Shorts from le FLEUR*

A few weeks ago, I had the very simple yet powerful epiphany that I love to shop. The epiphany held no judgment and opened up a world full of possibilities in my mind. Unrelated yet extremely relevant, a couple days later, I saw online that Golf le Fleur* was about to have their summer scrub sale. This is a fashion brand from Tyler the Creator, an artist and rapper.

The easiest way for me to describe my affinity for the brand is that we both have names in foreign romance languages. Mangia is Italian and le Fleur is French, though the grammatically correct use would be the feminine la Fleur. There is no obvious evidence either of us speak the languages fluently or even rudimentarily. But they are aspirational and worldly names, very fun very chic, if you ask me. If you’ve been here long enough, you know that Flower Boy (Tyler, the Creator’s first gay album) is what made me start calling myself a fan.

The day of the sale, I happened to be sitting on the deck, relaxing, coffee in hand, scrolling my phone. Why not just take a look? At a good price and with real want and curiosity about the quality of the product, I purchased these sky blue double pleated Tencel shorts.

So here are my thoughts:

These are made from the material Tencel, which is honestly what made me pull the trigger on buying them. I’d heard about the material before but wanted to see it for myself. After a quick google search, I learned that Tencel is a brand name for a type of rayon. Touted as a natural fiber, the fabric comes from wood pulp, making it cellulose-based. There is a chemical stripper involved in the process of turning that wood pulp into threads, but it’s said to be a closed loop process - meaning the water and chemical solvents used are collected and recycled, with 99% going back into production. We love low waste production!!

Rayon has a reputation for not lasting very long, but I have hope for these. At least in comparison to my thrifted vintage shorts that are essentially a pink version of these, this pair feel much more durable yet still breezy.

I would buy the wool version of these shorts too.

I’m obsessed with the scalloped pocket edge!! Soft, rich touch. I do wish the leather flower patch was in a green or even red, but nonetheless, these shorts are going in the rotation (insert saluting emoji).

Seems like no one is sure what the future of le FLEUR* looks like - I believe they are stepping away from full collections and focusing more on accessories and collaborations - but I hope they keep making thoughtful clothes with a grandpa-yet-somehow-still-youthful edge to them. As a lover of clothes and these types of material things, there’s nothing like stumbling upon a good sale, ordering something you actually want, and it fitting perfectly when it arrives. I’d been eyeing their collections for a long time, but not until a week ago, while I contemplated my own future, did a purchase feel worth it. And now I have a new pair of shorts I love, so I guess the timing was right!

Let me know if you like this type of post because there are plenty of other artist’s side hustle fashion brands that I would love to look into.

Cheers!

Carson