Bape Online Store Coming Soon

It's a recession people. These elite labels are having sales left and right and next thing you know, super exclusive brands like Bape are opening online stores? Things just aren't looking good.



However, it hasn't been announced whether the online store will be for Japan only, which would definitely change the impact of the offering as Bape Gold Card members can already purchase limited goods through the site. I know people in random countries everywhere are excited right now but this would also kill the businesses of many places like Cliffedge and Pondon's ebay store. Guess we will just have to wait and see.


-john-

Heaven's Door x NBHD

The 7th of February will see the launch of Heavens Door, a new movie starring Nagase Tomoya and Mayuko Fukuda.

The film (a remake of a 1997 German film) see's Nagase being diagnosed with cancer at aged 28. Whilst in Hospital he meets the young Mayuko, in a similar situation, and they strike up a friendship.

During one night of desperation to do something before they both die, they steal a sports car and head for the sea for one last time, not knowing the car belongs to some local gangsters.

And so the chase begins.



To celebrate the launch of the movie, NBHD will be releasing a collaboration T-shirt at its stores and via the Honeyee web store

Nagase has a long history with NBHD and has often appears in magazines and on TV wearing their clothes, and this is a thank you from them to him for his support throughout the years

Knockin' on Heaven's Door, originally made by Bob Dylan, is one of the most important and influential songs of Nagase Tomoya and along with this film he has recorded his own version of the song



Nagase is lead singer of the very popular Japanese band, Tokio (one of my favorite groups)



Official Movie web site

-Yom

3:33 Footwear

OG pro skateboarder Andrew Reynolds (I used to be him in Tony Hawk back in the day) has released a new footwear line out of LA called 3:33. Here is a little preview of their 3 models, the Floppy, Hugh, and Lo-Top.


The "Hugh" after Hugh Hefner's signature slippers of course.




The design is super casual and Andrew Reynolds says "The inspiration for the fall collection is a guy that roams around my neighborhood. I'm pretty sure he's homeless and drinks a lot." so you know they're meant for lounging and comfort. The Floppy makes me think of a non-athletic inspired Y-3 shoe.

Check out the 3:33 site for more info on where to buy.

-john-

Masaaki Honma of Mastermind Japan Interview

Ever wondered what was going through the minds of the guys at MMJ?

Well, now you can find out.

An interview with Masaaki Honma, the founder and designer of Mastermind Japan, from the recent Honeyee Mag has now been uploaded to their site and is in English!

Read about what goes into the design process at MMJ and check out some of the S/S items.

Check it out here

-Yom

Nike Dunk Low Premium - Teen Wolf

For such a huge company, I give Nike a lot of credit for their creativity and innovativeness. They seem to find inspiration in all types of things like video games, art, household products, scents, movies, etc., and while most of them come out pretty good, I had to just laugh at this one.

The Nike Dunk Low Premium "Teen Wolf"

The fur is busting out of the shoe like out of teen wolf's basketball jersey. This shoe is too funny.




If you youngins have never seen Teen Wolf, it's a Michael J Foxx movie from '85 where a high school student turns into a werewolf but at the same time of course becomes an amazing basketball player. Oh and for some reason he's still allowed to play for his HS team.


Apparently these are limited to a mere 72 pairs and available here. Based on the selection of sizes available, wouldn't be surprised if these are samples.


-john-

via mash

FAT Japan Spring/Summer Collection 2009

FAT Tokyo have recently launched their Spring/Summer 2009 collection

FAT is well known for the way it takes famous logos and incorporates them into its own designs, as you can see with the LEGO logo and the Moncler logo on the jackets and gillets (of which I am a big fan of, especially the blue jacket)

Official site: FAT TYO










-Yom

7-11 Japan Exclusive BE@RBRICK

Available from the 24th April at 7-11 "conbini" stores here in Japan and via there website to pre-order now

Coming in 100% and 400% sizes, they retail at Y1450 and Y5775 respectively

-Yom

All Gone 2008 Has Arrived

After a long day of classes and Chinese New Years celebration I need to get to bed, BUT here is a quick look at what I got in the mail today all the way from Colette in France.
It's All Gone 2008!





Unfortunately haven't been able to do much more than flip through it so far, but come this weekend I'll have tons of pics from this 2008 year in review book by La MJC.

On a tangent, Colette is on top of their shipping game!! Took 3 days (including a Sunday) to get this door to door from Paris to New York.

-john-

Artist Profile - Rob Sheridan

I randomly came across illustrator/ photographer/ designer, Rob Sheridan's work a few days ago and after looking into his portfolio I fell in love with his illustrations that to him are "just for fun." He uses super detailed realism to give his stuff some dark humor and imagery.

"Cereal Mascot Reunion"

"Presents Opening Children"

"Idol Worship"

"Ice World"

"Crabwalk"

"Portrait of a Plumber and a Vicious Mushroom Entering the Third Dimension"


Rob is a 29 year old artist based out of LA. His professional work is a little more serious, as he has done a lot with Nine Inch Nails in the form of photography and design.

Check out more of these awesome illustrations here
Check Rob's full portfolio here


-john-

Nike Coraline Dunk Hi

For promotion of the upcoming 3D stop-motion movie Coraline, out of Phil Knight's own animation studio, Nike has put together a great shoe and contest giveaway.

Packaging alone looks awesome, nice dressing up of the shoe box.

Then the sneakers, which each feature a character from the movie, a mouse and a cat. Complete with a tail hanging off of the back.


Only 100 of the 1,000 pairs will feature the oversized button lace lock.


The shoe: Obviously inspired by the movie, with tons of stitching, buttons, and fabrics. Probably made similarly to how the characters in the movie are. The "release date" is when the movie releases, however you won't be able to buy these. After seeing the movie, you will have to go onto the Coraline website and somehow win these. You might ask, why is Nike just giving away 1,000 pairs of sneakers??? Well this happens to be the 1st film from Phil Knight's animation studio Laika so if giving away a few Dunks gets him a few million people in the theater I think he won't mind.

The movie: Not your typical kids movie. Think similar to A Nightmare Before Christmas, as it was done by the same director and seems to carry the same dark feel while still being PG. Releases on Feb 6th, and if you even want a shot at these sneakers you might wanna see it. (a pair on ebay has already gone for $4,000!)

Coraline official site


Let's hope some birthday luck will kick in for me on the 6th so I can pick these up.



-john-

via fatlace, freshness, HB

Theophilus London - 'This Charming Mixtape'

You may have already heard the name Theophilus London floating around in the realm of this new wave of underground music, or you might still be having trouble pronouncing it (Thee-ah-fil-us). Well the genre-fusing artist (I'm talking 80's pop, soul, funk, hip-hop, electric, and more) has just released his new work today titled This Charming Mixtape.



DOWNLOAD - Theophilus London - This Charming Mixtape

The new mixtape is much more refined than the 1st one, JAM!, but stays with the same flavor of sampling, singing, mixing, and rapping. I've only given it one listen so far but it's sounding quite good. So if you're a die hard fan, have an ear for crazy genre bending music, or are just down for something new, give this man a listen.

Check out Theophilus here
Check out his producer/ mixer Machine Drum here
Finally get the mixtape here


-john-

More Pics: Kanye x Louis Vuitton

Here's just a few more pics of The Louis Vuitton Don kicks for LV from the launch party in Paris this week.


Looks like this 1st model will come in 4 colors: Black, White, Red, and Beige (which looks to be the only 2 tone pair)

Ye and the man Marc Jacobs




The sneakers are set to release by June of this year and should be in the $600 range. They're more or less the 1st true sneaker to be released by LV (not including the Chuck style Damier printed ones) so I'll bet people are going to be rushing to grab these.

Start saving.


-john-

via nahright

Kanye West Sneakers for Louis Vuitton

After seeing Kanye rocking his own LV model sneakers around for the past few weeks with very few close ups, Louis Vuitton has finally made an official press release.

These are seriously amazing. I'm all about solid colors at the moment and was worried about these coming in white only. The red looks great though, and this is only the 1st of 5 models that Ye will be doing with LV. Exciting stuff, even if most of us can't afford them.

Press release:

PARIS — Marc Jacobs and the Louis Vuitton men’s studio director Paul Helbers have some design competition this season. Kanye West, who was sitting front row at the Vuitton show, has designed a line of five LV sneakers. Only one design, above, was featured in the show — a monochromatic midtop with no frills, save for a quilted flap in the back, all the easier to tuck pants into. “The inspiration came from a jacket with a huge collar in the movie ‘Dune,’ ” West says. “Most sneakers focus on the tongue, so I wanted to do something different.” West knows whereof he speaks: he says he has no idea how many shoes he owns, but he does know that he routinely needs to send shipments off to storage. The LV-meets-Kanye kicks will be available at Louis Vuitton stores in June.



-john-

-via HB

Faces in the Crowd: DC

The entire Inauguration day it was just way too crowded, cold, and busy to even think about asking someone to do a Faces in the Crowd, but fortunately on our subway ride out we ran into Michael, who agreed to help us out.

(it was hard to get a full body shot in the train)

Name: Michael
Age: 18
From: New Jersey
Occupation: GW Student
Favorite Brand: Ralph Lauren Rugby
Wearing: Marc Jacobs shades, Rugby scarf, Helley Hansen jacket, James Peirce hoody, J. Crew corduroy pants, Nike SB Ferris Bueller Dunks, and his roomates waterpolo backpack
What do you want to see Obama change?: "Legalize marijuana and don't socialize medicine"



-john-

Adventures in DC: The Inauguration

As I said in an earlier post, we were bussed down to DC yesterday to witness one of the most epic days in US history, The Inauguration of the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama. We didn't exactly get to see the man or anything but it was a great day, and here are some pics.

Epic newspaper cover

This was the line just to get on the subway in Maryland! At 6am none the less! Took us like 2 and a half hours to get in to DC from about 10 minutes out. Every bridge and road into the city was closed.



Then you had these bad boys parked on every corner with army dudes posted up.

To stay out of the crazy cold and away from the other 2 million people in the area, we headed to our friends place at GWU.

After the speech we headed out to the masses. It was seriously nuts. Not a car on the street, just a mess of people.




Us and our friends Sarah and Constantina! Whattup!? (nice bubble jacket Meez)

Lastly we hit up Stussy DC to check out the aftermath of the party..... as you can see it was a little less packed.

We also came away with these bad boys.... more pics to come.


Overall the day was utter madness. People really came from everywhere just to be in DC for this event, and even if we didn't see the actually event the vibe in that city was good enough.

Quick thanks to Constantina, Sarah, Lucas from Stussy DC, our bus driver Fred, and Prez Obama for making this day possible.


Gotta have HOPE


-john-