MerrieGirl: Ben Sherman MADNESS!!!!

Ben Sherman is one of those CLASSIC brands that should be a staple in people's wardrobes, especially guys. I mean you can't really fail with a simple Ben Sherman shirt, jeans and good shoes.

My favourite cult moment featuring Ben Sherman is in the film 'This Is England'.

The characters actually name drop the brand when Shawn is getting his head shaved, "Have you got your Ben Sherman?"

And the styling for the film is just stunning. It makes you want to buy a pair of red braces and shave your head.

But ANYWAY, we're here to talk Ben Sherman and Madness.

Madness are the most awesome band behind many a floor-filling party song. Baggy Trousers makes people dance on the furniture apparently, hehe.

The two have collaborated to produce a skinhead's dream collection, based on the 2-tone record company and the associated relationship between black and white people (I mean the very essence of Ska comes from it's black origins.) The collection attempts to sum up the idea of 'I'm not going to be a racist knobhead' that echoed through much of the scene at the time. This was pretty revolutionary for a society that was still having race riots up and down the country and had the right wing, facist national front (think the BNP in wife beaters and stompy boots) gaining popularity in a dissatisfied Britain.

This new collection, whether or not it solves racism or anything like that, is pretty damn cool. I especially love the Madness Tshirt with the hat - though I am a sucker for a band or slogan T shirt.

Enjoy the pictures, pinched off Vice Uk's fashion website:

http://vicestyle.com/en/news/today/post/ben-sherman-x-madness-2-tone