Made With Love: 10A Suspender Trouser Company

My favorite pastime, if you haven't figured out already, is to trawl through online boutiques for the latest discounts. In that way I can even consider to buy the cheapest things there. For example, a pair of Ayame socks and a Balenciaga t-shirt from LN-CC exactly last year. Oh how time flies! (On an unrelated note, seriously disappointed with Nicolas Ghesquière's unprecedented leave from the Spanish design powerhouse, and even more shocked with the news of Alexander Wang taking over...)

Stalking LN-CC sales section sometimes yields unexpected things, like this colour-blocked shirt from Italian label 10A Suspender Trousers Company. The shirt is beautifully made with surprising details - the contrast placket at chest, the pleated collar with different lining.

Wearing  10A shirt  from their SS2012 collection with thrifted pleated pants, Prada shoes, Happy Socks

The brand, which begins in 2008 is a joint venture between Daria Dazzan (a Royal Antwerp Academy graduate who honed her skills at Veronique Branquinho and Hussein Chalayan) and Matteo Cibic, a product designer and art director. The duo created a formidable force to open a small tailor workshop, making only ten one-of-a-kind suspender trousers per month. Trailing on the success of the project, the pair launched a collection in different fabrics working alongside an artisanal tailoring laboratory, complete with an e-shop for potential global customers.

Each garment is handmade with love in Italy. Now I'm attached to the brand's use of unconventional fabric pairing with contrasting yet fitting colors. For AW 2012/13, they created an adorable presentation of a brass band comprising of men in different shapes and colors clad in 10A's latest offerings. How cute!

This definitely made me ever more determined to sift through for bargainous wonders like this...