The Levi’s Made & Crafted F/W 13 lookbook got kind of moody and introspective, didn’t it? It’s like the design team headed up to Lake Huron, an hour or so north of Detroit and discovered a few secrets to life. In all actuality they probably stayed at a really nice rustic cabin that had wool blankets, an old school wood burning stove and solar powered Wi-Fi. Design process aside, the Made & Crafted team put together a pretty complete collection. And complete collections make me think existentially about things like how Levi’s Made & Crafted can help you become a more complete man because that is something that I obviously ponder while I squander my life away. It’s totally not because this list of "10 Reasons Levi’s Made & Crafted Will Make You A More Complete Man" is presented by Levi’s Made & Crafted or anything. Not at all…
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They endorse bonsai.
Yo, if you don’t recognize the importance of bonsai to a complete life, you are slipping, son. You need to go watch some Karate Kid and reflect on your existence as a whole. Sure, Cobra Kai is fun, and dressing up as a skeleton is dope, but nothing compares to being mentored by the Japanese handyman in your building. NOTHING. Side note: Daniel-san recognizes the power of bonsai and he lands a dime who wears sweatpants, my dudes.
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Every man should own a grandpa cardigan.
And this bad boy fits the bill. This automatically advances your appreciations of Civil War documentaries just by putting it on. Chunky, insanely bright cardigans are the hallmark of curmudgeons loved worldwide. The key is to be as knowledgeable and down to earth as Mr. Rogers, but mean and gruff like Mr. Wilson. And that guy who shoveled the snow in Home Alone. Those guys should be your triumvirate for style and general life lessons.
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Their "Moment to Moment" campaign tries to teach you something for a change.
The only thing almost as cool as being a Creative Director is being a "creative" that is asked to take part in a multinational corporation’s advertising campaign that examines the use of actual commercial ad space for purely artistic endeavors. Yeah, I know, I didn’t know who Gwen Allen was either. Although now I will pretend I do. She wrote about Stéphane Mallarmé, the 19th century poet who dreamt of a three-dimensional book with mobile sections contained in boxes intended to be performed aloud collectively. Mallarmé never got around to actually producing Le Livre, but in 1967 Dan Graham took the hipster crown by creating an issue of Aspen Magazine, a magazine that was actually a collection of Super 8 films, photographs, booklets and other projects that came in a plain white box inspired by Mallarmé’s concept for Le Livre. THAT SHIT IS COOL AND NOW YOU WANT TO DO THAT WITH YOUR TUMBLR FRIENDS DON’T YOU? But check out the Allen essay on the Made & Crafted site—it’s got footnotes and everything. Having articles with footnotes in your recent memory is how you impress girls whose hobbies include discussing things like gentrification and cultural appropriation.