YONEHARA @ REED.

Ladies and Gentlemen. I am pleased to announce the that my good friend Yonehara Yasumasa will have his first solo NYC exhibition at Reed Space next week! "Yone" has been one of the most influential photographers from the past decade. You've seen a lot of people on the same steez recently but believe me...brother has been doing his thing for a long time now...way longer than all the appropiators you see today. We recently worked together on the Staple Spring 2007 catalog. Here are some tidbits from that:






(Top fashion model, Sakiko Ann Sugano and top AV model, Maria Ozawa)

This exhibition will feature all new works from Yonehara.
Sponsored in part by Vice Magazine and Flying Dog.

RSVP.

AM 90 / 255.

Just got back and it looks like Christmas on my desk! Mad packages and mail to go thru.
GT from Nike sent me these lovely joints. They are the "255" Air Max 90 Exclusives designed by the staff at 255 Elizabeth. Word has it they are limited to only 90 pairs and available exclusively "off the shelf" at 255 Elizabeth St in New York. This bad boy features exclusive infrared patent leather, black buffalo leather and infrared midsole along with a graphic print lining inspired by The Evolution of Air.
The 255 Air Max 90 goes public December 2nd at 255 Elizabeth. It's cool cuz there's no need to wait weeks and weeks for these. Buy your size, pay for it and leave wearing em! Just bring your tent, sleeping bag and credit card. (I think they're gonna be around $160.)

BEIJING.

Beijing is huge. Ginmormous. Everything here is wide and big...monsterous. I really love it. It feels a lot like Berlin to me. Very grey and kind of quiet, but creativity buzzing everywhere. You can feel it about to burst. In fact, I felt like it had a lot more culture going on than in Shanghai...especially in streetwear culture.
Here are some shots from the city. It's hard to capture the enormity of everything in photos. But, trust me, you feel like an insignificant pea in front of these places.




Forbidden City


Tiananmen Square. This places means a lot to me because it was the basis for one of my first t-shirt designs back in 1996. The concept of a student led revolution was very inspiring to me at the time...and it still is today.


Requisite Great Wall shot...I was a bit dissappointed at how much of a tourist trap this place has become.


Not sure what this amazing stucture is. Just your everyday run of the mill pack of elephants sculpted out of rock...at 5 times actual size.


The future site of the Olympic Village in 2008. This is the main stadium nicknamed "The Bird's Nest" for obvious reasons. It was designed by the Swiss firm Herzog & De Meuron.

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The food in Beijing lived up to its reputation for being...um...interesting.


Scorpion Kebab anyone? (Yes, it was spicy and crunchy.)


KFC in China is bigger than McDonald's. Unbelieveable but true. The secret? The chicken making process in Western countries involves chemically frozen chickens as we all know so well. In China, that process is more expensive than just hiring the labor force required to kill fresh chickens and prepare them. Hence, you get better tasting chicken than you would in the States. WAY better.

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Beijing is the land of bootlegs. That is no secret. But I was suprised at the sophistication of what they bootleg. I think its really interesting that these bootleggers are more on top of the fashion and trends than most magazine editors. Case in point:

Air Jordan belt buckle. Clot tee with some bootie ass Staple logo on the back. Air Force 1 with Bob Marley and dollar bills all over print! Scott (Ten Deep)! You're huge in China!

But some spots were really trying to do their best...repping the culture.




Yaxin is a 16 year old sneaker shop completely dedicated to Nike Basketball and Air Jordan. The store merchandising and the collection he has is amazing because he is NOT a Nike account. Its really just a devout representation of his passion for sneakers.


MESS is owned by Jimmy...one of the few stores selling all real streetwear goods. Everything from Fenom jeans to Pigeon Dunks to SBTG special make ups.

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On the first night i arrived, I went to the Vivienne Tam fashion show sponsored by VW. I respect Ms. Tam for her success and positive representation of Asians in fashion. Props to this mackin lady. She is much too humble considering everything she has done.


(l-r) Shake Magazine and Size Magazine (one of the few sports and sneaker culture mags in China) founder, Cheng Yang. Carol and Joe from Nike China...great dinner at Green T. House. Holly and Ros from NYC. Just happened to run into them coincidentally at a Peking Duck restaurant. The chances of that are like running into someone while sailing in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. And Li Chen, a VJ from Channel V (the MTV of China) and his friend, MC Yang Fan. Thanks for the good times at Club Mix.

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And finally back home. China was amazing, but its good to be back in NYC.


The varying scenary of the U.S of A. Home of the free. Land of the brave. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

SHANGHAI.

I'm Chinese. Never been to Shanghai or Beijing, the 2 largest cities in China AND the two most talked about cities in all the world now. So I didn't know what to expect on my first visit. I've heard so much about both places that I needed to go see for myself, what my peoples were up to. I just tried to leave my mind open and absorb the environment. Many people asked me why I was going...what purpose etc. They think everything I do has a business objective and while its true my working brain is never really "OFF", my answer to these people was usually: "...just exploring".


This photo really sums up Shanghai in a nutshell. The "old" literally crashing into the "new". OLD being the long history of China and NEW being the business capitalist mind of the Western World. Don't get it twisted; Shanghainese are all up on their Tall Mocha Frappucino's and California Pizza Kitchen. Shit, I ate the best corn beef hash and eggs in my life in Shanghai!



I was nice enough to be taken around the city by the Nike Shanghai office and Joe, who is their Energy Marketing person...(for those who know, he'd be the Gavin of China.)


Gerry Erasme as many people know, made NYC Basketball what it is today for Nike. He and I also birthed the NRF together. (Season 3 starts up in Dec!) He's out in Shanghai now looking to the make the next Yao Ming into the next Lebron James. haha...
Joe Liu, thanks for everything...you were a great host. This was an excellent dinner with Angie (Nike Apparel) and Carol (Marketing Director for Nike China)...peep that rug tapestry in the background! I want that!!!


EDC was here. Stay tuned for more in December.

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Some sights of the town.


Of course I had to have my name carved into a "chop". My Chinese name translated into English means, Child of Gold. Wish i could tell you this is an ancient process of chop carving, but the reality is, it took 5 mins with a Dremmel. The haggling took much longer, heh...thanks to Joe, it went from 150RMB (US$19) to 30RMB (US$4). Everything in Shanghai is "negotiable".




I was schooled in the art of tea for sure. Lin Mei here has parents who harvest the tea somewhere near Tibet while she sells to "Gwai Lo's" (foreigners) in Shanghai. Ever see tea like this in US?


Some things just make so much sense. A timer on their traffic lights? Genius.

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Urban Magazine is the only mag in Shanghai talking about the streetwear culture that we know. HIMM and KIKI, the owners have been grinding it out for 4 years now! Amazing as they are not even authorized to be publishing it in the eyes of Communist China, but they do and have been giving it away for free since Day One. Props to their effort for educating the PROC. We did a Q+A and Photo Shoot while I visited their office. I must be an annoying person to shoot because I'm always thinking like an Art Director of a magazine and throwing in my 2 cent suggestions of how the shoot should be. They're prob just like "Just stand there and shut up."




(HF x Adfunture)
The amazing creative office of Adfunture. Keep doing your thing Eddi.



If you're in China, you cannot miss the Hairy Crab! Its an amazing delicacy and I give props to the first man who had the balls to crack this nastiness open and eat it. Dinner was joined tonight by Tom/Clot, Nona (Himm's GF), Kiki/Urban, Leslie from NY, Joe/Nike, Pav/Clot and Himm/Urban. The best part is the brain of the crab. Best eaten with its ripped off leg of course.

My biggest surprise was just how Westernized Shanghai has become. I knew it was happening, but there were more Western people (OK, I'll say it, WHITE People) there than in downtown Manhattan! I mean you sit in a restaurant in Soho and its a mixed bag of culture. Sometimes you sit in a Shanghai restaurant and you think you're in Boston. As well, the architecture is really Westernized and modern. There were times I felt like I was in Las Vegas...not really knowing what was actually historic and what was a modernized prop. But all in all, I had a blast and I will def go back...very soon. But, now before i am even able to unpack, its back on a plane and heading to the capital city, Beijing.

EXHALE / RECAP.

It's always nice to sit back, and reflect on what's been going on in the past few weeks/months. It's important to pat yourself on the back every once in a while...

CUT & PASTE:

A really well made video...peep it.

"A little more than a year ago, Cool Hunting sponsored Cut & Paste, the first design competition to square designers against each other in a live tournament-style battle. From the initial sold-out event in NYC, Cut & Paste has grown into a nationwide tour with stops in four cities featuring local designers and judges in each spot. For episode 55, CH joined the party that kicked-off their national series at a Brooklyn warehouse-turned-club to document eight of the best young New York designers duking it out on stage. The video captures the three high-energy rounds, a lively 1200-person audience and an unexpected turn. You'll have to watch to find out which of CH's crew stepped in last-minute to replace a judge who was sick."

Working on really cool projects is definitely a ton of fun and very rewarding. But the one downfall is that you sign these NDA's which prevent you from speaking about them. Its the hardest thing to do...trying to keep quiet on the dope shit. Well, 2 things Staple has been working hard on all summer has dropped recently and it's nice to be finally be able to exhale on these and share them with the world. Enjoy.


The New Era Apparel Collection.


Supreme x Timberland.

BIKER CHIC.

For the past week, it seems as if everyone was attached to a fixed bicycle in Japan. There was bike races, bike meets, bike movie screenings, bike art openings...hell, I think I had bike for dinner one night. I must admit, even though I don't ride fixed nor do I ever plan on it (I like functioning body parts), I was enthralled by the guerilla race that took place from Aoyama to the center of Shibuya. It was pretty crazy! All thru the middle of traffic and pedestrians!


Shibuya 109 is usually filled with the miniest of mini skirts. Tonight it featured bikes with no brakes.


Chillin at Hiroshi's place before the race began. That's David from Kangol, the man who organizes these bike races (forgot his name...), AK/Burton and the man of the house.


Boys and their toys: Hiroki/Visvim, Vincent/Sandinista, Madsaki, HF.


A pleasant surprise showed up at Hiroshi's office...Henrick from Berlin was in town to interview hf. As you can see, he turned his design office into a bike repair and rental shop.

NIKETALK.

I've lost count. But I think this is the 11th trip to Tokyo for me this year. That's once for every month. Not suggested for most humans. As per the norm, I absolutely MUST see someone I know on these flights. Its like Metro North, I swear...This time, i was pleased to see Peter Sutherland and his knittin' lady Diana. He was in Japan for the 6th Annual Bicycle Film Festival...more on that later.

Oh BTW, any terrorist cells reading this, I'd like to inform you that metal knives are being used again on flights. I guess we must be on Code Green at the moment. I can sigh with relief.


What do you do when you have jetlag? You watch the Tokyo sunrise at 6am.


A familar sight...

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The main purpose of this trip was for Nike Talks. No, not that Niketalk...some real Nike talk. Nike (specifically, the Asia-Pacific and Japan team) invited me to come out and just share some thoughts, ideas and criticisms about Nike's business. A workshop if you will. I did one of these a few months back in Cali. They're very interesting, educational and you get to meet some cool Nike heads. They also usually hold them in some secret off-site location nowhere near an office to get the staff thinkin' "outside the shoebox" as they say...


How does a major corporation figure out what to do in the next 5-10 years? With a shitload of Post-Its I tell you. A shitload.


When is the last time you had a meeting with a koi pond in the back?


After the show, its the after party. Basically means a dinner table that seats over 30 people, and you speaking to about 2.5 of them.

More 2 Come...Now 2 Bed...

NYC 2106.

Imagine you had the job of designing NYC in the year 2106. The History Channel sponsored such a contest and the designs that came back were interesting to say the least.
Some highlights:
1) Convert every borough except Manhattan into greenspace; build Manhattan 65 stories tall to provide enough housing for everyone.
2) Total elimination of cars as a means of transport.
3) Turn roads into watery "veins" as a fuck-you of sorts to global warming.
4) Creation of a series of self-propelled islands that can dock around Manhattan to provide extra space as needed; i.e. Summerstage.

Read more.

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A NYC moment: My table tennis protegé, Suphala recently performed at Tonic in the LES. Low and behold who do I meet there? Salman Rushdie! He is a fan/friend of Suphala and also an avid TT'er. I foresee some heated battle in the near future. In case you didn't know, this man wrote a book called The Satanic Verses. It was so raw that the Fatwa Muslim community and Ayatollah Khomeini called for his assassination. In fact, Hitoshi Igarashi, the Japanese translator of the book was stabbed to death in July 1991. Ettore Capriolo, the Italian translator, was seriously injured in a stabbing the same month; and William Nygaard, the publisher in Norway, survived an attempted assassination in Oslo in October 1993. So until you create something that stirs an entire populous to want to murder you, sit the "F" down.

STUSSY FILMS.

Stussy recently debuted their year long documentary about the artists and designers behind The World Tour T-Shirt Project. Gotta give Stussy props. They made a film. And it's not a YouTube thing. It was like in a proper theater. Thurs was the NYC premier and as you can imagine, it was a "Where's Waldo" of streetwear illuminati. My hand pulled a cramp in the first 30 mins from the hand shakes and pounds. But its rare to see all these gifted blokes in the same room.


AKA Crew, KR, Deana, Gavin (Nike), Charlie, Genevieve, Scott (SB), Boogie.


Brand Pimps Crew, Kostas & Jet Li, Angelo (Supreme), Shaniquwa, Joli (with da fiery finger)


The Panel of Experts: Haze, Cartoon, Gary Panter, Kaws. (And Bonz Malone's head firing off the best questions ever.)


Yuki & Billions McMillions, Claw Money, John (Theme Mag), Ease (not just another face in the crowd)


Rostarr, Miguel, Kostas and friends, Paul Mittleman (Stussy), Mike (Bridge Runners), Eric Haze and Yan Can Cook.

Oh and speaking of Boogie...some photos from the Reed Space book release event. Sayonara.

NECESSITY...

...is the mother of invention.

LOMOLOVE.

What The Hell Is Lomo?
Ever hear of the term, "Shoot from the hip"? Well, Lomo invented it. Literally. They turned photographers into Lomographers and now they make some of the dopest cameras ever made. (Some of which are availble at Reed Space!) Michael here, is in charge of special projects. They recently dropped this Dalek collab. Pretty dope. What's he doing sitting across from me you ask? That, is a very, very good question...answers to come.

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Helly Hansen has something up their sleeve. Not sure what though. It seems to be called "LOVE" but from what I can gather, it simply involves sending people free dope shit. So far, its been a zip up hoodie and now this very well executed HH x New Era. Let's see how long this campaign lasts for before a VP at Helly says "Ummm, can we stop with the free dope shit campaign now?"

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Best SB Dunks that have dropped in a loooooong time. I can get my grown man on with these. Mafia Dunks: They drop this Sat at Reed Space...and I think 4 other places in the Northeastern US.

SAVE H2O.

We always speak about environmental conservation here in the States. We should do as the Germans do. On most all of the toilets and sinks I have seen there, they have this meter that shows how much water is being used with each flush and toothbrushing. See the little triangle in the middle? It spins mad when you are wasting water and spins slower when you're using less. Really makes you think about consumption. I'd make it a little game to see how low I could get the number each month. Something so simple could help so much.



Not sure if they have the same device in Barcelona, but Ivan from Nike SB Barcelona did drop by for a visit this weekend. He did a little Q+A for a magazine called UNO. He came by with Natalie...a cutie who does a line called Brown Babies. For some reason she did not tell me though and fronted like she was just a bartender. I found out only just now. Why all humble and shit? Big yourself up!