This post is futuristic and retro at the same time. Looking ahead, why wreck the environment with plastic bags when you can reuse these Treeson totes from Bubi Au Yeung? Think of the envy and awe you’ll get while standing in the grocery store checkout line. Casting your gaze backward, we’ve got a few pieces of SDCC 2009 Pink Treeson vinyls left on sale here. Go get ‘em!
You know that saying about wearing your heart on your sleeve? Well now you can go shirtless and still testify to your geek cred by way of your feet. Across the pond, a 22-year old designer named David Reese (nom de guerre Brass Monki) is painting sneakers in pop culture colors. He’s mocked up kicks for cult followers of Firefox (above), Google and Twitter as well as movies, comics, music, games, toys and more. The images shown are computerized, but the hand-painted sneakers are said to be pretty image-accurate.
It’s cool to see cultures intersecting all over the place at different angles. For instance, the movie Reservoir Dogs is not just a fantastic film and a series of toys, but apparently, also some fly footwear (above). These kicks have quickly garnered a lot of traction on the Interweb. We saw ‘em first on The Jailbreak, but tracked ‘em down all over. If you think Brass Monki looks a bit funky right now, it’s because his website’s undergoing a facelift. For now, you can find David Reese on Facebook, but, so far anyway, you won’t find Facebook on his sneakers.
If you look at your toy collection as an aspect of pop art culture, you start to see toys everywhere. From the occasionally well-designed Happy Meal toy to the increasing toy-ification of the high art world, toys are all over us. Designer Jeremy Scott who has already sent a Mickey Mouse helmet down the runway now readies some teddies for the catwalk. (And no, I’m not talking about negligee.) If you pay attention to fashion, you’re probably aware of the designer’s pop art attire for celebrities (including a model cloaked in a candybar wrapper reading “Jeremy” in Snickers font, a personal favorite).
For Bread and Butter Summer 2010, Scott added plush heads and arms to his signature Adidas sneakers. The kicks were made in brown and pink colorways. No word on if/when these will be commercially available, but should that day come, ready your Tickle Me Elmo slippers for battle. [Photos via HighSnobiety]
David Stowe is that rare kind of guy whose in business for the right reasons: He has a passion for the arts and compassion for artists. He makes watches because he believes in them, and he thinks you will too. He’s going to hate me for saying the “S” word, but I used to wear Swatch watches. I had the Keith Haring model and John Lennon’s ass by Yoko Ono and the clear one where you could see the guts, and I wore them lined up wrist to elbow like all the other kids in the 80s. As we entered the 90s, art watches, much like music, started to suck. The glut in good artistic watches would end up lasting about 20 years.
But then, something happened. Almost exactly a year ago, I saw a stray tweet introducing Vannen Watches. I sent a note to the contact address, and got a reply right back from David Stowe. We’ve been talking about art, artists, watches, business and life ever since. I’ve written about and for Vannen, and it’s the only watch I’ll wear. Currently, I’m wearing the Series 2 Bigfoot model. But enough about me. Instead of our usual Tuesday Time Waster column, let’s spend some quality time with David.
JB: What watch are you wearing right now?
DS: I’m wearing the Chris Bettig watch. I love the way this watch looks with the new non-holiday inspired straps. It’s the perfect summer watch.
When and why did you start Vannen?
The epiphany moment happened while I was sitting in traffic in mid-2008. I took that entire year to get things up and running… I did tons of research, sourcing, budgeting, prototyping, testing, development, approaching artists, and really working towards making Vannen a legit business. After a whole year of making sure things were solid, we launched in August of 2009.
I started Vannen because I wanted to create something special on a personal level while at the same time contributing to the global art scene. I also wanted to be a part of something that was truly a pro-artist experience with some real heart and soul behind it. I was seeing my artist friends get taken advantage of, so I wanted to break that cycle and industry mentality. With Vannen, I set out to build a company based on treating artists with respect and gratitude.
When you say “we,” who all is that?
That would be my split personalities. Actually, I’m speaking on behalf of my business partner, the artists and myself.
How did you choose the initial roster of artists?
I’ll let you in on a little secret: the Series 1 you know today wasn’t even the original line up. Series 1 was supposed to be Joe Ledbetter, Ron English, Shepard Fairey and Buff Monster.
If you’re wondering why those other 3 never came out, it was a mixture of things. Read the rest of this entry »
As Comic Con approaches, the schism between Star Wars fans and fashionistas seems to only widen. Not so says Hong Kong-based illustrator John Woo, who decks out key characters from Star Wars in today’s top brands for his latest series, He Wears It. Featured brands include COMME des GARCONS, Viktor & Rolf, Supreme, visvim, Maison Martin Margiela, Thom Browne and Band of Outsiders. This is a similar concept to the Kidrobot x Barneys project from 2005 that paired 12-inch Huck Gee Skullheads with miniature couture.
Tokyo’s Ambush Design dropped word of a new accessories collection hitting stores next month. Ambush has been in the game for a while, but their name may be less familiar on our shores. In 2004, they launched the jewelry brand, Antonio Murphy & Astro using 18K gold, platinum, diamonds and other precious stones to create “comical renditions of the mainstream Hip Hop jewelry popular at the time”.
With Ambush, VERBAL and YOON are able to be more experimental, using different types of metals, stones and plastics “to express yet another realm of jewelry design”. The collection includes skull pendants and rings and the punny “Eye Got Ballz” rings. The skull jewelry comes in several colorways, including GID. The eyeballs come (naturally) as pairs in gold, black metal and silver.
When they aren’t designing, the dynamic duo counts among their other passions: producing music, DJing, styling and PRing for Billionaire Boys Club. If you can rock this look, watch out for it in July.
Sneakerheads unite! Sneakerheads untie! Michael Lau is getting ready to kick off a new exhibition at Hong Kong’s MiXTRA Shoe Shop in the art mall, K11. The Mr. Shoe Sample Exhibition showcases the collection of Mr. Shoe toys by Michael Lau. Freshness reports that “MiXTRA Shoe Shop is the biggest tenant in K11, so there is a possibility that the exhibition will be a large in store display.” Just like Usain Bolt, the show hits the ground running on Friday, July 16th.
When I saw this over on Cool Hunting, I couldn’t decide immediately whether I loved it or hated it. On the one hand (or in this case, the missing hand), who doesn’t love a good pun (”timeless watch”) or the occasional product-generated “eff you”? On the other hand, who among us needs another useless object? I’m all for anarchistic accessorizing, but then I read the descriptor calling this a “chic example of upcycling”. Here’s the thing: recycling is good. Recycling is GREAT. Upcycling, however, is a word that seems to have been invented to calm the nerves of people who equate wearing a recycled item to buying boxer shorts at Goodwill.
But that’s all semantics. Let’s get back to the concept of a faceless watch. According to Rogan: “Forget the eternity rings – get a Timeless Watch. Created with sustainability in mind, old watch parts are reassembled by hand in NYC and therefore each is completely unique”. I mean, it’s definitely a conversation starter. If I owned this, I would be constantly jonesing for someone to ask me what time it was, so I could flash them my “watch” and yell, “I have no idea!” That part sounds fun. That’s why this is your Tuesday Time Waster.
If you dig this sort of thing, you can check out more views of the Timeless Watch online (where it looks to be sold out) or purchase one in Rogan retail stores for $110. As for me, I’ll stick with my Vannens, which, incidentally, I wrote about for Cool Hunting almost a year ago.
A few weeks ago, Stussy announced a rad collab with James Jarvis. Those T-shirts are all currently still available (in white, black and a color) for $28 starting here. We love Jarvis and we love Stussy, so it’s a win win summer shirt range. The shirts carry a very subtle, perhaps very British, sense of sarcasm, which if worn in certain areas of the world, could almost seem to translate as truth rather than cynical statement. If that were to happen, it would at least open up some great dialogue…
While the Jarvis shirts have been news for a short while, today, Stussy Japan announced a Ren & Stimpy shirt in white (above left) and black dropping June 26th. No word on whether the Ren & Stimpy are going to be available overseas at this time. For locals, the James Jarvis shirts are in stock at the Stussy store on Haight Street in San Francisco.
I had to smile when I saw these. Although the new Sanrio x Doc Martens 50th Anniversary Collection boots are not for me, the combination of what Wikipedia calls boots that are “especially popular among skinheads, punks, grungers” and a “company that designs and licenses cute branded characters” is going to be a dream come true for a group of adorable punky brewsters. Freshness reports:
It has been five decades since a struggling German inventor with a garage full of ideas– some failed, some slightly successful, and one changed his life–traveled across Europe, met up with a family filled with generations of shoemakers, and created the first pair of Dr. Martens 1460 boots. To celebrate the label’s 50th Anniversary, Dr. Martens joined hands with one of the contemporary world’s biggest pop icon Hello Kitty and her Sanrio critter gang.
Quite a fitting collaboration, as Hello Kitty has just celebrated her 35th birthday (without having aged a day!), the duo joined hands to create an aww-worthy collection of footwear featuring both the classic 1460 8-eye boot and the Mary Jane strap shoe. This exclusive limited edition collection will comprise of five different styles– three 1460 8-eye boots and two Mary Jane strap shoes. One of the 1460 8-eye has been dressed in a printed upper featuring what can only be fittingly described as a pile of cuteness made possible by stacking Hello Kitty, Keroppi, Little Twin Stars, Patty and Jimmy, Chococat, My Melody and more.
The collection is set to hit select Dr. Martens retailers such as Nordstroms in limited numbers. Apparently, Dr. Martens may have hit middle age, but has proven that it can still be playful, young at heart and tough all at the same time.
Wikipedia provides some perhaps long-forgotten history in the Dr. Martens’ legacy:
Klaus Märtens was a doctor in the German army during World War II. While on leave in 1945, he injured his ankle while skiing in the Bavarian Alps. He found that his standard-issue army boots were too uncomfortable on his injured foot. While recuperating, he designed improvements to the boots, with soft leather, and air-padded soles. When the war ended and some Germans looted valuables from their own cities, Märtens took leather from a cobbler’s shop. With that leather he made himself a pair of boots with air-cushioned soles.
Post-war looting is about as cute as this. Ah, but time has passed. And these are freaking adorable. If you dig both brands, the great news is that, unlike most awesome footwear these days, it’s not exclusive to Japan. Start stalking your local Nordstroms, Sanrio Punx!
