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Lumina Clothing Won’t Break the Bank

By Cator Sparks Published December 21, 2019

The biggest complaint we hear from guys about buying Made in America is the price. It’s hard to spend $200 on a shirt when you can get something at the Gap for $40. Our usual response is buy the $200 shirt, just buy fewer of them. But thanks to North Carolina based Lumina, men across America (and the world) can buy locally made without breaking the bank.

Back in college at NC State, Barton Strawn and Paul Connor were in search of quality ties and found the market pretty empty so Barton began whipping some up himself (his mama taught him how to sew!) and word spread quickly. The ties were followed by shirting, trousers and canvas bags including a collab with Parrot Canvas from Greenville, North Carolina. Production varies depending on the item but shirts are made in South Carolina, pants in Illinois, ties in New York and jeans in Tennessee.

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In 2012 the boys opened their first brick and mortar in Raleigh, NC and sales have been sharp. To cover all man bases, Lumina has started stocking grooming products as well from Imperial, Prospector and Duke Cannon to name a few. As Barton told us, “We stock an assortment of like-minded accessory brands to fill in the gaps and round-out a complete look for those seeking to live a quality-based, American-made lifestyle.”

As for fall, they plan on launching cotton sweaters and two denim offerings, raw and selvage. You may wonder how they can keep production local and prices down. We did too. Lumina is able to execute its philosophy of accessible American made in a number of ways, but primarily via a direct-to-consumer online brand. Not a new model, but one they are positioned to do effectively. Operations in North Carolina keep overhead lower compared to large cities like New York City or San Francisco. A correct balance between quality materials and cost is another. They try to source prime materials at a lower price for a quality garment with savings they can pass along to the end consumer. Apparently they did learn something in college!

Be sure to check out their journal to read about the boys new products, and their visits to factories and even air force bases.

Former Former Digital Trends Contributor, The Manual

Fashion & Style

Breitling’s new Top Time is a wearable tribute to the Aston Martin DB5

The new watches rep the iconic Bond car right down to subdials shaped like its dashboard gauges.

Car, Watch, Man

Breitling just released a trio of heaters: the Top Time B01 Chronograph 41 Tribute to Aston Martin DB5, a three-edition collaboration with the British carmaker. The connection between the Swiss watchmaker and the British car company runs back to 1965, when a Top Time ref. 2002 appeared on Sean Connery's wrist in Thunderball, worn alongside the DB5 — the first Q-modified watch in the Bond series. It's a nice bit of trivia that the DB5 and that Top Time shared the screen in the same film, and both went on to outlive the movie by decades.

The car cues go deeper than the "squircle" gauge-shaped subdials: a wooden inner ring nods to the DB5's steering wheel, and each edition rides on a hand-colored gradient calfskin strap meant to read like automotive upholstery. All three run on Breitling's in-house Manufacture Caliber 01, a COSC-certified automatic chronograph with a 70-hour power reserve, visible through a sapphire caseback and finished with an Aston Martin-engraved rotor. The case measures 41mm. The editions are divvied up by material and rarity. Stainless steel with a silver dial is limited to 1,022 pieces and sticks closest to the original ref. 2002, while steel with a platinum bezel and black lacquered dial drops to 315 pieces.

Fashion & Style

Look to the sky for these space themed watches

These 5 space themed watches will have you seeing stars

Accessories, Strap, Wristwatch

It was the 1960s. We were in the middle of a Cold War with Russia, and instead of escalating to an actual war with bullets and bombs, we took the conflict to the sky. We created a war of economics, science, and morale in a race to the sky to be the first nation to reach the moon. While the race picked up throughout the decade, it came down to the wire before the USA won the race by landing on the moon (if you believe that sort of thing and don't believe Stanley Kubrick directed the greatest ruse of all time). In any case, no race can be run without a good timekeeper. And watches were a must-have for all involved. Ever since, chronophiles like me have been obsessed with space-themed watches and, in particular, moon mission watches.

That is why I happened to have this list in my head. Five watches that bring the space race and the great beyond to the forefront of thinking to build a collection that is out of this world.

Fashion & Style

Legendary designer has a project coming up you may not know about

Legendary designer, Tom Ford, is writing and directing a film adapting the Anne Rice novel, Cry to Heaven

Accessories, Formal Wear, Tie

Tom Ford is a name that every fashionisto knows well. He is the top of the top when you talk about famous suit makers. He began his career changing the landscape of multiple brands, including Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, before launching his own self-named brand of his own in 2005. The brand has remained a mainstay in the industry for the last 20 years, including the acquisition of Estée Lauder in 2022 for an estimated $2.8 billion. For the movie buffs in the room, you also likely know about Tom Ford because he became the exclusive tailor and suitmaker for Daniel Craig's James Bond for Quantum of Solace in 2008. He carried that gig all the way through the series and defined men's style for two decades.

Now, for the real cinephiles in the room, you may also know that Tom Ford himself is a movie buff and entered the industry as a writer and a director in 2009 by directing A Single Man with Colin Firth and Julianne Moore. Then again in 2016 with Nocturnal Animals with Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Michael Shannon. Of course, the wardrobe was stellar in both, and we will get a chance to see his talents onscreen again this fall with a new Anne Rice adaptation, Cry to Heaven.