Wings + Horns

Canada is the world's source for so many beautiful things. Coco Rocha; The Kids in the Hall; ice hockey; Unibroue beer; wings + horns. What started in 2004 as the in-house line for a Vancouver-based manufacturer of super-high-quality sweatshirts is today a complete and coherent wardrobe for dudes who appreciate solid manufacturing and understated design.Craig Atkinson and creative director Brian Mendoza began with fleece basics that reflected an eye for detail and a Japanese sense of artisanship, and appealed to the stealthily style-aware. wings + horns also incorporated Canadian iconography to set the brand apart, using leather and bead accents and native-style prints. Since Mendoza came on board in 2007, wings + horns has grown each season, and they've expanded on their top-drawer basics with a wider range of knits, fitted trousers, shoes, and outerwear that are of a piece with their vision of the Pacific Northwest. Read more

The line uses restrained colors, complementing each other and the gray weather for which their corner of Canada is infamous. Winter calls for diamond knit toques and scarves, traditional cowichan sweaters, heavy field jackets in wool, and and plenty of thick fleece knits. Spring and summer bring more chambray fabrics, lighter weight henleys, and sweats in recycled fleece. Because wings + horns runs production for their garments themselves, quality is a constant. Atkinson uses some uncommon methods to construct wings + horns pieces, like flat-lock stitching and slatted fleece fabric, which are the kind of structural elements that let the wearer infer good design and quality, rather than clocking you in the head with the billyclub of LUXURY. We're almost ready to book a flight to Vancouver to share some strange brew with the guys.