The Material Review
Issue 187: Death of American Cool, The House of Suntory, Ford Bronco, French Workwear, Special Forces Guys, Spotlight On: Lesca Lunetier and Q&A w/ Ethan Glenn of Every Other Thursday.
Stories worth reading. Stop indexing the internet.
How American Cool Dies
[NYT*]
The Founding Story Behind Japan’s Oldest Whisky Maker
“The House of Suntory is often credited with putting Japanese whisky on the map.” [T&C]
The forever phwoar of the Ford Bronco
“Collectors still can’t resist the all-American SUV” [FT*]
Object of Obsession: French Workwear
“Featuring Jacob Elordi and Austin Butler.” [what’s mine is yours]
How Special Forces Guys Became Menswear Moodboard Staples
“Before 9/11, America’s special forces operators and secret service agents looked like Uzi-toting math teachers. Today, they’re muscled, bearded, black-clad, tactically outfitted door-kickers. How we got here reveals as much about US military adventurism as it does style.” [GQ]
A shortlist of things we’ve got our eye on.
POPEYE Made in USA Catalog 2026
Camp Snap CS-PRO
Engineered Garments x Alden - Indy Oxford
Battenwear Local Shorts - Natural
Coherence Robert Wool/Linen/Mohair D.Blue
Sperry x BEAMS+ MIL CVO Sneaker
Lesca Lunetier
Cain
Mose
Tupac
Pica
Corbs
Dino
Gaston
Ethan Glenn
Ethan Glenn built a large audience on TikTok before Every Other Thursday existed, posting vintage finds and style content and fielding constant questions about where things were from before eventually asking himself why he was sending that traffic somewhere else. What began as an online archive of things worth wearing has since grown into a storefront on Prince Street in SoHo, built around clothes for real life made from something that doesn’t have the word “poly” in it. We recently caught up with Ethan to talk about building a brand from social media, what retail taught him that the internet couldn’t, and why the best dressed people are often the ones saying the least about what they’re wearing.
You went to culinary school before this. Does any of that thinking show up in how you make clothes?
To be honest, culinary doesn’t factor into my day-to-day life (other than cooking), but the reason I went into culinary back then was to feed my creative brain. In a way that translates into everything I do, including EOT. What I love most about running the brand is the ability to make/do whatever I want that’s speaking to me at the time.
EOT started as a kind of moodboard on social media before becoming a brand. Once you shifted from building an audience to actually making product, what changed? Did anything have to be sacrificed in that transition?
Yes, EOT was a mood board that progress into product with the demand from the audience. The Tiktok was my personal page that fueled the initial growth of the brand, like many founder led brands that came out of the pandemic. The clothing came second, I was just making content for fun- and then as my full time income, but clothing was never on my radar. When I realized the potential market I had at my fingertips the main driving force bridging a gap between the vintage clothes I was wearing and people were asking where they were from and finding a way to remake some of those items in a way that I deemed a “better” version. Pattern tweak here, different fabric there, etc. I defiently took my foot off the gas of my own content pretty early on, which I was happy to do. I started social media as a means to an end, knowing it could lead to something much larger than myself. So when EOT started to take off an have a presence of it’s own I dove head first and went with it.
A lot of the collection draws from vintage references, whether it’s ’80s fisherman sweaters, old cardigans, or classic golf knits. At what point do those references stop being useful?
The reference pieces only get you so far, for us its the general shape, or the fabric, or some aspect that is different than something on the shelf of stores currently. Often times its the shape and fit. But after that you are in a no mans land where you are building something different and something you need your own ideas for. As someone with no design or clothing development knowledge, this isn’t easy. Luckily, we aren’t a captial F fashion brand as I like to say, so when we make a shirt for example, it can be as simple as finding a vintage shirt with the right shape and fit to it, doing some tweaks, and then sourcing a fabric that I think would be nice to have on your skin. Not the sexiest answer but really we just make clothes for real life. Clothes you want to live in day in and day out. Clothes that are maybe a bit different that what the big brands put out these days. Same general idea, but ours fits you better, or is made from something that doesn’t have the word poly in it.
As someone who’s now been on both sides, what’s your take on the relationship social media and menswear have right now?
Oversaturated. In the worst way. Yes anyone can do it but what was exciting and fun about making content about clothes as a man when I started was that there were maybe 5 other guys on tiktok that were doing the same. Now there are 500 every day. I also think it used to be more fun and less salesy, if that makes sense. I feel like every other video I see now is about how to recreate this outfit (link to buy x), or heres my fav new things from x (link to buy). When I was doing content full time back in 2021 it was much more, heres some clothes I put on, now heres some random thing I’m gonna talk about. Less emphasis on the clothes and more emphasis on just destigmatizing men caring about clothes and how they look, not trying to sell something through an affiliate link. And if that helped you wear a new thing or buy something new then great. I truly think the people with the best style or truly people who inspire what you are wearing are some sort of a uniform dresser and don’t tell you what they’re wearing. It’s just a sweater and jeans or shirt and jeans 9/10 times for me.
Now that you have your own store in NYC, what do you learn from someone standing in front of the rack that you can’t get from a screen?
Retail is king. Not everywhere, because most cities I think have a dying retail scene, but in NYC retail is king. I grew up only buying clothes at a store or mall, so the idea of buying online would have felt so foreign. Now it is the complete norm. We were online for 4 years and I feel like we are a completely new company now that we are in store. A fresh start. Whether its as simple as knowing what people gravitate towards or the ability to try multiple sizes, retail has changed how we operate. The other issue I think with online brands especially post pandemic when this sector exploded, is that there is a lack of responsibility. You make the things, you put them up, people buy them, then thats kind of it. You don’t realize that there are real people spending real money and really (or not) wearing things you made. The most rewarding part of the store is seeing people come in regularely saying, loved the shirt I wear it all the time so I came back to get another color. That makes me the happiest person ever and you don’t get that from seeing an online order come through.
What are some other brands you like that more people should know about?
Not a hot take by any means, but I love Morjas shoes and have for years. I have a good relationship with them and strongly believe that a nice pair of leather shoes can elevate your overall style, even if you’re just wearing jeans and a sweater like me. We also may or may not have a collab with them coming out this summer...
What’s the next thing you’re excited to make?
We have a blazer coming this fall along with a couple custom ties and I’m very excited about that. As the audience grows up, and the zeitgiest as we saw with the JFK JR show, I think there is a spot in the market that we can connect to with a unlined, simple but well fitting blazer that you can wear with jeans and a tee or with a shirt tucked in and a tie. People want to say suits are coming back but realistically most people aren’t wearing a full suit. But give someone a blazer and they’ll throw it on with their jeans and a knit to go out for dinner.