COLAB EYEWEAR

If you've headed outside in the last few weeks, amidst the wind and rain there is a smell of Spring in the air. It's not far away, and soon after Spring comes Summer.

With the huge number of eyewear designers out there, if you are wanting to start preparing for the warmer days with a pair of sunglasses that are original, Australian, and with an extensive range of options to choose from, we have to point you in the direction of Colab Eyewear.

Colab is unique in that they "collaborate" with individual artists and designers to create a range of original eyewear.

In their words, "There is no constraint, no rules to follow, no target market to appease."

Examples of who they have collaborated with are; Perks & Mini, Eboy, Josh Petherick just to name a few.

Each style is limited to 1000 pairs, and are available to purchase via their website.

HARD GRAFT

We spend a fair bit of time hunting for independent designers and labels on Big Cartel.

If you aren't familiar with Big Cartel, it's a website that allows designers/labels to set up their own store online and sell their own products with minimal fuss.

Hard Graft is one of the labels we recently discovered and immediately had taken our breath away.

They are an independent label from Austria producing items from premium leather and 100% wool felt.

Their items include laptop sleeves, Moleskine covers, iPhone sleeves, and our favourite the 2UNFOLD laptop sleeve (currently out of stock, but keep an eye out) which can actually be worn 8 different ways.

Their design mission is to create all time classics, and we think all would agree that they have succeeded.

Their goods are available to purchase online via their store, here.

BILINGUAL

We were down at This Is Not A Design Market in Melbourne last week, and one of our stand out favourites was unisex Australian jewellery label bilingual.

Jewellery design is a really interesting discipline, it has less functionality requirements than clothing and yet it tends to have to fall into the repeated equation of what jewellery should do, or how it should be worn. And outside of its design aesthetic, the way it functions tends to remain the same.

Bilingual mixes this up. Their "Stopover" collection is reversible and has the incredible ability to anchor itself to the wearers clothing, which is an amazing take on what we have grown to know and accept within jewellery function.

Their pieces are unisex, and made from sterling silver.

Available to purchase here.

LET'S ACADEMISE

Our first post is a topical one.

Academy For Men, an online magazine created for the boys has just released their 3rd issue. And while it has come a long way since it started, it actually started off brilliantly to begin with and is just becoming scarily perfect as each issue goes by.

Rhys Ripper, the Creative Director and Editor in Chief isn't new to the scene, so he doesn't really need an introduction here.

But, the thing that we love is the talent that he hunts out and showcases in the magazine is a perfect blend of upcoming & often hidden designers in the same breath as the big international labels.

Rhys Ripper seems to take great pride and satisfaction in revealing to the world what talent we really do have in Australia, and this is not just within Fashion, but Music, Photography, Illustration, and Sport.

So if you haven't yet had a look, do yourself a favor and get onto it now.

Click here to read Academy For Men.

SUBMIT YOUR SUGGESTIONS.

Along Came John Doe will be launching on 25/07/09.

We will be hunting for new names within Art, Design, Fashion, and Culture, who are doing something that needs to be seen.

If you know of someone, or are someone, send us your suggestions and tip-offs.

Email suggestions to : alongcamejohndoe@gmail.com