XMAS DOWN UNDER.

This Christmas, my really good friend / business partner / older sister, Riko was (finally!) getting married to a really great guy (Tim) that I can finally approve of. In true Riko-fashion, she held the wedding on the farthest place possible; in Melbourne, Australia. And asked me to DJ it! I couldn't say no, so I made the 30+ hour trip down under for this special day for her. Other than the wedding, I had a great time in Melbourne. It's a chill laid back city with some little pockets of energy sprouting up.


Getting to Melbourne is no easy feat. It involves a 15hr flight from NYC-Tokyo. A 5 hr layover in Narita. Then a 10 hour flight to Sydney. Then another hour layover before a 1 hour flight into Melbourne. Not to mention a bitch of a hike from the domestic to the international terminals at Sydney. All in all, over 30 hours from Point A to B. This is about as much of Sydney as I got to see. If you look close, you can spot the Sydney Opera House. There seems to be this Sydney vs Melbourne beef that reminds me of NY vs LA. Wonder if they have rappers from each city shit talking each other also?


Melbourne has one casino. The Crown...its quite good actually and they've built an impressive complex around it with shops and restaurants. Australians are pretty timid when it comes to their poker game.


This is the view from my hotel room. The impressive Melbourne Cricket Grounds aka MCG aka The 'G. Every December 26th (aka Boxing Day), they hold a huge cricket match where everyone and their grandmothers comes out to watch. I had to partake as well and check out my first cricket game. I had a hard time understanding what was going on, but from what I could gather, The Aussies kicked the Indians ass. And I don't mean the team from Cleveland.



I've been to a couple of different countries and have seen many different currencies. I'm trying to think back, but I think Australia, quite possibly, has the best designed currency I have ever witnessed. The paper stock is crisp and slick...almost feels like it has an aqueous UV coating on it or something. Fonts, watermarks and imagery are all tastefully done. Denominations are color coded for easy usage and peep the clear watermarked window on each bill. Nice touch. These can't be cheap to make.


One of the best cosmetic, cleanser, shampoo companies around: AESOP. Its hard to find in North America but the brand originated in Melbourne so its easy to find here. The interiors of their shops are dope and so is their product assortment and branding. If you find it...stock up!


I think NYC and Tokyo are hands-down the best overall cuisine the world has to offer. And since these are my two hometowns, I can be a bit snobbish when it comes to dining in other locations. My expectations just aren't that high. So it was a huge surprise when I sat down at THREE, ONE, TWO in Melbourne. Some friends had recommended it so I gave it a try. I was really impressed. It's not cheap, but it is worth every aussie penny you pay for it. Splurge on the tasting menu. Then afterwards head down to Lygon Street for some cappuccino and a second dessert.


I had some free time to stroll around Melbourne and found some cool things. One of the coolest places I found was Curtin House. Its pretty spooky walking into the building. It looks like it could be a crack house. But inside each floor is a wonderful expansive discovery. The 2nd floor features a great Thai restaurant named Cookie. Above that are a trio of great shops: Order+Progress, Someday and Metropolis. There's also a rooftop cinema and a nightclub I think. Also stopped by the good people at Provider and All of the Above. (Thanks Kerry for the useful map!)

(Elliot and Kerry from All of the Above, The Provider crew, interior of Cookie, grown men playing grown chess on the sidewalk.)

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And of course, the whole reason for coming down here anyway! Riko's wedding!
Again, congrats to Riko and Tim...this was one of the most beautiful weddings I have ever been to do. Simple perfection.

(Tim, Riko and friends...)


(Me, Riko and mom dukes)

AN INTEROFFICE MEMO:

OKAY PLAYER HOLIDAY.

The Roots had a very intimate gathering at The Box in New York City this past week. The last time i saw them was this summer at Nokia Theater, so this was really cool to be able to check them in a venue where I was literally sitting on the stage with them. It was a very relaxed atmosphere. The Roots band came out, Black Thought basically did one song. Then the band went into their Masters Of War symphony. And then Bilal came out and did a couple of songs...and that was pretty much it. But overall, a nice little nugget of a performance.

A MERRY STAPLE.

'Tis the season for company holiday gatherings. I vary year to year on how I want Staple to celebrate the season and ring in the new year. Sometimes, its something big. But this year, I wanted to keep it intimate and fairly chill. We had a staff only dinner at our favorite neighborhood spot, Apizz, and it was just good food, good drink and good times. This was followed up with our holiday party at APT. This turned out to be an awesome night that went WAY later than it should have. But I guess that's a good thing. Keep your eyes on MFT for some photos.

I also got some nice gifts recently.

Thanks to the Nike NYC team for sending me the new-ish Nike Amp Watch. It's a technological marvel. Mark Parker showed me a prototype about a year and half ago and I was amazed back then. It's a watch and a bluetooth remote for your iPod Nano and it hooks up with Nike+ as well. The coolest part is that when its off, it just looks like a rubber bracelet on your wrist.


Oddly enough, I never wear watches, but I got another watch from Casio as well. It's your standard fare G-Shock but the white perforated leather strap makes this a special item to wear. I get so many comments from it. Thanks Casio and Exposure Team.



Also thanks to the Ghostly Team for giving me this nice little Moss-designed USB stick with some dope tracks on it. In case you can't get the USB Stick, you should still get the music. So here's a tracklist.

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Lastly...Thanks to everyone who made 2007 a great year for Staple, Reed Space and me personally. Y'all know who you are. I want to wish everyone out there a great holiday and an even better 2008. Peace.

NYC LIVING.

In the past few weeks, I've sort of made it my pre-New Year's resolution to try and go out more. After all, I do live in NYC...the city that everyone else comes to experience...I often find myself working too much..or; only going out when I'm traveling. I figure I might as well try to get some taste of NYC as well.

A third Apple Flagship has opened in Manhattan. It's in the Meatpacking District. A prime example of how a neighborhood can go wrong in NYC. This was a shot from the opening night. The line went around the block and there was no way I was going to wait. I'll check it out one day. But when you see one apple store, you've seen em all.


Like Astronomy? Like Plantariums? Like Jazz? I like all 3. And a little known secret is that on the first Friday of every month, anyone can go to the Museum of Natural History and partake in Starry Nights. A really cool mixture of science and music. After all, downtown manhattan is a nightmare on Friday nights. Its a good time to escape uptown and catch some culture.


Edwin from Carhartt UK and his wife Salome were in town from Miami Art Basel. Arnaud of Work in Progress was also in town and we had brunch at Mercer Hotel. Alex from Tokyo and his new wife also came by. It was nice to share a good meal with such cool people. NYC....where else can you have brunch with Marc Jacobs sitting on one side and Kayne West on the other?

The Fader Magazine recently celebrated their 50th Issue. The Fader is really close to my heart. Back in 1998, we art directed the first 20-something issues of The Fader. And in my mind, really redefined the concept of a lifestyle magazine. One of our first major accomplishments was the cover with Beck, D'Angelo and Mos Def. Mos came out to Bowery Ballroom for a private performance and opening up for him was the french duo, Justice. I gotta say, these 2 really rocked the place. I was very impressed.

Mos Def. Hey is it just me or are Starter Jackets popping up every damn place on planet earth!? Mos rocking his Starter Jacket as well.


Justice rocking the Bowery Ballroom.


A trip down memory lane. Rob Stone, founder of The Fader, Jonathan Mannion, photographer of the cover I spoke about above, and myself.


The following day, I grabbed a quick drink with Marc Beckman (DMA) and I got to meet his wife for the first time...incredible womenswear designer Alice Roi. These guys make an awesome couple. Hope you had a good time playing Nintendo Wii!

Hey, PEL...do you have any idea who's behind all this Starter stuff showing up everywhere? Do you know where I can get one?

Guess not.

COLABS ARE DEAD?

Lots of people I talk to say colabs are dead. I think they just need to be redefined...and brought to the next level. But the basic concept of mixing different talents from different fields is still a positive one. Luckily, I get to see first hand some of the more interesting ones.


Celux x Burton AK Jacket. Since this is a members only club, I don't want to spoil it for them. But the jacket is sick without a doubt.


MHI x Wahl. This is definitely something different. But so good. One could say that hair clippers is just as much a part of street and hip-hop culture as turntables or the spray can. One of the masters of streetwear, MHI teams up with Wahl, the most popular clipper company in the world. The set even comes with your own barber apron. Thanks D!



Zune recently launched their revamped MP3 player by hosting an artist series collection. They had a private event a few weeks ago and allowed the guests to choose which artist to have engraved on whichever color Zune they wanted. (I went with Kenzo Minami.) The unit is definitely much better now. Form factor is greatly improved. Now if someone could hack it to work on a mac, i could actually play around with it.


This just in! Rob from WD recently showed me his new creation with Nike SB. He designed this on behalf of Concepts in Mass. I'm feelin the lobster concept reppin New England...check out the rubber bands around the toe box that relate back to the ones that typically go around lobster claws. Not sure about the release info on these, but I hope I can find a claw or tail in my mailbox soon. (hint hint...)

HOLIDAY CHEER.

Come join the Staple and Reed Space family for some holiday cheer at APT.
Our friends at rude., Tyler Askew & Big Bang will be downstairs at APT and we'll be manning the upstairs.

Tuesday December 18th
Special Guest Waajeed (PPP/B47)
Open Bar begins at 9pm
RSVP now for $5 admission: myfavethings@gmail.com
APT: 419 West 13 Street NYC (212) 414 4245

HO. HO. HO.

SEA-TAC.

After I survived Vancouver, I took the 55 minute propeller flight to Seattle for a visit and some quick meetings. As luck would have it, I arrived in Seattle right in the middle of one of the worse storms they have had in years. Roads were flooded, landslides everywhere, power outages...the works. I am definitely looking forward to heading back home after this trip.


A few new friends at an amazing seafood restaurant in downtown Seattle...Oceanaire. I recommend it if you're in town. What do these guys do? They all work for the company that puts the soft in all things micro.


Also stopped by Goods while I was in town because I knew my man Alist was having a show there. I ended up getting these shoes from Gourmet. Everything in this shoe screams hip-hop. Why? Just look at it. Its a remixed sample of a classic with a new twist for modern times. Its taking something that was great...no doubt. But its making it relevant for today. I dare say; in a way that even the original designers could not fathom. THAT'S hip-hop in a nut shell people. They could use a little help in the branding department, but then again, so could the early hip hop albums. It's part of the charm.

JASON MARKK x STAPLE DESIGN

The first time I met Jason Markk was on September 12, 2007. I'll be frank. I was skeptical of his product. I mean, I'm sure it was an ok sneaker cleaner, but I kind of wrote it off as soapy water in a fancy bottle. That is until I actually tried it. This solution is really magical and it does wonders. I don't know what it is, but I don't really care. It just works. So after meeting with Jason and his partner Erth...we quickly went into brainstorm mode and hustled our respective asses to bring you this special set just in time for that holiday stocking stuffer.




Custom designed, 2-tier, slide out box. (Inspired by your favorite personalized sneakers.)




Slide tray exposed. On the top tier, you'll find a mini wood handle horse hair brush, a travel sized 2oz bottle of JM cleaner solution (airline friendly), and a compact foldable toothbrush (for those hard to reach spots).




Lift up the top tray to reveal the lower level...or as we call it—Tier Zero.
The bottom portion stores the microfibre towel and a specially designed Jason Markk x Staple Design pair of low cut, thick, cotton socks.
What more does a jetsettin' sneakerhead need in life?
As of now, its only available at www.jasonmarkk.com and Reed Space. Retails for $65.00.
Only 600 kits have been made worldwide. Better put them dirty ass kicks on and RUN!

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME.

I've been in a few bad car accidents in my life. Even been hospitalized pretty badly. But nothing tops this. This was by far the worst car accident I have ever been in...and the best part? I walked away with 3 scratches the size of paper cuts. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. But this is how something like this happens.


First off, embark on a 2.5 hour drive down from Whistler to the Airport on a 2 lane mountain side highway (Rte 99 will do). Leave in the onset of a blizzard.


Most city slickers don't know what Black Ice is. Its when a thin layer of ice covers the entire pavement. It makes it look totally normal to drive on, but it's literally an ice skating rink. Visibility like this helps to overlook the Black Ice.

This is the fun part that you should probably buckle up for. I was braking to avoid an accident that occurred ahead of me. I was going around 25 mph. Brakes did nothing because little did I know, I was driving on a sheet of black ice. My rented Toyota Yaris sped straight into the mountain side ass first, then flipped over onto its top and finally came to a stop in the embankment!



The top and sides of the car was so crushed, that the EMT's had to extract me out of the damn trunk. I was probably suspended upside in my seat (belted in), for about 3 minutes. I think the worst injury I sustained was the fact that I bought a large cup of tea about 10 minutes before the accident, and therefore spilling it all over me when I flipped. Lucky, I was in the car by myself and lucky no one else was hit or injured.


After the police pulled me out, I hitched a ride with one of them back to a 7-Eleven for Hiroshi and crew to pick me up. What is usually a 2.5 hour trip down this mountain, took us EIGHT FREAKING HOURS. I missed every flight out of Vancouver that day and had to stay an additional night in a creepy hotel near the airport. But even after all that, it was still one of the luckiest days of my life. The paramedics and police could not believe I survived that without injuries. Thanks TOYOTA YARIS for saving my life! And thanks to THRIFTY car rental for not charging me a dime for this accident. Insurance is a beautiful thing...

WHISTLER.

I used to make riding in Whistler an annual winter ritual. The first time I ever went to Whistler, the conditions were EPIC. It was like heaven on earth. Then I proceeded to go about 5 more years in hopes of capturing that feeling and never did. In fact, I was usually met with poor snow conditions, high prices in lift tickets/hotels and too much overcrowding...especially since they announced the 2010 Winter Olympics will be held there.
But I recently took a trip back with Hiroshi to product test some new designs we are working on as well as meet with FYI. FYI is a 2-person team that basically designs and develops most of the Burton AK Collection. The operation they have is incredible. They have a house in the middle of nowhere (Pemberton) that serves as their factory, sample room, design studio and home. It's just Tom, Susanne, P-nut and hundreds of acres of mountain to ride. Pretty much the ideal conditions to test top of the line snowboard equipment.


Susanne and Tom...founders of FYI...thanks for your great hospitality and education. I learned a lot these past couple of days.


P-Nut. Executive Producer.


In the middle of nowhere...and all of a sudden, this haven for design, science, technology and snow. So dope....its honestly what every designer would want, but doesn't have the balls to actually do. Me included.


The laboratory. Where water and wind have no chance of survival.


AK in the mAKing.


GD from Burton, HF and Tom showing us around the compound. Really spectacular and stunning views everywhere you look.


The view from their treehouse. Pretty damn high up!


Don't know many people who have one of these in their home. A Goretex machine...capable of making taped waterproof seams in the comfort of your own home! Damn, if I had this all my boxers would have taped seams.


Ever seen a NoBoard? Well now you have. Could this ridiculousness be the next level of snowboarding? I'll let you try and you can let me know. I ain't that stupid.


Hiroshi inspecting some fabrics using the Pentax microscope. A very hard to find instrument nowadays.


Susanne and Qoo...AK wonder twin powers!


Ended that night with dinner with the crew and Alan...who is the self proclaimed Mayor of Whistler. (Seen here with Greg D/Burton). This man has been thru a lot and see even more. Great dinner (like my Flintstone-sized piece of meat?) and great company. Alan had us thoroughly entertained the entire night.

FOLLOW THY STOMACH.

One aspect of life that I don't think I can ever skimp on is food. No matter how tough times are or how bad things get, I find an excellent meal is always worth the money you spend on it. This isn't necessarily true of things like clothes, kicks, gadgets etc....sometimes, there's a letdown in these material purchases. Ah, but good food never fails to please.
The last week was filled with culinary extremes. And some excellent table mates as well.


A few months ago, I was asked to go out to LA to speak at the IMPRINT design conference. The person who organized that entire event was Julia Huang, President and CEO of InterTrend, an advertising agency in Cali. Julia, her coworker/writer Anne who lives in NYC and myself all went to Masa in the new-ish Columbus Circle/Time Warner Center. You must go for the Omakase (chef tasting menu) and its journey of the taste buds. Our sushi chef was Nick...who did an excellent job as our guide. This place isn't for the faint of heart. Prices for Masa can easily be as much $1000 per head. One reason? Check out the block of salt in the lower right photo. That is Himalayan Salt..anywhere between 1-3 MILLION YEARS OLD. By far the oldest thing I have ever put into my mouth. Insane...



The following day, the same crew got together for lunch at ELEVEN MADISON and this time we were graced by the presence of Kenya Hara—Chief Executive Designer for MUJI and his assistant Kaoru. For those of you not familiar with MUJI, its a Japanese deartment store that sells everything from socks and underwear, to food, to stationary supplies, to home furniture to fully assembled houses! All with the same simple design principal of no branding. The name literally means, "no brand". Hara-san was in town to celebrate his new book DESIGNING DESIGN and also celebrate MUJI's first US Flagship store in Soho, NYC.


A reminder that not all good food has to be discovered in high-end establishments...Excellent food can also be found in cool casual settings. One of my favorites is David Chang's Momofuku Noodle Bar. He just recently moved into a new larger location and he can seat a considerable more amount of people. You can't go wrong with anything on the menu, plus the crowd and atmosphere are dope.


2 Fishies: White Leather Coin Case by Bottega Veneta. Mango desert by Eleven Madison. What can I say? I'm a Pisces.

CATCH ME IF U CAN.

Speed was a theme in my life the past couple of weeks.
I recently worked on a secret project that involved this man..Kevin Young.
He is the fastest man to ever run the 400m Hurdles. He owns the Olympic World Record. He literally destroyed Edwin Moses' 14 year old record. It's cool to be in the presence of Olympic history. You can't front on that. And yes, he is clean. Want to get some goosebumps and a lump in your throat? Go to his site and watch the video of him breaking the record.


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Can you guess what is the highest selling video game of all time for Sony Playstation? You'd think it was a shooter game or Grand Theft Auto right? You'd be wrong. It's a driving simulator called Gran Turismo. Sony has a special division within its compound called Polyphony and pretty much all they do is geek out on automobiles for years and development improvements to the game. In fact, they are so on top of their shit that Nissan asked THEM, a video game company, to develop the dashboard user interface for their new upcoming Nissan GTR. That'd be like if the US Military asked Ubisoft (makers of Halo) to make weapons for them. Its crazy what the gaming industry has become. This is Taku. He has a pedigree from Nike's undergrond "Explorer Group". And now he has a similar role at Polyphony. He came by the studio to show me some more renderings of the upcoming Gran Turismo 5. It looks better than reality.


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The onset of winter only means one thing. I gotta get my ass into shape for the upcoming snowboard season! There is nothing worse than hiking up a couloir and sucking wind like each breath could be your last. Or when your legs feel like they are being dipped into molten lava. So I dusted off the Nike iPod+, got me these dope new Air Max Moto 5s, and took a stroll thru Central Park.

PSFK QUICKIE.

PSFK Interview that went up a few weeks ago.
As you can see, I'm still playing catchup.

LEVIS/LIVES.

This week, I'm proud to announce that the Signature Levi's by jeffstaple 505 model drops. It's so dope to be able to work with a legendary company like Levi's on a pair of denim. I mean, Levi's can wipe their asses with my tax returns...so the fact that they offer up the opportunity to work together is really cool. My favorite Levi's style was always the 505. So they allowed us to choose that canvas and do whatever wanted. This is part of our 10th Anniversary Collection and it comes just in the nick of time! It was delayed because I was trying to get all the details just perfect.


This is first time Levi's has ever done a metal version of their 2-Horse Back Patch. It references back to our 10th Anniversary theme of using aluminum as a theme, like we did on our Be@abrick.


Like on all our 10th Anniversary tees, even the denim offers an anagram (Levi's/Lives).


Words to live by....on dat ass.


Interior fly patch: Do the math.


"Pigeon Pink" Levi's back Arcuate. Another first....


And I don't think anyone else every shat on a pair of Levi's! Its in a pretty hidden spot so you gotta look out for it. Also try and find the Pigeon hidden away as well.

It's available now at Tab Device and Elesco in Tokyo. And soon, limited pieces at Reed Space.

HAZE HOUSEWARMING.

A few weeks ago, Eric Haze firmly planted his deep roots back in NYC (by way of Los Angeles). He held a private housewarming party for some friends at his beautiful new compound in Brooklyn. It was an awesome turnout of old faces, great music and good peoples all around. Congrats to Eric for being the humble living legend that he is.


Name that trademark. You'd be surprised to see just how many iconic logos this man has created...


Whats the matter Eric? Couldn't afford some REAL DJs?! Pssh...he only got Just Blaze and DJ Soul to spin his housewarming party.


Hip-Hop, Art, Fashion and music icons were abound. You can see more on Riottt's site. Three of my favorite NYC heads: Miss Info (Hot 97), Mary Choi (Missbehave) and Bill McMullen.


Respect Due Haze....Respect Due.

THE DARK SIDE?

It's ironic that this post immediately follows my rant on Leopard and Apple. But trust me, this is simply a coincidence. Please don't speculate further. Many mac-addicts will think I broke bread with the Dark Side when they see this photo. Ladies and Gentlemen, I introduce Ray Riley (far left), J Allard (far right) and Team Microsoft. Yes, the makers of Windows, XBox and Zune are right here. Before you throw tomatoes, read up on Mr. Allard(far right). This man was right there as a pioneer of personal computing, the reason you play Halo 60 hours a week and is now in charge of Microsoft's quest towards entertainment, home tv and music (Zune).
They were in town for a Zune launch (which you can read about on John Jay's blog)...and the following day we chatted it up for a few hours about this, that and the third.