Cult sounds off on American menswear publications in a heartbreaking open letter. This no-holds-barred critique on the current state of menswear magazines sets the record straight.
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Ikat-dyed popover shirts, oversized block-printed floral patterns, textured striped shorts and textiles created by artisinal weavers in India; a Burkman Bros garment list reads like an exotic travel itinerary, a sartorial scavenger hunt of sorts headed for Sri Lanka, Greece, Hawaii and maybe even Mumbai. Much like their passports, Doug and Ben Burkman have left a stamp on modern menswear.
Doug & Ben Burkman
The customer is a guy who is adventurous, curious, and fun. Our customer values comfort yet does not want to sacrifice his appearance in order to remain comfortable.
The Spring Summer 2012 Collection was inspired by a trip we took to Hawaii last year. The collection has the Polynesia-meet-America vibe that we felt throughout Hawaii along with many of the colors that we encountered during our Hawaiian excursions.
A great pair of shorts
The Fall/Winter 2012 Collection was inspired by a trip we took to Reykjavik. Iceland was a goldmine for inspiration: rugged, yet sort of refined. We took a great deal of inspiration from the rich earth tones we saw and based our Fall/Winter palette on it, creating many of our bespoke patterns and custom fabrics around it.
Our first collection for The Tourist was inspired by a trip we took to Greece last year. It is different from the main Burkman Bros. collection because it skews a bit younger. Also, working with Urban Outfitters gave us the opportunity to reach a different customer; with the collaboration customers could buy an entire outfit for under a hundred dollars, which is difficult to do with the main collection.
We are continuing The Tourist by Burkman Bros at Urban Outfitters for fall, which is really exciting. This collection has some really great knits and outerwear that we are really proud of.
No. One of the great things about fashion is that it is constantly moving forward and, most of the time, you don’t have time to look back and regret specific pieces. However, on the business side when a piece doesn’t work we try to figure out why it didn’t work; we see it as an opportunity to learn about our customer.
It really changes based on recent purchases. At the moment it is a pair of Junya Watanabe overalls that I pair with some Burkman Bros.
Canadians are friendly, laid-back, and approachable people, which we think it something that manifests in the clothes themselves. Our customer definitely fits those criteria and we find that we design from that point of view.
We love Tokyo for the street-style, men there are always dressed really well and it makes for interesting people watching. India has also been an amazing source of inspiration for us; the colors and patterns that you come across with in India are always inspiring.
Working together comes naturally to us; we have been working together in one way or another since we were kids so we really understand each other and how we work. One of the most rewarding things about working together is the fact that it has definitely made us closer as a family. However, sometimes you spend so much time together between the hours of 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. that it becomes difficult to hang out outside of work.
We’ve always worn bracelets, ever since we were children. When we started Burkman Bros we would put friendship bracelets with each item, when retailers started telling us that people wanted to buy the friendship bracelets we decided to start selling them by themselves.
Just to remain true to your vision and don’t try to please others; do what you do best and people respond to that.
