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PUBLISHER KEVIN MA EDITOR IN CHIEF KEVIN WONG EDITOR VANESSA LEE DESIGN ED O’BRIEN DESIGN CONTRIBUTING EDITORS MALLORY CHIN AKIHARU ICHIKAWA KEITH ESTILER PETAR KUJUNDZIC ARBY LI ROBERT MARSHALL FELSON SAJONAS JACK STANLEY GUEST EDITORS JOSH DAVIS ADVERTISING JAMIE CHAN CRYSTAL CHOI ANTHONY ESPONDA ZOE GAUNTLETT KENDALL HALL PAUL LE FEVRE VICTORIA MORRIS HUAN NGUYEN JOSH PARKER LILY RICHARDSON JACQUELINE RUGGIERO ALYSIA SARGENT TIFF SHUM MATTHEW TALOMIE DIGITAL PRODUCTION KAREEM COOPER NIRVANA GARREFFA HEISON HO KYLE REYES MADRELL STINNEY SPECIAL THANKS STEFANIA ARCARI LIZ BARCLAY NATASHA BEZRUKOVA FREDRIK BRAUER CHERRY CHENG MIRUNA DUNU GREG FINCH
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EDITOR’S LETTER
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HIGHLIGHTS
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PALACE
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AI WEIWEI
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WILLO PERRON
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SHABBAAAAA
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BRAVADO
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PARIA FARZANEH
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CAREERING
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IGNORED PRAYERS
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ADAMANEVEN
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GUIDE
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Agency
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A sentence from one of our guests this issue struck me particularly hard. It was, “In older times, you could have one character or identity for 20 years, 30 years. But in this time, every three, four years, you look at yourself very differently with a different profession, a different way you think about the world.” While I did hijack the sage words of Ai Weiwei for the sake of this selfish letter, the concept of autonomy wedged itself in my mind over the past few months while exploring the theme of Agency. Just how capable are we of forging a place for ourselves in this world where, often, there may have been none to start with? Successful businessmen, artists and politicians will not tell you they dreamed of owning some big-shot corporation or label or having unfathomable amounts of power—though that last one is debatable—yet most
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of them have achieved these things. Instead, they often
Admittedly, we began Issue 24 fully expecting to select
speak about changing their industry, about bettering
some organizations or business-minded folks, ask how
our society, about wanting to be remembered. What
it happened and be on our way. Yet the flip side of
they built simply gives them the power to take one
Agency is autonomy—having the freedom to choose
step closer to this dream and the authority to oppose
and with those choices, responsibility. The latter is what
conventions and institutions that say otherwise.
keeps people from eschewing job security and financial stability to pursue what they love; it separates the
From our cover story with Lev and the Palace boys, who
people who think it’s worth the risk from the people who
carved out a renewed respect for skating and built an
don’t. One is not better than the other. We’re just making
illustrious clothing label along the way, to Ai Weiwei,
our own decisions, driven by reasons and values which
whose work single-handedly takes on the state—the
are also fully our own—and that’s the real beauty of it.
biggest agency of all—these stories are stories of people who achieved agency. There’s Willo Perron who created
KEVIN WONG
one of the most mimicked jobs in contemporary culture,
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
as well as fiercely independent designers Scott Tepper of Ignored Prayers and Paria Farzaneh, who tell us about the times they had to fight for their way through.
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Comme des Garçons CDG
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To celebrate the label’s 40th anniversary, Rei Kawakubo has expanded her COMME des GARÇONS empire with an aptly named offshoot, CDG. The line’s first full collection consists of championed everyday wear, as opposed to Kawakubo’s usual avant-garde silhouettes, all proudly showcasing the symbolic CDG insignia. Comprised of elongated pullover raincoats, quilted bombers and footwear, this previously Japan-exclusive, logocentric line has made its way onto the international scene thanks to Dover Street Market and via its Kawakubo-designed online store. Shown here are the red-and-blue polka dot buttonup shirts ($156 USD), a flight-inspired parka ($550 USD) and clear PVC bag ($73 USD). CDG’s inaugural collection is available now at select retailers.
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Yohji Yamamoto Parfums “Yohji”
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Renowned design architect Yohji Yamamoto has stepped back into the realm of perfume by releasing a collection of six new scents. Aptly named Yohji, the line encapsulates intrinsic characteristics of its eponymous designer. Mode Zero is a celebration of personality, adding subtle hints of jasmine and cedarwood to accent the wearer’s look, while Deconstruction sets out to attract attention with notes of amber, grapefruit and rose. Playing on the olfactive interpretation of the color black, Darkness is an aromatic statement scent encased in a glow-in-the-dark bottle, and Paradox mixes the spicy notes of nutmeg with the sweetness of vanilla. Reflecting on the guiding principle of Yamamoto, Nowness is the designer’s perception of timelessness, while Avant-Garde utilizes leather as a key component. Each scent is cased in a clear bullet-shaped bottle, dressed in inconspicuous Yohji branding, and features a hidden quote. Yohji parfums are available now for $240 USD each. 010
Balenciaga Winter 18 Book
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Written by lauded designer Demna Gvasalia, and featuring photography from Pierre-Ange Carlotti and Johnny Dufort, Balenciaga: Winter 18 is a 304-page love letter to the Spanish luxury house. Filled with images personally selected by the artistic director himself, the coffee table book offers an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the label’s Winter 2018 ready-to-wear collection, ranging from sketches to backstage shots and more. The book’s never-before-seen imagery is then housed inside a neon-colored graffiti hardcover, complementing Gvasalia’s cutting-edge designs. Acting as the first release in a forthcoming series of creative documentation projects by the designer, Balenciaga: Winter 18 is set to release in February 2019. Available for preorder via Rizzoli’s web store for $95 USD.
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BAPE X Dr Martens 1490 Boot
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Having recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, Japanese stalwart BAPE continues its longstanding collaborative efforts with British footwear purveyor Dr. Martens. Spotlighting the latter’s 1490 boot, the silhouette’s smooth leather construction has been embossed with the former’s ubiquitous 1ST CAMO and Ape Head prints. Available in either a black or olive colorway, both models have been elegantly dressed with a golden steel toe detail, which complements the glistening gold eyelets, lace deubrés, welt stitching and branded heel pull tabs. The latest BAPE x Dr. Martens collaborative boot is available now at BAPE and Dr. Martens retailers for $190 USD. 014
fragment design X Tag Heuer Carrera-Heuer 02
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TAG Heuer has entrusted Japanese design legend Hiroshi Fujiwara, under his fragment design brainchild, to reinterpret one of its classic timepieces: the Carrera. The heritage model in turn boasts simple yet stylish design touches by Fujiwara, incorporating an intense all-black dial and glow-in-the-dark hands with an exotic alligator strap, all while maintaining the Carrera’s racing DNA. Within its polished-steel 39mm case, a small “FRAGMENT” inscription on the dial and discreet lightning bolt insignia at the 12 o’clock position elevate the piece without being overly branded. Limited to 500 pieces only, the TAG Heuer Carrera-Heuer 02 by Hiroshi Fujiwara is retailing exclusively at TAG Heuer boutiques for $8,100 USD.
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Royal Flush
WORDS
J O S H DAV I S PHOTOGRAPHY
LU C I E N C L A R K E M I K E O ' M E A L LY ALEX PIRES
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Streetwear is on the city’s list of rightful claims. It didn’t start in London, but the English capital has put its own stamp on street style. Terrace culture—named for the standing section of soccer stadiums, where fans (often working class) are most belligerent—is a big part of the look. And at the heart of any good look is necessity. Like how to maneuver style-centric London roads while doing your best sober impression, for example. You can tell by talking to Gareth Skewis, co-founder of Palace Skateboards, that he believes necessity, diversity and authenticity are the great, enduring style principles. Skewis and Lev Tanju have used these core beliefs to create the most exciting brand in streetwear over the past decade. They have done it smoothly, convincingly and unpretentiously. In short, they really didn’t try all that hard, and that’s entirely the point.
Ask a nonEnglish person about London culture and you get some bad cliches: Rain. Tea . Pints. “Colour,” spelled with a “u.” Lads. Raves. Football . It’s a small country with a big history of exports… except tea, I guess . 019
If you like non sequiturs and can decipher roadman slang, visit the Palace web store. The simple layout shows sold-out GORE-TEX jackets, tie-dyed pajama shirts and insulated puffer pants. The clothes aren’t utilitarian, but there is an air of purpose within them— even if that purpose is chilling. You can see the obvious appeal of some things, why blocks-long lines form outside their three (physical) stores in London, New York City and, most recently, Tokyo. Yet, beyond the immediate, fire awaits a more discerning eye. I ask Skewis about a piece from the Fall/Winter 2018 season: the “PAR” tops—featuring the Union Jack and Jamaican flags illustrated behind the Ryder Cup, an intercontinental men’s golf tournament. Underneath the trophy, the shirt reads: “Different Strokes.” Was the shirt an elaborate inside joke? Poignant social commentary? Both? “We’re making pieces with the influences that we have, and the culture around us in London,” says Skewis. “For us, that graphic makes perfect sense. And, to me, that’s the most interesting part of our brand.”
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In ten short years, Palace Skateboards has attained a rarified status some yearn for but never attain. Comparisons to legacy streetwear brands are common, but rarely exact. Palace is like a wearable postcard from London and its constituents. Not from Big Ben or Tower Bridge, necessarily. More from Clapham—where Tanju’s parents owned a restaurant—or Waterloo, former home to an underground suburb of makeshift shelters called “Cardboard City.” Skateboarding has historically thrived in areas like these. In San Francisco, there was Embarcadero: an open brick plaza that has struggled with the homeless as recently as 2016. In New York City, there was the Brooklyn Banks, an otherwise obsolete embankment underneath the Brooklyn Bridge. Sure enough, Palace’s own story begins humbly in early-aughts Waterloo. Specifically, in a skate house on Lower Marsh Street. “It was a borderline squat; it was filthy,” Skewis remembers.
But the Lower Marsh Palace—not to be confused with Toby Shuall's “Ice Palace” in East London— was charming in skater ways. Its proximity to South Bank—one of the most influential skate spots in the world—and Cide, Greg Finch’s beloved skate shop, was perfect for their mini-scene. Rent was cheap, beers flowed, quips flew and the Palace Wayward Boys Choir was born. Soon, Tanju was creating episodes of the
“We called it a ‘Palace’—it was an ironic name.” Tanju shared the house with some familiar names: Danny Brady, Greg Finch and Stuart Hammond. There was a rotating cast of couch crashers. At least it wasn’t corrugated. 022
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PWBC News: small mash-ups of early Internet fodder interspersed with skate footage. “It was a take on things that were going on around us, but also in greater culture.” Truthfully, skateboarding often involves not skating. Skating is figuring out where to go, talking about sports, arguing about music, picking up film and going to the bar. It’s procrastination: elegantly, elaborately performed. And until Palace, it felt like other brands were too shy to talk about that. The not-skating part, that is.
“IT WAS A BORDERLINE SQUAT; IT WAS FILTHY . WE CALLED IT A ‘PALACE ’ — IT WAS AN IRONIC NAME.”
This insatiable irreverence dictates the brand’s partnerships. They’re not unusual—just unorthodox for a skateboarding brand. First, it was Reebok Classics. “Lev and I always wore those shoes,” recalls Skewis. “You can skate them, you can wear them to the pub.” Then, skateboard decks for the Tate Britain, in which a John Martin painting was projected against a series of busts, the result screened across three boards. The Tate reached out first. “We thought it was, potentially, a hoax email.” The ongoing partnership with adidas, first debuted in 2014, makes the most sense. But Angelique Kerber winning Wimbledon wearing a Palace-adidas tennis dress? An unbelievable achievement to Skewis himself.
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But for all its interests, Palace does have a consistent, albeit loose, aesthetic. John Martin painted his grandiose, theatrical works in Marylebone; Wimbledon is home to modern lawn tennis. And so somewhere between curation and coincidence is Palace’s great throughline: London. It’s interesting to think about the overlaps between the brand and, say, a traditional creative agency. One is notoriously draining, a purgatory of infinite iteration, a glossy revolving door that kicks you on the way out. The other is a run by a group of friends. But both are tapped by brands to put their creative spin on products. Sometimes that product is modern art—but only Palace is having fun doing it. Tanju and Skewis carried this philosophy into their partnership with historic American label Ralph Lauren: Having fun here, imbuing bits of themselves elsewhere. Although the 18-piece collection released in November 2018, Skewis still sounds like he’s processing his excitement when we speak: “Lev and I were writing Ralph Lauren a love letter for 50 years of business,” he says. “It was a dream come true.” While Ralph Lauren is a prestigious brand, Skewis admits that they weren’t precious with their iconography. The resulting collection is respectfully cheeky and hilariously indulgent: the Polo Bear does a heelflip across a knit sweater (he’s goofy-footed); a silk pajama set features an illustrated horse head, simultaneously grotesque and gorgeous; a corduroy shirt and chinos feature an allover tuner car applique. 028
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Creative direction was handled by the Palace family. Tanju and Hammond directed an accompanying video, shot in a Spanish desert, which features a horse show-jumping a Volkswagen Golf MK2. The lookbook was shot by legendary English photographer David Sims. Their relationship, naturally, is totally organic. “I think it comes from just living in London and being interested in other things,” Skewis says. “You’ll always cross paths with really talented, creative people.” The same can be said for Palace’s relationships with both Alasdair McLellan and Juergen Teller. Moreover, the same can be said for Palace as a whole: from its newest amateur skaters—Kyle Wilson and Heitor da Silva—to its merchandising team, from graphic designers like Fergus Purcell to accountants. People who started as professional skateboarders have grown into other roles, and the people who run the brand are the same people you saw at Southbank. “It’s nice to be in a position to help people maximize who they want to be,” says Skewis. “There’s no weird test, you either can see it—like, how they’ll fit in the family— or not.” The future of Palace, therefore, is secured in the age-old failsafe: true friendship. No matter how many stores they open (although “Tokyo, London, New York has a nice ring to it”) it’s easy to feel like nothing will change around Palace for another 10 years. Except maybe the limp—probably from a shinner.
“THERE'S NO WEIRD TEST , YOU EITHER CAN SEE IT—LIKE , HOW THEY'LL FIT IN THE FAMILY —OR NOT. ”
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TOP: KENZO SUNGLASSES: STYLIST'S OWN
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Ai Weiwei Radically Human WORDS
K E V I N WO N G PHOTOGRAPHY
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If art is meant to be about expression, Ai Weiwei is expressing for 70 million. That number , he explained, represents the total number of people around the world being forced out of their homes during the current refugee crisis .
A massive, gleaming, brown-and-white structure sits at the center of Weiwei’s latest exhibition. The composition is a delicately crafted 60-foot model of the emblematic inflatable life rafts often used by the masses of people who are escaping their home countries. Constructed of bamboo and silk, using traditional Chinese kite-making techniques, the provocative and thoughtful piece is as visually stunning as it is stinging. “Life Cycle” presents a symbol of the social injustice infusing the current global situation, and is also a nod to the Beijing-born artist’s past: as a teenager, he experienced life as a refugee himself, when he was “robbed” of his own humanity.
“Every two seconds, one person is being forced out. It’s mad.” His recent works have focused on just this . 049
Once spoken of as the world’s most powerful and most dangerous artist in the same breath, Ai Weiwei has spent the last 40-plus years of his life exercising his artistic prowess with frequently provocative and wildly subversive works. A truly controversial figure, he has been met with reverence while simultaneously enduring an equal amount of repression and contention. As a lifelong adversary of the Chinese government, he has seen a lifetime’s worth of less-than-cordial interactions. He has personally lived through an immense amount of political strife, beginning from birth as the son of a poet who—in the eyes of the state—held rightist views and whose work resulted in his family being exiled and declared an enemy of the state when Weiwei was only one year old. Being beaten by police, being jailed for 81 days and having his art studio bulldozed are only some of the trials Weiwei has faced
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throughout his career. Stone by stone, these events have led to the artist-activist widening his focus to transcend state borders with a new purpose: to face the issues of humanity as a whole. Magnitude is a consistent theme for Weiwei. For his most-talked-about piece, Sunflower Seeds, he laid out 100 million hand-painted porcelain sunflower seeds in the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, to create what looked like an infinite landscape. The exhibit was a commentary on the economics of mass production in China. His immersive, larger-than-life pieces express the breadth of his thought, even if just by their sheer scale, touching on issues important to all of us: human rights, freedom of expression, censorship. His actions, while often brash, show his humanitarian concern through and through, but within his thoughts and his words is quite simply a human, concerned about other humans. In anticipation of meeting Mr. Ai Weiwei, one can’t help but feel unprepared and thoroughly uninformed. We were further shaken as he strode into the studio. With a stern demeanor, the burly 61-year-old lent a stoic but powerful presence that seemed to carry weight without words. He padded through the aisles between desks, simply observing in silence and greeting each person with a slight tilt of his head. He finally settled in front of our camera and lights, belligerence suddenly gone as he prepared to speak. Where some can be glib or even skittish in facing the public, Ai Weiwei is steady and perfectly centered. This is one man who has gone an exceedingly long way beyond caring what others may think of him. 051
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So having this much accessible knowledge creates an issue? Yes, it takes stronger action. Of course, there's more possibilities—many young people do [act]. Our sense of art and design is still developing quite fast. But still, we need to find out how to have a global view, to see humanity as one. To have a balanced view and not have political involvement, I think that's a challenge. Especially, if you see in [the] US or Europe, where the political situations can be extremely unpredictable. People feel powerless. What is something immediate we ourselves can do to positively impact humanity—tangible ways for youth to have a renewed understanding of “human rights”? I think to act on instinct is very important, because we all know what's right and what's wrong. [It’s important to] not be afraid to make mistakes but to really act and do a small thing. To do something you clearly think should be done. Every individual can make something happen. Not just think about it or talk about it, but really make something happen. That's very important. Not just for the individual, but for everybody. Q&A
You use art as a vehicle to create dialogue. What are other ways for people to evoke a consciousness? Yes, we talk about humanity not as the individual. We talk about community and society in magazines, online or even [through] product. They always have to show attitude, always have to show a clear message. Besides, in a commercial sense, you still have to let people know who you are, what you believe in and why you are doing it.
Where do you see humanity at this moment in time? It's a very critical moment. On one hand, life has never been so easy and so prosperous in many Western nations. [In] technology and media, we are so much better. It's immeasurable how much better our communication is, because [the] Internet and technology provides us with a new condition that human beings never had. We could never imagine before gather[ing] information and knowledge if our families don’t have social status. Today it's possible. It's right there; you can easily have it for free. At the same time, society has never been so irresponsible. People have been put in a [privileged] situation, yet poor people have been so divided from highly privileged society. That gives society a very strong gap. It can cause human crisis and, of course, the crisis is always a "humanity" crisis. We have so much, but we're incapable to make a move or to act. That creates a psychological problem for the individual as a human being. You know so much, but you don't act on your judgment or beliefs. You're not doing the right thing—[it’s] almost impossible for you to do. It's almost like you know too much, but you’re not acting at all. I think that can cause problems.
True. We work a lot with brands, and it's a difficult thing. Yeah, you can easily get lost just for numbers or business, which is nonsense. We are human beings. We deeply, emotionally understand what is good and bad, and if we don't defend those things.… Numbers are meaningless. They’re abstract. You use social media yourself—Twitter, Instagram. What’s the idea behind having people read quotes out loud from your book, Humanity, on social media? Humanity is a book published by my friend Larry Warsh. It's about my efforts in making this film, Human Flow. So we interviewed over 600 people, and have been interviewed over 300 times. There’s a lot of quotes we put together. So to have this book, to have people read it
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You speak about this idea of individuality. And in our creative fields, there's a lot of emphasis on that. Do you think our society's obsession with "individuality" is a good thing? It's always a struggle between a person and a society, between an individual and collective power. But individuality, it requires personal struggle. There's no such thing that exists as "individuality." Our character, who we are, is really [formed] through struggle. Those struggles define how we behave, how we think we are, and what we defend. So we always renew this individuality. And with today's technology, the speed of renewal is much faster. In older times, you [could] have one character or one identity for 20 years, 30 years. But in this time, maybe every three, four years, you look at yourself very differently, with a different profession, a different way you think about the world. You're facing very different kinds of problems, so it's much faster.
and really get people physically involved, is to speak out. Many times we're not speaking out and we're not taking action. Taking action is not so difficult; we just have to be consciously doing that. And if everyone adds up, I think the environment will change. The temperature will change. It will be a very different season. What are your thoughts on this digital age, where everyone has a platform to speak? It's good we all have a platform. [This means] we're almost flat. Everyone can use this technology, but still the competition is very clear. Only people who have the message, who come from new forms and new language would stand out from this. Even though you have a new platform, you still use old vocabulary and old language. It doesn't really work that well. But how do we create a new vocabulary, one that breaks out and brings out this freshness? That's what we want. We want to open a window and let wind blow in. We want to encourage young people and young minds to be brave and to really make a difference.
You have always had a constant, clear message with what you want to convey with art and activism. What are some of the renewals that you've encountered? My case is, I started early because I said I'll never become radical. I was born radical because my father was punished the year I was born. So when I was growing up, we were in the Gobi desert, very remote. The furthest location you can be in northwest China. Basically my father was considered an enemy of the people. He was a poet, you know. But to be considered an enemy of the people, an enemy of the party is possibly the most severe crime you can commit. So he had to clean public toilets. I grew up with him in the kind of conditions … I'll show you a photo later and you'll understand. We dug a hole underground and we lived there—us, symbolically, being punished because we really lived lower than any other people. Other people are already living in very bad
Speaking on the youth a bit, what are the ways in which this new technology will shape tomorrow's leaders? What are some advantages and disadvantages? I think we are living in a transaction time, and the new generation comes from the Internet and looks at the instances that it works differently—but still it's a transaction. It's still a struggle between the old and new. But obviously the young generation will have the world, it's logic. So how well are they prepared? How much do they understand the history and the responsibility that will be on their shoulders? It will be interesting to see.
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So I just wanted to touch on a few things in current politics. Why do you think there's such an emphasis on exclusionary policies and immigration reforms around the world? Especially in a society where we’re so connected digitally. I think we have to understand our history. Not too long ago, we still had slaves. We [Americans] imported Africans. We had slaves. Not too long ago, we had to push the Jewish away if they wanted to immigrate. Millions have been killed. The Berlin Wall only collapsed about 30 years ago. It's part of human nature, to see other people as the enemy, to try to say they're responsible for our mistakes, to try to create this kind of difference. And the US is sending 100 billion [dollars] in arms to Saudi Arabia. We know how Saudi Arabia works in politics. They just killed one journalist in the Turkish embassy and still they denied it.
conditions, farmers you know, uneducated farmers, but we had to really live under there for years. Maybe that did something good for me, to understand humanity, to understand there's social injustice, to understand all this when I was young. But I would never have had a chance to become someone like I am today, to have a voice, to speak out for issues, [if it weren’t for] the Internet. So, I suddenly found the Internet’s possibilities: if I tap some words in the middle of the night, next morning 300,000 people have already read it. I said, "My God, this is not possible"—you become like a god. How can [this] be possible? In a very remote area to do something like that? So I over-enjoyed, and of course ended up in jail and was beaten, all kinds of. They shut off my Internet and till today, you cannot type in my name into Chinese Internet. Ridiculous, but it's true, anything related to me will be omitted and deleted. Whole articles will disappear. But that made me understand, to openly have communication, it's so precious for any society. And so I always stayed under the spotlight, trying to protect myself and my voice, so I would be more safe. It brought me some very beautiful moments, and of course a lot of hurt and struggle. But it's worth it, you know.
So we have to talk about larger scales because we produce so much weaponry. Why do we produce so much? Why do we have to sell to nations that no one can trust? What are those arms being used for? The billions of dollars spent on arms, and we refuse to accept a few Mexican people who work hard in this society? And a society where much of that land was taken from Mexicans, not to forget about that. So it's ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous, all these political arguments which see other people as our enemies, and to not understand humanity. Especially in policy-making, you have a government elected [by its people], but they’re not really doing anything to support human rights. [The government] violates and destroys the establishment. They’re moving backwards, and people feel powerless. How do we stop it? This is democracy, right? So how do we stop it? Many of us feel a kind of helplessness toward the government. With all these issues we have, what are your thoughts toward that? I think young people should revolt. Form your own government, form your own party. Why do you only have two parties that [favor] standing on the left leg or right leg, but [are both attached to] the same body? You don't have really two parties, it's really just about one system. We all know that's not democracy. But why don't you form your
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“FREEDOM ONLY COMES THROUGH INNER STRUGGLE —INTELLECTUAL , IF YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THAT. THROUGH , YOUR EFFORTS YOU MAKE YOUR LIFE MEANINGFUL . THAT MEANING COMES FROM STRUGGLE.”
the US], food can be poured into the ocean? What makes things happen like that? Why do some nations stay so strong and have nuclear bombs and all those arms, and why do some nations barely have food to eat? Why does the world have to be so imbalanced? Those things can be easily understood. But if we don't take this kind of global thinking or study, we can be easily trapped to think, oh, we have freedom [as the answer]. What is freedom? Can any freedom be automatically given to you, by your grandfather or by some kind of constitution? It’s a lie. Freedom only comes through inner struggle—intellectual, if you can understand that. Through your efforts, you make your life meaningful. That meaning comes from struggle. If you think you were born with freedom, that's a lie. You never had freedom. You never used your life to defend certain beliefs, not only just for you, but for brotherhood, for someone you never met, for your daughter or your son. You never know who could be suffering. So can you really accept all that and chalk it up to “freedom,” or do you think it’s ignorance?
own party? And you know, it's not necessarily that you win, but it's necessary that you fight. That's your life, you only have one life: you don't waste that time, you don't feel sorry about your life. You will not tell your children, “I never made that effort.” So-called democracy is to support personal freedom. And if you have total personal freedom [and] you never use it? So it's not a freedom. So basically the individual has imprisoned himself or herself by this kind of lie.
How do you wake up each day and face the largest issue of "humanity" as a whole? It’s a good question. It doesn't matter your social status, or how long your journey has been—doesn't matter how difficult the journey is. The next step is, can you make it solid? How you appreciate life itself, the next morning— whether you wake up fresh and whether you feel grateful about the life that's been given to us for unknown reasons. I think that's the most important. We always have to go back to the bottom. Nothing has happened. Today is a new day. Maybe I wouldn't have this day or this moment. This can always be our last moment. Who knows? There's magic about this planet. Us as the human race is already completely magical. We have to be grateful. We have to think, 'Okay, let's use this energy to make something better. To appreciate and be grateful to life.' That's it, nothing more than that.
In China, obviously there is censorship and control, but in a country like the US, you’re supposed to have democracy and individual freedom. As Americans, why do you think we still aren't satisfied with that? Can it ever feel like it's enough? Or is it something we'll always feel we want more of? There are several things. First, mainstream education. There’s a lot of brainwashing and propaganda in the West because you really have a regional view rather than a global view about the position of the US and of the West. How do you gain that kind of power? How do you maintain that kind of power? This has to be a very global study. But it doesn't take a very smart mind or an intellectual to understand it. If we can all understand personal relations, then we can understand state relations.
What do we have to feel optimistic for? Simply being optimistic doesn't work. We have to be positive. We have to think there are so many things we can do to improve the situation, and there are so many things we haven't done. If we think we're smart, we're capable—let's make something happen. And it may be a total failure, but we made an effort, you know. Effort is the most important.
Why, as an area, does Africa have to be so difficult and dry, poor, no education, no food? Why is it that here [in
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Willo Perron
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“Let’s add more pyro,” Willo Perron deadpans, as he remembers working on Drake’s Aubrey and the Three Migos tour. He could barely suppress his amusement as he recalls wrangling flying Ferraris and stadium-size scorpions in line for Drake, then immediately shifting gears to direct an incandescent High as Hope tour for Florence and The Machine. 064
It’s somewhat reassuring to know that even the brains behind such youth-defining iconography as 808s & Heartbreak, 4:44 and the shabby-minimal Yeezy aesthetic has trouble pivoting like the rest of us. But he likes it that way. “The thing that I really loved was that I left the Drake tour to start Florence’s tour. If there was a polar opposite of two shows…” He trails off as if in thought. “With Drake [the mantra] was, ‘More! MORE!!’ Then I wind up in Florence-world where I had to keep asking myself, ‘Is it too quiet? Is it too subtle?’” We barely hear him next as he breaks out laughing. “Then I had to ask everybody—‘Do you think this is too quiet?!’” Perron’s attraction to design steered him toward the creative industries, hosting underground parties, starting a record label with VICE cofounder Suroosh Alvi, A-Trak and Dave 1 from synth-pop band Chromeo, later opening several retail stores in his hometown of Montreal which eventually led to designing hundreds of American Apparel stores around the world and a short stint at Apple. When Perron met Late Registration-era Kanye on tour, he inadvertently began a mode of working which most musicians employ now, uniting what were formerly disparate voices for West’s website, album packaging, photography and stage design under the same direction. A little over a decade later, the ambiguous-yet-crucial role that Perron played in the evolution of Kanye West into seminal fashion entity has culminated in a new world – rife with multi-hyphenate occupations and Yeezy knockoffs—and Perron had no small part in shaping it. Now he helms his own multidisciplinary studio, where projects range from creative directing the 2018 PornHub Awards with Kanye West and Charli XCX’s music video for 1999 to designing the Yeezy office interiors and set design for Migos and Jay-Z’s SNL appearances.
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The words “aesthetics” and “language” are used almost interchangeably as Perron speaks, and when we delve deeper into his inspirations, it’s easy to see why. The term “design language” seems to be neither coincidence nor metaphor as he effortlessly discusses politics as it relates to music, as it relates to design and as it relates to history, as if he himself is privy to a bigger picture that many have yet to realize. Perron’s ideas may sound complex, yet he likes to make it simple when put into practice. He describes the studio as a “plug and play” effort for both his team and clients—with the former, creating a space where young talent can work with the support of company infrastructure (“It’s a generation of like, ‘Hey come in here and just be a great ideas person.’”), and the latter, developing a one-stop agency for whoever walks through his doors. “The goal,” Perron says, “is to make it easy on everybody.” 067
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packaging, which feels like the photography. I think it’s also during the blog era, which was starting to let people own their media. Famous people and musicians were starting to own their media, and now you see it’s common with Twitter and whatnot. But back then people were still big on relying on PR, and a website was a big avenue. We launched a blog right around that time, which was basically a big inspiration blog. What was the blog called? I can’t really remember, actually—I think it was Kanye University? I don’t think [Kanye] owned the URL for kanyewest.com yet, so I think it was called Kanye University. It became this huge blog—we’d look at the stats and it’d be in the top percentile, and it became this big thing. We were communicating [inspirational content], instead of trying to sell people merch and show tickets.
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There are claims that you invented the role of creative director. Can you tell us why people say that about you? I come from a pretty traditional design background. Before working with Kanye, I was working at Apple, and before that I’ve done the retail stuff with American Apparel. You know, I designed clothes, and all the [other] stuff I’ve done previously. And the first big project that I did with a musician was with Kanye, and I was looking at all the avenues for the visuals: the record label would do the website, some other graphic designer would do the album packaging and the tour would be done by someone else—there was no overarching voice in any of it. Without really trying to create a role, it was more trying to get it so the website feels like the tour, which feels like the album
Can you tell me a bit about how different mediums connect together for you to create the big picture for your projects? I think all of them kinda use a bit of the other mediums, you know? In doing stuff with Stüssy, there’s a line weight— which is very much a graphic term—for certain things. Taking graphic language and bringing it into interior space, retail space. I think you feel the same thing whether you’re doing a stage, clothes, interiors, graphics. What’s the end result, how does something make you feel? There are subtle things sometimes—how you lay out typography, how you light a show, they’re really all emotions. At the end of the day, it’s how you perceive something. Sort of like having a filter, but having it be mine. And all these things are out of personal interest. The fact that I built this multidisciplinary studio doesn’t come from a place of like, “Ha! I can do one more [thing] than everybody else can!” I genuinely love graphic design, interior design, furniture and a well-done show—and whatever else, like videos and things like that—it’s just all mediums I love. I still think there’s some things I’m better at, and some things where I’m pretty green a bit? I’m always happy to try a new medium. Keep fucking around, and learn.
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“I THINK YOU FEEL THE SAME THING WHETHER YOU’RE DOING A STAGE , CLOTHES, INTERIORS , GRAPHICS. WHAT’S THE END RESULT, HOW DOES SOMETHING MAKE YOU FEEL? THERE ARE SUBTLE THINGS SOMETIMES – HOW YOU LAY OUT TYPOGRAPHY, HOW YOU LIGHT A SHOW, THEY’RE REALLY ALL EMOTIONS. AT THE END OF THE DAY, IT’S HOW YOU PERCEIVE SOMETHING. ” 070
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People didn’t care about Art Basel like they do now, and if anything, with him, the success was sort of this sense of duty on us both to really bring this language to the forefront. You know, there was a lot of resistance with basketball-jersey rap at that time—they would be like, “What is this art-fashion rap??” That’s a perfect example, when all that stuff came out back then and everyone was like, “What’s going on?!” I think a lot of what we see now comes from those early days of you purging Kanye’s closet. It’s a completely different aesthetic. Yeah, you go to fashion shows now and everyone’s there, all the fuckin’ A$APs. When we used to go to PFW you’d get turned down at shows. Now it’s a totally different link between fashion and art, but when we were calling artists to do project collabs, they would be like, “What? But you’re a rapper.” It wasn’t like the art world was standing there with open arms.
Definitely. Can you walk us through your thought process for your work on Drake’s tour? Working with Drake, if you look at the guy—he’s a very sporty guy, always front row at the basketball games, he’s a pretty well-rounded athlete, whereas Kanye cares about the arts, fashion and things like that. We went to a basketball game because we all decided to do something, and I was like, it would be great to do a show off a basketball theme. With the stage on the floor and have that energy. That was the first step, making this megastage into a floor. I felt like it was really representative of him, you know—he’s like a new kind of ostentatious, it’s big and it’s better and it doesn’t traffic as much in subtleties—so that was the jump-off point. There’s not really a lot in terms of scenic design; it’s basically a big box. And then it was just gags—how do we incorporate new technology and existing things on a grander scale?
What is something that you keep revisiting for inspiration? I know it seems grand and kinda vague, but I think you can just rely on the fact that the world gives you information. You see that kind of nihilistic rap that’s going on—that’s what the kids are feeling. It's a world filled with political unrest. It feels like the world’s ending, and the drugs have gotten so hectic, the political climate is insane – that nihilism you’re seeing is the state of the world. People are anxious as fuck. And with me being old enough to live through the other version of this— Reaganomics, AIDS, acid rain, crack epidemics and so forth—the music back then was [angry] and now it’s extreme nihilism, but it feels the same.
You’ve spoken about wanting your work to be polarizing for people—can you name a few points in your career where you really feel like your work has pushed the limit in that respect? I’m not sure if polarizing is the right word but I do think you wanna poke a little bit and make people react. I’m sure there’s a ton of shit with Kanye. It’s more about taking a real stance. And you might hate it. Kanye—he started down this more intellectual, art-driven path.
It’s just observing how and why people are reacting to things. To every culture there’s counterculture. To blingy jersey rap, there was Kanye. And on the tail end, there’s XXXTentacion and all of these kids where you’re gonna have something that’s spiritual and compassionate. Aesthetically, there is language in anger and there is language in compassion and love—if you look at histories from Buddhists and religion there’s a very clear vernacular about that stuff. 072
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BlackEyePatch, a fashion label hailing from the epicenter of Japanese street culture, Shibuya in Tokyo, earned acclaim through its deliberate refusal to pander to contemporary online culture. If one Googles “BlackEyePatch,” no photos of their designers’ faces appear. In completely rejecting the promotion of anything other than product, they hope to focus all the attention on BEP’s offerings instead. Their wholehearted devotion to their craft is what has landed them in places such as Dover Street Market Ginza, Barneys New York and Beams—who invited the label to partner on a pop-up store—as well as Amazon, who brought BEP on as a guest brand for Tokyo Fashion Week last year.
Thanks to social media, a fashion label’s success often sees things like concept, core values and culture take a back seat to matters such as the marketability of its designer or how high-profile the brand is. Commercial success seems to be directly related to a designer’s personal branding almost as much as that of the label itself. 076
During a time when Insta-fame seems to reign supreme, BEP’s mysterious identities seems rather unconventional, yet they’re not reclusive fashion designers—far from it. “N,” BEP’s lead, has repeatedly emphasized that BEP is there for people to enjoy, promote and share street culture. Spontaneous photography exhibitions featuring Japan’s street culture with Supreme catalog photographer, Jiro Konami, marks one of their side projects. Interviews with collaborators are posted on BEP’s official website, and they also publish an art book, titled Stacks, peppered with up-and-coming talent. The identity of BlackEyePatch is closer to graffiti culture than fashion—after all, for all the success they currently enjoy in fashion, the founders started off pasting stickers around the streets of Tokyo. Each design is a part of their story—motifs such as courier companies and supermarket logos pay homage to the designers’ early days of screen-printing designs on top of courier labels. While we can safely assume BlackEyePatch’s followers won’t hit a million overnight, their designs, in the form of a sticker pasted somewhere on a lamppost or newsstand, is perfectly capable of catching attention the old-fashioned way. We speak to BlackEyePatch founder “N” about the roots of BEP and the reasons behind the secrecy.
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How did BEP begin? From when we were young, we grew up with street culture, rappers and graffiti artists around us. We didn’t start the brand necessarily because we were into fashion—we never really expected to be making clothes. The thought that we may be able to say something interesting was what got the brand to start. We first made a BEP sticker before our first item of clothing, which was a T-shirt. For us, pasting stickers was totally natural to us, and we based the T-shirt designs off the sticker designs until recently. In a time where personal branding is so important, what are the reasons for BlackEyePatch’s designers hiding their identities? For one, we didn’t want people to see anything other than our brand, just us pasting stickers. It’s not that we are super set on not showing our faces, but if we were to show our faces every now and then, it might be better to just not show them at all, so we stuck to this way of thinking. Since I haven’t revealed my face to the public, people won’t see me as “BEP’s designer,” which makes things easy. Plus, there are pluses to this, like doing different jobs. I run a design company called ANCHOR inc.,where we outsource graphic
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“IN ORDER TO DO THIS WORK FOR A LONG TIME, IT'S BETTER TO SUSTAIN AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE THE FOCUS IS 100 PERCENT ON THE DESIGNS INSTEAD OF TRYING TO GET FAMOUS OR SOMETHING.”
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you can sometimes see receipt numbers on some of our logos and stickers, and those who understand will notice this detail. Because of how the label started, we really value things like stickers and labels. You know, there are lots of places on the street where you can’t help but notice all these cool stickers, right? We have this same mind set throughout the brand, whether we’re talking about stickers or clothes or our other projects outside of fashion. Lots of people are talking about your part in “AT TOKYO” for Amazon Fashion Week Tokyo. I wanted to do it only if I could do pull off something really different, and I wanted to think of a way to express the identity of BlackEyePatch on stage. We based the show around Kyushakai, bikers who are the Japanese equivalent of Harley-Davidson enthusiasts. They fix up vintage bikes and ride around together. Kyushakai was also the topic of the photo book we produced with Jiro Konami titled Gimatai. The idea behind this goes beyond wanting to show something quintessentially Japanese—I think there’s more conviction in expressing things that we actually know about and have experienced in our lives. For example, having never lived in the US, it wouldn’t be realistic for us to just express American hip-hop. Also, if you’re going to do a brand in Japan, it shouldn’t be based off America or other countries; it should embrace its Japanese-ness. If I were riding a Harley like a bike gang would in the US, there would have been a Harley on the stage as well. But back in those days, there were almost no Japanese youth who rode a Harley, and for our youth culture, that would be a motorbike gang. People will see through you if you try to express something that you have surface knowledge about. We want to draw from the culture we’ve lived through.
design, give design direction and things like that. I think having design work affiliated with a person’s name or even a label like BlackEyePatch has good and bad sides. If it affects how people perceive the actual work, I think that takes away from the essence of the design. I don’t want to do the work that my designs are supposed to be doing—I’d like people to judge the design purely on its own. In order to do this work for a long time, it’s better to sustain an environment where the focus is 100 percent on the designs instead of trying to get famous or something. We often hear that BEP started off as a sticker brand? Strictly speaking, we didn’t start off as a sticker brand, but the first product we made were stickers, and many stickers were pasted before our clothes were sold, so such rumors spread mainly from the media. But in our collections, we always have the motif of “labels,” which is the roots of our stickers.
Because the bikes made such a strong visual, Kyushakai got most of the attention. But we also had a lot of skaters, and a graffitied Nougakudo, a traditional Japanese theater stage. As for the models, we cast not only real models but also rappers, grills designers and our friends on the runway. For us, all these cultural elements lie side by side. Since all these things are part of our roots, that show was a combination of all the elements that make up our past up to now.
It costs money to print stickers. That is why in world of street fashion, we use receipts from courier companies, which can be used to mass manufacture without using a lot of money, as a replacement for stickers. In courier receipts, there would be a section to write your address with a few sheets for copies behind the original, and we would tear off the original paper and leave only the label part, then silk screen them to make stickers. This is why 084
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“PEOPLE WILL SEE THROUGH YOU IF YOU TRY TO EXPRESS SOMETHING THAT YOU HAVE SURFACE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT. WE WANT TO DRAW FROM THE CULTURE WE'VE LIVED THROUGH.”
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Basically we're just a group of friends in LA that love dancehall music and everything that transpired from the genre. Our crew consists of Shacia Payne, Billy Walsh, Drewbyrd, Sean G, Q Bwoy, Sire and Rionism. Sean G and Drewbyrd are good friends and have been DJ'ing in the city for quite some time. We wanted to do an event together, and we both had love for dancehall music, so everything pretty much started from there. Billy Walsh started the party with Sean and Drew too, growing up in Jamaica Plain’s in Boston, MA - a predominately Caribbean neighborhood. Dancehall culture was part of his upbringing. Sire runs the venue. Los Globos—a real OG in the dancehall scene (originally from Jamaica)—has helped launch the party and played a pivotal role every night we do it. Q Bwoy, our MC, originally from Kingston 12 but is now residing in LA, is a 25 year veteran in the LA reggae dancehall scene. Shacia Payne (DJ), daughter of Stephen and granddaughter of Bob Marley, is the little sister of the crew. She joined us probably after the first 4 months we started, absolutely murders it when she’s on the decks. And lastly, Rionism our creative and art director, one of the best graphic/illustrators in the city. Always holds us down with the flyers and merch. SHABBBAAAAA
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Though artist merchandise can now be purchased in retail stores, they have transcended their former place as concert souvenirs and status pieces for die-hard fans. Merch has become a key component of artist branding and identity, making the items desirable outside of a musical context, taking on the added lifestyle appeal from wearing a coveted fashion label. This is where Bravado—Universal Music Group’s music merchandise division -– has been key in the recent band merch craze. As quickly as a new album becomes readily available to the masses, fan T-shirts, hoodies and accessories are soon released on official artist websites for purchase. Consequently, the sellout rate for this practice has been very high, as evidenced by The Weeknd’s, Post Malone’s and Migos’ most recent album drops. The phenomena could very well be attributed to the fact that songs these days are released on digital formats. Buying CDs and vinyl is a quickly fading practice, and there’s a void to be filled with fans wanting to own something physical that ties them to their favorite artists. Bravado fills that void with these specially designed items. “That’s the tangible physical thing, because with more and more music migrating to streaming in your phone, less and less people are running out and having that physical thing to touch,” says Bravado CEO Mat Vlasic. “And this is that connection now when somebody says to me, ‘What's next?’ I’m constantly thinking about that.”
Before vintage rock tees trickled down to reside in the trenches of fast fashion, concert merch was seen as something that was rightfully earned among the truest of music fans. Owning a throwback Guns N’ Roses shirt may not only be proof you saw the band live in their heyday, but for some, especially younger fans experiencing live music for the first time, it’s also a rite of passage in itself.
Forging closer connections between fans and artists is sort of the mantra under which Vlasic and creative director Robbie Owens-Russo operate. It’s the reason why they’ve become innovators in the game, constantly researching how fashion is consumed in relation to music. They’ve hit their stride with collaborations alongside key designers and retailers: Jerry Lorenzo designing Justin Bieber’s Purpose tour merch, Virgil Abloh creating Travis Scott’s concert tees and rock bands appearing on Ralph Lauren sweaters to be sold at luxe retailer Selfridges have all been made possible by Bravado. “We saw that if we do a collaboration with the Rolling Stones and a really high-end fashion designer, you see that craziness,” Vlasic says. “But I do think that the most important piece is whoever has that trust of the creative visionary, being the artist, and can pull out all those things and can work with them,” he continues. “That’s the most important piece of the puzzle.” 104
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Q&A MAT VLASIC, CEO ROBBIE OWEN-RUSSO, CREATIVE DIRECTOR
What’s your view on the overall definition of merch today? If you want, you can harken back to how you used to buy concert tees and now, producing it. RO: It’s funny—I used to go to a few shows, but I used to dig for vintage. And whether it’s in Thailand, Tokyo, LA, it was all old merch stuff anyway, you know? I see the value of something having a date and time. The idea that merch transcends the idea of a seasonal collection or drop is super important. The most important thing about it for me is building this cult following around the artist. And one: the music’s great. Two: there’s a certain aesthetic, a certain uniform to that certain artist that we’re creating through merch. You see a certain style or vibe from an artist, you can automatically tell that’s Travis’ uniform, that’s Kanye’s uniform. How important is combining muscians with prominent designers, especially “streetwear” designers? MV: I think those guys bring incredible value. But I wouldn’t single it out about a person. I would look at it as whoever the artist can trust to be their partner in the creative process is gonna add tremendous value. Sometimes that’s a designer, sometimes that’s a creative visionary, sometimes that's a streetwear brand, sometimes it’s us, sometimes it’s the mother—it’s a lot of different people. What’s the next step? MV: From a retail standpoint, our artists’ products are competing with every category of entertainment—from animation, to sports, to creators—so we need to look at all those things and not just be pigeonholed to music. And I think looking to the fans and seeing what they want. Right now in the music industry there’s been this talk about the bundles—are they legit and things like that. The fans have spoken, right? The fans want bundles. The 250,000-plus fans have bought Travis bundles and Kanye bundles and Nicki bundles and they’ve spoken. That's how they want to consume music. The T-shirt or whatever the product is, it’s the –
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RO: That’s the new 12-inch, that’s the new vinyl. MV: That’s the tangible, physical thing. With more and more music migrating to your streaming and your phone, less and less people are running out and having that physical thing to touch. This is that connection now.
the world. And those guys did it. And they’re unbelievable. So, that tour’s coming and we’re gonna do some fly, fly shit around that. The Kids See Ghosts thing was amazing. I’m excited about all the artists’ work. Or we wouldn't be working with them—and they wouldn’t be working with us! Who the hell is gonna work with somebody who’s not excited in what you’re doing and what they’re doing?
RO: I totally agree, and back to your point about the youth, and that connects back into how what the fans are saying is connecting back to us. When an artist comes to us, we have a number of them that say, “Listen, I don’t have a massive creative team behind me, we’re looking to you guys to help create a world and brand for me.” We start with fan pages and see what’s happening behind the scenes in order to go and get a gauge as to where they are now, where they should go in the future.
What about you Robbie? RO: I love all the big guys, too. But at the same time there’s this bubbling underground of all these other people that we’re working with, and I think that gets me excited too because a lot of them don’t have creative direction. So we get to flex a little bit and steer them into a world that they haven’t been privy to but they wanna be a part of. 6ix9ine, Lil Baby, Offset—the shit we’re working on with him is super exciting.
Who’s an artist that you’re working with that’s exciting to you? MV: Every artist who has worked with us is exciting. At the moment you’ve got Travis out on tour, and he’s bringing the energy. Speaking to the energy, to me, reminds me of the energy in heavy rock, brings me back to the days of Anthrax and Metallica. I’m not sure if you saw, but the Rolling Stones just announced a massive tour next year in the US. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the Rolling Stones, but you must. You really must. It’s a bucket list. It's a requirement. Before smartphones, before digital, before social media, before CDs, before all of those things, it was a lot harder to become the biggest band in
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“WITH MORE AND MORE MUSIC MIGRATING TO YOUR STREAMING AND YOUR PHONE , LESS AND LESS PEOPLE ARE RUNNING OUT AND HAVING THAT PHYSICAL THING TO TOUCH. THIS IS THAT CONNECTION NOW.”
MV: I’m looking around [the room] at the stuff we’re doing with [Bob] Marley and NOAH and the Union stuff that’s just like wow, that’s amazing. And those iconic artists that we work with, I take it almost like a personal task to make sure—because I know how important their music was to me—to make sure that their music continues to live on with kids like you. I think that merchandise and collaborations are ways to keep that happening. And maybe there’s a kid, maybe if it’s just one kid that, if I did my job, went to NOAH because he’s a NOAH fan, and saw the Marley thing and didn’t really know who Bob Marley was, but from that, looked it up, and now has discovered one of the greatest icons music has. Same thing with the Beatles or the Stones, there’s so many icons that we work with that I think it’s so important that music continues to keep the kids listening. I was having lunch with my mom and my brothers the other day at Barneys. This family walks in, mother and three kids, and this girl, she’s between 11 and 14, was wearing a Rolling Stones shirt. And I’m looking and I didn’t want the mom to think I’m some weirdo, so I went over and went “I am very curious why your daughter [is wearing a Stones shirt].” and they told me the story. The mother saw one of our shirts and got it for her daughter, who liked it so much that she went and raided her mom’s closet and took more of her Stones stuff. The mom and dad I guess were big Stones fans. And now the little sisters are like, “We love this, the Stones are so cool!” And all of a sudden, this merchandise which some people think of as an afterthought—“Oh it’s just a T-shirt”—this thing has such powerful currency. That’s why I said, when you asked about profitability, how do you factor that into the equation? The fact that it might have just introduced three new kids to this iconic music? I walked outta there excited, you know? We do that for the Stones and the Beatles,and Prince and Guns N’ Roses, and some of these artists are still out there touring and some are no longer with us. That’s why this business is so unique.
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Paria Farzaneh Bucking the System WORDS
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Since that time, the designer has become one of the most exciting names in UK fashion, gaining support from the British Fashion Council, as well as fans ranging from BTS to Tyler, The Creator and stockists including Gr8 in Tokyo, LN-CC in London and LA’s 424. But it hasn’t always been plain sailing for Farzaneh.
Paria Farzaneh’s studio reflects the designer’s journey and rapid rise. From the outside, the space—located in a residential area of suburban South London —is more student flat than creative hub. But then again, Farzaneh only graduated from London’s Ravensbourne University two years ago. 119
“I studied psychology, business and English literature at college, and I hated it. Afterward I just said, ‘How can I fix this?’” Farzaneh recalls. “I was always creative, so I just put a portfolio together and applied for an art foundation in Hull. I’d known I wanted to do fashion since I was a kid—I’d be going on my mum’s sewing machine all the time, I liked the idea of making something.” Farzaneh then applied to universities in London before settling on Ravensbourne, where she studied fashion and interned with SIBLING and Christopher Raeburn. After graduation, Farzaneh was forced into another realization: “I worked at Louis Vuitton for a year in sales. I was a client advisor,” she remembers, spending her days tying client’s shoelaces in the store and her evenings sewing her own pieces. “I was like, ‘Fuck, I hate this. I did not just spend £49,000 to go to university and be in retail,’ so I tried to apply for Fashion East and I got turned down. Nobody cared but I was just trying so hard.” With little in the way of support, Farzaneh was forced to set up on her own. “The first show I did was just on my own, outside 180 The Strand,” she explains. “I was like, ‘Fuck this, tell everybody to be there, and they were. Then I just started getting people’s attention.” After that, Farzaneh was asked by a friend to customize four pairs of Converse One Star Mids for the label’s head of global marketing. Converse’s team were so impressed they ended up helping on Farzaneh’s Fall/Winter 2018 show and becoming a key supporter.
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“ANIT VOLUPTI SIT, QUO ET QUE NUM HILL SEDUPTAT. MAGNI IUM ES AUT VENTO EUM EXPED EXPERO IL IDUNTO NON VELIBERNAM, QUE MOS REM IPISSI DUS.”
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“I’D KNOWN I WANTED TO DO FASHION SINCE I WAS A KID—I'D BE GOING ON MY MUM’S SEWING MACHINE ALL THE TIME , I LIKED THE IDEA OF MAKING SOMETHING.”
This unexpected side to being a designer doesn’t stop Farzaneh from wanting to design. For her, fashion occupies an almost unique position to “make people aware of what’s really going on.” This was a theme of earlier collections, which drew on Farzaneh’s Iranian heritage and the way the country is seen around the world. For her next collection, Farzaneh focuses on social media and the idea of repetition, as well as how boring society is. Farzaneh is wary of social media’s implications: “I feel like what I’m doing isn’t enough or there’s younger people doing something similar to me. It’s not a competition at the end of the day. Everybody’s on a different a journey.” Nowhere is this more clear than on Instagram, which has become a key driver of today’s fashion industry. “Having a certain amount of likes does not justify good product,” says Farzaneh. “I just think that Instagram should be used to share something that you think is interesting. A couple of images I’ve posted recently are inspirational images—they’re part of this season’s stories. If we have this platform then that’s how we can spread the message about what’s really going on in other parts of the world.”
Through false starts at college and Louis Vuitton, Farzaneh learned a lot. “I learned that I can’t be doing the same thing every day. When you work in such a corporate world, you have a structure of hitting a target or doing something a certain way. You can’t really be yourself.” It makes sense, then, that Farzaneh would strike out on her own. Although the last year has seen Farzaneh’s stature continue to rise, being an independent designer has brought with it its own difficulties. The new hurdles range from dealing with taxes to running her own studio. “You don’t learn these things at university, you don’t learn how to run a business,” she adds. “I’m doing 50,000 things that I never thought I’d do.”
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Farzaneh’s early work took inspiration from her Iranian heritage. Despite it having her attention, it is far from the only influence on Farzaneh’s work. “I don’t ever want to be pigeonholed as ‘the Iranian designer’ because that’s just part of my story,” Farzaneh explains. “Fall/Winter 2018 in January was a chapter of what was going on then, then Spring/Summer 2019 was a different chapter. In January, it’ll be something else. It’s the next chapter of what’s happened in the past six to nine months. It’s all about telling my story.” Along with being “the Iranian designer,” Farzaneh has also been wrongly categorized due to working in menswear. She references her Instagram direct messages, explaining that people reaching out often expect her to be a man. “Why would you associate this brand with a male? Why would you associate something doing well to a man? Why can’t I be who I am doing it? I feel like there is a glass ceiling, because I’m surrounded by men in this industry all the time.” After a huge 2018, Farzaneh’s year has been capped off with the support of Tyler, The Creator. “I think if something does well it’s because somebody can relate,” she explains. “He appreciated what I did and it’s different—it’s not just streetwear, there’s a story.” The story is key for Farzaneh and having meaning while existing in fashion is something she feels strongly about. Speaking about the current scene, she takes aim at 2018’s focus on printed T-shirts and merchandise. That’s not fashion, that’s not culture, that’s just a trend. It’s just people having such an easy way; anybody can do that. There’s no thought, there’s no connection to it.” With her celebration of earlier Iranian collections, or this season’s critique of a social media-obsessed culture, no one can accuse Farzaneh of the same. 127
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The earring brand gaining traction in Japan’s niche jewelry market has barely gotten its feet off the ground , but already names Wacko Maria , UNDERCOVER, AFFA, and Girls Don't Cry as collaborators. Started over a cup of tea with Hiroshi Fujiwara , co-founder Shota Matsuda walks us through his fledgling label’s lofty beginnings alongside Wacko Maria co-founder Atsuhiko Mori . Careering Q&A PHOTOGRAPHY: DAIGO YAMAMOTO
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then there was a song that Hiroshi would listen to called “Careering” by Public Image Limited, and we thought it rhymed well, and it felt kind of punk as well, which made us finally decide on the name. What drove you to be involved with fashion and design? SM: I wanted a space to relax and meet with friends so we could do something besides work, and also be able to connect with and nurture other acting talent over it. Can you tell us a little about your design and production process? SM: First of all, my and Hiroshi’s ideas are at the foundation of it. My image of CAREERING is that it’s pure and simple, and I try to look at the whole picture when I first come up with ideas, instead of focusing on details such as where the design is coming from and what kinds of processes it goes through. What are your inspirations for the minimal aesthetic of CAREERING? SM: CAREERING’s piercings are like medicine for those who wear earrings. There are strong ones, weak ones and ones with placebo effects as well, which is what we named the main collection after. Q&A
Can you tell us about choosing the hoop style for most of the earrings? SM: I am particular with the C-shape because I like it myself, and since CAREERING starts with a “C” as well.
How did you come together to form CAREERING, and how did you decide to focus on making mostly earrings? SM: I was friends with Hiroshi Fujiwara through skiing and snowboarding in the mountains, and then after in Tokyo, we started talking about piercings. I’ve liked earrings since I was 14. Hiroshi also had this earring since he was 18 and he’s been wearing it for a few decades, and it made us want to do something on earrings. Rather than strictly business, I think we just wanted a place to hang out. There weren’t many stores that just sold piercings, so we thought it would be a good idea to specialize on it. When I talked with Hiroshi, he said it would be more fun to create something from small to big, so we thought that piercings were just the thing.
How did collaborations like Wacko Maria, UNDERCOVER, AFFA and Girls Don’t Cry, come together? SM: They’re all friends. We were lucky to have the conversation at a good time, which led to the collaborations. It’s really just good timing. AM: We were doing a bit jewellery before, and since Shouta started CAREERING we decided to get involved. I’m happy we’re doing something fun, and it’s great if we do more projects like this in the future. Where do you want this to go in the future? To be honest, I’m not too sure what’s in store for us, but I have many interests. I like the idea of a small company doing something big, it can be in fashion, sculpture or many other things which interest me. I really want to see CAREERING develop with liberty.
What is the story behind the name “CAREERING”? SM: The roots of the name CAREERING came up to us while we were having tea one day, and it began from the idea that we wanted the name to end in “ring.” So 129
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It’s only been two years since Ignored Prayers was founded as a fashion label by Scott Tepper. In that time, the brand has seen collaborations with the likes of Colette and COMME des GARÇONS offshoot label CDG, as well as created Carter V merch for Lil Wayne. Here, Tepper speaks to us about Ignored Prayers’ roots and future. Ignored Prayers Q&A PHOTOGRAPHY: DIEGO ANDRADE
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What does your design process look like for IP? It can be brutal. I’m extremely critical of myself. I have IP logos designed now for five years that no one has ever seen. I compile and compile and then Frankenstein them all together. Typically I will design around 75 pieces to arrive at five I'm happy with. It involves a lot of me pacing around my studio, late at night, telling myself I suck. But when that one clicks and feels right, I get a sensation of satisfaction that makes up for all the self-inflicted mental anguish. I guess I just need to stay working. That’s my process—stay busy.
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We see music, art, clothes, stories… How would personally describe what Ignored Prayers is? What is IP to you? A creative outlet that is not dictated by sales nor controlled by any sort of validation. It’s a vehicle for my friends and I to get our ideas out. Essentially IP is a community of like-minded individuals who want to give back instead of take.
The most standout thing to me about IP is the collection of graphics and imagery you guys use in designs. Where does that all come from? I’ve never really thought about where they come from, but I’d imagine it all goes back to my unhealthy addiction of collecting. I am a hoarder. I collect books, magazines, clothes, patches, spray paint, you name it. My hard drives are literally full of folders upon folders of reference images. My phone currently contains 42,708 photos. I use all of that in my work. Mentally too, I’ve just become a sponge, soaking up everything. I find inspiration and source material in the places you’d least expect. The designs are usually a cumulation of things I’m into, all jammed together to tell a story. I like mixing the obscure with the pop. Maybe a kid will learn about Charles Bukowski because he is featured on a shirt with Ol’ Dirty Bastard. To me that’s a rad way to connect the dots.
Where and when did you yourself get your start working on clothing, or streetwear, to be specific? Growing up skating very early on really laid my foundation and was my first true influence. In the ’90s it was all about Polo, North Face, Nautica, Helly Hansen, etc. I was actually banned from all Macy’s for shoplifting Polo back then. Then came incredible brands like Triple 5 Soul, Dub and PNB Nation. That is when I began to think, maybe this is something I could get into. I began designing some decks for local skate brands and tees for local sneaker shops. Breaking into the industry back then was not as easy as it is today. Luckily I could draw okay and dabbled in graffiti. With that, my friend Romeo got me a job at Ecko, which I really did not deserve at the time. From there, I went on to Akademiks, where I was able to gain access to the tech packs. I would take them home and study them for hours. That’s how I learned what certain stitches were called and how garment construction worked.
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My parents had both passed away when I was young, and I did not have the funds to attend art school as planned. I began literally sneaking into classes at F.I.T. in Manhattan. I signed up for classes, learned the schedule, got the materials and then immediately dropped all the classes. I had no choice—I was broke. At the beginning of every class, I’d need to come up with new excuses like, “The bursar made a mistake, but I cannot afford to miss a class, yadda yadda.” I think they knew I was full of shit but tolerated me because I was active in class and excited to learn. I even took the final for a class called Fundamentals of Textile Design out of respect for a rad professor. A few weeks later, I accepted a job opportunity I had no business taking and found myself in Hong Kong, knee-deep in fabric swatches, designing a collection from the ground up. I just knew I could figure it out. Sometimes you just gotta jump out of the plane and learn to fly on the way down.
First and foremost, I am a fan of these people. Working with CDG is a dream come true. I've been a fan of Wayne since the Hot Boys, and Jay Howell is a genius. Shout out to Street Dog! I get to work with my friends like Hassan Rahim and Jerry Hsu. These guys are incredible! I don’t know the answer as to how it has all blossomed, but I will take the opportunity to say it is a blessing, and I am ridiculously grateful for all of them. Who else or what else are you interested in collaborating with or working on still? Patagonia and Björk. Rei Kawakubo and Jun Takahashi. BMW and the NBA. Medicom and Makita Tools. As a self-taught designer, what are some of the most important things you've learned along the way? Just to be humble, soak up everything, never underestimate anyone and surround yourself with good people. That, and always remember that the same people you see on your way up, you will see them again on your way down. Respect is a two-way street.
Having only launched IP, the brand, officially two years ago, how has the brand been able to work and collaborate with such an interesting cast, from artist Jay Howell to Lil Wayne to more recently CDG?
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Only recently has Justin Gambrah been customizing, sewing and ripping up a mishmash of tees and jackets, creating intricate pieces that transcend the sum of their parts, past the category of vintage and hovering close to art. His real name may still be a mystery to most, but with his pieces already supported by the likes of A$AP Rocky, Travis Scott and Playboi Carti, it’s unlikely that it’ll stay that way. Adamaneven Q&A PHOTOGRAPHY: EDDIE LEE
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If this is more art to you, how did you decide to use clothing as your medium? I went to college, dropped out, then came back to New York in 2016. I started interning assisting stylists. I wanted to be an interior designer, but that didn’t work out. I wanted to be a full-on stylist too, but that didn’t work out. Back to having a good eye—I know I have a good eye, but all the other parts with styling, the pick-and-pulls, carrying the clothes, I didn’t like that part of it. So I knew I needed to do something else, but I learned from the people I assisted. They said before anyone can see you or invest in you, you need to invest in yourself and invest in your craft. Can you outline what your process is like? For example, if I’m doing outerwear, I’ll go online and look at any jacket that is unique, that somebody is not looking at. Then I’ll go to another site and look for another piece that’s fire, and another one and then order all of them. I’ll get them home and see what it looks like in person. I’ll get the pieces in the day, but I only work at nighttime. At nighttime is when my ideas really start bubbling, around 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. I’ll get the pieces and start cutting things, pinning everything together. Then I’ll wake up in the morning and just hit up any tailor I know and say, “You working today?” Just go there and work with them on every piece for five to six hours. Basically, I’m still going to school—I’m just going to school at the tailors.
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How would you describe what you make? I would just say it’s my imagination, in real life. Telling stories, but with clothes instead of painting. The best way for me to express myself is just creating. Sometimes I’m not good at talking, it’s hard for me to explain things. I just have to show it, so that’s why I decided to go this route.
After you finish the piece, is there a process then? I’ll take a photo of it on my iPhone. Then I'll look at it for a while and see if it’s 100 percent complete. If it looks like it needs more details, I’ll go back and add more to it.
How did it all begin for you? I used to do security. I felt like I was trapped. I want to make money but still do what I like to do. So I quit my job, took the last $300 I had and starting buying vintage tees and jackets. I have good taste in stuff, so I thought I’d play around with that and see what happens.
The name Adamaneven—what's behind that? It’s basically male and female. Life is a balance, man. Do you remember when your first piece sold? Which piece was that, who was it to? The first person that ever bought my stuff was one of our homies, Jordan. He does art, too; he lives in Brooklyn. He bought a T-shirt. I mixed two T-shirts, one with Charles Manson. I sold him that shirt for $70. I remember the first time I got any money from any shirts was $45. And I thought, if I invest more time in this, I could actually make this a 9-5.
Where do you think your taste comes from? New York made me tough, but with my style and everything I wouldn’t put that on New York—I would put that on my experiences. I was just exposed to a lot of things that maybe other people don’t pay attention to, and that’s what I use to my advantage.
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From what I’ve seen, your work has definitely been noticed. Who are some of the notable people who’ve worn your clothes? Well back in the day, I had to do work you know. So I did stuff for Rocky, Travis [Scott], [Playboi] Carti wore my stuff. But those are all just on faith. I did stuff for Ray, Bloody Osiris. Right now, I have Miley Cyrus, I have a big K-pop singer who just reached out.
Sometimes some things pop, some don’t. When it comes to marketing, you could see there’s no face behind it all. I’ve never really posted myself, but I want to focus on the craft and let it speak for itself. Then when people find out who you are then it’s like, “Oh shit.” A lot of people don’t know I'm black, or where I’m from. So this is real energy. Where do you want to take things? If I was to do a real clothing line, I would want to do it for kids, babies, infants. People should focus on kids’ clothes, like a 3-year-old wearing a sick jacket. That’s fire.
How much emphasis do you put into marketing your pieces or having the right people wear it, branding?
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F E AT U R E D :
10 CORSO COMO PA L AC E DSMLA QUICK QUICK CA R P E N T E R S WO R KS H O P G A L L E R Y THE IMPRINT
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No matter how exotic the surrounding locale or how full our agendas may be for the day, there’s always time to stop by somewhere that feels like home. Some of these hallowed institutions have ended up within this issue’s travel guide— places familiar to us in another time and place, yet here they are again—and there’s no question about whether we’re going inside.
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In September, the renowned Italian concept store 10 Corso Como finally made its way stateside, providing a splash of style in New York’s Seaport District. The original Milan outpost was established under Carla Sozzani several decades ago in 1991. Housed in an expansive 28,000-square-foot building built in 1822, 10 Corso Como offers a selection of items and attractions, including art books, home furnishings, sneakers, clothing, a gallery space and even a restaurant. The store enlisted artist Kris Ruhs to deliver a signature aesthetic. He aided in creating the New York store’s handmade detailing, which includes painted floral
sculptures and floors that sport hand-applied gloss. Ruhs was also responsible for designing his own illustrated take on home goods, T-shirts and other accessories, which are available exclusively at the store. While the brand already has a strong penchant for releasing limited sneaker editions, it’s now boasting an impressive selection of high-end labels, from Balenciaga, Gucci and Prada to Maison Margiela and Raf Simons. As part of its progressive aesthetic and ethos, the shop presents menswear and womenswear intermingled, with genderless displays, succeeding in providing both a unique retail experience and an inspiring visual journey.
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Q&A CARLA SOZZANI, OWNER
the world—so perhaps you could say we hope to provide an experience for those who are curious about life. Can you tell us a bit about 10 Corso Como’s relationship with art and design? When I was young, I was taught to appreciate the balance between art and design. All good art and design have, at their heart, a strong structure.
Can you tell us the story behind 10 Corso Como? After 20 years in magazines, I wanted to create an environment where I could truly present my own aesthetic, in a three-dimensional “magazine” where I could present the kind of fashion, design and art that I enjoyed. There was no Internet at the time, so instead of turning pages, visitors and customers would take a promenade through different surprises where all the senses were involved.
The 10 Corso Como experience offers a structure in which to present both art and design to highlight the best in both. Culture always has some commerce in it, just as commerce must have culture to be of any value. Can you explain a little bit how you and your partner work together on the stores? Kris Ruhs and I met in New York, but it was when he came to Milan and we began to discuss a future that the logo for 10 Corso Como came into being. Every 10 Corso Como has certain foundational elements that are always there— a garden, a galleria, a bookstore and a cafe. Then each location is quite different yet with the same codes—the strong visual design by Kris holds them all together.
We opened the Galleria Carla Sozzani first with a show from fashion photographer Louise Dahl-Wolfe, and we have kept going since then. What kind of experience are you hoping to provide for visitors? 10 Corso Como is a combination of culture and commerce. We have had over 250 shows in Galleria Sozzani since we opened and enjoy presenting new designers from around
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What's next for 10 Corso Como? 10 Corso Como came to be 30 years ago to bring people together, to meet and talk when there was no Internet, no Instagram. A place to gather like this was unique and became very popular. The value of personal communication today is even more important. The overwhelming volume is driving people into isolation. The experience that 10 Corso Como offers is a real break from the noise—it is the future. What's something unique about the New York location? The New York location is in a historic building in a historic part of the city. The road outside of 10 Corso Como New York at 1 Fulton Street is made of cobblestones that were there from the 18th century. The building is also a hundred years old. In the summer when the gardens are open, it feels like a return to another time. It is this quality of the history of New York being present that made the site attractive to us. Kris has taken the sea that is outside and brought it into the building with lighting and surfaces that seem to shimmer as the harbor.
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In what was already shaping up to be one of the most eventful years to date for the British skate brand, Palace officially arrived in the East with the opening of its Tokyo store in November. Founded in 2009 by Lev Tanju and Gareth Skewis, Palace has spent almost a decade garnering a cultlike following among skaters and streetwear enthusiasts alike. The multilevel shop—the largest location yet—boasts floor-to-ceiling windows, creating an almost entirely glass exterior. Like its New York and London counterparts, the Tokyo shop exudes luxury, with a spacious interior, wood paneling and
granite fixtures. In typical tongue-in-cheek Palace manner, the announcement of its latest venture first arrived in the form of a horror film trailer. Featuring Jonah Hill, the video’s demons and zombies travel down dimly lit hallways, while a solemn Japanese narrator urges viewers to “face your fears” and say “nope to the grabby fuckers.” Jonah Hill appears throughout the video in the form of a decapitated head, flying into frame at the end of the trailer to reassure the “citizens of Tokyo” that “Palace is here.”
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Street Market LA is sandwiched between two halves of a developing neighborhood—on one side, loitering semi-trucks and a shooting range, on the other, an art gallery by Hauser & Wirth, a recently-opened 3.1 Phillip Lim and plenty of cafés, should the Rose Bakery fail to satisfy one’s caffeine cravings.
The latest iteration of Dover Street Market opened in November within a 15,000 square-foot space in Los Angeles. The department store’s distinctive “beautiful chaos” energy is channeled by way of plenty of streetwear presence—alongside Rei Kawakubo’s Comme des Garçons and new off-shoot label CDG— the likes of Brain Dead, Stussy, Palace, Noah and OffWhite™. The sun-lit, sprawling former warehouse space creates a meandering maze of displays for visitors which eventually takes them to an outdoor terrace of the Rose Bakery. Located in Los Angeles’ Arts District, Dover
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sense of spaciousness despite being smaller than the London, Tokyo and Ginza stores.
Q&A JAMES GILCHRIST, VP OF COMME DES GARÇONS USA AND DOVER STREET MARKET USA
From a brand standpoint, there are a number of brands and creatives based in LA and/or who make their collections there, such as Brain Dead, Noon Goons, Eli Russell Linnetz, Stüssy, Ignored Prayers, Sci-Fi Fantasy, Online Ceramics, Melitta Baumeister, Eckhaus Latta, Shanon Nataf, Sophie Buhai and Tom Binns. They are all carried at the store, and some have been given their own shop-in- shops.
What's the story behind choosing this particular space and neighborhood? We considered LA as a possible location for DSM for some time, but really only decided to move forward after the right building presented itself. We tend not to plan so much and always proceed organically when it feels right; this time was no different.
On the flipside, we also wanted to have brands that don’t already have shops in LA, such as NikeLab, Palace, Undercover, Sacai, Simone Rocha, Noah, Doublet, Stephen Jones, Marine Serre, Avi Gold and IDEA Books, all of whom are opening their first LA retail spaces with us. And with Comme des Garçons being the backbone of DSM, we are the only store in LA to have complete representation for the world of CDG, all showcased through Kawakubo-san’s designed spaces.
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Can you tell us about any directional/curatorial choices that are unique to DSMLA? We always let the location and building inform what we are doing, and it starts from zero every time. Kawakubosan’s interior design is completely specific to the building and the city it is in. DSMLA is a series of old warehouse buildings that we connected, and features high ceilings and skylights. It is also all on one floor, so it has a real
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How do you want people to feel when they enter the space? We want everyone who enters the space to experience it in their own way and have their own reaction to it. We hope it gives a sense of discovery and beautiful chaos.
Can you tell us why you think DSM has attained this cult status as an innovative retailer and how it's maintained? Do we really have cult status? Not sure about that. So I have no idea how it was attained or is maintained. But we stick to our guns and run the company very instinctively. It’s a risky way to run a business, but I think it’s what keeps it exciting and innovative.
Favorite installations so far? My favorite space is the new CDG men’s space that Kawakubo-san designed. It is insanely beautiful. I also loved the Comme des Garçons Homme Plus display featuring the dinosaur masks from artist Shimoda Masakatsu. It was simple but incredible. The Eli Russell Linnetz space featuring artwork by Jordan Wolfson is another favorite, and the AWAKE installation we did on Black Friday was super cool too. Can you talk us through the process of selecting exhibiting artists for the space? This happens in all different ways. There is not really one process.
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Quick Quick
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“Almost like the kitchen in your house, where you’d feel comfortable hanging around the countertop.” This is how independent newsagent Quick Quick, tucked away in the middle of Atlanta, is supposed to feel for visitors who come for a browse, quick or otherwise. Decked in neon lighting, the bodega-like space houses an impressive 50-plus titles of niche fashion, art and design publications at any given moment, welcoming patrons to browse, chat with staff or just grab one of the many bags of brightly colored gummies hanging from what is lovingly dubbed the Haribo Wall. The publications
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range far and wide in interests—from fashion offerings such as yours truly, to interior design and architecture, to art magazines, to super-niche titles such as one centered exclusively on water. What the shop doesn’t have, the owner states firmly, are fashion glossies. Carefully selected titles sit amidst shop-branded hoodies and high-quality, novelty versions of a convenience store’s usual offerings: all-natural, hand-bottled colognes and perfumes; shaving cream manufactured by a 100-yearold Italian company; and solid American oak toothpicks steeped in mint and cinnamon. In addition to the
usual contraceptives, they stock the Love is Art Kit, for creating abstract art as a by-product of doing the deed. Contrary to its name, there is usually a conversation by the counter, and staff are more than happy to point out-of-town visitors to a spot in the city or give a recommendation, as well as keeping store regulars’ favorite reads on hand.
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Carpenters Workshop Gallery
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Carpenters Workshop Gallery sees its newest outpost situated in what was formerly Saint Joesph’s Church in San Francisco. First constructed in 1913, the building has recently undergone three years of renovations and now houses 9,000 square feet of functional design exhibits by internationally renowned visual artists and designers on its mezzanine. The Romanesque Revival building’s ornate domed ceilings, arched entranceways and gilded accents provide a unique backdrop for the often experimental sculptures on display. An immersive light forest by Nacho Carbonell currently holds center
stage alongside works by Atelier Van Lieshout, Maarten Baas, Sebastian Brajkovic, Wendell Castle and Studio Job. Carpenters Workshop Gallery San Francisco marks the sixth location of the establishment, with the first space having opened in Chelsea, London, in 2006 in what had been a carpenter’s workshop. There are now two locations in London, two in Paris and one—the second most recent—in New York. Its latest in San Francisco reflects the city’s voracious appetite for the arts and design.
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The Imprint
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Together dubbed The Imprint, the pair of buildings feature 3D-modeled concrete paneling to reflect the faรงades of the surrounding buildings. The two starkwhite and gold cubes rise from the ground, almost monolithic in stature, save for the entrances, lifted as if an invisible hand were lifting the edge of a curtain. Inside, entranceways with mirrored ceilings and glass-media floors seem to promise a portal that transports visitors away from the real world. In reality, the two fantastical doorways lead to a nightclub and an underground theme park, both part of a wider
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complex named Paradise City in Incheon, South Korea, bordering the country’s capital of Seoul. The entertainment district is steps away fron Seoul’s Incheon Airport, inviting new arrivals to partake in its nightly festivities. The Imprint houses a casino, fine dining, a shopping arcade, art galleries, a spa and accommodation. Architect group MVRDV designed the buildings’ exteriors to be visible from the planes that land at Incheon Airport. “Passengers from incoming aircraft can see this ‘sun’ from above the ocean, as a kind of welcome to South Korea,” MVRDV
commented in reference to the two sides of The Imprint covered in gleaming gold paint. Lead architect Winy Maas says of The Imprint’s unique exterior: “Two months ago, most of the cladding was done and the client said, ‘This is an art piece.’ What’s interesting about that is that they are looking for that momentum— that entertainment can become art or that the building can become artistic in that way. What, then, is the difference between architecture and art? The project plays with that, and I think that abstraction is part of it, but it has to surprise, seduce and it has to calm down.”
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YOHJI YAMAMOTO PARFUMS YOHJIYAMAMOTOPARFUMS.COM
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