20 reasons to love a man named Thom

1. Kopi on the roof of the factory, on the way to the Deli for $2 bagels with peanut butter and jelly & mango and carrot juice.

2. One section of an entire warehouse filled with sample fabrics for Thom Browne- mostly greys - mostly AMAZING

3. Daniel (one of the designers) with the first product sample on his left, and then the modified version on the right- for a little PIZAZ at the show. (Not gonna lie- my first impulse when I saw this bag was to get inside).

4. Pattern blocks at the factory- there would be at least 100 meters of pattern blocks hung like this around the walls in the tailoring production factory in Queens.

5. View of New York from private car * woah * going across the Queens bridge to Manhattan for fittings

6. Kopi experimenting with the Spring 2010 jackets for styling of the show on the 15th of February at the Thom Browne PR firm in Chelsea

7. Thom Browne menswear wrap dresses (THIS IS WHY I ADORE THIS MAN- THESE DRESSES TURN MEN INTO GODS WHEN WORN- GODS)

8. Everything is hand made- from the patterns (which are tailor made in Italian and are not copied or reproduced even down to the collar patterns - which are done on the stand per jacket), the textiles are designed on illustrator (my gingham patterns for cotton for spring 2011 have been ordered- YES), hand cut & sewn by lovely men that listen to soul music and say "cawfee".

9. Kopi and I went to 'shake shack' the best burger in the world, sometimes the queue can span kilometers to order one, the milkshakes are a dream and are so thick you need a spoon to 'drink' them.

ten. Through my job I get to go to the garment district every day to visit some pretty cool places; this is a corridor of a leather shop- with this particular section being vibrantly coloured lamb skins - ITS THAT SPECIFIC. ITS THAT AMAZING. !
There are also trim shops that would have a trillion buttons, clasps, zips (including 4 inch thick zips- incredible) EVERYTHING YOU COULD EVER NEED OR IMAGINE OR DESIRE.

11. Robert Childs (the other designer) and Ezra (illustrator for Victoria's Secret) at dinner at Fette Sau- a garage that sells cooked meat by the kilo and beer by the gallon, with communal tables & incredible music. I love these men too

12. The flesh and I (you can see the reflection of the blood bath in my eyes) ha ha

13. The snow falling outside the apartment in Williamsburg onto the neighborhood

14, Graffiti from the meat packing district slightly modified on MS paint

15, Daniel, Kopi & Robert wearing their Thom Browne attire with matching briefcases waiting for a taxi to 14th street for PinkBerry & Whole foods.

16, My first present :) Thom Browne cashmere Italian socks with red and blue tennis rackets and polka dots.....HOW EXCITING AND OUTRAGEOUS - PRESENTS ! ! ! !!

17, Next week I need to sew 100 of these raccoon tails to pill box hats for the show so I spent a little time bonding with them

18, Robert, Thom Browne & Daniel discussing colours from Pantone swatches for Spring 2011, and choosing patterns for the fabric mills (my gingham and some stripe designs got through the process - AMAZING SO THEY WILL BE PRODUCED FOR NEXT SEASONS SHIRTS!)

19, Kopi trying on an extra long bomber jacket with beautiful soft lamb skin sleeves for Spring 2010 at the office (210 11ave)

20. The factory after hours- when all the Italians have gone home and its just the designers left slaving their guts out in the name of menswear.
Ah man, this is a dream life