For both the neo-Americana-obsessed and denim-heads alike, menswear designer Billy Reid's collaboration with Levi's is a holy brand pairing, marrying Levi's workwear roots with Reid's modern cuts, fabric choices, and finishes. This behind-the-scenes video (a Cool Hunting exclusive) visits Reid at work on the craft of deconstructing garments for the 10-piece collection, as inspired by a visit to the legendary Levi's archive.

Citing a worn and stained work apron from the turn of the century as his "muse," Reid incorporated it into several of the designs. A hunting jacket has a removable, fully-functional version of the apron that works as an internal game pouch, while the design of a tote comes from experiments in folding the apron into a bag shape.

Images of the resulting garments (also exclusive to this publication) play to Reid's own down-home heritage, using his annual "Shindig" held at his Florence, AL headquarters as a setting for working musicians from the neighboring town of Muscle Shoals to model the line. Check out more from the series as well as product shots in the gallery below.

Following Levi's successful collaboration with Robert Geller last year, this project is Levi's third tapping winners of GQ's "Best New Menswear Designers in America." You'll want to hurry to Bloomingdale's and Billy Reid locations, or their online stores, to scoop up the goods (ranging) from $45-$295) when they debut 10 September 2010.

While photographer Arthur Drooker's ruins aren't the castles and shrines that usually come to mind, his infrared images of prisons, mansions and other sites of U.S. decay evoke all the moody history and past lives of their tourist site counterparts. The Mill Valley, CA-based artist's "American Ruins" exhibit (opening at the Virgina Center for Architecture on 9 September 2010) culls these haunting photos from from his award-winning 2007 book of the same name, featuring luminescent images that with each crack and chip reveal just a bit of the America's former splendor. To learn more—including how Drooker achieves his otherworldly effects, what to expect from the show and what's next—read on for the interview, and see more images in the gallery below.

If you're in Richmond, be sure to check out the opening of American Ruins at the Virgina Center for Architecture on 9 September 2010 from 5:30-7:30pm, or visit before it closes 28 November 2010. You can also get a glimpse of the work in his current show at Santa Fe's William Siegal Gallery (through 3 September 2010), and look out for Lost Worlds, his large-format book collecting images from 33 sites in 15 countries that's due out Fall 2011.

What was the selection process in choosing photos for the exhibit? Are all of the images from the book?

All the images are from the book. There are 50 prints, representing each of the 22 sites I photographed for the project. The exhibition is organized geographically, the same as the book—the geographic regions are the South, the Southwest, the East, California and Hawaii.

what is it about ruins that inspires you and has kept you photographing them for years?

Photographing ruins merges my passions for history and photography. I'm drawn to these sites to make a spiritual connection with those who came before us, preserve the visual poetry of what they left behind, and restore what they've built to our collective memory. In making these images, I confront my own mortality and become most alive.

After the success of the American Ruins book, what led you to work on Lost Worlds?

I wanted to continue photographing ruins. Going beyond the U.S. borders seemed to make the most sense, but not so far away that it would take too a long time to complete the project. Hence, Lost Worlds: Ruins of the Americas. In every way it is a more ambitious project: The research, trip planning, and the photography. By the time I complete Lost Worlds at the end of this year, I will have been to about 30 sites in 15 countries. That's a lot of miles in a little over two years.

How does your subject matter influence your technique or vice-versa?

I photograph ruins in infrared. Infrared light is invisible to the human eye, but I use a specially adapted 35mm digital camera to record it. The ethereal effect illuminates the otherworldly atmosphere that haunts ruins, allowing a photographer to transcend mere documentation and capture the mystery and elegiac beauty of crumbling walls, weathered facades and broken arches as no other format can.

An opportunity for emerging designers to showcase their work, A+: The Young Designers' Platform took place earlier this month during the Accent on Design event at New York's International Gift Fair. The American Design Club curated the event, aiming to highlight raw new creatives and their recent contributions to the design world. Seven out of ten of this year's winners also had a focus on sustainability and environmental responsibility, bringing simple solutions to the world's environmental concerns to the forefront of the design world. We picked three of our favorites newbies in the world of jewelry, compost, and cast iron cookware, who each snagged a space on the list of finalists, rounding out the eclectic list with their innovative new designs.

Bin by Fuccillo

Vancouver design studio Fuccillo recently turned its attention to composting—a simple but important part of a sustainable urban lifestyle. Making it easier for environmentally-conscious citizens who already freeze compostable scraps and drop them at their local farmers markets, Fuccillo created a stylish new "bin" using hard plastic and flexible silicone.

The container stays in the freezer until it's time to be dropped off, eliminating stench and pests by pausing the decomposing process. When ready for emptying, the silicone bottom stays flexible and pushes in for easy removal of the waste (without having to reach inside and scrape it out). Next month the bin will hit shelves online and in stores across the U.S. and Canada for $45 each.

Hila Rawet Karni

Hila Rawet Karni specializes in "industrial jewelry," using materials like paper and leather to construct geometrically intricate patterns.

We like the way the extraordinary level of detail and a passion for industrial design combine in the Melissa necklace in particular. Consisting of a series of interlocked textured, leather pinwheels, the design embodies the beauty of her creative mathematics. Paper, leather, plastic and spring necklaces come in various shapes and sizes at Hila Rawet Karni's Etsy store.

Borough Furnace

Jason Connelly and John Truex were cousins before becoming business partners based on their shared admiration for industrial design and environmental responsibility. The two finally teamed up to create Borough Furnace, a Murfreesboro, TN-based cast iron cookware production team.

Upcycling iron from scrap radiators or other junkyard items, the team creates high-quality cookware, including a popular dual-handle frying skillet, in their own backyard. The products are entirely recycled and handmade, not to mention classically-designed for a lifetime of use and beautiful craftsmanship. For more general or purchasing info, contact info [at] boroughfurnace [dot] com.