When I started out in this business there was 2 companies I was looking at as an inspiration for Staple. One was Ecko Unlimited and the other was L-R-G. Sure there were other great streetwear brands like PNB Nation, Triple Five Soul, Subware, etc etc…but I was always impressed with Ecko and L-R-G. They took the spirit of the street, but managed to make it acceptable by more people. Some might call this “selling out”. I saw it as a challenge. With Jonas, I was even more impressed because he was an Asian male. And he was having all these rappers, extreme athletes, celebrities, etc wearing his creation. It was inspiring to see someone rise above what he was “supposed” to do and instead, create a path for himself.
Jonas is U.S-born/Vietnamese. He was adopted along with six others. He is survived by his black brother and sister, Filipino brother and sister, half-white-half black sister, half Jamaican-half-Spanish brother and a white brother. There was no way L-R-G WASN’T going to be accepted by all people…all colors…all cultures. He wouldn’t have it any other way.
We finally crossed paths professionally when L-R-G did a collaboration collection with Courvoisier. Jonas wanted to launch the collection in NYC at Reed Space. It was an honor. It was like my design career coming full circle. We emailed before the event. Kept in touch after. Exchanged goodies and shwag…and then finally met in person for the first time (and last time) at Reed Space. Rest in peace to Jonas Bevacqua—Founder of L-R-G—and founder to a whole new generation of entrepreneurs.
(Via Vimeo.)
(My last gift to Jonas: our 10th Anniversary Staple x Be@rbrick makes an appearance in this video. Plus you’ll see a Pigeon tee cameo in there as well. I’m glad a part of me made it into his short but spectacular life.)
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I’ve often said that David Ellis is one of my favorite contemporary artists that have gone from “street” to “gallery”. The reason? He never settles. Once you think he’s onto something that will launch him into infamy, he switches gears and does something completely different. His latest is a perfect example of this: True Value.
(Via Vimeo.)
I’ve been dropping videos here and there from our recent inspirational trip to Sao Paulo. (It’s for the next issue of Reed Pages Mag.) Finally, here are all three videos and some photos from our trip. Big up to Dorothy Hong for the photos (in the video. Not the stills below, those are by me.), Ted Sazon for the video work and our friends in Sao Paulo, Havaianas for the ground support while we were there!
A recent move to Hong Kong has me eating out almost every night of the week. This career foodie has been finding new eats that I’ve never been exposed to from living in the states. Hawker food, handmade dumplings and noodles, parts of an animal that I never thought were edible, are now a part of my daily diet. It is simply amazing.
My most recent discovery is the Singaporean crab. I ventured to Causeway Bay to find an outpost of No Signboard Seafood right at the start of “Food Street”. Yes, a street dedicated to food. I was in heaven! Especially after eating their signature, the white pepper crab.
The server presents the live crab for your approval…and moments later, fresh crab in a thick white pepper sauce mixed with the crabmeat from the insides of the shell. Of course the challenge of cracking the claws to find sweet meat, is still a part of the wonderful experience.
As a starter, every table receives the century egg, to get your appetite going (I’m not a fan, but they are beautiful).
No Signboard Seafood has multiple outlets around Asia, so you aren’t limited to eating this dish just in Hong Kong. But if you come to visit me and I’d happily to you here.
A new friend recently introduced me to new music—Toe. I’ve been into Toki Asako for a while now…This collaboration is quite beautiful.
A friend turned me onto this music video for Is Tropicals song The Greeks. It’s got great animation overlaid on a childrens gun fight. Enjoy.
I’ve had the honor of sitting in and seeing Kenya Hara (Creative Head of MUJI) speak about “Emptiness” live at Imprint Culture Lab in LA a few years ago. It was never filmed. But he recently did the talk again for W+K and now it can be shared with you. If you have a free 45 mins, this is definitely worth your while.
One of the few people I would categorize in my life as “mentor”. Mr. John Jay Executive Creative of Wieden + Kennedy.
Our Sao Paulo / Reed Pages trip concludes with this video…Part 3 of 3! (Again, thanks to the Havaianas team for helping out!)
