Respect to Nick over at Twelve Bar for keeping the goodies coming. People seem to really be digging the heart shirts.
MM Paris seem to be having a lot of fun with the A.P.C. lookbooks.
While I'm not always a fan of Zaha Hadid, I am excited about the Chanel Mobile Art exhibit coming to NYC in September 2008. Having already made stops in Hong Kong and Tokyo, the 75,000 sq foot structure designed by Hadid will touch down in Central Park around 70th street before moving on to London, Moscow and Paris. Lagerfeld always thinks big.
I'm excited about the news that Opening Ceremony's next featured country will be Japan. As reported by The Cut, the transformation takes place in September and will feature at Comme des Garcons pop-up shop, as well as brands like Porter, United Arrows, and Lad Musician.
ALIFE is dropping a series of shirts from their ALIFE Sessions parties, featuring past guests like John Mayer, Bun B, and Q-Tip captured by our man Jason Lewis. They spelled his name wrong, but its all good.
I missed the party with NAS last week, but I heard it was off the hook until the neighbors starting pouring white paint on people from above. Watch ya back!
Its been a few weeks since his passing, but I thought it only appropriate to pay homage to the man like Rocky Aoki, founder of the Benihana restaurant and maverick entrepreneur. You might know two of his children, Devon (the model) and Steve (the DJ), but did you know he was also an Olympic wrestler, balloonist and a speed boat racer? Respect.
Being back in Atlanta and my old college got me wondering about some of my classmates.
Ryan Coleman and Daniel Rich are two friends that I always had mad respect for. They were great fine artists and dabbled in a little bit of graffiti too. I decided to find out what they are up to now...
Ryan's style has evolved a lot since college. I remember he was one of the most skilled painters in the whole school. The last time I bumped into him, he was working for Jeff Koons, as well as his own work.
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Daniel was one of the most meticulous and curious artist I knew at college. He was always constructing these elaborate 'canvases' and structures to paint on. It was very much about the craft. So, it doesn't surprise me to see he's arrived at this very graphic style, using enamel on wood.
He seems to be doing pretty well now as well, represented by the Perry Rubenstein Gallery in NYC.
The good folks at Grand Opening have reopened PONG in the LES, where all of downtown's elite table tennis player come to show and prove. This time, with a little help from PUMA, they feature a unique ratings system and competition and some giveaways when you sign up for the two month membership. No wonder these guys won the last PT3.
In other related news, the PT3 Ultramagnetic Collection has pulled down another great design distinction from the 2008 IDEA Awards sponsored by IDSA and BusinessWeek.
NYC in the summer is full of free concerts. Last week, we were lucky enough to have the multi-talented pianist, composer, band-leader Robert Glasper at Madison Square Park. His second album for Blue Note, "In My Element", was one of my favorite records of last year.
This tune sounded especially good live.
Glasper has also developed a reputation as the go-to-guy for artists like Q-Tip, Common, Slum Village, Meshell Ndegeocello, and Mos Def. Here he is at the afterparty for Mos Def's recent Carnegie Hall show. He is currently working on his new album which is due early 2009.
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Another great artist that I'm excited out is Leon King. Straight No Chaser (still kicking, online) recently caught up with Leon for a chat about his music, influences, and his forthcoming release for MFT.
In the meantime, check out the latest compilation from the Jazzy Sport crew, "Pound for Pound 2". It features Leon's "Digital Church", alongside a host of underground soul and hip hop from Grooveman Spot, Jazztronik and Gagle.
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On the music/blog tip, cheers to Recloose for tipping me off to DJ Anonymous' out of Finland. His amazing site, DJ's Delight features loads of rare hip hop, r&b, boogie and classics on a regular basis. Well done.
The 2008 I.D. Annual Design Review winners are currently on display at Parson's in NYC. Some highlights below:
The Tretorn 08 Gullwing collection is looking pretty good, as it their new shop in Soho. Check the Cool Hunting feature from a few weeks back featuring Dustin's photography.
I received some nice gifts recently on the design tip, like this reprint of the classic 1968 Wim Crouwel poster, "Vormgevers".
Available via Blanka, who also has some nice reprints from JMB, all signed in Ltd quantities by the artist.
And this wonderful Herb Lubalin retrospective book from the 80s, from which I posted lots of images a few months ago.
Thanks!
I recommend checking Den, a new concept boutique in NYC from Odin that gives space to different brands. Currently showing is one of the best new shoe lines in my opinion, Common Projects.
Headed to Atlanta to take in the 4th of July and 'other' festivities. That's right, we're very patriotic.
What's up Chloe.
We made a visit to the High Museum, which is currently exhibiting an amazing collection of civil rights photography.
Its amazing to see how far we've come in such a short time.
When I went to the Atlanta College of Art, we were lucky enough to be connected to the High through ATL's Woodruff Art Center. Its also one of Atlanta's nicest pieces of architecture, designed by Richard Meier in 1983.
They recently enlisted Renzo Piano to create an additional wing.
I think he did a great job of not fighting with integrity of the original design. (Photo: Michael Schwartz)
The details are wonderful. (Photo: Michel Denanca)
It has been a few years since I've connected with Peter Wong, who was my professor at ACA. Peter always pushed me to go outside of my comfort zone, even though I thought I had it all figured out. He was very cool and supportive of my interests though, even allowing me to bring Swifty and Mike Cina for visits to the design department. I'm glad to hear that he is doing well in his new role at Savannah College of Art and Design.
A true southern delicacy: boiled peanuts. Hard to find in NYC.
Keeping it more uptempo this month with new tracks from Incognito, Dwele, and the new Raw Fusion artist Bennson. Plus, great remixes from Mark de Clive Lowe, Recloose, and Ian Friday.
Also good news for those in Tokyo tuning in, as we're moving to Friday nights, 8-9pm on Shibuya FM.
Big thanks to Akihiro, as always, for coordinating the effort.
Download now. MFT Radio no.9, July 2008 (MP3, 53mb)
01 Emanative / Petite Planete (Kira Neris remix) (Futuristica)
02 Trus'me / Drilling (Fat City)
03 Robert Strauss / Miami Jammin (Recloose remix) (BBE)
04 Bennson / Whatever It is (Extended Original) (Raw Fusion)
05 Dexter Wansel / Dance (Volcov Edit) (CDR)
06 Pharrell & The Yessirs / Baby (MFT Edit) (CDR)
07 Soulphiction / Ghana Wadada (Lost Men remix) (Sonar Kollektiv)
08 Recloose / Catch a Leaf (MdCL mix) (Loop)
09 Dalminjo feat Lenny Hamilton / I'll Wait (Ian Friday Dub / Vocal) (Papa)
10 Incognito / Freedom to Love (Heads Up)
11 Dwele / 5 Dolla Mic (Koch)
Congrats to Rafa Nadal. That was one of the best tennis matches I've ever seen.
Looks like our man Taz Arnold has been making big noise over at Paris Fashion Week, attracting even more attention than his partner in crime Kanye. Hitting all the shows, from Dior to Bernhard Willhelm, Taz sparked the interest of NY Times Cathy Horyn, Diane Pernet, The Sartorialist, and subsequently, New York magazine, who wondered aloud about Kanye's "mystery fashion friend", and then quickly solved the mystery.
Meanwhile, Kanye scored himself a deal with LV for a new shoe line. But the most exciting news is the LV/CdG guerilla store that will run for several months in Tokyo, carrying a range of Rei Kawakubo-designed monogram bags.
A.P.C. release their new 'Butler Worn Out' jeans that are previously worn and initialed by someone else. Interesting.
