BEAUTIFUL WORLD.

Next Thursday the 6th (7pm) at Reed Space:

SCION presents IT'S A BEAUTIFUL WORLD:
Amazing artwork (sculpture. collage. photography. painting) all in the theme of "it's a beautiful world." Open bar. The incredible DJ Eleven on the wheels. A number of artists in attendance.
Come check it out.

Featuring original work from:
ANDREW POMMIER / ANDY MUELLER / ANGELA BOATWRIGHT
BLAINE FONTANA / JAMES JEAN / BLEK LE RAT / BOOKS IIII
CAIA KOOPMAN / CHRIS YORMICK / CODY HUDSON / DALEK
DAVID CHOE / DAVID ELLIS / EYE ONE / FRANCESCO LOCASTRO
FREDDI C / J. SHEA / JEFF SOTO / JOSHUA KRAUSE / KELSEY BROOKES
KENTON PARKER / KOFIE / MEL KADEL / MICHAEL SIEBEN / MIKE GIANT
R. GRIMES / RAMMELLZEE / RETNA / RON ENGLISH / SAGE VAUGHN
SAM FLORES / TIM MCCORMICK / TRAVIS MILLARD

wowzers...

ROLLIN'.

If you're in LA this weekend...get your art on.

Brent Rollins: FLY GIRLS


And coming 9/15...
Giant Robot + Takashi Murakami: GEISAI

MAGIC.

Instead of going to Vegas for MAGIC...I decided to go to Paris instead.
Yeah right I wish! (This is a shot of the Paris Hotel) Not only did I go to MAGIC this time around, we even had a booth at Project (a division of MAGIC) where we previewed our Spring 2008 collection. We haven't showed a collection at MAGIC for over 4 years. Why? I just personally never got a good vibe from it. I don't enjoy doing it or being there, and the whole experience really turns me off to the fashion industry as a whole. I just get really down. Recently, we have been going as "buyers" for Reed Space instead of going as "exhibitors". I thought that might make it a little better, but it doesn't. MAGIC is the one place where the grass ISN'T greener on the other side of the fence. It's shit on both sides.
So I tried to do something completely different this time around. I made the attempt to enjoy myself and have a relaxing time! I can hear the entire fashion industry collectively mocking me right now. But I object! It is possible. The problem is coming to Vegas for 4 days and trying to cram every meeting and event into those 4 days. There is simply too much to do in too small amount of time. So this time I actually came to Vegas 4 days before the shows and took in some downtime. Everyone I mentioned this to immediately asked me with a strange face, "Why would you do that?"
Well, it was great. I recommend it to everyone who goes to MAGIC. Come 3-4 days before the madness and just take in what Vegas has to offer. For example:


Visit The Thomas & Mack Center. I watched Olympic Team USA trounce the Brazilians 100-50 (by the time I left). It was a romp and a pretty boring game but a dunk contest nonetheless. And the Brazilian female fans in the audience were nice to see as well.





Catch a show. Couldn't make Danny Gans this time, but I did see "O" and "Ka" from the Cirque Du Soleil people and I am surprised to say it is well worth the price of admission. Really incredible acrobatics, set design, and costume design.


Meet some new friends. I walked into Undefeated to visit for my first time and was greeted with hospitality by Chris, the founder of Fruition and manager of Undefeated. He gave me a little tour of his operations and I was very impressed. He has a great unit and team working with him and I like the fact he is repping his hometown. Its one thing to do what's he doing in NY or LA. But to do it in new territory, he is blazing new trails. Props to those guys.



Get a proper shave. Along with the hundreds of top shops and 5 star restaurants in Vegas, they have a Truefitt & Hill—the oldest barber shop in the entire world...since 1805! Shaving is something you do everyday. Investing in a good razor is key and pays for itself very quickly. This fat handle chrome model I picked up is made of ivory. Feels great in your hand and has a nice substance to it. Not cheap, but then again, it is your face.

Besides that, there is of course gambling (did bad), nightclubs (didn't bother), the pool and sun (got burnt), and room service (lots of that). So enjoy Vegas next time. Yes the shows suck. They're designed to suck. But that doesn't mean it has to rain on your parade.
Sorry there are no pictures from the actual tradeshow. But that would have ruined my trip.

*** UPDATE: This just in...since the day I posted the Crocs story on my blog, their stock has shot up $11 dollars from $47-$58. 19% increase!!! Where's the love? A few shares? Nothin?

CHAIRMAN.

I've known Osa from Complete Technique since before I knew what Staple Design was. There's not many people on earth who can lay that claim. I knew him as the fadeaway 15 ft jump shooter on the ball courts. Now he is the CEO of a jewelry design company that is doing big things. As part of our 10th Anniversary, Staple and Complete come together to do a limited run of Reed Space inspired chair pendants. Actually you can use them as keychains, necklaces, earrings...I personally use my black one as a zipper pull for my backpack. They're available in gold, silver or black. 20 pieces each. Available at Reed Space now.


(Pendant chain included.)


(100% Be@rbrick in the photo for size reference.)

ADDENDUM: Some have asked me what the meaning of the chair is. Silly me, I actually thought everyone in the world has been in Reed Space! (ha). Here's a photo of Reed Space, the answer lies within.


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Had a very nice lunch today with my old friend Shu and her bff Joe. Shu is not old. We're just old friends. They've been exploring Beijing for the last couple of years and believe me..coming from NY, that ain't easy. But they've been keeping themselves busy. Joe has a set up his own little publishing company and Reed Space just picked up their new edition entitled "Dead Animals".
The inside is a surprise. Get them quick because there are only 250 available worldwide and I already gots #81.

ALIFE SESSION.

Q-Tip, Craig G and DJ Soul.
Takin' it back to what hip-hop used to mean.

ALMOST BETTER...

...than the real thing.



My man Allen from AKA recently relaunched twelve ounce prophet.com and its def worth checking out. His collection of bloggers is the best I've seen since...well...you know. Good design, good content, good peeps. When you see heads like Bianca, Chino, Dash, Lern, Greg Lamarche, Grotesk, Jamil, Ket, KR, Mare 139, Todd James, 123Klan, Cody Hudson, West and more...only two words come to mind: STRAIGHT OG's.

HOLLYWOOD HOLT.

Reminds me of Pharcyde...if they all shopped at Reed Space. Pretty awesome and fun though. These guys are doin' in.

CROCS.

My life works in mysterious ways. 2 weeks ago, I went into a David Z store on Broadway because my cousin and I got caught in a heavy rainstorm. She wanted to pick up a pair of Crocs. I was always curious about the shoes. They're such a phenomenon among some people. And them completely meaningless to others. So I tried a pair on and I gotta say, it was THE most comfortable thing i put on my feet. Did I buy them? No. Because they are the strangest thing man has every created. But I was actually "THIS" close to adding Crocs to my shoe collection. I think that says a lot about the brand. I left David Z very interested in Crocs and the power of function over form. Then not a week later, out of the blue, I got a call from them! It was really weird.
I was asked to attend a small gathering of very interesting people that was organized by Crocs. You might know them as those odd looking shoes that little kids wear. Well there must be a shit load of little kids wearing Crocs because the little ugly shoe that could; is now a $350 million publicly traded conglomerate with over 1100 employees. They got myself; along with others like Josh Spear, editors from Lucky Mag, and about 6 other "in-the-know" people to talk about what the brand means to us, if anything...and what it could mean in the future. Barring the corporate shinnanagins, it was very interesting to have the handful of us in a room together for a couple of hours. We all came from different paths and after tonight, will continue on our different paths. I thought the convergence of our personalities was more interesting than anything else that came from this session.


Small, private and very talented. A nice group of individuals...


...Oh to be a fly on the wall while we were talking....hey...wait a minute! Whats that?!?


Crocs will be expanding beyond the "ugly-shoe" marketplace and entering the "decent-shoe" marketplace soon. No but for real, if you try Crocs on, you will very likely buy them based on comfort alone. If I was going to be on a deserted island and had to bring one shoe, it would be Crocs. (So long as I was promised no other humans would be on said island and i would never be rescued.)

CLIENTS.

I found this very amusing article online about "The 12 Breeds of Clients and How To Work with Them."

#1. The Low-Tech Client. (I personally have a rule now where I stopped working with people who don't have computers on their desks. There are people who's assistants print out their emails and have it read to them if you can believe that.)
#2. The Uninterested Client.
#3. The Hands-On Client. (The one that asks "Sooo, what do you think of the font you chose.")
#4. The Paranoid Client. (The one where you have to sign 14 NDAs before you can know what it is you're being asked to do.)
#5. The Appreciative Client.
#6. The Get-A-Good-Deal Client.
#7. The I'll-Know-It-When-I-See-It Client.
#8. The Always Urgent Client. (Not so bad because you can always charge rush fees!)
#9. The Decision-By-Committee Client. (You know, the one that showed the logo to their vet's babysitter to get their opinion on it.)
#10. The Doormat Client.
#11. The Budget Client.
#12. The You-Should-Be-So-Lucky Client.

Thankfully, none of OUR clients fall into these categories. (ahem.)

THE NEW! NEW YORK TIMES.

The new size of The New York Times...in a more convenient take home version.
I like the new size. Its taking me some getting used to. I'm having trouble perfecting the whole "flip in half and then half again" technique.

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Also check out this great New York Times story on the evolution of the humble Interstate Highway sign.

AND IN OTHER NEWS...

Now that NYC is in Code Orange again and cops are all over the place randomly stopping people looking for a "dirty bomb"...I chose to stay in and found some interesting things online:



This is the ultimate diss!
Some people at Apple must be having fun with this.
If only you could actually order one. But alas, I think its a fake.

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"You're arms are too short to chessbox with god."
For those of you out there who are great boxers AND great chess players...you finally have your calling. The WORLD CHESS BOXING ORGANISATION. Their motto is "Fighting is done in the ring—wars are waged on the board." I can't imagine watching one of these could be that exciting. But then again, that's probably what they said about poker on TV also.

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The person who made this has a lot of talent and A LOT of free time on his hands.

BILLY JOEL.

It was so easy livin'...day by day...

...Sing us a song...

After the physical and mental exhaustion from the 10th Anniv Event this week, I was ready to get out of the city this weekend. As luck would have it, I was invited by my friend Billy to come and watch a private concert featuring the incomparable Billy Joel in East Hampton, NY. Its part of a concert series called The Social. Truly a PERFECT experience! Every hip-hop act today should watch Billy Joel rock a concert because they could learn a thing or two. Or three.




The whole thing has a very "Eyes Wide Shut" feeling about it. First you get your ticket. Then you drive 2 hrs outside of NYC to a discreet parking location. From there, shuttles take you into an even MORE discreet location. And then you're in this Shangri-La of gourmet food, drinks, servants, fancy candy, beautiful people and Billy Joel singing for you and about 1000 other people.




The man still has plenty of life in him. More power to you Mr. Joel.


Hey if my seats are good enough for Christie Brinkley...they're good enough for me.
She must have been a little miffed that Uptown Girl was not performed.


I can't really recall the last concert i went to where I was on a lounge chair, barefoot, on a carpeted floor under a clear night sky. Oh yeah, I remember now. NEVER.
Thanks again Billy and Jed.

GRAND OPENING. GRAND CLOSING.

(all black+white shots by Kimou)

Wow...what in incredible experience last night was.
We celebrated Staple's 10th Anniversary with an amazing event at The XChange.
Mountain Dew helped us put the whole thing together.
Bobbito on the 1s and 2s as well Staple's #1 DJ, DJ Soul.
Oh and did I mention a musical performance by none other than Lupe Fiasco??
I want to thank EVERYONE who came out to support AND all those that were there in spirit.
The turnout was just bonkers. Mind blowing. And for those who didn't make it to this one, I'll see you at the 20th!
I'm still physically recovering from everything.
I only managed to fire off 5 photos the entire evening...so look out for an extended post with more photos when I gather them in. For now I will let some of the invited guests do the speaking and the visualizing:
- Style.com
- Worship Worthy
- Female Sneaker Fiend
- SOHH
- CrunchGear
- Rockers NYC
- Nitrolicious
- Mightly Healthy
- SHQ


If you can believe it, we had only 4 hours to set up the entire venue from empty slate to what you see in the party photos. MAJOR big ups to the entire Staple and Reed and all our friends and fam that came out to giving a helping hand. You know who y'all are. We needed every possible person to finish the job.


Apologies to anyone who had trouble getting in or waiting. I'm in the midst of trying to write software code that can fix the problem of guest lists...yeah right. But as my man Bobby says "If it's worth your while, it's gotta hurt just a little bit."


Some partygoers just chilled on our 1500 sq ft roof deck overlooking the West Side of Manhattan. We set up these sick projections on neighboring water towers. Gettin up!


Bobbito and DJ Soul were the selectors for the evening...
Soul did the first ever Staple mixtape. Yes, I said T-A-P-E! "Prescription No. 1"...whoever remembers that deserves being called a "down since day one brotha".






...the Main Event...Lupe Fiasco!! Good lookin out brotha. Lupe killed it for all the fans. If performing is anything like public speaking is for me...its easier to deal with a huge venue than an intimate one. I've seen Lupe at Nokia Theater and now this small setting...he can rock both equally well. Props to you sir.


I want to say a sincere thank you to ALL the sponsors involved:
Mountain Dew for headlining the entire event. Look out for the Staple x MD t-shirt that was in the gift bags...
Remy Martin, Patron and Heineken for all the + 21 refreshments. (rumor has it there's a Pigeon tee remixed in Heineken colors?!)
Zune for hooking us with these lovely Staple x Zune monogrammed joints.
Gravis for providing quite possibly the illest gift bags ever!
And New Era for dropping our 10th Anniv 5950 in white strictly for the event and not available anywhere, anyway, anyhow else!
And one big shout to Hawaii Mike at LTD/Seed (and his dope team) for making this dream a reality.
I am humbled by this entire experience. Major thanks to all the supports. I have to go grab a Klennex now. (sniffle)

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And in completely CONTRASTING news...I am sad to announce the TEMPORARY closing of Reed Space Tokyo. Our friends at Levi's FLU and Tab Device are going to be the new tenants of the current Reed Space Japan location. We are keeping it nice warm for you guys! Meanwhile, Reed Japan will move to a new location in the coming months and you can be sure we'll back bigger and badder than before. Thanks for everyone who supported Reed Japan from Day One.

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Wow...昨日の夜はスゴかった。
Mountain Dew の協力のもと、The XChange で Staple の10周年を祝う盛大なイベントが開催されました。
BobbitoとStaple の#1DJ、DJ Soul がターンテーブルに、そしてステージの上ではあの Lupe Fiasco がライブパフォーマンスで開場を盛り上げました。
イベントが終った今もまだ体が回復していない状態です。
僕としたことがイベント中に５枚しか写真を撮る事ができませんでした。。。もっと写真が揃った時にまたアップするのでその時にチェックしてください。
このイベントに参加してくれた全ての人とその場にいられなくても気持ちで参加してくれた皆様に感謝します。
来場者数は想像した以上で、本当にびっくりする程いい集まりでした。
今回のイベントに来られなかった方は２０周年記念で是非会いましょう！！

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そしてこれとは対照的なお知らせですが、大変残念ながら Reed Space Tokyo は一時的に閉店することになりました。Reed Space Tokyo の跡地にはLevi's のFLUとTab Device の店舗がオープンする予定です。Reed Japan は少ししたら今までよりも更にパワーアップして戻って来ます。これまでReed Space Tokyoをサポートしてくださった皆様、本当にありがとうございました。

WRECKED.

How quickly we forget. Remember not long ago when it was taboo to even discuss the notion of a building being blown up in NYC? Well it seems the embargo on that has been officially lifted as there are a slew of upcoming movies that are dedicated to leveling NYC.
Check the previews for:

I AM LEGEND


01-08-08 (working title)

But what was really shocking was what we witnessed on Orchard St. right on the same block as Reed Space. Some say this is actually for the 01-08-08 film. They did an incredible job at replicating the wreckage of a disaster in NY. Those boulders you see all weigh light as a feather.




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Hopefully, the newly manufactured disaster zone won't interfere with the sample sale that is doing down right next door to Reed Space with our Miami friends, Arrive. Literally, something for EVERYONE. Peep the brand list...50-75% off everything.