Preppy On Steroids: The Return Of Argyleculture

Yesterday Women’s Wear Daily reported that Russell Simmons is relaunching his clothing label Argyleculture, this time in partnership with the Joseph Abboud brand. Aimed at “urban graduates,” Simmons described the collection as “preppy on steroids.”

The brand, which was originally founded in 2008, is set to return this fall. Above is a shot from the fall collection, as is the one below. A cheap jacket, of course, with darts, two buttons and a tiny lapel, but nice sloping shoulder:

Another new look:

And finally a look from a past collection. — CC

29 Comments on "Preppy On Steroids: The Return Of Argyleculture"

  1. The devil is in the details.

  2. Disregarding quality of construction, the look of each separate piece is not that bad. The problem is that like most print ad photos the tendency is to shotgun content, trying to put as many “cool’ items into the ad as possible.

    OCBD said it all.

    Rule of thumb, burgundy and red are not shades of the same color.

  3. Farmer Jones | May 30, 2012 at 8:39 am |

    “Tiny” does not even begin to describe the infinitesimal, whip-thin lapels on those jackets

  4. Studied, fake, affected, fussy. Everything Ivy was intended not to be.

  5. pop-up ads?! really?!

  6. The pieces look infinitely better on mannequins than on the models. Which probably means they’re unwearable. I must say though, I quite like the colors, especially on that ill-fitting navy cord jacket.

  7. Try hards.

  8. Looks like Preppy on Estrogen.

  9. Someone once said, “when your hair dresser tells you it’s time to load up on a particular stock, it’s clearly time to unload it.”. I say, when Simmons and mainstream America says it’s time to go Prep, it’s time to change styles!

  10. oobopshbam
    Love your handle. Scientifically you may be right about the color red, but as a general rule when I dress red and burgundy clash, note the red shirt with burgundy in the cricket sweater, also tartan tie with burgundy pant. Not to offer a color cookbook, there are exceptions to the rule, but burgundy and pink are shades of the same color, not red. White, shades of grey to black are the same color. Brown to tans to ecure are the same color . Damn near every thing goes with white, navy or tan.
    In my post above, I disqualified the details of the clothing, but depending on quality and price I’d own the ties and sweaters, although my wardrobe already.
    Regards

  11. Nobody, nobody is going to wear that junk.

  12. Gentleman Mac | May 30, 2012 at 5:49 pm |

    Is it just me, or is the plaid jacket in the last two pics the same jacket, separated by four years? Talk about cleaning out the warehouse. Of course, I guess this is NOS?

  13. Are male models born constipated, or do they learn to do that for the job?

  14. Pasadena Money | May 30, 2012 at 7:08 pm |

    Lagun Beach Fogey’s outfit is really cool, as is his hairstyle. I like his bracelet and the way all of the items he’s wearing are mismatched.

  15. It wouldn’t be the Internet without at least one racist comment from white supremacist Laguna Beach Fogey. But on Ivy Style? Really?

  16. Steroids? Looks Anemic to me. A stupid RL pastiche.

  17. JohnRichard | May 31, 2012 at 5:03 am |

    I agree with ‘Oxford cloth button down’: The devil IS in the details. The first large picture with the orange sweater does not make me want to wear any of that. The second picture is a tad better, but still, trying too hard. It’s the fabric. Textile will always give it away. In my opinion, the only piece worth looking at seriously is the tweed vest, which is likely 20% Wool, 80% synthetic.

  18. Roy R. Platt | May 31, 2012 at 9:39 am |

    A quote from the article that the link leads to:

    “Finding the right match is tough,” Simmons told WWD. “Sometimes it works, but most of the time it doesn’t.”

    That seems to be almost everyone’s feelings about “Argyleculture”.

  19. Note how short the jackets are, my guess is that Simmons and J. Abboud compromised on the length. One of them wanted to produce Eisenhower jackets. When I first saw the length, it reminded me of the short blazers some women wear or the short coats organ grinder monkeys wear in the old moves.

  20. It looks like that went to a Ralph Lauren discount outlet with more cash than style. No doubt the Indies and I-Gents will love it.

  21. Looks like the kind of ad Ricky WASP would drool all over.

  22. Nice to see brothers without hoodies.

  23. Will the jackets come with the brand label on the left cuff and be left ON by wearers in typical, disappointing, “urban” style?

  24. I do fancy the bow tie in the second picture though. Any ideas where to get nice bow ties on web, preferably within Europe?
    Other than that, nothing new, nothing special in what I see here. Looks like someone tried to put a whole lot of preppy accessories into one single picture.

  25. Maximilian | June 3, 2012 at 9:03 pm |

    Interesting how accurate comments regarding “negroids” and “negrification” get expunged by the Censor General, but the racist, discriminatory, anti-White word “brothers” is allowed to stand.

  26. Dickey Greenleaf | June 9, 2012 at 11:56 am |

    Joseph Abboud, another Ralph Lauren assistant, from the start-up. So I guess it’s a gambit. Your move,

  27. @Maximilian Okay.

  28. Above all else, these clothes just don’t look good. I’m not sure why they (folks behind ArgyleCulture) just won’t let this goose loose and move onto something else? Maybe their consultants are giving them the “low down” on how prep is “all the rage” these days?

  29. More like Uniqlo on steroids. Price wise anyway…

Comments are closed.