Staple and Lomo are fallin’ in love. haha… We have some really cool projects lined up this year. So to christen this, they gave our team some LOMO cameras and let us go crazy on film. I gotta say, this camera shoots like no other. Here’s some samples of what we came up with and a lil Q+A as well.
A nice farewell from Berlin as I witnessed the first snow for me this Winter. I love how it doesn’t get that cold when snow falls and its almost the perfect level of chillness in the air. Speaking of Air, I wish Nike would set up these AF1 events so they don’t conflict with each other. Don’t they know I am trying to attend every single goddamn one of them!? Well on the same night as AF1 Berlin, something went down at 255 in NYC. The all time KING of AF1s, DJ CLARK KENT, was asked to host a special night at 255. He invited 25 of his close friends (1 for each year…Ed Lover, Stash, Chris Vidal (Flight Club), Dagan Ryan, Jamie Story, Clarence Nathan, DJ Johnny Wishbone, etc..) to create their own AF1s using the new Supreme fabrics and patterns. In my absence, Clark designed one for me. Am I fucking dreaming? Nike? AF1? Clark Kent designing an AF1 for me? This dude did Reasonable Doubt! “Brooklyn’s Finest”, “Cashmere Thoughts”, “Coming Of Age”…do you know how many college all nighters this album got me thru? And now this dude is making custom AF1s for me! Pinch me please…this ain’t real.
If you had a private jet. You would have then went from Berlin to NYC to Tokyo where they did their version of AF1 called 1Love. They actually built a whole new structure for it and I’m looking forward to visiting soon. Hiroko and the Reed JPN team got to go and it looked like a shitload of fun.
About 3 years ago, long time friend and talented creative dude, Jeremy Hollister (Plus Et Plus) sat me down and pitched an amazing yet simple idea. “Artwork on slipmats.” Most artists and creative people I know are so inspired by music. Why not use the music as the canvas for their art? 3 Years later, we bring you: A NICE SET.
We choose 33 artists.
We give them slipmats.
They craft their trade on said slipmats.
They give back to us. We shoot beautifully. IDN makes dope book.
We make duplicates of the slipmats so even bedroom DJs can make their 1200s look nicer.
And then we show off what we did!
The traveling exhibition begins at this spot I found called Reed Space Japan.
The opening night is next Friday 2/2/07. If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by and check it out.
Some sneak shots of the book from Chris/IDN:
Anticipation was rising for tonight’s AF25 celebration. It was Berlin’s turn to shine this time around, and I was fortunate enough to be in the neighborhood so I decided to drop by (ha). The night had a cool house party feel. Imagine if Wilson and Arnold Drummond from Different Strokes had the mansion to themselves and threw a sick sneaker themed house party. It’d be something like this. I’m glad there was no hoopla “performance” or “extravaganza” tonight…i wasn’t up for it at all. Nike Berlin kept it sweet and simple.
Yes I have a decade old design and clothing company. I own 2 stores and galleries in NYC and Tokyo. But forget all that…you can just call me Jeff/Honeyee.com…the state of the blogosphere taking over…I had to chuckle.
As heads gathered in the meeting point (lobby of the Grand Hyatt), a fleet of black Benz’s took the VIPs to the secret location about 20 mins outside of Mitte. It felt VERY “Eyes Wide Shut”. You roll thru a very suburban ritzy neighborhood of Berlin…looks like nothing is happening, then BOOM…this mansion rises out of nowhere. Security was mad tight. I thought I was going to be asked to put on a white mask and disrobe…
Good times; good peoples: Ceyda from Bread and Butter, Thibault from Just For Kicks, Bianca from Nike (the hostess with the mostest of this event), Simon from Stussy UK, Jesse/Nike, Jeorg/Glade, Giorgio, Hikmet/Solebox, Berlin MC Fler…it was a cool mix of all different peeps.
Berlin is already one of the most smoker friendly cities in the world…and as if there wasn’t enough, they had a Cigar Master rolling and cutting fresh cigars!! Everyone was living out their “Big Pimpin’” video fantasies while I got lung cancer from second hand smoke.
They had samples on hand of the upcoming AF25 ID selections. 25 different white leather combinations. These are SICK…Gavin…we need to talk when I get back. Peep the actual sized +41 AF1s made out of white chocolate.
The mansion that housed the party had all these rooms (as mansions typically do). Nike did a great job of tricking out each room with a different theme. I just feel bad for the family that gets this place next.
Nothing says 25 years of sneaker history like a 512MB USB Flash Drive (I guess.)
Bianca/Nike! Thanks for a great party!
Its no secret I travel quite a bit. But its becoming a punch line to my life now. When people call me, their first question is, “What country are you in?” (and they’re not joking). I feel even stupider when I say something like, “Umm..well…Barcelona.” I frequently get text messages from my mom asking, “So where are you now?” 2006 was pretty bad (or good depending on which way you look at it) so I hoping 2007 would be a bit more “domesticated.” But I’ve already seen Beijing, Hong Kong, Barcelona, now Berlin, and Japan in 96 hrs. JUST in JANUARY ALONE….I see no improvement in the near future. I think my body (mental and physical) is adjusting. I actually prefer life at 35,000 feet now. In fact, being on the ground too long is starting to freak me out. I used to prefer home living to hotel living. Now hotel living is quite comfortable to me. Is this healthy? I’m not sure, but I don’t feel like I’m missing much. I mean, with my laptop and wifi internet, EDGE connectivity and 3G phones, I can pretty much be anywhere, anytime. The world is my stopover. The air is my new home area code.
Two more talking points before I continue:
1) If I created an airline, I would ban children and infants from Business and First Class. Am I an asshole? I mean the idea of business class is that you should be able to conduct business (i.e., WORK). Tough to do when kids are screaming and brown diapers are rolled into balls 25 inches away from you. I’m just saying, there should First, Business, Economy, and “Family”. I would even put Family Class in front of First, so they can get in and out easier. Just a thought.
2) Is it just me or do American carriers offer the WORST service in the entire planet? I mean its almost a cliche stereotype now. Yes we know ANA and Singapore Air is the shit. But why do our American airline hosts/hostesses HAVE to be so good at continuing the tradition of shitty service? Can’t one person just break the status quo and be nice?! I’m still looking…I’ll let you know if I ever find one.
Around the world in 80 clicks:
Thanks to who ever sent this to me from Japan. Kit Kat Milk….the innovation continues.
Hommoyo who owns the venerable Chapter and Atmos stores drops by the NYC lab for a visit. That’s not actually me. Its just an actual size cardboard cut out for when i am not there.
When in Berlin, pick up some Soundbombs. But make sure you apply first because he doesn’t just sell these to anyone. These little robots record short sound tracks. They stick anywhere and play when they detect motion. Its audible grafitti. Only a Berliner could think of this.
Also in Berlin, you always have to stop by Firmament and see what Errolson (Acronym) and Jeorg (Being Hunted/The Glade) have up their sleeves.
Two artists that are killing it softly.
Bill Sullivan.
Happy 50th Birthday Helvetica. Now go see the film.
I despise the word “tastemaker” but regardless of that, this interview I did with TTS is pretty good.
Home is where the hatred is. (Or was it the heart?)
Wow…look what I found. This is something for the guys over at “youthoughtwewouldntnotice”. Went into the British Knights booth at BBB and found this beauty. Hmmmm….looks kinda familiar. Like maybe the cover of our Spring 2006 catalog!?! They made their shoebox out of our catalog cover that Alist created for us! And they left the STPL logo on there! This designer was no amateur though. They managed to figure out the Horizontal Flip feature of Adobe Photoshop. Hey everyone in cyberspace, why don’t you take the time and tell this designer what a great job she did!
Here’s her name: Simone Van Der Koelen.
You can email her praise at: simone.koelen@afg-int.com
And if you wanna call her: +31-416-566-724
Props BK. Props…
My first time in Barcelona. The occasion is “business” as Staple was attending the tradeshow Bread and Butter. But nevertheless, I had a very good time in this historic and art-centric city. Many Americans forget from their History class, but if it weren’t for Spain and Christopher Columbus, there might not be an America as we know it.
Barcelona has public art like NYC has hot dog carts and homeless people. The city is a virtual living museum.
(Edison is so big, he has a subway stop named after his company here.)
Dinner with Steven Vogel, his beautiful wife Nina, Gareth from Pointer, and Mia from Berlin.
Ivan from Nike SB seen here at Trust Nobody. The dopest Nike SB account in Barcelona.
I also got a chance to hook up with the BKRW Crew. Was great to just talk about the state of the union with these veteren heads. They videotaped the whole thing so lets see how they will blackmail my ass now.
Dave White held an exhibition with Trust Nobody and showed off some brand new incredible work. He has moved beyond his sneaker profile paintings and is really flexing his true artistic skills. Props to you Dave. This opening was dope. Had a really NYC chill vibe to it… Rumor has it that Dave will NEVER paint another side shot of a shoe and has painted his last one of an AJ3. And its his finest one ever. Wonder what will become of that treasure?
Back at BBB, Untitled Documents had another cool exhibit of streetwear culture. They asked me to contribute some personal affects.
We designed the key visual used for the Sport & Street Section of BBB. (We did it last season as well for Berlin.) It’s always amazing to see something we did blown up to the side of a building! Thank god for vector graphics baby.
Witness the hands of a killer. SheOne in the house.
Wes from Foot Patrol hanging out in the halls.
Barclona is museum central. In one afternoon, you can see full-on museums dedicated to Picasso, Dali, Muro, Gaudi, et al. I opted for the Maritime Museo….The structure of this museum is just as impressive as the ships inside it.
Kristyan Geyr, one of the founding partners of Bread and Butter, and Nicole Sumi/BBB were nice enough to take me thru the graphic & conceptual history of BBB.
Rob Walker, this one is for you. 8 Euros (about US$11) for a beautifully designed bottle of AIR. Yes, flavored oxygen that tastes like crap and makes you feel slightly nauseous. Only “marketing” could allow this product to exist.
Henrik from Untitled DJ’d the private closing party for BBB. Nice set Henrik!
The night before I head out to Barcelona, Spain for Bread and Butter, I wanted to drop by Gabriel Urist’s new showroom/store/workshop. It’s a really dope space. He deserves it for all the hard work he puts into his craft. Check it out when you have the chance. 204 Elizabeth St in Nolita, NYC.
You can spot some early renderings of the Staple x Urist 10th Anni pendent we did together. The final version is dope. It’ll be dropping very soon. In fact, that’s what I went to go pick up.
Excellent showing at the SP One reception last night. A few snaps.
My favorite thing about Reed Space gatherings is the mix of different people we attract: downtown cool kids, legendary artists, 9-5ers getting off work, industry heads, BK hipsters, skaters, graf heads, publishing hounds…we get em all. It’s like a cross section of NYC. And the best part is that it’s all love.
Staple x 10Deep collab…
And of course, Greg…the man of the hour.
Got 2 massive boxes from Timberland this week.
The first was (finally) the Staple x Timberlands that will drop in Feb I think as part of the 5 Boros Project along with RZA, Chris Mendoza, Skwerm and Atsuko Tanaka. If you dare, cut away the wool plaid sweater and see a secret surprise. (Editor’s Note: Staple is not responsible for the design of the packaging. I would have simply preferred a simple carboard box!)
The other box was this dope New Era x Timberland collab. Timbs and a Fitted: What more could a downtown cool kid want?
There’s a shoe box. And then there’s this! I put the scissors in there so you can see the scale of this behemoth. It has locks and a handle for carrying…cuz it HAS to.
The interior. Sherpa lined. Complete with a mirror for making sure ur 5950 is at the perfect angle.
Butter soft leather Timbs and 5950. Both are fur lined. A very dope collab.
The tongue has an emboss that says 034/100. So I’m not sure what distriution will be on these. But at 100 pairs, it ain’t gonna be everywhere.
