Buy This Cool Belt and Help Others Loosen Theirs. The Mission Belt Co. Donates To The Hungry.

Buy a belt, feed a family. That's the concept behind The Mission Belt, a company that donates a dollar for every one of their stylish leather belts sold, wholesale and retail, to help hungry families worldwide become self-sufficient.




The Mission Belt is simple, clean and unisex. Made of supple and smooth top grain double-stitched leather, they are available in three colors and with three sizes, provide a perfect fit for everyone. With no holes to stretch or wear over time (the belt buckle functions much like a seatbelt on an airplane) it always looks great on either men or women. It can be dressed up or dressed down. Not only is it the best belt ever manufactured, it's comfortably priced at $34.99 as well.





The tip of the belt inserts into the buckle, where a locking mechanism holds the belt in place from the back. To remove the belt, just press the small metal lever on the bottom of the buckle, and the belt slides out of the buckle.



On the back of the belt is a series of small, hard rubber wedges that have been carefully sewn into the leather of the belt:


There’s a metal piece on the back of the belt buckle that lodges against the wedges as you pull the belt to the correct fit. Then, it locks into place.

Black:

Alpine White:

Chocolate:


From their site:
The Philosophy: If you give a man a fish he eats for a day. If you teach a man to fish he can eat everyday. That sums up our philosophy and it works. Some of the core concepts behind our fight against global hunger and poverty are;

Sustainability & Self-reliance: That is the goal behind every dollar deployed. Our “Mission” is for families to continue to thrive after support ends.

Nutrition & Income: We work with organizations that help families reap the rewards of their animals and crops through consumption and sale of excess production.

Improved Management: This means that the projects we invest in focus on teaching families how to better manage their livestock and crops to keep them safe and productive.


Order your Mission Belt here.

Shoes With A Built-In GPS System. There's No Place Like Home by Dominic Wilcox.

Designer Dominic Wilcox has created a fully functional prototype pair of shoes that will guide you home no matter where you are in the world.

"I was commissioned by the Global Footprint project in Northamptonshire*, a place famous for shoe making, to create some shoes. I decided to make a pair of shoes that can navigate you to anywhere you wish to travel to. I thought about the Wizard of Oz and how Dorothy could click her shoes together to go home. After uploading your required destination to the shoes via a piece of custom made mapping software and a USB cable, the GPS, which is embedded in the heal, is activated by a heal click. It then communicates to the wearer via a ring of LED lights to point in the required direction. The shoe with the GPS wirelessly communicates with the right shoe that has a progress bar of lights to show how close you are to the destination." - Dominic Wilcox

Wilcox etched little illustrations onto the sole and chose a red calf leather for the inside as a small reference to Dorothy's red shoes in the Wizard of Oz:



The progress bar starts with one red light at the beginning of the journey and ends on the green light when you arrive.



The correct direction to walk is shown by the illumination of one of the LED's on the circle:


A little piece of software was created to plot your preferred destination on a map. This is then uploaded via USB to the shoe. The GPS is powered by a battery similar to those found in mobile phones. The data from the GPS in the left shoe wirelessly communicates with the right shoe which shows the progress made on a row of lights:


The perforated arrow detail is a nice touch:


The red tag at the back contains the GPS antenna which is positioned to point upwards. The shoes are built around two microcontrollers called Arduinos:


A magnet in the right shoe and sensor in the left shoe detects when the magnet is near and tells the microcontroller in the left shoe when the heels have been clicked to start the GPS.



In order to create the fully functioning prototype shoes Wilcox worked with interactive arts and technology expert Becky Stewart and local Northampton shoe maker Stamp Shoes to create the bespoke leather shoes.



The bespoke made GPS prototype shoes are currently on display at Dominic Wilcox's solo exhibition at KK Outlet, 42 Hoxton Square, London, until the 26th September.

*Global Footprint delivers an innovative and ambitious countywide programme of contemporary ‘living heritage’ events and exhibitions, using visual and digital arts to showcase and celebrate Northamptonshire’s defining cultural heritage and identity: its boot and shoe industry.

The industry will be brought to life by a series of special commissions, exhibitions, events, trails, projections and talks that utilise a range of new digital technologies to explore the boot- and shoe-making’s continued importance to the national and international economic, creative and cultural profile of the county.

Key partners include Northamptonshire County Council, Northampton Museum and Art Gallery, the University of Northampton, Fishmarket Gallery and numerous independent museums and heritage organisations.

images courtesy of Dominic Wilcox and inhabitat

Please Don't Wear The Utility Belt. Dark Knight Replica Leather & Kevlar Motorcycle Suit.

Oh yes they did.

UD Replicas has created a replica of the Dark Knight's suit which features Kevlar inserts and adjustable sections making it a true motorcycle suit. Make no mistake, this is not a costume.

Aitor Throup Melds Art & Fashion In His First Menswear Line Of Shiva Skull Bags.

After 6 years in development, fashion illustrator, sculptor and designer Aitor Throup has finally launched his first long awaited menswear product line. The recent unveiling of his 2013 menswear product line in an exhibit called New Object Research, focused on his fabulous Shiva Skull Bags. Constructed in the shape of a human skull, the black and grey tweed bags with leather accents and zippers will be launched to few key influential retailers globally and are the first of his products to be marketed.




An installation of his Archetypal Shiva Skull Bag as it transformed over the years:

And a close look at them:








Aitor's design process is centered around innovative methods of design and construction, in particular a construction process which utilizes his own sculptures of the human body as a system for blocking garments. Below you can see the Shiva Skull bags placed upon his own sculpted mannequins:




More of Aitor's sculpted mannequins from the exhibit:


close-up:




One complete outfit was in the show (shown below) and will be available exclusively through Dover Street Market, with whom the designer is planning an exciting event to coincide with Frieze Art Fair in London in October, 2012:

The artist at work (photo by Neil Bedford):


An incredible illustrator, Aitor's daily sketchbook archives (a few of which are shown below)are simply beautiful and can be seen here on The Breaks or on his official Facebook page:




About Aitor Throup:
Aitor Throup was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1980. He arrived in Burnley, Lancashire in 1992. It was in Burnley that Throup developed a passion for labels such as Stone Island and C.P. Company. A mixture of Aitor’s interest in these products and his own passion for drawing led him to begin a BA in Fashion Design at Manchester Metropolitan University, from where he graduated with first class honors in 2004. In 2006, he completed an MA in Fashion Menswear at the Royal College of Art in London.

Aitor is fascinated with anatomy and his main interest is drawing. His hand drawn characters become the primary tool in the exploration of his ‘justified design philosophy’, which highlights the necessity of a reason or function behind all design features. Aitor's design process is centered around innovative methods of design and construction, in particular a construction process which utilises his own sculptures of the human body as a system for blocking garments.

Aitor Throup began working as a creative consultant with the British football brand Umbro in 2008, which led to his involvement in the concept and design of both the ‘home’ and ‘away’ football kits worn by England at the 2010 World Cup.

Aitor has won multiple awards over the years, including the ‘Collection of The Year Award’ and the ‘i-D Styling Award’ At ITS#FIVE (International Talent Support #5). He has worked as an art director/stylist with i-D magazine, Arena Homme+, V-Man, and GQ Style, and he designed the cover for the December 2008 issue of Dazed and Confused Japan, which also included an 8-page portfolio of his work.


Here's a nice interview with Aitor about the New Object Research exhibit at Dazed Digital

Some of the images in this post were shot by the talented UK photographer Neil Bedford, other images courtesy of Fashionmag and Aitor Throup Studio

Aitor Throup