News from Descendant of Thieves, Typecast, Meyers Manx

Swim Time

Temperatures may be falling, but at the Hotel Esencia it’s always swimsuit season.

That’s why the beach retreat in Riviera Maya, Mexico, has tapped George Sotelo, founder of Thorsun swimwear, to design its first branded capsule. Retailing for $325, the nine styles will be available Wednesday online at Thorsun’s website or on-site should a guest come unprepared for a dip in the en suite plunge pool.

Best known for his ongoing partnership with Charvet, Sotelo turns tie prints from the French shirt maker’s archives into board shorts. Those he created for Hotel Esencia draw from the contemporary Caribbean decor at the resort, which sports three Michelin keys. A splashy primary color palette is decorated with cabana stripes, palm fronds and iguanas, which roam the property freely, giving the collection its name: “Iguanas in Paradise.”

The trunks sport six-inch inseams and feature Thorsun’s signature ergonomic cut, deep pockets and hidden elastic waistband for a premium look and comfortable feel. And so there’s no mistaking where they came from, each one is embroidered with Hotel Esencia’s monogram. 

The hotel’s artistic director, Juan Carlos Guitiérez, said: “George focused on our brand identity and found the fil rouge connecting both Thorsun and Hotel Esencia’s worlds,” which he described as “relaxed, sophisticated and fun. Collaborating with him was just like that.”

Sotelo, who’s of Mexican American descent, said the project was especially personal given he frequently vacations at Hotel Escenia. “I get excited the moment I’m on the plane heading there and now with these new shorts I get to carry a little piece of that magic wherever I go.”

Built as an oasis for an Italian duchess, Hotel Esencia has become a hot spot among fashion royalty. Sotelo said he’s celebrated many milestones there over the years, including designer Jason Wu’s wedding and a birthday bash for Saks Fifth Avenue’s senior vice president Roopal Patel.

“I’ve spent many New Year’s Eves at the hotel, too, perhaps enjoying one too many margaritas,” joked Sotelo, “but every moment was absolutely worth it.”

Origin Story

Since Matteo Maniatty and Dres Ladro founded Descendant of Thieves 15 years ago, they’ve been asked the same question countless times. Where did the name come from?

Well, they’re finally ready to answer that question.

On their website, the New York-based independent menswear brand says the name derives from Ladro’s childhood habit of carefully stealing clothes from his father’s closet, de-seaming and reengineering them. When his father discovered the scheme, he called his son Ladro, Italian for thief, and that was the origin of the brand’s name.

Turns out that story isn’t entirely true. It was actually Maniatty who would steal his father’s shirts and redesign them. “I would take them from the back of the closet,” he said, adding that his father wasn’t too happy when he found out why some of his shirts were missing. But his mother was proud since it was her Singer sewing machine the boy used to redesign the shirts.

That’s the story they asked Rogue Creatures to recreate using hand-crafted animation and no AI. It took six months to complete the three minute film, titled “Dres the Thief,” which shows a young boy sneaking into his dad’s closet, selecting a shirt, cutting it open and sewing it back together on that Singer machine.

He’s nearly busted by his dog, which watched the entire heist, “but he didn’t give me up,” Maniatty said with a laugh. And while the father in the film — nappily dressed in trousers, a vest, a button-down shirt and tie, of course — is quite angry with his son, calling him a thief, Maniatty said that was “exaggerated” for the film — his own dad really didn’t mind that much.

But despite his father’s wrath, the boy in the film is shown back in the closet at the end of the film, scissors in hand, ready to slice up his next victim.

“We wanted to tell the story in an interesting way,” said Maniatty, who added that the film also speaks to how Descendant of Thieves’ 12 expert tailors make everything in small batches with the production date and number of units created listed on every piece. New product is released on Fridays.

Maniatty said while the film wasn’t inexpensive to commission, he believes it has more staying power than a traditional seasonal campaign. It will be featured on the brand’s website as well on YouTube.

And he said this is actually just the first in a series. The second installment will also serve to unmask Dres Ladro. “That’s not his real name,” Maniatty said, adding that his partner has always chosen to keep his identity hidden — until now. “We’re going to reveal who he really is,” Maniatty said. Part two will be released in around six months.

Blending Comfort With Tradition

Christopher Pepe has always had an affinity for shoes.

While serving as senior buyer of men’s footwear at Barneys New York, he grew the category to the second-largest business within the division and collaborated with such brands as Givenchy, Martin Margiela, Ermengildo Zegna, Adidas, Vans, Converse and others.

In 2018, he branched out on his own and created a footwear consulting firm called Next Rendering, working with John Elliott, Bonobos and others brands to develop their shoe businesses.

And now, he’s taken the plunge and created his own brand, Typecast, that offers the comfort of EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) in classic silhouettes. Pepe partnered with Brandon Brubaker, cofounder of the Southern California-based Clearweather, on the collection that is made in Los Angeles.

“There’s been an explosion in molded footwear, but much of it feels one-note,” said Pepe. “We saw a chance to take a more considered, traditional approach — something that felt dressed-up but still easy.”

He said he believes most of the offerings in EVA are “overdesigned,” and he and Brubaker see an opportunity to offer styles with a more traditional aesthetic. “There’s so much you can do with molded footwear, so we dove in head-first.”

The launch features two styles, a penny loafer and a tassel loafer. Both are made from premium EVA, the same foam used in running shoes, but elevated with leather straps with hand-painted edging, a detail more commonly found in dress shoes rather than slip-ons. Both retail for $185.

Pepe said it took two years of development to create the shoes and the initial plan was to launch last year before a problem with the molds and the tariff situation caused a delay.

Typecast is being sold direct-to-consumer on the brand’s e-commerce site and the plan is to add styles in the future. “We’re working on boots and sneakers,” Pepe said, as well as a collapsible heel loafer.

Beach Worthy

It was 1964 when Bruce F. Meyers, a California-based engineer, artist, surfer and free spirit, created Old Red, the original dune buggy. He named his company Meyers Manx and the off-road vehicle he created soon became a pop culture hit with everyone from Steve McQueen to Elvis Presley. McQueen drove his own buggy in the 1968 film “The Thomas Crowne Affair” with Faye Dunaway and was featured on more than 45 magazine covers.

Meyers Manx is run today by Phillip Sarofim, a longtime fan of the brand, and designer Freeman Thomas. And now, the company has created its first comprehensive apparel collection, targeted to adventurous motorsport enthusiasts. The graphic pieces incorporate original drawings, archival imagery and draw their inspiration from 1960s California counterculture.

The unisex collection features mechanic-style shirts and workwear-inspired jackets; intarsia-knit sweaters; T-shirts, hoodies and crewnecks inspired by classic work shirts; rugby shirts and layering pieces; polos referencing vintage pit-crew uniforms, as well as a range of accessories including a sand buff.

To introduce the collection, Meyers Manx tapped Paris Brosnan, Pierce Brosnan’s son, to be featured in a campaign with Alex Lee-Aillón.

The collection will retail at $50 for hats, $72 for Ts and $175 for the mechanic’s jacket and will be sold on the Meyers Manx e-commerce site as well as its stores in Los Angeles and St. Moritz, Switzerland.