HandCut Radio HandCut Media

This episode is a poignant one. Yes, believe it or not, this is the final episode of HandCut Radio. After three years and more than 50 episodes, we’re hanging up our microphones to pursue new projects.

But, before we go, we wanted to respond to one frequent request that’s come up while we’ve made this podcast. A surprising number of you have been in touch to ask whether someone could possibly interview Aleks, and now they have. For this special sign-off episode we asked Paul Croughton, editor-in-chief of the Robb Report to quiz our host on everything we’ve learned in speaking to so many fascinating and successful people for HandCut Radio. A huge thank you to Paul from the whole team here for taking some time out to record this finale episode.

We very much hope you enjoy.

We could think of no better way to wrap up this season of HandCut Radio than by revisiting an old guest, Mark Cho, co-founder of The Armoury and co-owner of Drake’s. We’ve called this episode “Mark Cho’s take on 2022” because a lot of the themes we explore – the ‘casualisation’ of style, the different ways men are reinventing suiting, the danger of hype and the saturation of everyone’s attention – feel very relevant to the moment we find ourselves in. We hope you’ll agree that this is a fitting end to our sixth season.

As always, thank you very much indeed for your support and for tuning in. Don’t forget to let us know what you think – leave us a review or drop us a DM.

---

HandCut Radio is produced by Birch, the London based creative office of James Allen. Our theme music is by Joe Boyd.

HandCut Radio is proud to be sponsored by Thomas Mason, an historic mill that’s been supplying famous designers, shirtmakers and tailors with world class shirting fabrics since 1796.

---

Show Notes:
Mark Cho — Website | Instagram

[03:12] The Armoury
[04:25] The Armoury City Hunter Jacket
[04:51] Horological Society of New York
[04:56] F.P. Journe
[06:03] The Armoury Cotton Sport Chinos
[08:03] Dayware Cotton 3 Pocket Blouson
[08:04] The Armoury Wool Casentino Road Jacket
[08:38] The Armoury’s Spring/Summer 2021 Lookbook
[11:42] The Armoury x H. Moser & Cie (HODINKEE)
[12:04] H. Moser & Cie
[14:10] Elliot Hammer
[20:10] The Armoury TV
[40:40] BODE
[41:02] Edward Sexton
[42:04] Lovat Mill

This week we’re bending the rules of our New York style season slightly, by interviewing fellow Brit, Jason Jules. Regardless, his new book Black Ivy: A Revolt in Style is extremely pertinent to this season’s theme, given its concern with mid-century American style. Aleks and Jason explore Black Ivy in this episode, of course, but we also hear about Jason’s fascination for cultural trend-spotting, his passion for jazz music and his admiration for progressive rap culture. It’s a fascinating conversation, this. We hope you enjoy it.

---

HandCut Radio is produced by Birch, the London based creative office of James Allen. Our theme music is by Joe Boyd.

HandCut Radio is proud to be sponsored by Thomas Mason, an historic mill that’s been supplying famous designers, shirtmakers and tailors with world class shirting fabrics since 1796.

---

Show Notes:
Jason Jules — Instagram

[05:28] Duffer of St. George
[07:58] Lynne Franks
[10:12] Honey (magazine, defunct)
[15:36] John Coltrane, Giant Steps
[16:02] Dizzy Gillespie
[18:06] Fred Astaire
[19:08] Al Capone
[20:16] David Bowie
[25:19] The Limelight (club)
[26:15] Round Midnight (film)
[31:22] Jazzie B
[31:26] Norman Jay MBE
[31:39] Trevor Nelson
[32:52] Stem Player
[32:54] Donda 2
[33:40] Frank Ocean
[33:42] Tyler, The Creator
[33:45] Pharrell Williams
[33:47] Nigo
[33:47] ‘I know NIGO!’ (album)
[36:16] Virgil Abloh
[37:10] Black Ivy: A Revolt in Style (book)
[39:00] Steve Urkel
[43:13] Summer of Love
[43:47] Long, hot summer of 1967
[51:28] ‘The Black Ivy Edit’ by Drake’s & Jason Jules
[52:08] Teal Madder Silk Fully Lined Bridle Leather Club Belt

Imagine that you’re a young, 20-something clothing designer, and you’re self-funding the growth of your label. It’s going well and you’ve invested heavily in your next collection. Then, picture an overnight flash-flood, a warehouse filled with more than three feet of water, and half that collection being written off. Peter Middleton, the founder of Wythe, found himself in that very position less than a year ago.

We wanted to talk to him about what the rollercoaster of building a young brand is like, and how he bounced back from this huge challenge. We also explore the formula that’s making Wythe an up-and-coming American menswear gem, and how Peter’s background in textile design informs everything he does.

---

HandCut Radio is produced by Birch, the London based creative office of James Allen. Our theme music is by Joe Boyd.

HandCut Radio is proud to be sponsored by Thomas Mason, an historic mill that’s been supplying famous designers, shirtmakers and tailors with world class shirting fabrics since 1796.

---

Show Notes:
Wythe — Website | Instagram

[07:42] L.L. Bean
[13:21] MRKET
[31:38] Rick Owens

This is the first of two ‘three years on’ episodes we’re featuring this season, with American brands that featured on HandCut Radio in the podcast’s infancy. Regular listeners will know that we’ve always admire Nicholas Ragosta and Agyesh Madan at Stòffa, and their work in building a luxury brand that’s as responsible as it is beautifully curated. In this conversation, we deep dive into how they’ve evolved the business over the course of the pandemic; introducing an impressive made-to-order e-commerce proposition, new limited edition collaborative “editions” of special products, and we touch on some of their pioneering responsible textile research, too.

---

HandCut Radio is produced by Birch, the London based creative office of James Allen. Our theme music is by Joe Boyd.

HandCut Radio is proud to be sponsored by Thomas Mason, an historic mill that’s been supplying famous designers, shirtmakers and tailors with world class shirting fabrics since 1796.

---

Show Notes:
Stòffa — Website | Instagram

[29:57] 11.11
[43:50] Edition 002
[44:24] Edition 003 (with Landon Metz)
[44:25] In Conversation: Landon Metz

This week HandCut Radio is coming to you from inside the pastel pink walls of F.E. Castleberry’s Greenwich Village atelier, as Aleks sits down with the brand’s founder, Fred Castleberry. Known for his creative, fashion-forward take on made-to-measure tailoring, and the dreamlike aesthetic of his campaigns, Fred has created a cult-brand with a razor-sharp point of view. He tells us about his grounding in design at Ralph Lauren, how he creates characters for all his campaigns, and why he sees clothes as conduits for different parts of his identity.

We hope you enjoy listening, please do leave us a review if you like what you hear!

---

HandCut Radio is produced by Birch, the London based creative office of James Allen. Our theme music is by Joe Boyd.

HandCut Radio is proud to be sponsored by Thomas Mason, an historic mill that’s been supplying famous designers, shirtmakers and tailors with world class shirting fabrics since 1796.

---

Show Notes:

F.E. Castleberry — Instagram | Website

[03:37] Rugby Ralph Lauren
[04:54] Unabashedly Prep covered on GQ
[17:32] ‘The heist of Dog with Lipstick’ Campaign
[20:13] Wes Anderson
[21:52] Schott ‘The Perfecto®’ Biker Jacket
[24:16] Doomed & FamousL Selected Obituaries (book)
[27:30] The Beatles: Get Back (Documentary)
[30:46] Help! I’m becoming a Sloane Ranger (Financial Times)
[31:55] BODE
[37:09] Celine
[40:28] F.E. Castleberry striped rugby
[40:39] St. John Womenswear
[43:08] Björn Borg
[43:17] David Bowie
[43:21] Jacques Cousteau