I was first introduced to Critically Acclaimed with their AW12 collection, which featured an impressive range of tees, custom hoods and snapback caps. The collection featured a number of impressive elements for a young brand and showed a lot of promise.
This month the brand return with their new collection for SS13 which continues to build on those elements with the introduction of leather belts and some stationary to a line of T-shirts and sweatshirts. Much like those from the last collection, the clothing graphics play with typography, presented in two new takes on the brand’s name. Tees are available in white, grey and cranberry with a single colour print, whilst crewnecks come in navy and heather grey with contrasting suede and distressed denim elbow patches respectively.
The accessories are impressive, with the brand producing two leather belts with a repeating ‘jaw bone’ pattern embossed into brown and black leather. Each belt comes packaged in a handmade presentation box with the Critically Acclaimed logo stamped on top in silver foil. The collection is finished with a pack of matte black HB pencils also stamped with the brand name – this is a neat little touch, something not considered by many, and fairly simple to produce, but they’re an excellent addition. The attention to accessories reminds me in many ways of VIHMIRU, another UK brand who made a name for doing things right.
While the brand’s printed graphics have yet to grab me, their efforts in cut & sew, headwear and accessories make up for that, and show a huge amount of potential for seasons to come. Nail the T-shirts and we could have a serious contender here and further fuel to their namesake.
Check out each of the pieces and a closer look at the accessories below. The Spring/Summer 2013 collection is available now from Critically Acclaimed.
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