Il Regalo X Sørvest
It should come as no surprise to anyone who follows my social media presence closely that Il Regalo is a sock brand I hold in the highest regard. I have both respect and admiration for what designer Junko Okabe Baldessari has achieved. With every new collection she continues to prove that socks beyond functionality and quality can, and possibly should be an integral part of an outfit and personal expression.
You can find the collaboration here, read about Il Regalo and my first encounter with the brand here.
My experience with the brand started a few years back and at a crucial point sparked both a new motivation for me in my endeavor on Instagram, but also in my understanding of socks as an accessory, more so than just a functional garment.
Based on the mutual passion for design Okabe-san and myself share, this eventually turned into a collaboration and perhaps even more so a friendship.
With an aspiration to have my own ideas realised and perhaps also start my own brand, making a collaborative collection with Il Regalo has been a dream since I put the first pair on and now this dream has finally come to be realised.
This fall Il Regalo, in collaboration with Sørvest (Sando / Outbespoken) are releasing four designs in addition to their main collection.
The Collection
Each of the four socks in this collection are quite distinct in their own way as I wanted them to represent different aspects of my history with Il Regalo, my own stylistic expression and also add something new. Additionally, ideally they would fit with the current main collection or, as with one design, be a new design that Okabe-san could use for other colurways in the main collection.
Seen as a set they are not far from being a direct representation of my style colourwise; expressive colours from the magenta side of the color wheel contrasted with understated brown tones. Conceptually they represent two stylistic sides of the wardrobe: understated staples and bold expression.
Houndstooth
Starting the presentation with a new design as of this fall.
The houndstooth pattern socks was an idea I had aired even before the collaboration was ever thought of and a design I was very eager to see in an Il Regalo line-up.
And now it is here.
These and their “woolen” brothers, the Heritage Damask socks, are the two designs for which I wanted to create a winter staple, fit for any wardrobe.
Understated in colour, but with a bold pattern that still blends well with your flannels and your tweeds and on the thicker side, as to be appropriate for the latter stages of fall and in winter.
The colour for this model was chosen with versatility in mind. The brown and beige colours are of course easily paired with brown while at the same time having just about a grayish enough tone to also go well with gray- making them the winter sock staple.
Heritage Damask
The Heritage Damask sock is a design I have quite a strong connection to.
This was the first model I took photos of outside (thus taking me one more step outside of my own comfort zone) and one of two designs in this collection that became synonymous with my style, in this case winter style.
Another aspect that drew me to these socks initially was that they reminded me of traditional Norwegian winter socks, which although not having a damask/paisley pattern are similar in the execution of the knitted traditional Norwegian patterns.
As with the following two models, this is an original Il Regalo design for which I can only take credit for the colours.
Along the same line as the houndstooth socks, I wanted to create a thicker staple sock for winter, fit for any wardrobe and perfectly suitable for colder winter days.
The damask paisley pattern is bold and unique, but at the same time blends perfectly with the textured and understated nature of winter fabrics. Il Regalo has previously made these in brown, so finding the right shade of brown that would add something new and meaningful wasn’t easy, but my reason for wanting to add these, other than what is stated above, is that I wanted a version where the dark tones weren’t as prominent as in the prior brown rendition.
In the same vein as the houndstooth socks I set out to find a brown tone that in it’s nature would combine with not just brown and after some trial and error we found a brown tone, more tint than the previous model, distinctly brown, that hints slightly towards olive. Thus, resulting in an understated and beautiful brown colour that pairs well with both brown and green.
Snow Paisley
Reinventing a bold a classic.
I don’t know whether I coined the term snow paisley, or if the colour was already called that when I first received the prior rendition of this model years ago, but it is a term I’ve popularised and to some extent a design that many built up the courage to try after I (hopefully) normalised wearing them.
With the white base they are by far the most intriguing and beautiful design I know and having my own version made was first on my list of wishes.
With these two last designs which cover the more expressive side of the collection, incorporating my favorite accessory colours; dusky pink, burgundy and purple, was important to me.
For this rendition of the design we kept the white base of course, while rendering the paisley pattern in pink, beige and burgundy.
The colours are warmer and although the pattern is bold in contrast with the white, they still blend well resulting in an elegant but playful look.
What I really like with this colourway is that it works so well with most colours. Brown, beige, gray and green, obviously with burgundy and purple, in addition to navy (and gray) which were the two colours I felt the previous version combined best with. Thus extending the versatility of what I reckon is perceived as a hard pair of socks to combine. As a suggestion regarding these, it is far less about whether they work or not, and more to do with daring to wear them. I have seen a lot of people wearing these after I introduced them and I have yet to see them work “badly” in an outfit. Conversely, even when contrasted (with dark brow or navy trousers), they really look beautiful and balanced. Thus, if you dare you will succeed. You can find them here.
Herringbone
One of the newer Il Regalo designs that has become a big hit, also with me of course and a design I certainly always wanted to make my own version of.
At the time we started planning this collection Il Regalo already had released a brown rendition of this design which honestly would have been exactly where I would have landed myself if making these in brown.
So instead of my initial idea of making three brown staple designs and one bold design for this collection, the herringbone socks was another design where I got to play with expressive colours.
The result; burgundy and dusky pink herringbone socks.
The choice of colour also draws a line between this model and the snow paisley socks thus adding coherence to the collection as a whole.
As with the aforementioned paisley socks these aren’t meant to blend in, although they of course can be, given burgundy or certain shades of brown trousers. But rather be a part of the outfit as an accessory adding personality and interest.
The discussion as to what part a pair of socks should play in an outfit will probably never be settled, but with this collection I believe we have covered each side of that debate without compromising on our own approach to style and design.
Whatever stylistic approach one might have to socks, one thing is for sure though: they should be of great quality and you can rest assured that with Il Regalo you’re covered in that aspect.
With this collection I believe we have created four models that feels true to my vision, my style, Il Regalo’s design and quality and we hope you will enjoy these as much as we did making them (and I do wearing them).
Click to see the collection.
Il Regalo x Sørvest
