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Strictly For Men Barber & Butcher/ Munich. They welded, laid bricks, and screwed until it all came together. The crew of Distorted People in Munich needed no more than five weeks to create a coherent lifestyle world for men. Barber & Butcher is the motto of the two adjacent stores that showcase sophisticated street wear and hand-picked sneakers. Text: Isabel Faiss. Photos: Distorted People
The idea for the Distorted People fashion label originated from a simple t-shirt range affiliated with a series of parties in Munich’s trendy nightclub Baby. Many stories start like this - and many stories end shortly after. The Distorted People crew took a leap of faith, and it paid off. With the store opening last September, the collection was upgraded to a complete street wear range for men, thereby taking the label to a whole new level. It offers sweatshirts, t-shirts, and jackets, as well as trousers, caps, and some leather footwear. All pieces sport a casual vintage style. Details such as unusual cuts add a certain fashionable twist to the collection. Historic Butchers’ Knives on The Wall
At the same time, the two stores, which are located in a row in “Hans-Sachs-Strasse” in the heart of Munich’s “Glockenbach” quarter, make the lifestyle world of Distorted People even more real and tangible by adding other brands to the mix. “We had opened a pop-up store in the front part of the premises a few months earlier, but then the much larger rear store became available by pure coincidence. We simply had to go for it. Now we finally have enough space to realise our vision of a perfect and coherent lifestyle world for men”, Dung Vu, the chief exec-
The founders Matthias Gnilka (far right), Huy Vu (below right), and Dung Vu (far left) are the driving force behind Distorted People since 2008.
Vintage translated into modern street wear is the fashion motto at Barber & Butcher.
utive and co-founder, explains. This world consists of robust materials, rough wood, shiny meat hooks, and scrap metal that have been converted into furniture. The design team created all the aforementioned elements in painstaking manual labour. One shelf leans against two old glass bottles, while another still shows the springs of a former bedstead. The sales counter itself was manufactured using an old cow barn door.
purchasing, production, and regular updates of the complex marketing concept that Distorted People made public right from the start. As part of the upcoming collection, the label also wants to selectively expand its brand distribution. The crew has some renowned clients at the top of its wish list.
No Joy For Women
Barber & Butcher is the motto that can be found as a detail in the razor blade and butcher’s knife emblem throughout the store, as well as in certain pieces of the collection. “We quite deliberately chose an extremely manly imagery. The barber and butcher professions have an association with the film “Gangs of New York”. It’s nothing personal, but our store is not the right place for women”, Dung Vu explains with conciliatory gestures. The sneaker store in the front section - which exclusively stocks Quickstrike collections and limited editions by brands such as Reebok, Vans, Le Coq Sportif, and Adidas - also houses a tattoo studio, where customers can combine both the pleasant and unpleasant. The eight-man crew does not need help from outside. They take care of everything - the online store, the collection creation,
Barber & Butcher Concept Store Hans-Sachs-Strasse 3, Munich/Germany www.distortedpeople.com Opening: August 2013 Owners: Dung Vu, Huy Vu, Matthias Gnilka Sales area: 60 sqm Brands: Adidas, Distorted People, Le Coq Sportif, Nike, Reebok, Vans
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