the 80s Casuals book is fetching extortionate prices on Ebay at the moment. We always said that the initial run of the coffee table size would be restricted to 2000. True to our word the book will not be produced in that size again but we are re-producing it with the exact same content in a smaller travel A5 size. Printing was completed in the last day or so and it has now gone to be 2nd Edition silver foil embossed [instead of gold] on the cover and bound together. Some of our usual stockists have asked for a supply plus our website will have copious amounts and one or two will appear on ebay. All stores should have a supply by the beginning of November.