In this lavish full-color volume featuring 225 photographs, Taavo Somer, the creative mind behind Freemans, the iconic New York City restaurant, barber, menswear shop, and bespoke tailor, reveals the creative process behind the development and design of the "rustic-luxe" and holistic approach of this cultural phenomenon and pioneering brand.
Somer was the first to establish the now popular "lumberjack chic" style; the interior of his bars and restaurantswith furnishings handcrafted by the designer in his unique, signature styleharken back to the beauty and simplicity of more rustic times. Now, in his first book, Somer opens the doors to the Freemans world. With an elegant, sumptuous design and dozens of color photographs shot specifically for the book, Freemans showcases the interiors of his numerous Freemans ventures, other restaurant spaces he's conceived and owns, as well as the classic, superbly tailored American-made men's clothing, bespoke suits, barbershop, and food and drink that comprise Somer's iconicand now much-copiedstyle.
Somer reveals the inspiration behind Freemansincluding the restaurant down the alley, acclaimed menswear store Freemans Sporting Club, and the pioneering Freemans Sporting Club Barbershopsharing the story of his evolution as an architect, designer, and tastemaker, from his rural Pennsylvania childhood to his architectural apprenticeship in Minneapolis to his arrival in New York, where at first he designed t-shirts and threw parties in a Financial District strip club. Freemans also takes fans into the nineteenth-century farmhouse in upstate New York he renovated and landscaped, inside his restaurant ISA, and bar the Rusty Knot, and across the world to the Freemans Sporting Club store in Tokyo, the remarkable four-story townhouse he designed, which has rarely been seen by an American audience.
A comprehensive exploration of Somer's singular vision, Freemans will appeal to the many devotees of the Freemans world, as well as lovers of fine living through its exploration of design, dining, architecture, gardens, and men's fashion.