THE CREATIVE DILEMMA.

In a large company, it is very difficult for a single design concept to be carried throughout the entire process...from beginning to end. Think about it. You have an idea. A spark of inspiration. Now think of the number of steps this project must go thru before it finally reaches shop shelves and into YOU, the consumers hands. By that time, your beloved concept is typically reduced to a tagline or bullet point. Meanwhile, you the designer, are probably onto the next great thing. Case in point: "SKULLS."
The concept behind the recent Nike release, known on the streets as "SKULLS" was a dope one. Deep in tradition, sport and history. What started as an idea by some of Nike's Beaverton Running crew (John Truax and Todd Lewis) of bringing the best of the Northwest together on campus for a "friendly" race, has turned into the highlight of the Cross Country season in Oregon and Washington. Why the Skulls? You need to experience the race to truly understand the passion.
Have you seen Gladiator? Remember Russell Crowe's speech to his army at the beginning of the movie...Getting his troops ready for battle, and death...If it sounds intense, it is. The teams start off on opposing sides of the Ronaldo Pitch (arguably the best Pitch in the Northwest). One Team in Green. One Team in Blue. In the middle of the pitch a small path that takes the runners through a run around the Nike World Headquarters. Why the skulls? Because when the gun sounds, these kids turn into warriors, first one to the path has the advantage. Best of the Best. The Skulls is a logo used on the singlet of the Oregon and Washington teams. Because this isn't a OSAA or WSAA sanctioned event, the kids can't rock their school uniforms. It's crazy because now kids train harder for this than for any sanctioned event. BORDERCLASH as the race is called, is the creative inspiration for this collection.
Unfortunately, because of whatever lack of communication, and to no fault of any one particular person/group...This collection is simply known as SKULLS. It pains me to see this, so I am just trying to set the record straight. For all the designers out there whose ideas were ever misappropriated.

BOOGIE II.

The turnout for Boogie was dope. Thanks to powerHouse Books, Macau Beer and of course all the Boogie fans who came out and represented. All our books sold out in a matter of minutes. Check out some photos from cyberspace.

BLOOMBERG.

(Check out Mr. Fenwick's virtual conference room. That screen in the background is his London office where he can have real-time live meetings with people over in the UK. It was amazing...I need one.)

Today I had the honor of visiting Lex Fenwick, the CEO of Bloomberg, Inc. Bloomberg (formerly run by our mayor, Michael Bloomberg) has made recent design headlines because of their newly renovated offices located in midtown manhattan. If you have the opportunity to visit, its really a mindfuck. It's very intense with a lot of visual stimuli everywhere you look. Lex is a frequent shopper of Reed Space and he was nice enough to take me around the offices for a tour. Whenever a major corporation declares their support of the arts, I tend to roll my eyes. But I was really impressed with what they had going on over there. It's obvious art + design is a major component to the lifestyle at Bloomberg and Lex seems to be the driving force behind that.

GIVE THANKS.

I'd like to take this time to give thanks (even though Thanksgiving is a month away)...


To new (and old) friends. (Takehiro, Maho, Marisa, Mauritzio)


To the veterans. (John Jay)


To the future. (Cut& Paste)


To braving the elements. (Tretorn galoshes)


To (still) having the love. (Spiz'Ike. Thanks GFT)


To the selectors. (DJ Muro)


To table tennis partners. (Suphala and Riko)




To publishing—for the love of it. (Bootcamp Magazine)


To still playing with toys.


To taking it to the next level (Complete x HiTek MPC piece)


To the way New York used to be.

To telling it like it is. In English. Or Japanese.

SHOT BOOGIE.

One of the hardest, rawest, most real-deal-Holyfield photographers I have ever worked with is Boogie. He recently dropped a book from powerHouse called "It's All Good". This Thursday, I am honored to host his only NYC book signing reception at Reed Space. It's a one night event so come correct. Get your book, get it signed...and who knows, you might even meet some of the folks from the book live in person.







Invite.
RSVP.

BLACKNESS.

While it might not look like it from this blog...I am a pretty unsocial person. In fact, sometimes I think I border on S.A.D. (that would be, Social Anxiety Disorder). So this week was a wierd one for me becuase it was just one event after another. A lot of it also involved dressing up in black tie attire. Which at first I thought was annoying but then in retrospect, its actually kind of fun. Its like living an alternative lifestyle.

DANIEL:
There are only five "4-STAR" restaurants in NYC. (None in all of Cali). I've never been to any of them mainly because 1) Jacket/Tie required 2) None of them are downtown and 3) I'd need to take out a small business loan in order to foot the bill. But all that was about to change on Monday when I was blessed that my new friend Joy from LA treated me and Riko to dinner at Daniel. To be honest, I thought "just how good could this really be? I mean, c'mon, it's still just food." Let me just warn anyone that decides they might want to try Daniel. Every meal thereafter, for the rest of your life, will taste like crap. It sort of ruined my life. Thanks Daniel...


Riko, Joy, et Moi gettin french with it.


The man who ruined my culinary life...Daniel. Super nice and super humble man. I sent him a box of Staple clothes the next day and he immediately called to thank me. A classy gentleman but I wouldn't expect anything less.

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HENNESSY ARTISTRY:
My friend Raoul who runs Exposure invited me to the Hennessy event at Capitale. Lots of models, lots of celebs, lots of Henny. That's usually a pretty safe recipe for a dope party. But just as insurance, they have The Strokes, Carl Cox, Goldfrappe, and Kanye perform live. And on time. Perfect night for me. Met some cool people, had a good time, listened to some good music and was home in bed by 1am.


Jean, Eddie Stats, Suzanne and Riko


Kanye (oh yeah Pharrell came too), Goldfrappe all under the amazing Capitale roof.


Then dinner with Joy and Jules at Momofuku House. This photo was taken at David's new restaurant Saam. Can't compare to Daniel of course, but very satisfying nevertheless. And literally without exaggeration, TEN times cheaper.

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COOPER-HEWITT:
Second time this week I had to dress to the nines. This time I went with a tuxedo (and AJ 4s in all black). The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Awards celebrates design in various disciplines and this year Nike wins the Corporate Achievement Award. I was fortunate enough to be invited by Richard Clarke (Global Creative Director) whom I worked with on the Nike Considered project. I could get used to these black tie affairs.


Gavin and I getting ready...looks like we're trying out for Reservoir Dogs 2.


The red carpet treatment. You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you Gavin and I snuck in thru a hole in the back of the tent. Yeah, don't believe that...



You know you're at a good party when all the name cards are hand lettered calligraphy. And they put their logos on the cookies!


Lots of design bigdogs on hand: Robert Downey Jr. (fine, he didn't design jackshit), Milton Glaser/Paolo Soleri, Issac Mizrahi, Diane Von Furstenberg.


But the real star of the show: Richard Clarke. Seen here singing the National Anthem to the audience. (ahem)


AF1 king, DJ Clark Kent was on hand. The first time we have met...we talked about co-starring in the film Just For Kicks...nice to finally build with this cool dude. Spiz'ike Lee himself was there as well. I showed him how to check out photos of his new kicks using the Blackberry.


Yours truly and the great visionary Syd Mead. (The vision behind Blade Runner, Aliens, Tron, and more). Best line of the night: "I've seen the future, but they me made sign an NDA so i can't say much about it."

SATURDAY: JUDGEMENT DAY

Cut & Paste (a shot from last year's competition)

Last year, I was one of the guest judges for CUT & PASTE. A pretty cool concept where designers battle each other in live spontaneous challenges. Imagine a DJ Battle, but instead of DJs, its designers. Last year was the first one ever and to be honest, I thought it was going to be a geekfest (which is fine by me since I prefer the company of geeks.) But it actually was a pretty damn cool event with a bananas turnout of over 2000 people and the line going around the block. This year, cuz of the overwhelming response, they moved it into the Brooklyn Sugar Factory (formerly Domino Factory). That's almost worth the trip alone..just being able to enter that Brooklyn landmark. So come out and watch me mow down some designer's self-esteem. Bring rotten tomatoes.

WHERE'S THE LOVE?

T-Mobile or RIM...can I get some love? Yu-Ming from FreshnessMag (and others I know...) recently picked up the new Blackberry Pearl. Is it cuz he read about on c|net? Consumer Reports? Epinions? T3 Magazine? Nope. Its cuz he read it right here.
C'mon..not even anything big. Free Blackberry's for life would be good.

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Can't wait for the iPhone to drop? Someone made a workaround to use your Nano as your phone. Has anyone tried this to see how it works? Let me know...

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LOST IS LOST.

I was a big fan of Lost for the past few seasons. But so far, this season sucks. It went from some cool Twilight Zone type shit to a soap opera drama. Who cares about these "people" relationships? I only vaguely want to know why "The Others" are living on the island...but not enough to tune in for an entire season. Bring back that black cloud, the invisible dinosaur and those creeped out Lotto numbers.

USE THE FORCE.

First Hello Kitty. Then the Walkman...why do The Japanese have to invent EVERYTHING?! Now they are about give us "The Force". Or that Sixth Sense that Spiderman has. The University of Tokyo is developing and perfecting a device that gives vibrations when something is about to smack you upside the head. Right now its in the form of a headband for obvious reasons but there's no limits to where this can applied. (Around an entire car for instance). Question is, will NFL quarterbacks be allowed to use this?

WHITENESS.

One thing great about being back in NYC...the number of visitors from all over the world that come thru this town. Case in point, today Dave White and his lady Cris stopped thru. Tomorrow is the biggest Sneaker Pimps exhibition ever to be held and Mr. White will be front and center of course.
Dave just had a show out in Portland at Compound and he brought back some HEAT. We just need to get Osama Bin Laden in a pair of these and we'll find him easy. (assuming he's not dead of course.)



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Had dinner and some drinks last night with Akiko, Jean, Omar and Naghman. It was good to catch up with everyone. ****DUE TO THE OVERWHELMING RESPONSE TO THE PERSONAL AD PLACED HERE; WE HAVE TAKEN DOWN THE LINK. JEAN HAS FOUND HER SUGAR DADDY. THANKS****

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Tonight I had dinner with Brendon formerly at Earnest Sewn/Supreme. We ate in this little tiny macrobiotic spot in the village. Weird evening. Sat next to Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers and Patty Smith (not together though)...then this guy we saw there was rocking these Nike ID Air Max 1s...check it...he did them in Pigeon Dunk colors and peep the back! That's devotion baby!



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And finally 1 last tidbit for everyone...Set your alarms: Dec 10th, 2006...
As they say in poker: "Raise it up a quarter."

HANGTIME.

Boeing is set to release a new airplane next summer called the 787 Dreamliner. The main purpose of this plane's design was to alleviate the effects of Jetlag (headaches, dryness, soreness etc.) Just peep some of the key features in their dope site.
- Innovative lighting to match the sun rising and setting.
- Auto tint windows that are now 19" tall. You can actually see the sky!
- Humidity control, cabin pressure control and turbulence dampening...as well as a much quieter running engine.
- Lower fuel burn = no more stop-over flights.
- Of course, WiFi on all flights.

Boeing says, "We can't guarantee people won't have any jetlag, but it will be a much better experience."
Sign me up.

ALL DAY I DREAM ABOUT...

How does one know that they've been around sneakers WAY too long?
When you have conversations like this:

Jeff: So how's that girl you're seeing?

Nico: Pretty good. pretty good...

Jeff: Oh yeah? Have you guys "collaborated" on anything yet?
(laughs)

Nico: Shut up.

Jeff: Did you guys do a "double-label" yet?
(laughs)

Nico: Shut the fuck up.

Jeff: Any "hybrids" coming in the near future?
(laughs)

Nico: No! (laughs)

Jeff: Well, let me know when you give her the "Quickstrike".
(laughs)

Nico: Nah, I just prefer to do a "general release"...hahah...
(entire office bursts out in laughter)

GOD & MACROMEDIA

A.
Deadly.
Combination.

LOONEY.

I really have to hand it to Dr. Romanelli. He's been killin it with projects in the past like the Soph FCRB and Nike stuff...but this one really is amazing. His clothing creations have treamed up with Looney Tunes and Bugs Bunny to make the "What's Up DRx" collab. To me, this is the collab to take all collabs. Bugs Bunny is engrained in every youngster's brain including my own. To do what he has done with the Bugs brand is so over the top dope. Props Doc!

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It's also always nice to see people's travel photos. It seems our friend Young Kim aka Suitman has been to Paris and Singapore recently. Check out some photos he sent me. This dude is too funny. Hope to see you next time in Tokyo, Young.







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Thanks also to the fellas at GoodFoot Canada for hooking up this dope Stussy x Goodfoot jacket. And look, it even says STAPLE on the chest embroidery! How did the mailman do that?? (I'm playing...thanks guys!)

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Have you checked out Black Rainbow? Its a blog on steroids.

INSPIRATION: PEOPLE

There is no better inspiration then being in the company of inspiring people. And Berlin is plentiful in this department.


Firmament Central: Home of The Glade / Acronym/ Being Hunted...all under one roof. The roof of Errolson and Jorg.


Hikmet from Solebox. Excellent work on the NBs. Thank you...


Pete and Errolson, thanks for the supercalifragilisticexpialidocious limited edition iPod BagJack messenger bag. Its so f'in dope! It's only right that it came via bike messengered to my hotel.



I found this amazing classic old school typographer in some back alley in Mitte. They literally still hand assemble type using lead weights. Where kerning and tracking separates the boys from the men.


-Bianca from Nike introducing me to KNOEDELS...a Bavarian delicacy that resembles a meatball. The best new food I have tried in a while. Anyone know some place in NYC that serves this?
-Mr. Steven Vogel in his new home/office/playroom. He showed me some spreads of his forthcoming book and it looks amazing. Be on the look out next year.
-This man is simply known as J.R. He is a leather manufacturer in Berlin just calmy banging out designs like belts, bags and attaches. Imagine Jack Spade...but like, real. I ordered a belt from him. It'll take 2 weeks for him to craft. (I have to finish Staple Fall/Winter 2007 in about the same amount of time.)
-Nicole from Bread & Butter with Fler, and very dope MC from Germany. Check him out on the label, Aggro Berlin.


Just to give y'all an idea of how cheap the rent is in Berlin...This shop "Apartment" has rented a 2 level store with a basement. The ENTIRE store is in the basement and the ground floor is left completely empty and blank. So you walk into this empty room and take those creepy little stairs down to the store. Imagine renting this in NY and not actually DOING anything with it. BANANAS!


Why can't we get dope cars in America like Peugot and Citroen, over here? They even get Peugot pepper shakers...damnit.

INSPIRATION: ART

I really rarely look to art for inspiration. I never go to a museum or gallery in hopes to get an idea for my next season or design. But after a few different friends recommend I check out ART FORUM BERLIN, I decided, "Why the hell not?"...i am on vacay after all. I have been to some art fairs such as The Armory Show in NYC, which to me was always lackluster. But I was really super impressed with this one. Lots of talented young people out there doing there thing. A very brief summary of the highlights:


A sampling...


Breadheads.


So true.


Kid from Mexico named Oscar. Killin it.


If I had to award a gold star to one piece...it would be this one. The entire piece (huge...about 7 ft wide x 5 ft tall) is made of shredded maps.


Right down through the wire; even through the fire.


PS: After some real world usage and field tests, I can safely say, "The new Blackberry Pearl is the best phone I have ever used in my life." Kudos RIM.

INSPIRATION: AUTOMOBILES

Many times people ask me where I get my inspiration from. For the most part, I am fortunate enough that "inspiration" finds me. But sometimes, I feel a need to find IT. That's what I've been doing for the past few days. I'd like to call it a vacation but I can't kid myself. My brain is constantly on. But this is the closest I can come to taking a break. Today I find myself an hour outside of Berlin, Germany at the headquarters of Volkswagon. Its called Autostadt. I was suprised to see how big the VW empire is. I had no idea they owned Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, along with EU-only's Seat and Skoda. Pretty impressive. Their HQ is an incredible display of ego-mania. Gotta love it.


(Straight out of Schindler's List)


Their museum of cars is just amazing. Classic cars all in mint condition. Peep the little kiddie racetrack where kids can race mini motorized VW Bugs. Talk about starting them off young! WK also representing on permanent display...


This is really the centerpiece of the entire compound. Rather than just parking all their inventory of cars in a lot like us obtuse Americans would, they built this sick structure. It has an elevator lift system in the middle of it to move cars to and fro. Many Germans actually come here to buy their cars and as a theme park, only Euro Disney gets more visitors per year.

Terrorism 1 / Democracy 0

If you're travelling around Europe, you should avoid London Heathrow like the black plague. That airport is a complete debacle. I only stopped thru there for a connecting flight and was stuck through their JOKE idea of security for 2 hours! The first 1.5 hours was waiting on a line that consisted of people asking security officers if their bottle of lotion/makeup case/contact lens solution was allowed on the plane or not. Then for some stupid reason, security was forcing everybody to condense all their bags into one bag. But they didn't let people by who only had one bag...LIKE ME. So you just sit there and watch these people trying to stuff an impossible amount of shit into one bag. And the reason for this?? It was so they claim "It'll be faster when you go thru the x-ray machine later." After that was the x-ray security machine line. Didn't seem any faster to me!
And guess what! I had toothpaste and water in my bag the entire time! SO NEWS FLASH FOR TERRORISTS, If you want to kill people on a plane with liquids, just keep ur mouth shut while going thru security and you'll be fine because the western worlds finest security systems have resorted to the motherfucking honor system!
After going thru security I was so tempted to reach into my bag and throw my bottle of water and toothpaste at the security officials and thank them for wasting my fucking time. Ugh.

I think the terrorists must be sitting in their caves laughing their asses off that we can't bring a 4oz bottle of cream on the plane now and its causing infuriating delays at the airport. They didn't have to kill anyone. They won. They've taken away the one thing democracy has blessed upon us: Convenience.
I hope one day Al Queda figures out how to make bombs out of panties and denim. Then our planes will be filled with passengers naked from the waist down.