GANT RUGGER CONQUERS BUCKTOWN

Gant's latest outpost sees the still-on-fire brand heading to the Midwest, opening in Chicago's hip Bucktown neighborhood. This latest expansion brings the Rugger store concept to Second City but blows it out with a 2000 square foot space that stocks the complete Rugger line of clothing and accessories plus the brand's ongoing collaboration with Michael Bastian. The store's interior is as covetable as the clothes; a mashup of mid-century Danish furniture, repurposed barn wood and schoolhouse doors, and kitchen accessories that give a nod to Rugger's foodie fascination. Stylish Chicagoans should stop by today to get their hands on Rugger's crazy good army-inspired Pre-Fall '13 lineup that'll fight off winter wardrobe fatigue when the temperatures start to drop.

Gant is located at 1702 N Damen Avenue in Chicago.

(text & pics via GQ)

CHAD MEETS OAK STREET - BOOTMAKERS

I met George Vlagos @ Bread & Butter, Berlin in the L.O.C.K. Fire dept. He is the founding father of

Oak Street Bootmakers. His father has a shoe repair shop in Chicago and in this shop he learned the craft of shoemaking from an early age. Today, George seeks to preserve the heritage of fine shoemaking through thoughtfully designed and attentively crafted shoes.

All Oak Street shoes and boots are handcrafted in the USA by shoemakers with over 20 years of experience. The highest standards of production are employed to yield shoes that are as durable as they are comfortable. Each pair makes use of replaceable outsoles, a feature normally reserved for formal footwear, to ensure a lifetime of wear. 

As Chicago is also home to Horween leathers it ain't a surprise that Oak Street shoes and boots are constructed from renowned Horween Chromexcel leather. Chromexcel undergoes 89 separate processes taking 28 days and utilizing all five floors of the Horween facility in Chicago. Over the past 100 years very little has changed in the formula. Food-grade beef tallow, cosmetic-grade beeswax, marine oil, chrome salts, tree bark extracts and naturally occurring pigments are combined. The mixture is then applied using heat, steam pressure, the hands of craftsman and time. This ultimately yields the soft, supple and durable leather that is used for your shoes or boots.