day 3

My feet hurt, that's new york for you. Good weather, gyro lamb, new places everyday makes a nigga feel like in an rpg game. Anyhow since alot of the spots i usually go around do not allow me to take pictures, i went ahead and jacked pictures from other websites, so this is a disclaimer. I do not own any of these pics.

Rolled thru Lafayette down to the recon store. Ran by og graffiti artist stash, who has done alot of collaborations with nike to produce the best airforces to date. Collecting any of his nike collabos is def. a collectors item. Stash also has his brand called recon and a collabo brand he does with futura called subware. Futura's graffiti art is allover the wall like the pic above. Make sure you swing by if you are around. Recon stock brands like j money, stash, futura, subware and limited edition nike quickstrikes.

Ran byk soho to check out the stussy store. Stussy has been making a killing in the collabo game recently. They just released their collabo collection with the living legend futura called destiny, and also a couple of items with original fake and head porter, But their most talked about collabo is with the japanese label neighborhood. Their collabo is called boneyards, they have alot coming out from this collabo including 3 nike blazers. You know what i will let the website do the talking

http://www.bnyds.com/L Train to brooklyn to swing by the punk rock inspired mishka brand. Mishka is probably the most "contraversal" brands out in america. The brand does not follow trends at all, they def. stick to their rock roots anytime they release their collections. Mishka has alot of occultism in their clothing, and i must say they make one of the best new eras in the game. Most of my fitteds are from mishka, and i must say they push the envelope in design everytime. There was a toy shop next to mishka called hi5 toy shop. That store is off the damn chain, i stumbled upon it by accident. The owner is good friends with nigo from a bathing ape. They stock alot of medicom toys and shit you have never seen before. As far as clothing, they stock alot of vintage bape i thought i would never find again. They also have some alife x futura collabo shirts from ages ago. Store is something serious. I made sure i copped the original fake sticker and pin they had sitting there. I call that best buy

The y-3 store, looking like you walked into a spaceship, They make one of the illest sneakers right now, just ask kanye.

Store of the day. The maisonmartinmargiela store. margiela is the essence of minimalism. Thier store looks like an incomplete studio, newspapers everywhere with broken white boxes all around. The store is indeed like an art gallery. Another interesting fact i learned about the store is that the store is so silent that the maximum amount of customers to date in the store in only 6 according to the salesman i spoke to. margiela himself is so unseen that nobody has ever seen the designer himself. Not his workers, not the press, no one. He wants his customers to focus on the clothes and not him. margiela is also a designer that really experiments on his pieces. I will let the pics at the bottom do the talking

Have you ever wondered why margiela model's faces are blocked out, it is because they are actually wearing sunglasses. These sunglasses make your eyes look blindfolded. I call it genius but not my steez personally. They are not avaialbe in america yet though

margiela also made this jacket out of gloves. He has done alot of experimenting and has really pushed it when it comes to fusing art with fashion. His website is so minimal that... you what check it out, but before you do, when you go on the site, just know your computer has not crashed, everything is ok, you will get it when you go there. Check it out

http://www.maisonmartinmargiela.com/

This is outside the marg. store. From what i found out alot of people mistake it for a bar or a deli. Martin is a genius.
New york is a jungle, but its about to get way more interesting tomorow and mad productive. Trust me it's that serious and i promise i will take pics next time. Peace

ny day 2

For 1 i suck at taking pics but oh well. Shout out dj witness, last night was off the chain, dj evil dee was killing the turntables with that feel good music. From illmatic nas, black moon, camplo, daft punk etc. Man you had to be there. Also before i get to business, the Jamaican spot right by 14th got it on lock with them fresh plantains and rice and goat meat. Boy they killing em. What you see above is a small plate. Swing around if you around, it's on the 14th and 4th st.

I had an early appointement at the nike id studio at 5th avenue. I didn't know what to expect

5 story building almost as big as the galleria ( true story )

5th floor is the nike id studio

Nike knows how to attract customers, i was thinking i was going to come around and pick any color and material to customize my kicks, but i was wrong. The online customers have a different set of materials to pick from the customers that swing by the new york store. Everything is balanced out to the point where you would spend more money. They also switch shoes every 6 months for customization to keep everything exclusive. The only ones available for me tocustomize were dunks and air maxes and some others i don't remember

before they let you in the personal design studio to sit down with a consultant, they show you some avaialbe samples to get a feel and some inspiration. Boy i really thought i was ahead but my choices were so limited, i felt like customizing more shoes. For example the snake skin material was only available for air max 97s only, and the vintage leather was only for air max 90. Patent leather was only available for online customers. A way to keep the customer wanting more.

This was the celeberity custom editions they had. Athletes would customize their kicks and leave them on the table with a note card describing the inspiration

Before i went for my appointment, i saw these mowabb airmaxes that almost made me forget about customizing. Only 18 were available at the nike store and they just came out today. New kicks ain't doing it for me these days but trust me these were madd tuff

sketches of original nike shoes on the wall. Impressive

original 1996 sketches of the air max 97

Before you also go for the id lab ( which isn't pictured at all, its a vip private booth), they would let you go through an id book with samples to give you an idea

This was my color swatch and material picker, I ended sitting with my consultant for 1 hr. It was pretty cool, I ended up customizing air max 90s with a vintage leather ( leather not used on any shoes today). Pretty happy with my results

Made a stop to the rime store. Shout out to susan and frankie. The store has been around for 6 months and they are bringing new york back to its streetwear roots. Everybody knows LA is making a killing in the game right now, and new york is falling out from 'streetwear' very hard. Very good boutiques are hard to come by but this store is def. doing it big. I couldn't take pics inside but they stock the finest from mishka, crooks n castles etc

off to brooklyn

again at wealthy hostage holding it down at brooklyn

wealthy hostage had mad variety. Alot of street wear brands from the famous ones to the not so famous ones can be found here

fitteds from the hundreds, mishka, crooks and vintage team hats to keep your head game right. Make sure you check em out

Now the store of the hour. Boundless ny. Mr Jovan wilcox holding it down at the spot

Boundlessny has grown from not just a t-shirt and a vintage store but a lifestyle store. Stocking alot of the finest brands not only from america, but recently stocking australian brands like perks and mini (quality at its finest in streetwear and a favorite seller at boundlessny), japanese brands like mack daddy etc. Boundlessny is one of the only online stores i keep checking for updates, and trust me they keep getting better everyday. They also stock their inhouse brand King stampede, which i have been following for a while now. King stampede has a cult, cosmic feel to it. I had to ask Nick ( owner of king stampede, his inspiration) behind his brand. He told me he put two words together he had been playing with since 1994, and eversince then he's had a following. King stampede is on their game, check out their website.

www.boundlessny.com

boundlessny

the crew chilling outside. Out and one. Must respect to the boundless crew. Peace

new york state of mind day 1

I originally planned on going for the murakami exhibit on sunday but my flight was delayed by 2 hours. I also had some other plans but it was too late to get going, but i still checked out a couple of spots around the city.
disclaimer ( alot of the pics below are not mine, and were taken from other websites) I was too lazy to take pics and alot of stores do not allow cameras inside

Stopped at the uniqlo store in soho. They have been making a killing in japan and london. The store is the japanese version of gap but 50,000 times better. They have done collaborations with famous photographers like terry richardson, artists and celebs. The pic above is obviously not mine but since i am too lazy to explain why uniqlo is a big deal for affordable ready to wear, i will let this video do the explaining. Watch it, you might learn something

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/01/30/talkasia.yanai/index.html

My next stop was a store called opening ceremony. Like i said i am too lazy to explain, the video does a better explanation of the store. It's super ill, just watch

Inside opening ceremony, They stock the best of the best from brands all over the world including their in house label.

Alot of independent designers are bringing alot to the table. From the aesthetics, fit and quality, i find myself getting more and more interested in seeing what these brands have to offer

even nike did a collaboration with the store

I also made a stop at the bathing ape store in soho. For those that wanna hate on Nigo, let me just say he is a genius. If you look at bape 13 yrs ago you will have a better understanding why bape is an artistic driven brand. Nigo is also an influence on dobale. Nigo is a tastemaker, one of the biggest star wars collectors and known as a god of cool among heads all over. At the same time he is hated in the world of 'streetwear'. bape has always carried itself as a show. Everytime i walk in the store, it's always a new exprience for me. With over 10 stores in japan and around asia, london and new york, nigo keeps finding innovative ways to make his brand better

From bape condoms

bape tissue

mad collaborations with celebs, artists and brands go from spongebob square pants, johnny mnemonic, obey, supreme, futura, kaws, stash etc. I personally like the old bape from 99 to early 2000s. Back when bape heads was the shit, and his collaborations with kaws, futura, stash and answer had alot of substance. I originally wanted to upload more pics about bape, but like i said i am getting lazy at this and i did not want to blog about this trip but there's a couple of interesting things that are happening this week.

Like i said nigo is a business man and a visionary. He owns his own wrestling, music recording company ( bape sounds), barber shop, hotel etc.
check out this interview on nigo

http://thegame.blog.com/251845/?page=2

and this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waKYV9YJpBI

Steven alan oupost store

inside steven alan. Stocking the very best for the everyday new yorker like common projects, acne jeans, nike and their inhouse label steven alan

steven alan

Like i said independent designers are making a name for themselves in new york and are getting accepted fast. Trust me i have been going around the city and pics of these stores do no justice at all. I really haven't gone around anything 'street wear' related. Check out steven alan's website for a better understanding

www.stevenalan.com

New york will not be new york without visiting the mother of all streetwear stores in america. Everybody knows before limited existed or before hype existed, there was union. Stocking nothing but the best from visvim, original fake, p.a.m, w-taps etc. Union is nothing to be played with. Mary ann fusco, james jebbia ( supreme), eddie cruz ( undftd) and shawn stussy ( stussy) were all the original pioneers that set up union to what it stands for today.

I also had to make a stop at my favorite spot in new york, Nom de guerre. The store is hidden underground and again i was lost trying to find it, crap

underground nom de guerre

Stocking the finest of japanese hand stitched labels like their in house brand, comme des garcons, patrick ervell etc. Nom de guerre like many other new york stores are having their sale. I recommend you check them out if you are in their area. Comme des garcons for 40% is a steal. Hurry before they sell out

this is a collaboration they did with converse. I was mad i couldn't get my hands on these

this skate shop needs no introduction, but they have been causing alot of sleepless nights for many because of their online store releases. Supreme got the internet going nuts lol

A.P.C, the french label really has a way of making clothing look good. From their boots, trench coats, military pieces and their jeans which has been a must have for heads all over. APC jeans are not only affordable but their quality is unbelievable. Check out their website

www.apc.fr

inside apc. Like i said unbelievable. Pics do no justice of their store, you have to see it to believe it

apc

Oak store in new york

oak

And you know i had to swing by dqm. Stocking limited edition new era collabos by huf and dqm, and high end street wear labels like maiden noir, dqm, huf etc

Their recent collabo with nike has got alot of people talking. This is 1 out of 2 that was recently done. Obviously sold out and being sold on ebay for $300 plus. Damn resellers

Lastly Franks chop shop. The best barber shop in new york period. They also have their magazine called frank, and have done numerous collabos with new era. They also stock alot of fitteds to keep your head fresh.

More to come, too lazy like i said but trust me this week is looking good so far. Shout out to woody of lrg and Dj witness. More to come. Out and one