Meet Mordecai, the Post-streetwear Men’s Brand With an Eclectic Flair
MILAN — As the TikTok generation debates the distinction of the ultimate 2023 trends of “quiet luxury” and “gorpcore,” a new brand is on track to embrace bits of both and shape a new definition of post-streetwear garb.
Seasoned designer Ludovico Bruno has ventured into his first solo gig, introducing Mordecai, a menswear brand hinged on outerwear and sportswear references with a utilitarian flair.
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Mordecai is a three-pronged business partnership among Bruno, the Riccardo Grassi showroom and Hostage, the main shareholder and the manufacturing company behind the brand.
Part of the Holding Morelli based in the Tuscany region — which includes the Pellemoda leather apparel maker, the Aga 15 outerwear manufacturer and the Marmi Renzo company specialized in leather weaving and printing — Hostage was established in 2007 and is a premium supplier for luxury brands.
Bruno and the Hostage team met while the former worked at Moncler and remained in touch, until the time felt right to ink a partnership and launch a new label.
At first, Bruno “wanted to do something personal, without it resulting as just an exercise in style, but I had no ambition to launch a brand of my own just for the sake of it as if I were a freshly graduated creative.”
“I’d have never done anything if it were not for a market demand for it.…I think [Mordecai] is the answer to the end of the streetwear trend, which has brought about a significant depletion of some [fashion] codes that are not negotiable, like quality and good execution,” he said.
The brand’s collections are largely Made in Italy via Hostage’s manufacturing facilities, although certain garments — such as windbreakers — are crafted abroad, relying on the company’s international plants.
“The idea is to combine my know-how on technical gear with Hostage’s manufacturing expertise in the same field to offer iconic classical garments. There is nothing you won’t recognize, there’s parkas, windbreakers, field jackets,” he said, adding that the consistency of the loose but measured silhouette is intended as a blueprint triggering customer loyalty.
Bruno’s career was highly informative, the designer said.
His first gig in fashion was at the side of Edward Buchanan where he developed his knitwear skills before moving to New York for Phillip Lim and finally landing a top job at Moncler where he witnessed both the last successful years of the Moncler Gamme Bleu and Gamme Rouge high-end collections designed by Thom Browne and Giambattista Valli, respectively, as well as the launch of Moncler Genius.
“They influenced me so much, not necessarily style-wise, but more in the way they conceived their collections, they both yielded to ‘positive obsessions,’ Thom with textiles and silhouettes and Giambattista on embroideries and a certain vision of femininity,” he said about his former bosses. “It helped me define and build Mordecai,” he added.
Throughout the Moncler years as head of design, Bruno was tasked with translating many fashion inputs into credible collections, until he decided to embrace a consulting career for brands including Ambush and Farfetch’s private label There Was One, among others, at which point he felt confident enough to go solo.
His many gigs certainly informed his eclectic and multilayered vision of menswear, imbued with nods to Japanese streetwear, the best gorpcore gear trending on TikTok, whiffs to niche sportswear — think references to judo and karate apparel — all imbued with an elevated fashion spin and utilitarian elements of military origin.
“At a time of uncertainty, customers want to invest in fashion that lasts and stays in your closet for longer than a season,” he said. “It’s an answer to streetwear resulting in sportswear and military-inflected utility wear combined with my passion for cross-pollination of different cultures,” such as North Africa and the Middle East, he explained.
Cue judogi-inspired utilitarian jackets with rounded shoulders crafted from cotton bouclé resembling terrycloth matched to roomy pants that highlight the waist and the cuffed ankle; humongous puffer-cum-bomber jackets that are ultralight; shawl-collared overcoats and blazers, kimono-style, and lots of built-in layers, such as oversize mixed media parkas and vests.
Positioned in the entry luxury segment — with puffers, for example, retailing under 1,000 euros, pants priced between 270 euros and 700 euros and outerwear between 500 euros and 2,500 euros — Mordecai debuted with the spring 2024 collection, set for an early delivery in October.
The initial investment amounted to 3 million euros.
Explaining the rationale behind it, Hostage’s co-chief executive officer Martino Mazzoni said “in the past five years we have decided to invest in [nurturing] our expertise and know-how on men’s and women’s total looks.”
“It’s both a consolidation and an extension [of our business], moving on from our experience in developing outerwear only until 2016. Building on those competences and techniques garnered as a third-party manufacturer, we’re now building a total look collection for men and women, opening up to different product categories,” Mazzoni added.
He splits the executive role with Azzurra and Giampaolo Morelli, who are also co-CEOs of the Holding Morelli. Holding Morelli already operates the Ahirain house brand established in 2016, geared at women’s cutting-edge outerwear.
Bruno picked the Mordecai moniker, a name of Babylonian origin, not only as it seamlessly translates in different languages but also as he aimed to avoid using his own name (although he owns rights on the brand as part of the deal with its allies), and in reference to the namesake hawk that appears in Wes Anderson’s “The Royal Tenenbaums” movie.
The hawk is to appear as part of Mordecai’s logo — currently a three-stripe design interrupted by the brand’s name spelled out — starting with the fall 2024 collection.
Launch Gallery: A Look at Mordecai Seminal Collection for Spring 2024
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