Blogger Michael Williams Hosts Arctic Affair in Soho Basement

Fjällräven -- a Swedish outdoorwear brand that rocks the same amount of umlauts as Mötley Crüe -- threw a boozy little get together in their basement headquarters on Mott St. last night. And though the festivities revolved around the launch of their new spring line, the evening's vibe remained appropriately arctic: crisp cocktails courtesy of Absolut and a living-room-size tent that housed a smorgasbord of finger food.

On hand was co-host Michael Williams (his PR firm reps Fjällräven), whose highly trafficked style blog, “A Continuous Lean,” has put him at the forefront of today's rugged trend in men's fashion.

"The jacket I am wearing was developed for an expedition to Iceland in the '60s," Williams said, pausing to admire the army green anorak he'd donned for the evening. "And they still make it and that's f---ing cool."

Undeniably vintage-obsessed, the no-nonsense blogger seems the perfect match for Fjällräven, a company that has outfitted the likes of Sir Edmund Hillary (the first climber to successfully summit Everest) and whose heritage products still share a common aesthetic thread with the retro gear of half-a-century-ago.

Williams, through ACL, has been a big proponent of this brand of style nostalgia. In addition to menswear and workwear, his site is chock full of kodachrome photos, World War II-era mail and quirky eBay wins, like vintage burlap ice sacks. Which makes you wonder, how the hell does he find some of this stuff?

"You know when you're out on Saturday night? I'm at home on the Internet," he joked. "No, but seriously, most of it's culled from my weird, preexisting interest in, like, random s---. When I was a kid, I really liked International Harvester. I guess it's just part of my offbeat, Midwestern upbringing. I don't think about stuff a lot. I see it and I know if I like it or not or if it aesthetically fits what I am into."

One retro trend Williams is not into, however, are all the faux speakeasies popping up in Manhattan.

"It's annoying. I appreciate a bar that knows how to make a good drink ... but is it secret if everyone knows about it? Just seems like another reason for them to be a prick to me. My favorite place to go after work is Miladys -- that place is f---ing weird and the locals are super gnarly and it's cheap and the food is good if you eat bad food," he confessed, then shook his head and laughed, adding: "I'm never getting a date."

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