Renowned menswear designer John Varvatos has launched the Jimi Hendrix Collection, featuring select men’s apparel and accessories including jackets, shirts, vests, scarves, boots, pants, pouches, belts and selective classic artwork.
“This collection has been a passion project that began as I was editing images for my new book entitled John Varvatos: Rock In Fashion,” said Varvatos. “I was exploring the black and white images of Jimi Hendrix by notable British portrait photographer Gered Mankowitz. Jimi was a visionary rocker whose influence reaches beyond music, defining the art of individual style. Using this inspiration, I created a contemporary, non-nostalgic mix that is tactile and precious, in a non-precious kind of way.”
Varvatos sat down with Rolling Stone to explain the background and timing of the new collection.
“First of all, nobody's ever done anything with Hendrix other than t-shirts, and the family contacted me about doing something special — something that was an elevated product and done right,” said the designer. “The clothes are ripe forever, Jimi's more relevant now than ever for me.”
Jimi’s estate are notoriously tight with his image, so was Varvatos surprised when they reached out to him to explore the fashion cocnept?
“I was more immediately honored, and I knew I wanted to do it very respectfully,” commented John. “He is my number one music icon, and a lot of peoples', so you know, you don't want to mess with that the wrong way. But we're not trying to be 1960s. Everything is about the fit.”
“We're not trying to imitate exactly what Jimi wore, it's more, what would he wear in 2014,” he added.
Check out the Jimi Hendrix Collection here.
The new feature-length film, “Jimi Hendrix - Hear My Train A Comin'”, was released last month.
The film traces the guitarist's remarkable journey from his hardscrabble beginnings in Seattle, through his stint as a US Army paratrooper, unknown sideman to R&B stars such as Little Richard, Joey Dee and the Isley Brothers, and his discovery and ultimate international stardom.
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Whole lotta Jimi Hendrix on the way
