First Batch of Spring Merchandise

Since inventory took place last week, all Daffy's locations have started getting in their Spring merchandise. Some great stuff so far, including some brands that didn't show up at all last season. Here's a quick rundown --

Suiting -- Futuro/Asfalto/Bocodo (made in Italy) - Huge lot of suits + other items including sportcoats, vests, shirts, pants and shorts from NCM Srl -- a company which produces clothes made in Italy under the labels 'Futuro', 'Asfalto' & 'Bocodo' http://www.ncmgroup.it. The suits are priced between $119-$149 -- you won't find a better-made, better fitting suit at this price -- forget Zara, H&M and Uniqlo, all retailers which provide low-quality made in China merchandise at even higher price points. Already bought a suit for myself, waiting to see if some other brands come in before snatching up another one (see, Gazzarrini, Jey Cole Man & Patrizia Pepe in a previous post).

As for the brands themselves, Futuro is more high-fashion, Asfalto is a bit more casual, Bocodo (which I believe is being phased out by NCM) is on the lower-end in terms of quality. The only thing to be careful of with all the merchandise with these brands is the material -- oftentimes there will be inferior/man-made fabrics substituted in place of wool or cotton. Make sure to look at the material tags on the items before purchasing.

Pants -- Mabitex -- http://www.mabitex.com/ Probably the best-made pants you will ever find at this price point. Cottons, wools and linens, ranging from $30-60. These pants retail upwards of $115 per pair. The only place I've ever seen them actually sold is at Saks Fifth Avenue, and only at the 5th Ave. location in NYC. Amongst the Mabitex pants, you will also find pants from Missoni, Dunhill and Loewe -- high-end brands for which Mabitex manufactures pants. Most of the pants are marked made in Romania.


Shirting -- The spring shirt collection (both dress and casual) has started to trickle in. Nothing major as of yet, but be on the look out for shirts from:

1) Dress and Casual Shirting from Milena SPA (made in Italy)  -- include brands like 'Milena', 'Delsiena' www.delsiena.it, & 'B>More' www.bmore.it. Those brands sell for $90+ on yoox.com, Daffy's sells them for less than $40/shirt, and believe me they're worth every penny.

2) Casual Shirting from Alessandro Gherardeschi (made in Italy) -- Makes some terrific button-downs under its own label, as well as under a brand called 'Age'. Daffy's is also stocking the company's layed-back sportswear line called 'Hacienda Publica'. Every so often, you'll also see a pair of pants, or a sportscoat from one of these brands, but they are rare -- so if you see it, buy it -- the stuff is made very well. The button-downs will set you back around $36, but they are well worth it. Original prices on these are about $115.


Other notables -- Some unknown Italian leather jackets. The interior labels were cut off on all but one of the jackets I saw, which said 'Les Mares'. They were quite nice if you can find them -- priced at $179, original price of over $600, but I couldn't find more information on them. I'll be waiting for the Compagnia Delle Pelli www.cdp.it spring collection, which are probably the best leather jackets you will ever find -- hoping Daffy's doesn't let me down this season -- there are still a few of the CDP jackets left over from the F/W collection at the Herald Square location. 

Stuff to stay away from -- The Cosby sweaters are back for the Spring, so stay away from the knit sweaters until further notice (anything marked 'Robert Banks', 'Stacatto', 'Birillo'), unless you're into that kind of stuff. Suits from 'Romano's Le Collezione', 'Diego Ranieri', 'Eduardo Bonazzi', 'GAF' (also sometimes labeled as 'UGAF'), & 'Mr. Ramos'. There is also a good amount of stuff (suits, sportcoats, pants, etc...) from 'John Barritt' which also produces under the name 'Luck in Luck' -- I'm personally not a fan of the merchandise, but the cut and quality is a step above some of the other brands mentioned in this section.