The Brilliance!

“In this up and down economy I am outsourcing my wardrobe (namely shirts) to corporate america and you!” Ha, love the introduction. So this project, iwearyourshirt.com, is the brainchild of a friend and colleague of mine, Mr. Jason Sadler of Thought+Theory. I remember when he hit me up with the idea…I thought it was great, super fun back then (like 2 weeks ago, ha) but I think its even better now seeing it up in action. Love the design, nice work Dennis, the execution, all the copy…the whole thing is super fun and perfectly simple. Its got a little bit of the magic that Million Dollar Home Page had. And actually, it has a very Connect Ventures feel to it. So yeah, I’ve already purchased a pre-sale spot…I don’t even know if there are any left…if there are you should grab one, $10?? Can’t go wrong. I can’t wait to see how this project turns out.

So I’ve only seen a little bit of documentation on this whole A-Ron evolution. I am interested because he’s been BRILLIANCE family since this site started. Thanks to Heron for getting that video interview the other week to kind of resurface that rogue New York energy. I have always been a fan of this swagger and in 10 years when we look back at these times he’s gonna be the one of those people, people reference. Too many times in this modern age of “being cool” its all about knocking trends, telling people they are late and sitting on the sideline trying to keep something secret. Instead A-Ron looks at the ‘scene’ like a participation sport. You get what you put into it. I respect that and I respect the hustle it takes to get back in the game after what seems to be a rocky start with aNYthing, once “the only brand that mattered”. That no longer seems to be the case, the new kids are back on the block, again. His pop-up store/performance space will exist somewhere in Soho/LES for like 2 months and be torn down….the only thing left after it’s gone will be a Playboy documentary?!?! Only in NYC and only A-ron.

I seriously haven’t had cable TV in 3 years, maybe 4? Who needs it when you have the internet. And it doesn’t get much more ‘internet’ than Jake and Amir. It’s actually a bit hard to define what they do…these like 1-2 minute shorts that are reality style, but not reality…they are hilariously bizarre and kind of addicting. So yeah, I won’t pretend to know the entire back story on these guys, but they work at Connect Ventures in the CollegeHumor.com ‘division’ if thats what they’d call it and apparently they started doing these little short films for fun. They became popular, and are now actually part of their ‘job’ at CollegeHumor.com by way of a reoccurring series called ‘Hardly Working’. I swear, the whole Connected Ventures lifestyle is crazy…new business at its finest. Ehh…I feel like explaining all this is making it less funny. It’s easier to just enjoy their perfect-subtle-witty-weird-humor for yourself and go from there. Here’s one of my favorites. Might not be ‘Safe for Work’.

Such an impressive ‘outside-the-box’ idea. I just got hip to DKNY’s latest ad campaign going on in NYC. Their latest angle is to promote bicycling in the city which is all together healthy and environmentally friendly. Who could possibly disagree with that sort of stance. On their site they have a bunch of important information if you live in NYC and want to make the switch to bikes rather than cabs & subway. What really make this ad campaign impressive to me is the painted orange bikes they chained up all over the city during fashion week. Word is the NYPD isn’t too happy. While on the topic of guerilla marketing, you see this story on that Murakami billboard? I would have kept that for myself too. Very cool.

So yeah, February here in the middle west. That time of year where you’re starting to get a little tired of the cold, the cabin fever is getting to you, and you’re constantly looking at Travelocity’s Last Minute deals to somewhere warm. It’s cold, its snowing all the time, it kind of sucks. So to all my middle west family, before you pack everything up and move, try a little reggae therapy as I do around this time of year. I don’t know if it was growing up to my Dad always listening to Bob Marley and having a profound respect for ‘just-relax-beach’ culture…but reggae music always helps me zone out the cold a bit, and think of warm beaches and a relaxed vibe. I swear, I feel just a few degrees warmer when I listen to Augustus Pablo while driving in a wicked snow storm. What a funny juxtaposition, right? Island music playing loud when its 18F outside. So I thought I’d put together a little playlist…something to help you warm up a bit. Some of my favorites. I think all of them are available on iTunes and AmazonMp3. I mean, this and some hot microwaveable chicken noodle soup, pretty much all you need.

Barrington Levy - Under Mi Sensi
Augustus Pablo - East of the River Nile
Augustus Pablo - King Tubby’s Meets Rockers Uptown (This track is amazing.)
Bob Marley - Trenchtown Rock (Live at the Roxy)
Bob Marley - Soul Captive
Mr. Vegas - Lean Wid It
Tenor Saw - Ring the Alarm

He is on fire right now. I have always been into Marc Jacobs collections, more so as an observer, fan of the brand form the sidelines. After his 2 shows in the past 2 days I want to get off the sidelines and participate. The pieces that are freshly uploaded from fashion week are spectacular! Count me in for all of those necklace’s. The looks are a perfect street-level derivative of the beach-swept-style Burberry and Lanvin’s latest collections looked like for dudes. The Hi-Tops look interesting too. Super easy to wear stuff that has a little more edge to it than what you’d find at J-Crew or something. Props to Marc! TheCobraSnake captured the vibe, I love how they packed the crowd in and I bet it was still impossible to get in, I love how this collection is styled too.

I’m such a sucker for this stuff. Really. I’m actually a little late on posting this…meant to do it the other day after that ‘smash-and-grab’ job where those guys stole $130M worth of art by just holding a couple guards at gun point and having a well placed get-away van. Nuts, right? So, truth be told, I don’t think I’ve ever stolen anything in my life…just the thought of it makes me feel guilty, ha. But, there is something about the whole idea of stealing art that seems somehow more ‘made-for-movie’ or maybe more of a ‘romantic crime’. Interesting too, Chuck and I have been going back and forth in convo a bit about how stealing art even works. Since its not really ‘tender’ or liquid currency and its not a meltable precious metal…it’s pretty much worthless to the thieves after its been stolen. Maybe ransom, but for the most part I would assume art is never stolen unless a buyer is already lined up. And that’s even more bizarre as it can never really be shown publicly after its been stolen. Apparently there are collectors willing to risk some pretty serious penalties to have a piece of art strictly for themselves to enjoy - and no one else. Right? Interesting stuff. Check our the article below, good stuff.

I’m a news editor for DesignIsKinky, so between that site and this site, I see lots and lots of links. Not all of them catch my eye or attention, in fact, most of them don’t. I guess it’s just hard to make whatever news you’re submitting sound exciting in just a few words and a link. But every now and then, one will come through that I can’t ignore for some reason and I want to post it here, on DiK, and everywhere else that I can. ‘The Last Calligraphers’ is one of those. Sent in by Premjit Ramachandran (whose work I should mention is very nice…check the link), I was instantly intrigued - “An important (upcoming) film about the last handwritten newspaper in Asia and probably one of the few left in the world.” Handwritten newspaper?! Like, the whole thing!??! Ha…yes. The whole thing. Truly mind-numbing work it sounds like, but it’s fascinating to watch this trailer for the film which I’ll have to keep everyone posted on. I find this really just incredible but simultaneously humorous when I try to think about this being done here in the states, for example. To think there is anyone in the U.S. that would hand-write an entire newspaper is laughable if not ridiculous. It’s not that our alphabet can’t be beautiful - many typographers and artists have proven the opposite - but there is a mystic, wild quality to Urdu script. I am really pretty floored about it - these people are truly passionate about keeping a superrare artform alive, and for pennies a day. Check the link below…thanks Premjit for sharing.

I think Virgil posted a link to Hedi’s site a while back when he left Dior Homme…but I want to highlight the diary piece of his site, or photo diary, specifically. Hedi, for me, is one of those really amazing sources of inspiration for overall aesthetic…like ‘life aesthetic’ you know? The whole package. Yeah, when he was at Dior Homme he created some pretty much revolutionary concepts in both look as well as construction/cuts for mens fashion. That’s undisputed. But his art direction of the photo shoots, the architecture and interior design of the retail stores, the hang tags, the models, etc…and now the furniture and gallery projects he’s doing…that’s the whole package he creates. An entire image. All encompassing. And never, ever, using color…just black and white. Amazing stuff. His style is really 1 of 1…it doesn’t remind me of anything and its pretty unmistakable. So while we all wait to see what his own line will look like, waste some time on his amazing photo diary. It’s almost like its a direct view into what inspires him. People, textures, things, light, scenes, etc. Great stuff. And good ‘web design’ as well, hits that minimal mark perfectly without being annoying.

Watching Kanye tear down the Grammy was too fresh. He is seriously putting on a show ahead of his time. Seeing Daft Punk give a glimpse of what they do was crazy too. Was anyone else amazed at those pads they were messing around with. I dunno about others but its kind of boring when you go out to a spot and the DJ just has their laptop & Serato that program that allows DJs to just play their iTunes library using turntables as the controller. But I always thought that was the tip of the iceberg, as it turns out these Lemur pads are the iceberg. I guess multi-touch technology really is the �Jetsons-esque� wave of the future. Word is you can customize the graphics and the pads are totally functional. The customizable drum pads trigger different sounds and actually make loops on the fly. This is way more exciting to watch then just clicking away at a laptop. Who ever starts programming/remixing music live like that will really go back to the future. It’s 2008 and we still don�t have Jetsons cars�least iPhones are out and these Lemur things are available for purchase. Now�.where can I find that LED light jacket�