The Tamesis
Display tables in the Aubero showroom are filled with items of personal significance to the brand’s founder, Julian Louie. Two ceramic bowls made by my grandfather were filled with sea glass collected by my mother. A small pile of rocks embedded with fossilized shells—“It’s like holding time in your hands,” he muses—is his own, found on a Santa Cruz beach near where he grew up.
From day one, Louie infused Aubero with thoughtful ideas based on the durability of materials. Four years and many extraordinary one-offs later, his twin interests in collecting and craftsmanship are now visible in a further line of clothing that reflects what he calls “a Californian style stance”—except that he’ll reinterpret plaid flannel shirts in silk taffeta and Dickies-style trousers with low-slung, articulated buttons in duchess satin. He introduced several Bolivian-made sweaters (the others were made in the U.S.) as a “prelude” to knitwear, which fit perfectly with the overall trend in menswear and was smart from a business perspective.
Among his more labor-intensive offerings is a custom-made black coat made from scraps of natural fabrics from all seasons, including materials from Obero’s previous days working with him at Desert Vintage, the popular Arizona shop that opened an outpost in Paris last year. His mother, in addition to being a writer, hand-sewed the garment like a three-dimensional collage. He returned to his signature “cage,” five layers of naked clothing like ghostly traces in the sleeves of a streamlined jacket.
Black zip-front jackets and white button-front shirts are embellished with irregular sea glass pebbles, giving them an organic, artisanal appeal that illustrates how baroque luxury can reappear in contemporary settings. Those instincts also led him to embellish a sheer black tabard with tonal embroidery and create a collar with a delicate vintage tie. The pursuit of unique details even extends to the rolled-hem Aubero jersey. “It’s not about making something distressing,” he explains. “It’s really more of this weird detail that only happens through clothing.”
Back at the display stand, there are two bags made of deadstock raw silk, softly ribbed, and accented with spectrum colors. One is a compact drawstring shape; the other is a roomy cross-body style. They will be back next season in different fabrics. There are now multiple entry points into the Aubero; knowing that Louis remains resourceful on all of these issues is a satisfying reason to buy.
