Featured: Saint Augustine Academy
Post early surf on a Saturday morning, lazily flipping through the March instalment of followgentlemen, something struck my eye. Rock star. Style. One of a kind. All of these things rolled into some very impressive garments, and I was literally blown away. Nothing else had struck me from the mag and I was becoming bored with it. Suddenly I was clutching the pages having a good hard look at what I was seeing, and I knew I had to write about this gear as soon as I could. Why? The collection from Saint Augustine Academy rocks and is downright the best autumn/winter collection I’ve spotted to date.
I was frothing and dropped the boys a line. I experienced a warm reception from Adrian and then promptly received some press info from the very pleasant Candice. Here’s the tale of how it all began from the press release:
Saint Augustine Academy began in 2002 as a collaboration between two friends yearning to make streetwear for the modern man. Tired of seeing uninspired denim and tees in every retail store, Alvin Manalo and Adrian Amores wanted to create a range that was wearable, but creative and completely unique. Their latest collection, “The Death of Romance” is heavily influenced by designer Alvin’s obsession for music that captures the sentiment of the break-up: from anger to sorrow and reflection on past love. It all began when Alvin picked up “The Smiths - The Singles” in a $10 CD store and since then there’s been no turning back.
Adrian and Alvin have gone all funky on the fabrics, using herringbone, corduroy, leather and wool and have hit some excellent fabric combinations in the blazers. The line of blazers is the most impressive feature of the collection, with some intricate stitchwork claiming the the back, detailed lining on the inside and some tastefully composed contrast trim on the outer to keep you looking sharper than the rest.
It’s not all blazers though, the boys have succeeded in tailoring tees and slim cut jeans which, for once, completely stand out from all the others on the rack. The striped tee above is my fave… sure, black and white stripes have been used by others this season, but check the neck, the trim and cut… unlike the rest, this tee truly has a style of its own. And the slim cut jeans? There’s a rad pair in followgentlemen, but I don’t have a pic so you’ll have to get down to the newso and check it for yourself… or better still, get along to a Saint Augustine Academy stockist and buy some before they’re sold out.
After seeing the collection I’m refreshed and excited by what’s on offer. It’s an exceptional range and shows an enormous level of creativity and promise. Alvin and Adrian are cool guys too, and they’re staying true to the rock star roots of the label. Keep it real guys, and I’ll keep loving it. Rock on.
(pics and quote used with permission from Saint Augustine Academy)
Mar 16th 2006
9:29 AM
Hey Andy,
The black and white tee is very Pete Doherty/Jefferson Hack, these guy’s have had a huge influence on style. A couple of seasons back Christian Dior devoted a whole collection to Pete. Him and Kate really pioneered the skinny jeans look.
I’ve been wondering if the skinny jeans look will prompt a more body conscious phase for men, as If you’re a lard ass you just won’t pull this off at all! Pete’s very skinny but as you know that’s assisted by copious amounts of cocain!
Your average beefy/sporty/surfie Aussie guy will need to get out of the sun and start hanging in dingy clubs, existing on a diet of cigarettes, alcohol and amphetamines!
This look seems to have taken off big time In Melbourne , especially in the Indie music scene around Brunswick st (but then the skinny black jean has been the indie rock uniform for eons!), I note however that these dudes are not the most healthy of specimen’s!
I’m all for the tailored look, I dig sartorial style on men, so the coat/jacket is really cool.
Are these dudes from Sydney, there’s no mention of locale on the website?
Mar 16th 2006
6:59 PM
Hey Lol! Yeah I know what you mean about the whole indie look being very in, it’s never been so fashionable to be malnourished! As for me, I’m definitely not going to surfing, it’ll take way more than a trend to stop me!
I’m almost 100% certain these guys are based in Sydney. I know they were both based there at some stage, but hopefully one of the dudes can jump on here and let us know for sure.
Mar 17th 2006
3:20 PM
Gents, thanks for the kind words.
Saint Augustine is based in Sydney and will stay that way. Indie vibe.. fair enough. Our underlying philosophy is ‘rawk’. We could think of no other word.
The one key difference with us, we will never sell out to the dept stores. You can quote me on that.
PS - interesting feedback from one of our buyers in Melbourne. “We even have footy players are buying your stuff..”
Aug 11th 2006
3:21 PM
Saw comments from Adrian re leaving JANA to ramp up Saint Augutines Acadmeny adn to do what he wanted adn was impressed. I wish it hadn’t taken me 20 years to figure out what I wanted to do, and then not been constrained by what family saw as non-pproductive time eg designing/drawinging. So now I do Haute couture for Draq Queens - which allows lots of self-expression, and being self taught, design and sew and all that but don’t have the option to abandon 9to5(through the freedom of youth) like Adrian has. Wish you guys well and where can I see your stuff in Sydney?
Sep 8th 2006
9:51 PM
saw some of their stuff in orson and blake, i really like it! its annoying seeing every second pair of jeans out there to be tsubi now… SAA’s new collection is awesome, gonna rock up this summer for sure!