Designer Simon Spurr is understandably exhausted. He’s just finished his first runway show for New York Fashion Week — where he debuted his new high-end collection of impeccably stylish and well-tailored menswear to a raving audience that included Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour — and he’s still catching up on interview requests, sample requests and — oh yeah — some much-needed sleep. But first, he took time out to chat with Corduroy about his new collection, which showcases a more luxurious, trim, modern (and British?) man.

What was the inspiration behind this season’s collection?
My intention was to establish SIMON SPURR as a modern luxury menswear brand. I definitely drew upon my British roots and focused on precision tailoring loosely inspired by the 60/70s Savile Row tailor, Tommy Nutter. I wanted to bring a British sensibility to American fashion week. I’m British, many of my reference points are British and that’s my look.

What types of guys do you picture wearing the looks?
The SIMON SPURR man is modern and has an inherent confidence. He is very much about style and appreciates quality. Actually the majority of the models in the show were British.

Why did you decide to put on a runway show this season instead of presentations like in years past?
Showing the SIMON SPURR collection on the runway set the tone for the brand. It seems more appropriate to show “Designer” menswear in the form of a runway show. It was also the first time I felt really confident that the clothes would work in this format. It was important to show the clothes moving, to allow the natural swagger of the models’ walk to express itself. Putting the clothes to music also allowed me to help tell a story. It was important when choosing the music that if the viewer were to close their eyes that they would still feel this young, British sensibility.

You seemed to show a more diverse array of looks this season, which covered most menswear bases, from slacks to jackets to suits to accessories. Was this an intentional move?
I wouldn’t say this was a conscious premeditated decision. SIMON SPURR is a full lifestyle brand and I wanted to illustrate this. There is definitely more depth to this season’s collection not only in the product assortment, with new development in hats and bags, but also with more attention paid to scale, pattern and finishing.

How hard is it to transition from fine denim to fine suiting?
I come from a strong tailoring background at Ralph Lauren Purple Label and Black Label. The tailoring, which I have made my own, has become an important part of the brand’s identity. I have often been quoted on my thoughts of menswear returning to a more elegant look. In the show I even mixed the two elements and showed a wool/silk tuxedo jacket over a fine denim shirt, jeans and boots. It’s how you wear the pieces that makes the difference. I have had no problem making the transition from denim to suiting.

Does the fact that you were known for denim help or hinder you?
I think that the transition has greatly helped the brand. When I started SPURR I had no intention of it being a “denim” brand. I always wanted it to be a full lifestyle brand that had great and authentic denim. With the separation of the brand into SIMON SPURR (Collection) and SPURR (contemporary), I have been able to maintain a sophisticated look on the runway, but also create a real denim business with SPURR.

Some reviewers described your collection as a return to “dandy” dressing for men. What does that word mean to you?
The word “Dandy” conjures a different image for me. When I think of a Dandy I have an image of an eccentric man that over dresses. SIMON SPURR is not a Dandy in this way. I offer a much cleaner, more modern approach to the Dandy.

So is the era of jeans and T-shirts over?
Whilst I personally still wear jeans and a t-shirt (under a tailored jacket), I do think that there is a move to a more groomed look for the modern man. I think men and women alike appreciated a well-dressed man; someone that has taken time, given thought and has pride in his appearance. Isn’t that what we all want?

I heard you had Guy Ritchie’s name plastered on your inspiration board backstage. Is that true? If so, what does Guy Ritchie have to do with Simon Spurr?
Yes, we had a page of key inspirational words backstage to help get the best walk out of the guys. The Guy Richie nod was to express the feeling of a man that has worked hard for his position in life; someone from one of Guy’s movies that comes from the middle class (or below) and has finally arrived at a point where he can enjoy the finer entrapments of menswear from a three-piece suit to hand-finished shirts and leather.

How nervous were you that Anna Wintour was in the audience?
Honestly I was not nervous at all. Since I met Anna during the Vogue Fashion fund experience, she has always made me feel welcome in the industry. Of course, I have the utmost respect for her and I know what her presence means if she attends your show. Ultimately, I was ecstatic and honored that she took the time to come… I hope that she liked the clothes.

Be honest… how happy are you now that the show is over?
It’s a happy/sad moment. There is definitely a relief that it’s over, I have my first runway show under my belt and the reviews have been complimentary. However, it all happened very quickly and it’s hard to savor six months work in 10.5 minutes! I love the runway format and admit that I’m already getting excited for the next one.

What’s the first thing you’re going to do now that fashion week is done?
Sleep. It’s my favorite thing to do. I’ll take a day off, just to re-charge after the adrenaline rush and get back into my routine. And then it will be business as usual and I will have to knuckle down and crack on with Spring/Summer 2011.

- TC

Confession time:  I recently caught an airing of My Girl on TBS and bawled my eyes out — again — some 19 years after first doing the same thing in a rundown suburban shopping mall theater in the outskirts of Toronto. It’s safe to say the characters — and the cast — still hold up to this day. But while Macaulay Culkin has bounced back from his post-Home Alone exile to appear in a number of well-received films and become somewhat of an indie acting icon, Anna Chlumsky’s whereabouts have been more of a mystery. Well I’m proud to announce that the mystery has been solved.

We caught up with Chlumsky in New York a few months ago, where she’s been busy auditioning for television roles, while also performing in a number of local Off-Broadway stage productions. At 30, she’s married, living in Brooklyn and enjoying her relative anonymity, but also ready, it seems, for a return to acting. She’s older, wiser and more motivated than ever to pursue the craft she’s always loved with a new vigor — and outlook. Make sure to pick up our next issue of Corduroy to read all about Chlumsky’s “comeback plans,” and to see the beautiful images from our rooftop photoshoot in the Lower East Side. In the meantime, here are a couple behind-the-scenes pics. Enjoy!

- TC

Designers Timo Weiland and Alan Eckstein make clothes for men and women whose idea of playing dress-up takes flight in full, fanciful garments that are rooted in strong construction and design.

If you find it hard to pinpoint the exact “Timo Weiland” aesthetic, you’re not alone. Descriptors as varied as “downtown preppy” and “Elizabethan England” have been tossed around to describe the frocks, which in our opinion, meet in that magical middle point of French civility-inspired garments that actually hold up to repeat wearing — and seasons. It’s clothing that’s foppish and dapper, but hardly frivolous. Think cropped blazers, knit sweaters and classic trench coats, updated with oversized collars, playful trim and button (and buttonless) detailing. The collection reflects what the designers say are their personal aesthetic sensibilities and a “broader desire to spur a return to the art of dressing.”

Born in rural Nebraska and raised between New York and Florida, Weiland majored in Economics, Spanish Literature, and Business Management at Vanderbilt University, before returning to New York to pursue a fashion career, which began with an eponymous collection of unisex neckwear. Eckstein, meantime, studied communications at FIT and held brief internships in the fashion industry, before teaming up with Weiland to launch their full label last year.

The two recently took time out to jot down some ideas for us as part of our web exclusive series of “things that never go out of style.” Here is Weiland and Eckstein’s top-ten list:

1. Good manners
2. Enthusiasm
3. An expertly-fitted button down shirt
4. Well-worn vintage loafers
5. A classic two-button suit
6. A sexy fit model that’s funny too!
7. Perforated leather
8. Polka dots
9. A record player
10. Baroque furniture

For more information about the designers (and to view videos and photos from their latest collections), visit www.timoweiland.com.

- TC

What does one do after having seemingly perfected the art of the iconic basic blue denim jean? Well the answer is simple, according to Acne: you foray into furniture.

The Stockholm-based label unveiled its debut line of plush chairs and sofas this past Monday in Paris, in conjunction with Haute Couture Fashion Week. Inspired by Swedish designer Carl Malmsten and executed by Acne head designer Jonny Johansson, the pieces play off a traditional Scandinavian minimalism, with soft pastel colors and clean, smooth, rounded edges. But the furniture is given a modern Acne “twist,” with the company playing around with shape and proportion and even upholstering some of the chairs in the brand’s signature, hand-treated denim. The delight is in the details: shorter chair legs, curved backs, deep recesses in the seats… all subtle but powerful ideas for pieces we’ve seen done over and over before.

The move to furniture design isn’t a complete surprise. The company has already designed children’s toys, home accessories and even a successful bi-annual magazine. And Johansson actually got his start designing furniture, before he made the transition to clothing. Now he’s hoping to prove that loveseats and living room chairs can be just as inspired — and fashionable. The new line of Acne furniture can be ordered online. Pieces will be produced in limited qualities and the prices reflect that, ranging from €4,000 to €15,000.

- TC

When we met up with Basia Bulat to interview and photograph her for our current issue, the singer was in the middle of a busy stretch of writing and recording for her sophomore album. That would explain why we shot the photos of her in New York (during a much-needed weekend “off” for Bulat) and did the interview a few weeks later in a busy cafe in Toronto (during “lunch”). Ever since her Polaris Music Prize-nominated debut album, “Oh, My Darling,” captured audiences and critics alike back in 2008, Bulat has been hard at work refining both her writing and her voice to put out a follow-up album that could live up to its weighty expectations. Fortunately for everyone involved, the new disc, dubbed “Heart of My Own,” does just that.

Like “Darling,” the songs on the new album are both intimate and muscular, sounding equally at home in a small singing circle as they do in a live stage setting (Fittingly, many of the new tracks were written and road-tested on tour before Bulat laid them down in a studio). The melodies this time around are fuller and more vibrant, backed by Bulat’s trademark auto-harp and an ensemble of folk-pop musicians whose parts were recorded live off the floor. The lyrics, meantime, resonate with a haunting honesty gathered from months on end in a tour bus, far away from home and loved ones. If Bulat sounds a little more emotional, it’s because she was, and perhaps still is.

We met up with Bulat a few months ago here in Toronto and she was understandably tired, though excited for the new album to come out. When we reminded her that the first time we heard her sing was at a karaoke bar with mutual friends during university, she perked up and let out a quiet chuckle. And her response was perfect, if unexpected. “I love to sing and perform,” she said, “whether it’s with a group of friends or in front of huge crowds… I’m really not worried about what people will think about the new album. No matter what the response is, I’ll always be singing.”

Bulat’s new album, “Heart of My Own,” is out in stores this week. To find out more about the album and Bulat’s current tour dates, check out www.basiabulat.com. And to see the photos and read our interview with Basia Bulat, click HERE to order Issue 6 of Corduroy.

- TC

(photo by Peter Ash Lee)