The first menswear edition. Featuring; Nick Wooster, magnum force of style. Art Brut Inking, a new generation of tattooists. Art of nose, scent makers, Foils, fishes and fins, retro surfboards of the future. Kaliningrad, an island of Russians by the sea.

Fortunately, Kobe bounced back. Today, the reconstructed city is alive with innovation and art. It is only appropriate that for KOBE Biennale 2011, the theme is ‘Kira’ (‘sparkle’), chosen to ‘seek out as-yet undiscovered gems of beauty in [Kobe’s] natural environment, lifestyles and artistic outlooks.’

Throughout its history, Kobe has produced some illustrious people, but none of them can begin to rival the fame of the region’s cattle. The black Tajima breed of Wagyu cows are raised according to old local traditions, and their marbled meat is considered to be to be the world’s most delicate beef. The historic relation between Kobe and the Wagyu cows inspired the designers at Onitsuka Tiger to produce a line of sneakers using the hides from these legendary animals. The result is a line of three premium editions of classic Onitsuka models and one completely new model. All are made from Wagyu leather, tanned and crafted in Kobe.

The item in the KOBE collection that stands out most is the leather edition of the Monte Pokhara, an outdoor-meets-inner-city hybrid. As a cross between a hiking boot and a white-soled sneaker, these are the kind of kicks you’d wear on a trek across the snowy slopes of Mount Fuji if your destination was a ski lodge designed by Wes Anderson, where the DJ spins Blondie, the sake is served by a Nepalese sherpa named Claus and the burgers are made from the most tender beef on earth. The silhouette is based on the so-called ‘After Boot’, produced in the late 1950s by Dongshan – give them a fresh feel.

Based on what is surely Onitsuka Tiger’s most iconic shoe, the Mexico Midrunner KB has the makings of a classic. This high-top reinterpretation of the sleek Mexico ’66 trainers features stitched Onitsuka stripes and an upper of chocolate brown Kobe leather.

The KOHAKU, a new style by Onitsuka, takes design cues from classic high-top basketball shoes. It has a minimal look, featuring a plain upper made of the finest Kobe leather and a subtle tiger logo on the ankle. ‘Kohaku’ means ‘amber’ in Japanese, but the KOBE edition comes in cool black with a white outsole. The FABRE BL DX KOBE is a take on Onitsuka’s BL basketball sneaker from 1975, executed with an understated chic. The Wagyu leather finishing and stitched stripe detailing emphasize the clean silhouette of these kicks. It’s only when you take them off that you notice the tiger stripe lining, and how it matches the light brown leather.

www.onitsukatiger.com

The result is a highly contrasting 4 color-way design. Combining baby blue, baby pink, red and orange. A palette reflecting the minimal style that can be found in most of Parra’s work. The watch will embody all of the features in the DW-5600 series, offered for € 119,-.

More info: g-shock.eu

Ralph Lauren just globally launched its new denim line Denim & Supply by presenting a live first edition of ‘The Warehouse Roadshow’ featuring the electro pop band Metronomy.

This online musical platform is dedicated to promoting emerging bands and was inspired by the idea that denim and music have always been joined at the hip. And certainly this new men and women denim line flaunts hipness with a bohemian and vintage look – complete with distressed jeans, faded t-shirts, and so-called ‘found’ pieces.

The first Denim & Supply store will be officially opening on 16th December in Amsterdam – with more stores set to open over 2012. You can watch the launch concert at the Denim & Supply Facebook page. Also check out our earlier post about Metronomy and check their track on the right side of the website.

After designing clothing and gear for like-minded creative people for over a decade, the Swedish brand WeAretheSuperlativeConspiracy has earned itself a dedicated international following.

In 1999, a group of longtime friends, finding little to get excited about in the prevailing T-shirt-hoodie-and-a-cap-approach of many street fashion labels of the time, decided to create their own line of clothing ‘for life after skateboarding’. It turned out that by founding WeSC, this collective of ‘grown-up’ skaters and snowboarders didn’t just solve their own sartorial  problems, they also built a brand that would become a platform for all sorts of products and collaborations.

Right away, there was something about WeSC’s Swedish panache that struck a chord. Appropriating – we saw what you did there – the iconic Atari logo. Seemingly going straight from being a little-known start-up fashion brand to collaborating with behemoth phone maker Nokia (which, at that time, ruled the world). And then there were the now infamous headphones. The idea to present headphones not just as a device for listening to music but as a fashion accessory proved to be inf luential, to say the least. It spawned a whole new genre of sonic jewelry.

What’s connecting all of WeSC’s designs and projects is a collectivist attitude: combining brand building and the business of fashion with the notion that the best ideas are often a result of collaborations and social connections. ‘We’ve always worked together with people who inspire us with their talent and dedication,’ says WeSC co-founder Greger Hagelin, ‘people like skater/actor Jason Lee, snowboarder Ingemar Backman or artist Sage Vaughn. Our WeActivists, as we call them, are an important part of WeSC – they fly the flag of the Conspiracy and represent the lifestyle and creativity that we love, whether it’s within film, music, art, skateboarding or cooking. It’s a unique setup of passionate individuals who not only wear our clothes but also activate the brand. Like in a family relationship, we activate them right back. This way of thinking and acting runs through everything that WeSC does.’

The brand has an undeniable knack for meaningful collabs. Ever since their early projects, whether they joined forces with local hip hop artists or a corporate company such as Nokia, they’ve established a hands-on tradition of actually co-creating a product instead of simply sticking a name on something.

This fall, WeSC presents two new collaborations: one with Wu-Tang producer RZA and one with car manufacturer Smart. Says Hagelin: ‘Together with RZA we’ve created the ‘WeSC x RZA: Chambers By RZA’, two styles of headphones: premium and street, in a variety of colors that has been developed together with RZA. In collaboration with Smart we’ve made a Smart BRABUS car with complementary set of headphones. Both will be tailor-made by WeSC.’

Besides the main men’s and women’s collection – warm chunky knits, fitted dresses – the fall/winter fashion line-up includes a tight denim capsule collection; a denim one-piece overall with belt, a tailored threepiece raw denim suit – check the vest! – a low-collar, ‘grandpa-style’ dress shirt and a twill chino with a tapered leg, all with a decidedly vintage feel, and a footwear line including handmade Italian leather midtop boots with beige crepe soles.

Apparently there is indeed life after skateboarding. And as it turns out, that life includes fashion with both street wit and mainstream allure, clever design with a positive attitude and organic collaborations.

More info: www.wesc.com
Text: Victor Verbeek

The music by British band Metronomy is the opposite from repetitive and dull, even though its name is based upon an device with these characteristics.

If you’re around Amsterdam November 15^th, they do a small gig to celebrate Ralph Lauren’s Denim & Supply store opening. How to join? Go to the Facebook page and sign up. Read the full article about the band here. And listen to one of their latest tracks on the left side in our audio player. If you want to download the track, just go to the bands website.

With its hypnotizing, repetitive rhythm, the metronome is one of the most valued tools for many musicians. But at the same time, it’s arguably a dull thing to use as actual instrument. The music by British band Metronomy is the opposite from repetitive and dull, even though its name is based upon this device.

Founded in 1999 in the student dorm of drummer Joseph Mount, who at first produced all tracks by himself, the now four-headed band creates electronic pop rock. Dreamy songs floating on a balmy summer’s day like a soft breeze, with vocals by both a sugar sweet female singer as well as male input by the drummer-turned-lead man Joseph Mount. After the first two critically acclaimed albums ‘Night Out’ and ‘Pip Paine (Pay the £5000 You Owe)’ and remixes for the likes of Gorillaz, Lykke Li, Goldfrapp and Franz Ferdinand, this year the band from the English market town Devon is back with its third album ‘The English Riviera’.

For the new album the band got inspired by the South West coastline of England, where founder Joseph Mount grew up. Devon is a small village with a non-existing blooming music scene, but the band let its imagination loose and fantasized about how the ‘Devon Sound’ would sound like if there would be any, like the West Coast studio music in the 1970s. With the idyllic geographical landscape in mind, Metronomy translated the imaginary ‘Devon Sound’ into eleven catchy songs. ‘The English Riviera’ is a beautiful piece of art consisting of mellow electronic productions and sincere lyrics inspired by the place that feels like home to them.

On November 15th the band will perform in Amsterdam, to celebrate the opening of the very first Denim & Supply store by clothing brand Ralph Lauren. The 200 square-meter space will be located in Amsterdam’s Kalverstraat, with industrial and NYC loft inspired interior, maching the young sub-brand of Ralph Lauren. The opening will be accompanied by the launch of a digital music platform with the ambiguous title ‘The Warehouse Roadshow’. The platform will support up-and-coming artists such as Metronomy with live concerts, fan interaction and interesting content. So to discover more talented bands like Metronomy, keep your eyes and ears peeled for undiscovered talent on Ralph Lauren’s ‘The Warehouse Roadshow’.

Ralph Lauren’s Denim & Supply hosts a contest to win a trip to Amsterdam to see Metronomy perform live at Ralph Lauren’s first Denim & Supply store and to meet the band afterwards! All you have to do is answer a few questions and send in a photo. More info on the contest and ‘The Warehouse Roadshow’ can be found here.

The Nigel Sylvester deal is perhaps the most intriguing of the brands long list of sport related brand ambassadors. It not only marks the brand’s continued focus on extreme sports, but also a revived interest in BMXing in general. In fact, there are some interesting parallels between the G-Shock brand and this particular rider.

G-Shock has always been about functionality, self-expression, precision – and ruggedness. One of the most important features is the watch’s shock absorption capability. And as smooth and slick as Sylvester’s style would appear, the BMX pro requires a watch that (much like his bike) is ready to face a certain amount of, to use a New York rap term, hard knocks. Combine this with hi-spec durability, and you get Sylvester’s customized GD100NS-7: a G-Shock that meets all the particular job requirements of a BMXer’s watch.

Casio released the first G-Shock in 1983, and it instantly became popular with skaters and riders due to its functionality and affordability. The initial success in the street sports scene created a market that other brands soon joined. But ironically, it was G-Shock’s huge success that eventually gave its competitors an advantage, as they could attract those customers that were eager for a more niche, underground product. Over the past few years, however, G-Shock has continued to work with a myriad of brands and individuals, and its collaborations with labels such as Stussy, A Bathing Ape, KRINK and XLarge have re-established the brand’s streetwear credentials.

Sylvester is the lone BMXer on the roster, and in a way, he connects the brand’s streetwear associations with the collabs with athletes doing more ‘conventional’ sports. Having bagged a handful of other sponsorship and collab deals, including Nike 6.0, Animal and Gatorade, Sylvester looks likely to become one of the sport’s most successful figures. While G-Shock’s marketing is usually divided by regions, on this occasion the release is global. It’s a testimony to the status Sylvester has acquired among BMX fans around the world.

Sylvester embodies a generation of athletes that – like him – care more about the informal aspects of BMX. They see BMX as a culture rather than a sport. That Sylvester comes from a world of ‘No Bicycling’ signs, jumping on cars, riding on pavements and avoiding police – as opposed to a life of special diets, time trials and days at the gym – is a huge part of his appeal. It was through YouTube films rather than mainstream sports TV that Sylvester first gained attention. With films where he wears a baseball cap rather than a cycling helmet, cuts through traffic and pulls 360s, bunny hops and wall rides, he re-established the outsider, rebellious aspect which had given BMX culture its initial appeal. Sylvester, still a virtual unknown to the general public, has now notched up a viewing count of over ten million hits. How both G-Shock and Sylvester navigate their way through their increasing popularity remains to be seen. But maybe that’s just what you’d call a ‘good problem’.

More info: gshock.com/athletes and g-shock.eu