Early a.m antics

Just blessing y'all with some early a.m antics. Get your webcam game on son!

More of the same

Recently done a post on the 1990's teenage skate culture in New York. Due to a thankful heads-up i was pointed in the direction of Ari Marcopoulos' 'Out and About' which basically documents different youth cultures in New York between 1980 to the late 90's. There are some interesting photographs of the black power movements existent in New York at the time but i chose to scan his following of the supreme skate team as its of more personal interest to me. I love all the pictures of Justin Pierce and its strange seeing the young ones from Kids in their natural environment (which isn't all too different from that they were placed in by Larry Clark for 'Kids'). On top of all of that there is some really nice Supreme backcat items exposed in the pictures and you get a feeling for the authenticity behind the Supreme brand which in my belief is the main reason it is rated so highly

"Kids with Guns"

I've touched on the extent to which Crooks and Castles have gone in order to develop their desired brand image and philosophy before. Crooks have went to the effort of producing a limited amount of replicas, branded with their name and message in the past.

However with all streetwear brands desperately bringing out the stops to attract attention at Magic, crooks have done it again with a 2005 red wine, made in California of course.

Ahh the things people do at Magic eh? Peep the Arab Parrots most recent offerings from Vegas. Some seriously hilarious outfits combined with the parrots usual sarcasm and banter is nothing but comedy genious. Go get em boy!

TOOMUCHPOSSE!

My second serving of the UK streetwear kind is none other than the one and only TOOMUCHPOSSE! I personally like these guys designs alot. As they mention in the interview, it tends to be quite "simple and bold" of which I'm a big advocate. I was genuinely upset that TOOMUCHPOSSE! wernt on first name terms with the likes of Havana and Aurora but hey i guess you cant ask for everything. Anyway, i had the oppertunity to shoot a couple questions their way and this is what i was left with....

What have you been up to today previous to this interview?

working the 9 to 5.....

How long have you been doing this TMP thing and what gave you the motivation to start working on it?

bout a year officially, but we were talkin about it for about a year before that. Like a lotta kids today who like lookin fresh our addiction to sneakers led us on fresh garms. We found that alotta brands just didn’t get our criteria right. So we decided to make our own.

We try to follow a few rules with our designs....they gotta be simple and bold....they gotta stand out etc..... we dont like those designs with loadsa shit goin on......

What is the history behind your brand and your duo as partners (no homo) / friends?

we met at uni and both became addicted to buying kicks...... from there it led onto makin tees that would match our kicks and so on.......We both have individual stylez but we know whats good and whats not. The good thing bout the partnership is it keeps your designs in check. If one of us is going down the wrong route on a design the other just says, ‘Nah....’

Were you interested in fashion / streetwear previous to the creation of the brand and if so what kind of stuff?

yeh.... we've got a few links in the industry and have always been into fashion..... we reckon ROCKERs NYC have been smashin it recently........

Who would you like to complete your first collaboration with and why?

.......errrmmmmmm....u'll have to wait and see we've got somethin in the pipeline.........

Did you get an insight into the NY streetwear scene when you were there and what are your thoughts on it?

New York was big inspiration for us. We had some seriously good hook ups that showed us the ins n outs of the NYC street brand culture. From the right party spots to shops n roof top BBqs. We hooked with the cream of the crop; Aron the Don, the Rockers Kids and Nom de Guerre which enabled us to get an insight of what the top boys up to in the trade. Out there people are smashing the game It’s a whole different thing. Everyone is rockin fresh garms no matter what age or style you rock, you gotta look fresh..... the scene is good mannnn...london needs the same....more UK brands should collaborate with one another and create more of a following....

I would like to finish with a couple fundamental questions that probably provide more of an insight into you as men than any of the preceding jibes

Havana Ginger or Aurora Jolie and why?

???????????

Are you an Akon kind of bunch that ensure, if a woman is to model your clothing, she is equally ensured to be with a little bit of you in her.

yeh yeh yeh course..........

TMP would like to leave you with a simple yet effective message.

"a gun in your face and thats all you can come up with?"

Huf samples for the Vans 3 feet high series. Guess they opted for the all black snakeskin's instead.

Some mistakes just cant be forgiven...

"I'm so gutter, ghetto girls fall in love with me"

Four of many

Strictly shirt and tie event

Tomoki Sukezane is the latest designer Fred Perry has chosen to collaborate with in order to produce yet more sophisticated wear.
The collaboration consists of two (black and white) pique polo shirts that come with matching tonal ties.

I try to stay away from these Highsnob recaps but one has to do the dirt on occasions.
Give me your opinions... better or worse than the Fred Perry colabos i documented a while ago?

Supreme Face

Supreme is set to release two new colourways of The North Face Summit Series jacket. This round of jackets features city landscapes as all-over prints on the jacket. There is one day version and one night version.

Theoretically any coloration between Supreme and North Face should be streetwear dynamite becuase both brands are vets inna dis. However i have my doubts about the most recent of their colabo's and in comparison to their previous ones it certainly comes up short.

La Familia

A quick update on my familia's illustration work.

Here comes

You still dealing in Pints while we copping crates!

'Milkcrate Athletics' is a clothing brand run by Aaron Lacrate who rose to DJ stardom due to his pioneering of the Baltimore music genre. However Lacarte was not satisfied with a mere healthy DJ career and has gone onto create 'Milkcrate' films, radio and a music label to match. Meaning the clothing documented in this post is but the tip of the iceberg for this brothers campaign for worldwide dominance.

For some reason Milkcrate haven't picked up as much coverage as i believe they warrant. Their designs are original, looking like they have been illustrated with a real human hand which is a rare occurrence in this age of computers and clean edged graphic design. In addition, Milkcrate was born out of something real and grass roots, so for me ticks all the boxes a brand should in this day and age and undoubtedly spells out a good future and most probably an early retirement for Mr. Lacrate.

Here are some of my favorite pieces the brand has to offer

Only the good die young

On July 10, 2000, Pierce was found hanging in his Las Vegas hotel room at the Bellagio by hotel security. Two suicide notes were found at the scene. Pierce, a Los Angeles resident had apparently been in Las Vegas to do a photo shoot for a fashion company.

Sometime around 4 p.m. EST, Friday, February 17, 2006, Harold Hunter's brother discovered him in his Lower East Side apartment, dead from an apparent cocaine overdose. Police investigators later stated that cocaine was found both adjacent to and on the body. He was 31 years old.

Justin Pierce and Harold Hunter are two of many whom i have looked up to from a tender age. Not only did they star in Larry Clarks 'Kids' but they also encapsulate a specific attitude about life, and such things, which was prevalent among New York's skateboarding teens and culture in the mid 90's. The urban freedom and absence of responsibilities they symbolise has always fascinated and memorized me.

Subliminal

Started the evening through means of beverages at Juno bar.

The media have some weird and wonderful ways of imprinting subliminal messages into our psyche. Desert Eagle??? And the government question why gun crime is on the rise eh?

Supreme contacted me recently and said they have been thinking about printing a step by step photographic urban workout.

Again we witness the work of the subliminal. This Gordan Brown propaganda implictly shows the viewer that Tony Blair is dead a.k.a no longer in power, but at the same time uses a distinctly red colour to convey the continuing superiority of Labour.

Who said pre-teens cant be sexy eh?

One of the many 'sportswear' items we sported in the ill heated store. GLC were way ahead of their times...

This was the jacket i picked up at the shop. Its like a fisher price jacket from the mid 90's.