Issue 1 – Bright 04 / Magazine Spring 11
sUGARCAnE | PhOtO BY ELEMEnt ADVOCAtE: BRIAn GABERMAn - ELEMEntEUROPE.COM 2 – Bright Magazine
Element Presents the limited edition GET BUSY LIVING BLU-RAY & DVD BOX sEt, including extra’s and QUATTRO, featuring Chad tim tim, Levi Brown, Darrell stanton and welcoming Mark Appleyard. In stores soon. scan for more information
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Get free App at: http://gettag.mobi
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W W W.A L LTO M O R R O W S.D E
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8/9 Editorial
Marco Aslim, Thomas Martini and the meaning of life!
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My Bright Uniform The sales & distribution darlings of Bright even cut a fine figure in the winter with their all-round lovely outfits and a healthy portion of attitude!
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Portrait – The Agenda Show And what are the others up to? Bright takes a peep outside the trade fair circus. This time: The Agenda Show
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Feature – Trade comes from trading Simple rules for all retailers – four pages of motivation and free tips on how to survive at the retail vanguard.
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Shoot – Curiosity killed the Cat Lars Borges will get them all! Our alltime favourite photographer and Bright magazine veteran has dragged the cool kids in town in front of the camera and taken pictures of them wearing the new season’s look.
Portrait – Trust Nobody
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Imprint
12/13 Contributors
14–29 News & Brands
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Portrait – Jeff Staple He is one of the most important movers in the streetwear industry; for the current edition of Bright he designed the illustration for the ads. Nada Carls visited Jeff Staple in his New York studio.
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There can only be one! In the top league of international streetwear shops there is only one top dog in each metropolis. In Barcelona it’s Trust Nobody – a portrait.
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Feature – PR today Talk is golden – that’s the first rule for PR people. But Jan Joswig discovered that talk alone is no longer enough, whilst researching the newest trends in public relations. Plus: portraits of our favourite PR ladies.
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Interview – Sem Rubio Sem Rubio’s photography is an integral part of skateboarding iconography. In an interview he tells us his tricks and chats about his last working trip to Brazil.
77–91 Art Bright
Art in the canteen of the erstwhile Stasi headquarters – a topic that the Bright Tradeshow holds particularly near. International galleries and artists present themselves with current works. .
100–103 Interview – Woody Sneaker Freaker
Sneakerfreaker magazine isn’t just an institution amongst kicks disciples. In mid-December the first issue of the German edition came out – time for a conversation with the founder Simon “Woody” Woods.
104–115 Products
Sneakers, tees, belts and sleeves – the best bits and pieces that should be on your shopping list.
92–99 Berlin Nights
They are legendary, full of myths, unforeseeable and always long, with a guaranteed headache. Katja Hentschel hung out at the most important clubs and bars in town for Bright, portraying the party people who make Berlin so special.
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Skate Area Berlin winters are mercilessly frosty and snow-blown. In the new indoor area, skate fans will still find what they’re looking for.
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Bright Brigade
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Editorial Blurb The path to the Bright magazine is plastered with ‘I’m-never-doing-this-again!’ fits and grim teeth-grinding laps in the fresh air. The best sayings from the everyday lives of the editorial staff.
Interview – P-Rod
He is one of the most important skaters of our day. The fact that he is perfectly capable of playing a good hand in other areas of life became clear in this interview with Paul Rodriguez Junior.
118–121 Decks
Strictly artistic: with Palace, MOB, Supreme and aNYthing any remaining doubts are swept away: contemporary art has conquered the world of decks. We present an exclusive selection of creative decks and the stories behind them.
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Contacts
Content
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Editorial
...and suddenly it all makes sense
Not very long ago everyone was busy, their social lives in full swing, morning-noon-evening-night, everyone and everything was important and even more important, life was all about e-mailing, blogging, texting, twittering, lunching, dining and all in the name of fashion in online mode, 24/7... And then suddenly time stands still, a weight has been lifted and everything makes sense somehow... Our wonderful circus comes to a standstill: no telephone, no mails, everything smells of milk and is pretty and small and sometimes loud. Thank you new life and welcome to the world! Welcome Lilith! Welcome Emil! Welcome you Bright children to All Tomorrows parties!
Marco Aslim & Thomas Martini
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Imprint
Publisher
Bright GmbH & Co KG Hohenstaufenstrasse 13 – 27 60327 Frankfurt +49 (0)69 66962158 hello@brighttradeshow.com
www.brighttradeshow.com
www.brightmagazine.de
creative direction Marco Aslim, Thomas Martini
further contributors Linda Ehrl, Marius Farwig, Pascal Prehn, Tobias Röttger, Thomas Schottenloher
editor in chief / production Romy Uebel
editing Florian Biedermann, Justin Beard
production assistance Nada Carls
translation Galina Green, Paula Hedley
art direction Tobias Friedberg, Paale Lüdcke
www.madebysolid.com text Nikolaj Belzer, Hans-Christian Bussert, Nada Carls, Kai Frischemeier, Andreas Grüter, Lydia Heckl, Jan Joswig, Paul Kampfmann, Andreas Richter, Nicolette Scharpenberg, Roman Schönbichler, Michael Sohn, Romy Uebel
photography Lars Borges, Michael Breyer, Robert Eikelpoth, Rufus Exton, Amos Fricke, Katja Hentschel, Julia Luka Lila Nitzschke, Julia Schoierer, Stefanie Suchy, Thomas Wolfzettel
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print F&W Mediencenter GmbH Holzhauser Feld 2 83361 Kienberg
www.fw-medien.de
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Paula Hedley
Katja Hentschel
When she was 18, Katja Hentschel left her hometown in the East of Germany to spend the next nine years in “real” cities. Between San Francisco, Paris, New York, London, a visit to the pub and a master’s degree in developmental psychology, somewhere along the line she decided to become a photographer. An important trigger was the street fashion blog Glamcanyon.com, which she launched four years ago in order to capture the contemporary zeitgeist and street culture for future generations, which has meanwhile also achieved commercial success. For Bright Magazine she combed the German capital’s venues to capture the cool and the beautiful of Berlin’s nightlife. In the next ten years Katja hopes to have visited every country at least once, made her own film and built a school in India.
Without a shimmer of a doubt, Paula Hedley falls into the category “good planets are hard to find” – and we are very happy to have found her! The translator not only happens to be a pleasure to work with, she is also reliable, thorough and on the ball, and not just when it comes to fashion. So it’s no wonder that Paula, who was born in Newcastle but lives in Cologne, has already found the right words for countless cool mags and a plethora of clothing labels. She even spots mistakes in the original German texts, despite only having discovered her love for Germany and German at the tender age of 13 whilst on a school trip. But Positano is the place she dreams of retiring to one day – to learn Italian, of course. What else..?!
www.paula-hedley.de
Michael Breyer & Robert Eikelpoth
Two makes one – just like in the fusion of their images, Michael Breyer and Robert Eikelpoth are an ideal duo. The two photographers met five years ago in Berlin and have meanwhile declared Düsseldorf as their personal centre of the universe. Their pragmatic reason for this is that with a car full of equipment you can be in Amsterdam, Paris or London pretty quickly. When
the two aren’t shooting editorials, they potter around in their lab or test out their new developing machine. When it comes to jobs, nothing can surprise them anymore. Their motto, “In command and out of control”, is a commendable approach, which makes them almost predestined to work with Bright. This is the second time Michael and Robert have taken on our sneaker spread.
www.eikelpoth.com www.glamcanyon.com
Contributors
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Amos Fricke Pascal Prehn
You only need to glance at Pascal Prehn’s hulk of a figure to see he used to be a professional sportsman. Another positive side effect of his sporting past is that it laid the foundation for his sneaker passion and therefore his present job. After his first pair of shoes (Stefan Edberg Pro by adidas) countless others followed: particular gems of his extensive collection include the Danny Way 1 shoe by DC and the Chad Muska SP98, previously éS. So it stands to reason that after his studies Pascal founded a sneaker magazine, and nowadays works as an advisor for sneaker labels, as well as being co-organiser of the Sneakerness event. In December
he launched the German offshoot of Sneaker Freaker. And once again Pascal has chosen the styles of the season for our sneaker spread.
Tobias Röttger
HORT, HORT, again and again, HORT – despite the circuitous route, with the fourth issue of Bright Magazine, we have once again ended up with another member of the Berlin graphics collective. That’s not really difficult, as Tobias Röttger also gains points for aesthetics, philosophy and likeability. The 29-year-old has been part of the elite HORT crew for nine years now, meanwhile he has several prizes under his belt and has worked for a wide variety of clients. Since the end of 2010 he has been based in London, where he is pursuing his own new projects.
www.tobiasroettger.de
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The Berliner by choice, Amos Fricke, causes envy on many counts. For one thing his parents really had good taste when it came to choosing his first name, and for another he is one of the few youngsters born at the end of the 1980s (!) who, despite their young age, have really achieved success. After his degree course in visual communications with an emphasis on photography at Berlin’s University of the Arts he has worked for a variety of national and international magazines. His special aesthetic is revealed in small things like his incredibly subtle choice of models. A completely personal impression of his take on things can be seen at:
outlooksinsights.amosfricke.com
News PRO-Keds PRO Zeitgeist
Text: Nikolaj Belzer
Folk We are the Folk
Text: Hans-Christian Bussert Wrapped up warm in canvas parkas or thick merino cardigans, even the palest man dreams of a life in the great outdoors. British label Folk is just the ticket when it comes to kitting out modern urban utopians, who, instead of a weatherbeaten face, are more likely to have an art degree or a job in the creative industry. Founded in London in 2001, it’s the label’s attention to detail that really appeals to its clientele: Corozo nut buttons, detachable leather straps and extremely subtle labelling. The Folk man’s natural enemy, when it comes to clothing, is his girlfriend, who is rather partial to swiping his favourite pieces from under his nose. A fact that founder Cathal McAteer and team realised a long time ago, which is why a FOLK ladies’ collection is right at the top of their to-do list. Until that happens though, as well as the main collection, the three London stores will also start selling shoes for men and women under the name Shofolk, as well as accessories and ladies’ collections by other labels. Since the opening of the first Folk shop last November the question of whether the German girls are just as envious of their men’s attire as in England will soon be answered. Either way, the design and furnishings of the Munich address, which will be for “men only“ to begin with, are clearly oriented towards its London counterparts with “second-hand” timber and large marble busts. Staying faithful to Cathal’s motto: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, the plan for autumn-winter 2011 is continue with everything that has made the collections so strong up to now. In focus are materials from all corners of the globe: shirt fabrics from Japan, a special fabric developed in cooperation with a Portuguese spinning mill and hand-sewn items made of alpaca sourced from Peru.
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What do basketball legend Kareem-Abdul Jabbar and hip-hop grandmaster Damon Dash have in common? On separate occasions both have acted as figureheads of the PRO-Keds sneaker series. And that’s no coincidence. After all, PRO-Keds, whose history began in 1949 when it split off from its parent brand Keds, is not only one of the oldest, but certainly also one of the most prestigious sneaker brands around. It all began with the “Royal”, still today one of the few models that in terms of history, durability and timelessness can even compete with the legendary Converse Chucks. With the launch of the “Phantom”, and the further development to the “Royal Plus” which began about two years ago, PRO-Keds has mastered the leap into the new century. The original “Royal” design forms the basis, which from SS 2011 will be added to by elegant smooth leather or waxed canvas as main materials. The new materials upgrade the look of the “Royal Plus”, and with a little use over time, the vintage look is emphasised. Those who prefer lo-versions are well advised to go for the simple and stylish Royal CVO Canvas next summer. The 69er, with its solid leather sole, which became a symbol of the hip-hop and breakdance movement at the end of the 1970s, best illustrates the PRO-Keds philosophy: sleek, simple yet classic designs usually have a much longer half-life than comet-like trends.
www.keds.com
A Kind of Guise
Federation
First Rule – No Rules!
Text: Andreas Grüter A Kind of Guise are proving that fashion from Munich can be about more than a mania for opulence and luxury or the preservation of traditional Bavarian leather clad rusticism. Founded in the spring of 2009, the collective, which inhabits fields as diverse as fashion and product design as well as film, graphics and photography, is additionally unconventional in that its work appears sporadically outside the usual season-oriented collections, as well as being stylistically difficult to gauge. For example during a holiday in Italy they came up with their premier project entitled ‘01 09’: an endeavour to find an elegant solution for the re-use of old medicine ball leather transformed into bags. Project ‘02 09’ got off the ground just a few months later, with a hand-knitted hoodie, gym sack and matching belt strongly influenced by Native American handicrafts. In general the topic of handiwork seems one of the key coordinates for access to the universe of A Kind of Guise, in addition to the creation of innovative creative spaces. “The label is a constant work in progress that is guided more by the love for high quality finishing, robust materials and premium quality design than by a concrete business plan, which, by the way, we don’t even have. The fact that we are often to be found at our own production site is just part of the deal and reduces the pressure,” is the message coming from their headquarters. Not surprising with all of this self-confident unwieldiness that like-minded free spirits enjoy coming round to play now and again. This has resulted in a close collaboration with Harvest, Munich’s top address for street fashion. They‘ve also worked together with the style-conscious Danes from WoodWood on a limited collection. Although there is a friendly but strictly hushed silence when it comes to next year’s plans, which will involve showroom events at Berlin Fashion Week to launch the new men’s line, according to rumours a few children’s items will also be making an appearance. Regular visits to the label’s website are – not least because of the ‘Piece of the Month’ mini editions – highly recommended.
www.akindofguise.com
Avantgarde from Down Under
Text: Hans-Christian Bussert In the world of fashion there’s a slight problem with the two hemispheres: autumn/winter means the same in the northern hemisphere as it does in the south. But what remains unclear is which collection is being talked about and which comes first. Federation from Auckland in New Zealand solves the problem quite confidently: the northern autumn/winter 11 collections are a “best of” of the four winter collections, produced six months prior to that for the southern hemisphere (two each for men and women). One might be forgiven for thinking that Down Under is way ahead of the pack, that at Federation we are talking about a kind of New Zealand streetwear avantgarde. But Jenny and Nick Clegg, who founded the label ten years ago, don’t see it that way: “We simply design things that we’d like to wear ourselves.” Following this logic, the typical Federation customer will likely come from a skateboard background (like ex-skater Nick) and have a heightened interest in ingeniously designed streetwear (like fashion designer Jenny). And he/she obviously feels comfortable in the extra-long shirts, T-shirts with sprayed prints, the coated jeans and jackets that are more fashion than street, but nevertheless eminently wearable. Nick himself describes the label as “a little bit eccentric, as if hand drawn.” For 2011 the duo has big plans with a key focus on “international growth”. From their base in New Zealand they want to conquer the world: retail partners in Italy, Canada, Australia and Denmark are already looking forward to working with them. They also want to establish themselves in Dubai, Russia and Asia. But despite expansion, Federation attaches great importance to long-term cooperations. Proof of that is their long-running collaboration with DJ Steve Aoki and his record label “Dim Mak” – in 2011 another one of the coveted “Federation X Dim Mak” T-shirts will be available in the collection.
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Supra Über–Shoes
Fenchurch Strictly London Street
Text: Nikolaj Belzer At its peak the British Empire was home to more than 450 million people covering a quarter of the earth’s landmass. Admittedly Fenchurch Clothing has a slightly more relaxed approach but still in barely ten years the label from the island has managed to be represented in 24 countries, in small independent skate shops as well as in larger chain stores. Even customers in Asia and in the USA are thrilled by its truly British identity. It all began in 1999 in South East London – in Fenchurch Street to be precise. The small street is known mainly for one thing: its train station, which is used daily by thousands of commuters. Its extensive network of branching tracks gave the founders the idea for the label logo. What also makes this corner of the British capital so appealing is the still-tangible air of tradition. Just a stone’s throw away from the banks of the Thames, there are traditional pubs where bankers, artists from the galleries around Whitechapel and East London punters rub shoulders, enjoying a pint after work. This class-straddling trait flows into Fenchurch clothing’s designs where casual cuts
meet classic materials. This principle also works well in the shoe collection, which is well worth a look. In January 2011 the Londoners are also introducing a small but elect denim range with basic cuts in down-to-earth washes and a penchant for detail.
Text: Nikolaj Belzer In just a few years the very young footwear label Supra has managed to put its stamp on the sneaker market with fresh and surprising designs. An international team with its home base in California, and a healthy positioning within skate culture, are the ingredients for an unparalleled success story. Shoes from Supra, which is Latin for “over”, appeared on the market for the first time in 2006 and immediately shone with understatement. Only the plain lettering on the sole and the little crown act as distinguishing features, apart from that, it is the naturally chic design that dominates. After all, what Supra recognised long before many others: it’s no longer about having one pair of shoes in your cupboard for the street, one for work and a third for going out. All-in-one is the statement, laid-back and yet elegant. Models like “Dixon” or “Thunder” master this balancing act effortlessly. Styles like “Society”, a hi-top sneaker with comfort sole and Velcro fastener in preference to the classic hi-top design, also prove that the makers of Supra aren’t so much interested in imitating successful sneaker models of the larger brands, but rather in consistently looking ahead. What are the needs of the urban creative; the guy that skates to work on his board, where he gives presentations in front of clients and in the evening drops by the sophisticated Italian restaurant for dinner? As well as comfort and multifunctionality the primary aim is to show new and interesting directions in shoe design. At the forefront of this development is the “Henry Boot Tuf” for all of those who want to be in on the boot trend, but don’t want to forgo that sneaker feeling. A shoe in which the makers combine the robustness of an authentic boot with the sportiness of a sneaker – after all, the next freezing winter is always around the corner.
www.fenchurch.com www.suprafootwear.com
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Element Ontour
River Deep, Mountain High
Text: Nicolette Scharpenberg You’re on a trip to a mountain lake with your skate buddies. You have your rucksack on your back, you’re kitted out in your well-worn jeans and skate sneakers and looking for the perfect place to pitch up your old tent and set up your little camp fire – now would be the perfect time to be wearing a jacket from the Wolfeboro collection by Element. There’s no mistaking the fact that Johnny Schillereff is extremely at one with nature. In 1992 he founded the skateboard brand Element in Atlanta: water, fire, earth and air provide its foundation and sustainability and environmental protection are firm pillars of the company’s philosophy to this day. As a result of Schillereff‘s innovative drive the new “Wolfeboro Collection” of jackets was released in 2010. It complements the basic range of outerwear and has a clear focus on functionality, robustness and particular wearing comfort.
On Strike!
Text: Lydia Heckl Lavish anniversary celebrations and the crowning five years birthday bash, which took place in October in their home town of Eindhoven, have not prevented Ontour from completing their designs for the coming year. Which is a good thing as, over the last few seasons, the previously small T-shirt label has developed into a globally active brand, which captivates its wearers with the fusion of streetwear, fashion and product design resulting in a holistic end product. Under the motto “On Strike” label owners Etienne Dekkers and Remco van der Velden are sending a whole host of stylish shirts and organic cotton outerwear on tour for A/W 2011/12. They took their inspiration “from the feeling that we had back when we founded Ontour – when we quit our jobs and were just free and independent.” And this non-conformism is reflected in the designs: unusual shapes and a strong graphic statement – guaranteed to be anything but mainstream! The harmonious message may primarily be down to the label’s involvement in the neighbouring music, art and design scene. And so people, objects and events become the source from which new ideas are constantly drawn for the further development of the collections. What goes Ontour stays Ontour.
Schillereff took his inspiration from his memories of the quaint little lakeside cabin near Wolfeboro (New Hampshire), built by his great-grandfather in 1926 for his family, which became their second home. The range appeared for the first time in autumn 2010 and has been an integral part of the collection ever since. With retail prices between 100 and 180 Euros it is aimed at core skate shops, as well as concept stores and smaller street boutiques. And from a stylish point of view, Wolfeboro attire is not only suitable for a rendezvous by a mountain lake. For the upcoming autumn-winter season the label will also be taking on the themes of hunting, engineering and mountaineering. Pull-on jackets, parkas, woollen duffle coats, college jackets, thick workwear cardigans, functional reversible down jackets and gilets made of waxed cotton and robust canvas fabrics are extremely versatile and: elementary.
www.elementeurope.com www.ontour.nl
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Scenes From a Picture-Perfect Marriage
Text: Andreas Richter In the real world one would say: Etnies and skateboarding are approaching their silver wedding anniversary. In the world of decks, halfpipes and ollies it is simply a love story beyond compare. In 2011 Etnies is celebrating its 25-year anniversary, and with it the interaction with its scene, which has become more passionate, knowledgeable and understanding with every passing year. And let’s be honest: how many married couples of the same age can claim that? Without a doubt the major contribution to the brand’s success can be attributed to CEO Pierre André Senizergues. He had made a name for himself as a pro skater in the late 1980s; as a shoe designer in 1989 he started working on the fledgling label, which, when it was founded in 1986 was still trading under the name Etnics. In the same year, Pierre André opened up the channels of distribution into the USA for the originally French brand with its focus on the European skate and surf markets. The structural transfer payments from across the pond soon did their work in consolidating the brand. In 1990 Etnies played host to the first Masters of Skateboarding contest. The portfolio of pros skating for Etnies grew: skaters like Natas Kaupas, Eric Dressen, Sal Barbier and Jason Rogers were first to pound the streets in classic high-top sneakers. The design development was clearly oriented towards the needs of the skaters: soon they were demanding low-tops – Etnies provided the Classic Lo-Cut, an immediate standard and blueprint for countless follow-up models by other manufacturers.
And as it should be in any proper marriage, soon afterwards the first children saw the light of day. With éS, Emerica and ThirtyTwo, Pierre André launched subsidiary companies, which were organised under the parent company Sole Technology Inc. that was founded in 1996 – throughout the product and sales diversification, products for BMX and motocross racers, surfers and snowboarders were also created. By the end of the century Etnies had grown to become one of the most significant and biggest brands on the skate scene; the headquarters were now based in Lake Forest, California. It was a location from where, with increasing business expertise, aspects like sustainability, ecological and social responsibility became more and more pertinent. Under the patronage of Etnies, the biggest skate park in the federal state was created in 2003 with the Lake Forest Skatepark; Etnies was involved in benefit events, cultural sponsorships and regular donation appeals. And they still are today. Just recently programmes by Etnies to educate people and overcome autism and breast cancer were established. So there is a good deal of social responsibility going on, but we can assume that they will still somehow find the time to fittingly celebrate their upcoming anniversary. Pierre André told us what the label’s 25th birthday means to him in an interview.
Etnies
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Etnies will soon be celebrating its 25-year anniversary. What does that mean to you, in terms of leading the company, but also as a skater and an individual? Anniversaries are great because they help you pause and reflect on everything that you’ve accomplished. It is crazy for me to think that we’ve been doing this for 25 years. Nevertheless, we’d decided to celebrate our 25 years by not looking to the past, but to the future and what the next 25 hold. If you think about how many changes skateboarding has gone through during this time, we can only imagine what will happen in the next quarter of a century. Technology and environmental protection are two very hot topics in our world today, so we’re focusing on
how we can incorporate them more into the future of skateboarding. As a skater it’s pretty incredible to see what we’ve been able to accomplish. I started designing shoes with Etnies back in those early days, when no one was doing this for skateboarders, until then they were just taking existing shoes and selling them to us. We were the first skateboarders to make shoes for skateboarders and look at the industry that has developed from these efforts. Back then there was a huge demand, which hasn’t stopped for 25 years and I’m sure that nothing will change about that.
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What is the secret? How do you preserve your young image? Be true to yourself, we’re not 25 years old, we’re 25 years young and we’re just doing what we love to do.
What would you consider the biggest challenges when thinking of leading the company into its next quarter of a century? I truly believe that our planet is in terrible shape, so I do worry about what challenges we’ll be facing in the coming 25 years. We’re already seeing the environment struggle and this in turn impacts business. It also impacts us in what we love to do – we need clean air to skate, clear water to surf and snow in order to snowboard. This is why I believe that every company must care about its own business practices and strive to make changes with the environment in mind. We’re not perfect either, but since we decided to embark on this journey quite some time ago, we can already see the first results. More companies can and need to do this, and they have to start now, not just in 25 years. Your company is known for its awareness of environmental issues. What would you consider as your biggest efforts in this matter so far and in what way will you continue on that path? We started out doing things when it wasn’t well known for a company to take an interest in their own environmental impact. At the time, back in 2000, it was really hard to figure out how to build our company headquarters in an environmentally-friendly way and how to get solar panels installed. Nowadays there is so much more awareness and it is a lot easier for people to do something for the environment.
What would you say is the most important thing your career has taught you? My work requires me to travel a lot so I’ve encountered many different cultures that have given me perspectives into different points of view. I’ve discovered new values and ways of life. I’ve learned that even with diversity there are many things that unite us. No matter what culture you exist in, I’ve seen that everyone needs a passion and a commitment for something to make a difference. The most important lesson that I’ve learned is that we make a difference in our lives by how much we give.
www.etnies.com
Lakai Long Live Rick!
Text: Nada Carls
Brixton Hang on to Your Hats Text: Hans-Christian Bussert Whether fisherman’s cap, flat cap or fedora – the designers at Brixton from Oceanside in California don’t stop at any shape or form of head covering. What they all have in common is their excellent workmanship all the way down to the lovingly designed silk lining. At Brixton they like to work with creatives from other branches too – most recently with the godlike greasers from Deus Ex Machina in Sydney. For the past few seasons Brixton has also been delivering the rest of the outfit along with its hats, at least down to the waistline. Here too, the timeless look dominates, modelling itself on American workwear: leather jackets, quilted woollen shirts, classic baseball jerseys. The focus is clearly on the men’s collection. Some styles are on offer exclusively for ladies, but until now it hasn’t been enough to comprise a whole collection. Next season, however, promises to be one of the most productive to date – including a wider range on offer for the ladies. Apart from that, it’s all about the hats. Surf fans will appreciate the canvas cap, developed with Mitch Abshere, who is also known as “Captain Fin”. Other collaborations with the artists Russ Pope, Dave Hansen and Rick Molinar prove the label has certainly got its thinking cap on when it comes to finding inspiration.
It would be over the top to claim that Lakai was born out of necessity. But upon closer inspection, a pro who skates full-time can certainly to some extent be described as in need if he doesn’t like his shoes and isn’t earning enough sponsor money for wearing them either. That was how it was for Mike Carroll and Rick Howard and reason enough for them to set up Lakai in 1999. “The Shoes We Skate” is still the mission statement of the Californian label to this very day and according to Kelly Bird, brand manager of Lakai, who has been a part of the management team since day one, team spirit, a good mood and honesty are what define the spirit. So there’s no sign of the actual meaning of Lakai (French for “foot soldier” or “servant”) – on the contrary: all those who can call themselves members of the pro team can count themselves lucky. Just recently Vincent Alvarez was awarded pro status; Raven Tershy, Riley Hawk and Daniel Espinoza are providing a breath of fresh air. For autumn 2011 Lakai has plenty up its sleeve: further collaborations with Girl, Chocolate and 4start are on the cards, they’ll also be working on their in-house sole technologies Lakaitning and XLK, extending the premium line Echelon and new models of the MJ, Cairo and Rick Howard will be presented. Obviously still traumatised by the experience of aching feet from earlier pro times, these days Lakai is ensuring improvement and damage limitation for the subsequent generation. And because the light sole system XLK is enjoying great popularity amongst the team skaters, in the future it will be incorporated into the Rick Howard model and thereby
www.brixton.com offers an ideal functional and style combination. Suede uppers, crystal rubber sole plus style details make the Rick a skate shoe that is far removed from basic kicks. “If you’re familiar with the Jericho by Lakai from previous seasons, you can regard the new Rick as its durable evolutionary next step,” explains Bird. Our recommendation: like it and ride it!
www.lakai.com
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Loreak Mendian From Aeroplane Wings to Alpine Flowers
Text: Andreas Richter Even if, in these latitudes, the name isn’t an easy one to remember without reading over it a couple of times, it is definitely the right choice. Loreak Mendian is Basque and means alpine flower. A meaning that the label, which was founded in 1996 in San Sebastian, has certainly succeeded in translating into its collection. The clothes are characterised by a particularly natural design without getting caught up in the loose-knit fair trade aesthetic. Their topicality is in the detail; the silhouette, however, remains timeless with clean lines and pronounced functionality. As straight as the aeroplane wings that head designer Xabi Zirikiain designed before he started working for
Loreak Mendian on the collection and logo design. Admittedly, a jacket from the Basque streetwear workshop breathes more contemporary zeitgeist than an aeroplane component ever could – which makes it all the more pleasing that Zirikiain and his business partner Victor Serna have managed to unite both aspects in their collection: the world of utility and the tasteful streetwear look. An approach that has already inspired collaborations with Vans and Camper and is still the central theme for projects still in the pipeline. Simultaneously, in the quickly expanding L.M. cosmos they tend to think in an interdisciplinary way: it’s not simply a fashion label, but also a cultural phenomenon and an interface between music, design and architecture.
www.loreakmendian.com
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Knowledge Cotton Apparel The Organic Message
Texte: Lydia Heckl On closer inspection, the history of the Danish family business Knowledge Cotton Apparel reveals itself to be an in-depth study on the topic of sustainability. It began in 1969, the year in which businessman Jørgen Mørups founded a small textile factory in Jutland. He began modestly, with the production of a limited batch of high quality cotton sports textiles. Nowadays J. Mørups’ textile factory is one of the biggest organic cotton producers in northern Europe. Good ideas tend to be infectious and so it’s hardly surprising that junior Mads Mørups, who spent his childhood between spinning machines and dye vats, would follow in the footsteps of his father Jørgen. With the founding of the fashion label Knowledge Cotton Apparel he created his own vision of quality and design with strong connections to tradition and family history. With a large helping of optimism and passion he further developed the idea of sustainability for the coming generation. The aim is to hammer an ecological awareness and social commitment into the head of the wearer. Knowledge, and knowledge imparted, is the consistent credo. It is clear that the idea is systematic, reflected in the smart casual styles of the autumn/ winter 2011/12 collection, consisting solely of ecologically sustainable, recycled, resource-sparing, fair-trade materials. And the Mørups are taking it one step further: by 2015 they want to have spared the environment 150 tons of pesticide by using 100% certified organic cotton. The bottom line: a likeable family business with idealist aspirations!
www.knowledgecottonapparel.com
Mazine Everybody From Everywhere
Text: Nada Carls
Flaek Handmade in Germany
Text: Nada Carls Hatched from the plans for a collaborative degree project, it’s something that only two media-designer students, bloggers and sneaker nerds could come up with over a beer in the pub. Sven Matschinsky and Oliver Baumgart are the smart boys from Oldenburg in northern Germany who in 2009 hit on the idea of developing their own sneaker – name: “Kaalen Hi”, label: Flaek! With an open admission of label polygamy, a good nose for online marketing and niche creation in web 2.0 and the vision of a timeless, high quality and 100 percent Germanproduced sneaker, the two founders of the sneaker blog sneakerized.com made it up as they went along, without defining their aims in advance: “We’re not really bothered whether the end product is a label that brings out a small series or if it ends up remaining a really limited edition of two pairs,” they stated. So that fans and sceptics could follow every step of the one-year sneaker metamorphosis and comment on it, the duo are documenting their journey from preliminary designs to the individual parts from a local traditional manufacturer all the way to the prototype, via the Flaek blog, twitter and facebook. With success: the final prototype for the Kaalen Hi was ready in December 2010, the basis for the first small production series of the first hi-top sneaker from the house of Flaek. After one and a half years of dedicated planning, repeatedly adding finishing touches and making improvements in materials and workmanship, finally the first East-Friesian sneaker in sneaker history “Handmade in Germany” will be launched, setting new benchmarks in terms of quality, as the calfskin inner and outer material (which is even used for the insole!) shows. Available in two colourways to start with: black-charcoal and charcoalblack – premium quality far removed from mass produced, off-the-peg goods, as the East Friesian would say: daat is een annern Snack (or that’s a whole different kettle of fish!)
www.flaek.com
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For twelve years now Mazine has been a reliable fixture in matters of sporty stylish streetwear from the perhaps most unappreciated underground in Germany, the Ruhr region. And the area’s local patriotism didn’t go unnoticed in the hallways of the summer Bright, when, on the Saturday afternoon the goals scored by Schalke were shamelessly cheered and hollered from the Mazine stand. Incidentally, the football fan existence of founders Niko Sarantopoulos and Henry Canton preceded an active basketball career in the 1990s. Despite this affinity to sport the pair fortunately never forgot their passion for textiles and soon afterwards materialised their good taste under the name Mazine. Both their collections and marketing have never been mainstream, loud or overpowering – on the contrary: Mazine stands for exciting artist collaborations from diverse genres, creative cuts and graphics, and the makers are also known for supporting special events and artists from the non-commercial segment. Not everyone’s heard of them, and they don’t have to be popular: running after trends? No, thanks! “Providing a home for those who connect by attitude and not by scene affiliation” – is how they describe what they do in their own eloquent words. And they’ll be continuing to set an example in 2011: on the schedule is a re-branding with a new fresh Mazine logo, a collaboration with hardcore label “Reaper Records” and the opening of a new showroom in the Lower East Side in New York City, to also gain a foothold overseas at long last. And not forgetting the clothes of course: the spring 2011 collection is inspired by sportswear classics and more than does justice to the motto “Summer in the City” with rich colours, figure-enhancing shapes and functional materials. From Schalke to New York City – we can’t wait!
www.mazine.de
All Above Board
Text: Michael Sohn Jake Burton Carpenter didn’t invent snowboarding, he was born a few decades too late for that. But ever since he started putting together the first boards in his garage in Vermont in 1977, he has significantly contributed to turning an eccentric hobby for a handful of risk-takers into a boardsport appreciated by millions. Nowadays his company, with 958 employees, is represented everywhere that boards meet snow. As well as the headquarters in Burlington, Vermont, since 1986 it also includes the Burton Sportartikel GmbH in Innsbruck, as well as a further branch in Tokyo. As snowboarding is mostly practiced under climatic conditions that we as humans are not necessarily perfectly adapted to, and the wild animals whose furs warmed our ancestors, have become a rarity, it is rather practical that Burton not only produces boards, but also has a wide range of soft goods. And as well as looking great, they are also technically up-to-date. Greg Dacyshyn’s impressive job title is Chief Creative Officer and he is the man who ensures that the steady stream of innovative ideas doesn’t
dry up: “Gore-Tex continues to be a big part of our line and is integrated more than ever in our outerwear, even in the lower price segments. And of course we’re also featuring Burton’s Dryride 3L, 2L and Softshell. Thermacore insulation still exists in many lower-priced outerwear pieces and some gloves, but we’re also using 3M Thinsulate in many styles including 3M X-Static antimicrobial insulation on higher-end pieces. And in 2012 we’ll be introducing the Trail-Mapping system in Burton jackets – a new, strategically designed system for outerwear linings and insulations.”
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Burton is also proving its innovative spirit in the development of new business segments. Since 1996 Burton has founded or purchased independent companies that complement the portfolio: R.E.D. for protective equipment (helmets etc.), Gravis for lifestyle apparel including shoes and bags, ANON supplies goggles for the slopes, in 2003 Analog released its first own clothing collection under the Californian sun. Under the label “The Program” Burton consolidated the snowboard brands Forum Snowboards, Special Blend, Foursquare and Jeenyus. And as not everyone is partial to sporting activities on frozen water, they got the surf specialists from Channel Islands on board too. Greg also acts as the daddy of the brand family. Every individual brand has to maintain its own identity: “To be honest, these days I can’t spend so much time on the external brands, since I have been overseeing Burton’s
whole product design and marketing as Chief Creative Officer. In general, it’s important to get into the headspace of potential customers. Every label has its own DNA and that’s exactly what each range has to be oriented towards. A love for snowboarding is naturally the link that pulls it all together at Burton, but we always need to be thinking what all snowboarders want, with their different boarding styles, from all age groups, all over the world, with the most diverse of needs.”
Burton
Another important factor in raising the profile, which has become an integral part of the label’s dealings, is organising collaborations with key players from the worlds of fashion, art and sport. In this field Greg has already bagged several projects with Playboy, adidas and the Andy Warhol Foundation. The Whammy Bar Marley board (featuring pictures of reggae icon Bob Marley) was recently delivered to selected retailers. Stripe fan Paul Smith has collaborated with Burton four times now: “Given that the first three cooperations were soft-goods based, it was a natural transition to move to hardgoods: and the 2011 Burton Vapor Snowboard. It made total sense, as Paul Smith loved the innovation of the board, and we loved the idea of blending his high standards of polish and refinement with the latest snowboard technology.” Greg didn’t want to give too much away about the products that will be presented at Bright, only revealing the themes of some of the collections: “You’ll be hearing buzz about ‘Twin Peaks’ and ‘Dark Horizon’ for men, and ‘Boyish Charm’ and ‘Disparate Junkie’ for women.” It all sounds rather dark, but the sporty attitude will still be present. And now a question which will interest all creatives: how has Greg managed to continue setting trends for so many years? “My job is to get inspired by something – and then incorporate it into the collection. So what inspires me? Travel for sure is number one, discovering new places. But it’s not enough to just travel somewhere and go shopping. Thanks to blogs and online stores everyone knows what’s going on just sitting at their desks. If you think that you’re going to design great stuff just by looking at what everyone else is doing, then you’re way behind. Our aim is to develop something new every day. I totally agree with Paul Smith who said that you can find inspiration in everything. Going out, being curious and sucking in as much information and impressions as possible is what works for me.” And it’s obviously working very well. Which is perhaps also why Burton grants his staff privileges that other companies this size don’t: if two feet of snow fall overnight, the staff are allowed to skip work and hit the slopes, using a season lift pass provided by the company
www.burton.com
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Les Ettes Snow Doesn’t Stink
Text: Hans-Christian Bussert “It might be a man‘s world, but we make it smell better!” would be the song lyrics if Les Ettes ever did a cover version of James Brown’s top hit. But Les Ettes aren’t a band; they are a cosmetics label, which doesn’t make their aspiration to shape the world according to their own wishes any less significant – on the contrary. But the ladies at Les Ettes have recognised that the still male-dominated world of boardsports is easier to win over with quiet scents rather than loud singing along to the often monotone tune of ‘T-shirt, jacket, trousers’. That’s why it’s not quite enough to simply assume that the common snowboarding backgrounds of the Les Ettes girls led them to perfume because they were fed up with the smell of sweaty boots. No, with the launch of their label in 2007 it was more about producing perfume that met their own criteria, rather than the considerations of the cosmetics industry. So the scents Flor-ette, Want-ette, Sol-ette and Lov-ette are all light scents without an alcohol base, produced as environmentallyfriendly as possible. That and producing scents with integrity are the top priorities at Les Ettes. Second priority is the productive cooperation with women from their cosmos. Juli-ette for
example is ex-snowboarder, ex-metal musician, ex-Vogue model and now fixed-gear professional, are reasons enough to create Juliet Elliott’s own “signature” lip gloss. It goes without saying that as well as being a fresh red, the gloss also has enough UV-protection to protect delicate lips from the glacial sun. For 2011/12 Les Ettes are focusing on smart cooperations with other brands: for example the “Feelbetter” snowboard produced with Bataleon, or the beauty case developed together with Zimtstern, which includes a handy flacon of Want-ette. And to counter the aforementioned “stinky feet” they’ve developed the “Smelling Goggle” goggles by Spy that are perfumed with Love-ette. And word on the streets is that there might be a collaboration with Bright! Watch Out!
www.lesettes.com
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Holden Return to the Soul
Text: Andreas Grüter In the boardsports and streetwear segments, where the aim is always to be as independent as possible, the step from self-determined indie brand to appendage of a major label hardly attracts attention anymore these days. But if it happens the other way round heads certainly turn. As was the case with Portland-based snowboard and outerwear clothing label Holden. Founded in 2002 by professional snowboarder Mikey LeBlanc and designer Scott Zergebel as an exclusive spinoff of Earth Products and K2 Sports, they soon made a name for themselves on the scene with their stylistically visionary designs, which attempted to negate the baggy ideal of the time. Five years later the duo seized the chance to steer clear of the entire mainstream business whilst squabbles were taking place concerning the takeover of K2 by the US corporation Jarden. A pretty risky step, especially in hindsight with the looming financial crisis. But a step that certainly proved to be the right one, not only due to the 100% self-determination factor, but also due to the rewards in the shape of various prizes for design and environmental sustainability for a collection made partly with hemp and recycled plastic bottles as materials. The autumn/winter 2011/12 season is dominated by styles that are highly technological but outwardly subtle in their appearance. Holden’s inspiration for the now omnipresent streetwear label is the wide field of classic timeless American heritage, which is characterised by military elements as well as football and baseball looks.
www.holdenouterwear.com
Ambiguous Living in Style
Text: Nikolaj Belzer At the end of the day we all want the same thing: to look good while at the same time feeling as comfortable as we would lazing around on the couch. Ambiguous Clothing – the name gives it away – have found the solution: their innovative and tasteful combination of styling and comfort was originally conceived to fulfil their own personal needs, but it was soon pretty obvious that it would become more than that. Nowadays the label crew, consisting of skaters, musicians and artists, earn their crust with their garment-making, and their fan base keeps on growing. When perusing the new collection it is the unusual finishing touches, high quality materials and a liberal dash of vintage that really catch the eye. The fact that the makers aren’t just getting inspiration from their own creative lives but are also giving something back is demonstrated by initiatives like the Bouil’hot Art Show. They started off by sending hot water bottles to graphic artists all over the world. And just in time for the onset of winter the artistically designed custom-made originals came back and not only warmed the hearts of design lovers. As part of the “ambiguous artists addicted association” (4A) the label also supports various urban artists in their work. And in return sometimes the street art will end up as a motif on one of their garments. It’s about so much more than just portraying a lifestyle: it’s also about keeping it alive.
www.ambiguousclothing.com 27 – Bright Magazine
Yackfou
Stue
Doing it Differently
The Kids Are Alright
Text: Nada Carls
Text: Nada Carls
These two guys from BerlinFriedrichshain have done everything right. Differently, yet still successfully. Or perhaps that’s exactly the reason for their success. In 2003 when Martin Krusche and Tobias Herrmann started out as Yackfou printing their graphics onto T-shirts as wearable art, they didn’t actually have any plans: Sunday flea market sales instead of clever business plans, an eclectic use of typos instead of logo, ID or CI – basically everything
As a little person you are inadvertently part of a disadvantaged marginal group: everything is always somehow too big, too long or too wide. Another complaint: not growing fast enough yet still having a pronounced awareness of trends! This is a problem kids with style have – clothing by cool brands are even too big in the smallest sizes and the corresponding kid’s clobber is often too light blue, too pink, too uncool, too mainstream. Fortunately the streetwear industry recognised this injustice a few years ago and began tackling the problem. More and more labels are catering to the demand and are offering sneakers, hoodies or logo print babygrows in their own kidswear ranges. And how lucky for parents of exasperated teens that there are shops which really strike a chord: the Stue store in Düsseldorf offers streetwear for kids between six and twelve years of age – from Bench, Ezekiel, Iriedaily, Paul Frank to Volcom, they’re all there. Sneaker labels like Asics, Onitsuka Tiger, adidas, Converse, DC, Nike 6.0 and Vans leave no wishes unfulfilled when it comes to mini footwear. And most importantly: the corporate design of Stue is by no means childish, but on the contrary sleek and in principle rather grown-up. Since October the Stue store has also been offering its selected sneaker and streetwear collection including accessories, BMX and skate decks online for sale throughout Europe. A big step for little stylistas.
that management consultants advise against in your own best interests. The direct feedback from customers, their self-image as artists and their unabated creativity are still the primary incentives of their work today. The result: two collections a year featuring tees, hoodies, dress sweaters and accessories, a buyer bandwidth that ranges from the local skate shop to big player Planet Sports, and their own Yackfou shop in Friedrichshain, which opened in 2008. Their SS 2011 collection is ushering in familiar topics such as narrative illustrations, logos and drawings in lovingly colourful, but also simple graphic and geometric elements, that are revealed as ornamental and delicate handdrawn patterns. In addition to all of that are gimmicks like glow-in-the-dark effects. It all sounds very much like they are “staying true to themselves” – the likeable alternative to business-like conceptualising.
www.yackfou.com
www.stuestore.com
Djinns
From Wallabees to Wannabees
Text: Nada Carls When mothers say to their kids: “Stop complaining, just try harder!” it’s usually pretty annoying. When a retailer has a top-selling shoe but it’s only available in three colourways, that’s pretty annoying too and a mother’s admonishments could suddenly be a real recipe for success. For Jens Hüsken, founder of the German shoe label Djinns, it may have been a blessing in disguise. As a trained retailer with traditional background – a textile retailer father, training at the Nagold College for Textiles, first career experience gained at Replay – Hüsken opened his own streetwear shop Orange County in Mülheim in 2001, followed shortly after by a branch in Ratingen. The hip-hop shoe classic and Wu-Tang favourite “Clark’s Wallabee” was a bestseller in Hüsken’s shops. The only drawback was that there were too few colours and even more annoying was the fact that his neighbours in Holland had a much broader range of colours. So Hüsken
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made a virtue out of necessity and founded his own label Djinns. Based on the Clark’s moccasin silhouette a collection comprising six different models all produced in Germany was launched, simply and succinctly called “Original Djinns Wannabee”. Hüsken remembers back to the early days: “There were no samples, the shoes were sold on the strength of the drawings.” He describes the Wannabee as “anti-sneakers – not sport, not fashion, just style that isn’t subordinate to any particular
Since 2005 Hüsken has extended the Djinns product range with sneaker and yachting styles as well as caps and belts, often available as hook-ups, for example with matching cap and shoes. After almost ten years label history Djinns can also look back on numerous collaborations with label acquaintances like Hessenmob, DRMTM, Wemoto and artists like Boris Hoppeck, Emil Kozak, Skwak and Henry Obasi. In 2011 a collaboration with the Californian label “Breezy Excursion” is planned as well as a move away from the bright sneaker models back to the classic colourways and shapes of the Wannabees.
www.djinns.eu
fashion.” As a timeless companion, the Original Djinns Wannabee has been produced in almost 50 designs, including printed leather, laser embossing in all kinds of variations and diverse colour and material combinations.
R: MADS JONSSON P: BLOTTO 29 – Bright Magazine
WWW.BURTON.COM RIDER SERVICE EUROPE 00800 287 866 13 (TOLL FREE) VISIT US AT BRIGHT: BOOTH 154/1
The man is very busy. So it’s no wonder that his résumé is quasi the American dream of the streetwear business: from a do-it-yourself guy and marketer of printed T-shirts to the head honcho of an 18-man mini empire with creative agency, own label, gallery and multi-brand stores in New York and Tokyo. His name is Jeff Staple and visitors to his office in the Lower Eastside have come to the right place if they want to chat about street culture or pigeons. Jeff Staple was born 36 years ago in New Jersey, is, contrary to popular belief not Japanese, but Chinese, and describes himself as a creative, nocturnal workaholic. Streetwear legend Hiroshi Fujiwara is one of his best friends and he regularly philosophises with Futura and discusses his art. His unconditional identification with street culture, his design affinity and last but not least his very own hallmarks have made him one of the most popular collaborators for clients from diverse industries – Nike, Microsoft, Lotus, Timberland, Mountain Dew, Sony, Oakley, Urban Outfitters – he’s had them all! Staple defines street culture as an attitude of independent thinking, likes to talk of “we” and “us”, the attitude of doing what one wants to do and not what one should do. But the fact that an image has also resulted from this attitude is something he regrets and much prefers to see himself as a representative of creative minds and other DIY types. Which is why he chose the pigeon as figurehead for his label: while others go for horses and crocodiles, he believes that the tenacious stray birds represent the urban cityscape. So all the more fitting that a little Staple can be found cooing in the gutter of every street corner in New York. In 1997 Staple began selling self-produced T-shirts; his first customers included a shop from Japan and the dedicated streetwear stores Union and Triple 5 Soul in SoHo, in which he shopped himself as a young whippersnapper. 15 years later and New York’s streetwear scene is looking very different: Union and Triple 5 Soul have had to close; Staple’s shopping world, on the other hand, is growing and thriving. Since 2003 it has also included the multi-brand store Reed Space, which is really going for it with labels like Acronym, Stüssy, Carhartt, aNYthing, Crooks & Castles, The Hundreds, plus a bookshop-style magazine department with the finest street culture literature, music and toys. Staple decided against a mono-store, as he prefers to see his designs in the company of brands, artists, music and magazines that he is inspired by himself. The Reed Space branch in Tokyo opened in 2006 and the Reed Space Annex for exhibitions or temporary popup stores followed in 2007. In 2009 he even decided to take advantage of his good run and get involved in the world of publishing with the Reed Centre from which he publishes the Reed Pages.
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Staple explains the fast pace as follows: “These days New York is like a fast machine, as soon as anything ‘cool’ appears, it immediately has to be processed, packaged and sold. If you put the brakes on, it spits you out. You can’t let creative processes grow slowly or organically anymore. Berlin, on the other hand, still has what it takes. I love Berlin. The energy is dope and reminds me of New York in the eighties!“ So the fact that Staple took on the design of the advertisements and cover ID for the winter 2011 edition of the Bright Tradeshow seems logical considering his affection for the city. The design, created with no sign of pigeons or loud branding, expresses his abstract associations with Bright. And what else will the new year bring? For this coming autumn the multi-talent has the future and technology-oriented collection “Autoshop” up his sleeve, which was created in cooperation with a partner from the automobile industry. As well as workwear reminiscences, grey tones and black define the image and rough materials like steel mesh fabric or functional details give chinos and button-down shirts their raw look. So after the success of the Staple pop-up store in Hawaii in 2010 can we expect a Reed Space in Berlin any time soon? An extremely realistic option, says Mr Staple. We think so too!
www.stapledesign.com www.thereedspace.com
Text: Nada Carls
I love Berlin to death
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Is your T-shirt stain-free, are your trainers clean and your jeans worn in?! Then your trade fair feel-good look is complete and now nothing will stand in the way of your unlimited sales success! Once again we’re presenting a selection of our favourite distributors and sales experts clad in their Bright uniforms, whether in touch with nature in the woods, maritime by the sea or rolling on the ramp – they’re always best-dressed wherever they are!
“Stay true to yourself!” Heida Birgisdottir Nikita Reykjavik, Iceland Brands: Nikita Uniform: Scarf: Nikita, Jacket: Nikita, Dress: Nikita, Leggings: Nikita, Shoes: Mentor by Rützau
www.nikitaclothing.com
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My Bright Uniform
“The grass won’t grow faster even if you pull on it“ Marco Frey R.O.U.G.H Distribution Bodelshausen, Germany Brands: Aeme, Alpinestars, Altamont, Brixton, Deathwish, Emerica, és, Innes, Ipath, Record, Santa Cruz, Shake Junt, World Industries Uniform: Cap: Brixton, Shirt: Brixton, T-Shirt: Santa Cruz, Trousers: Altamont, Shoes: Ipath
www.rough.de
“Life means change!” Kyung-Ah Meiers Obey Germany Bochum, Germany Brands: Obey Uniform: Scarf: from Daddy, Cardigan: Obey, Tee: Obey, Skirt: Obey, Trainers: adidas Sneakers on Tour
www.obeygermany.com
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“Design Unlikely Futures” Charlie Tidball Analog Clothing & Gravis Footwear Hossegor, France
“If it’s not meant to be, it’s not meant to be“ Brands: Analog Clothing, Gravis Footwear
Petra Schröckeneder Agentur schauRaum Salzburg, Austria
Uniform: Beanie: Analog, T-Shirt: Analog, Denim: Analog, Shoes: Gravis
Brands:
www.analogclothing.com www.gravisfootwear.com
Hurley Uniform: Beanie: Brixton, Waistcoat: Hurley, T-Shirt: Forvert, Trousers: Hurley, Shoes: Nike
www.hurley.at
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”Now or never“ Mike Sprunkel Mighty Distribution Wiesbaden, Germany Brands: Zoo York Hardgoods, Nomad Skateboards, Hype Skateboards, Venture Trucks, Industrial Trucks, Rush Bearings, Form Wheels, Elm Clothing, Slvdr, Bond Outerwear, Stepchild Snowboards, Airhole Facemasks Uniform: Beanie: Elm, Shirt: Elm, Trousers: Slvdr, Shoes: Stinky, Board: Zoo York
www.mightydistribution.com
Photo: Max Meusel
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“Don't take it for granted!” Anja Egger Trade Art / Volcom Clothing Stuttgart, Germany Brands: Volcom Clothing
Uniform: Trousers: Volcom, Leggings: Volcom, T-Shirt: Volcom, Waistcoat: H&M, Jacket: Volcom, Shoes: Vans, Hat: Woolmark, Bag: Mis Cositas
www.volcomeurope.com “Forward ever, backward never!“ Marc Hausen boardjunkies Handelsagentur Braunschweig, Germany
Brands: éS Footwear, Brixton, Innes Uniform: Hat: Brixton, Shirt: éS, T-Shirt: Innes, Jeans: Carhartt, Shoes: éS, Beer: Wolters Pilsener
www.boardjunkies.de 36 – Bright Magazine
HarDGooDS in a WorLD oF CLotHinG
important
ADVISORY
aC Ht U nG ! W i r V Er K aU FEn n U r D i E EC H t E n p r oD UK t E ! Bi L L iG E FÄL SC H U n G En Un SEr E r mar K En z Um B E t r ü G En i H r Er K U nD En Er W Er B En Si E B it t E aU F EBaY B Ei D En B EK anntE n anB i E t Er n!
tEL: 06 11-9 2 87 80 · Fax: 06 11-9 28 78 22
»BriGHt, raUm 211-212«
WWW.UrBanSUppLiES.Com 37 – Bright Magazine
tEL: 06 11-53 26 80 · Fax: 06 11-5 32 68 18
WWW.jEFFErSonDiSt.Com WaHnSinn! jEtzt aUCH mit B2B-WEBSHop!
Text: Michael Sohn
And what are the others up to? Bright takes a look outside of the trade fair box. This time:
The Agenda Show
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“Black Nike Free 7.0, Levi’s Capital E jeans, black AAA shirt, Gucci titanium shades, leather belt from Bottega Veneta and The Seventh Letter crew ring, accompanied by an Incase messenger bag, a MacBook Pro and an iPad.” No, that’s not the wish list of a small school class, but the outfit that Aaron Levant starts his day in. Eight years ago the 27-year-old
way into the hastily hired back room of a Thai restaurant in Long Beach. As Levant admits himself: “Not necessarily the best place to launch a trade show. It was really chaotic. But at the same time a lot of orders were made and that’s where it all started.” Within just a few years Aaron and his cousin Seth Haber had developed Agenda into a little global player: the fair sets up camp twice a year in Huntington Beach and twice a year in New York, not to mention the two shows in Tokyo. There are currently no plans to expand to further locations. They have enough work to be getting on with as it is. More than 250 brands and over 4000 buyers visited the last event in Huntington. From Vans and DC Shoes, to Crooks & Castles, Matix, Lakai, Skullcandy, Volcom, Stüssy, Nike and adidas to
Californian founded The Agenda Show. Today, the trade fair – according to their self-promotion – is the “USA’s most influential fashion trade event within the action sports, sneaker and streetwear segment”. But marketing catchwords aside: how does a teenager end up launching a trade show, Aaron? “I was a real dumb ass kid and when I was 15 I was thrown out of school for being in possession of drugs and alcohol on the school grounds.” No high school qualification, no college, Aaron had to earn money and was lucky enough to meet mentors who enabled him to make the move to a legal
kind of business. Luis Pulido from GAT (later: GRN Apple Tree) initially got the Jack the lad a work experience placement. Aaron then moved up the ladder and became a graphic designer, before impressing in the sales department. This is how he came to the attention of Rick Klotz from Freshjive, who put him in charge of sales management. Area of responsibility: the whole United States. In the late nineties Aaron experimented with his own brands and of course visited countless trade fairs like ASR or Magic – often with his old mentor Luis Pulido. “But they completely forgot to push young brands at all of those shows. Just for fun we decided to launch our own trade fair.” If you could call it a trade fair, that is: at the beginning of 2003 around 30 brands and 250 buyers found their
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RVCA, everyone wants to be a part of it. But not everyone is allowed. “Labels like Ed Hardy have no chance. If your brand is the default uniform for the average American douchebag then unfortunately there is no place at Agenda for you.” Brands that fit into the concept, on the other hand, are well looked after. “If you book a stand then it’ll be me or Seth you’re talking to and not some employee of a multi-billion dollar company, who probably won’t be working there by next year. We don’t have a sales department. Seth and I are the only ones who sell every individual stand at the fair.” And once the space has been allocated, the Agenda organisers also support the exhibitors with their mission of pulling off an impressive presentation. This is when, due to the exclusive selection, it comes in handy that “only the best of the best with no filler brands get into Agenda. This makes the show very attractive to buyers as it means they only have to look at what they need instead of wasting their time looking at crap.” Today he sees the fact he got thrown out of high school as a competitive advantage: “Many trade shows have removed
themselves from their audiences. When I came up with Agenda, I was only 19. At 27 I’m still part of the core target group of brands and stores. Plus I am familiar with all aspects of the business and have worked in design, marketing, sales, PR and retail.” Agenda has meanwhile established itself, but Aaron still wants to take it further: in 2009 the show moved from San Diego to Huntington to profit from the US Open of Surfing, which attracts several hundred thousand visitors. As a commitment to the skate section he got skate park and web wonder The Berrics on board as a partner. The Seventh Letter Crew designs the artwork and organises accompanying art events. So Agenda certainly has all of the necessary connections. But what’s in the cards for the future? “I want to make the show as big as the Bread & Butter, but maintain the intimate, personal atmosphere.”
www.agendashow.com
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Bright Room 222|5 www.Ucon-Acrobatics.com
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Alex Cruces’ advice to all retailers is extremely simple: “Always be friendly”. And the manager of Trust Nobody should know, as the shop in Barcelona is regarded as a streetwear institution. “At first glance the community seems to be very complex, but after a certain time you realise that you see the same faces everywhere you go. This is why we are trying to present ourselves as we really are: a friendly crew who is up for fun. People who you would enjoy chilling and working with. If it didn’t sound so hackneyed, you could also say: always keep it real. That makes you stronger.”
But of course Trust Nobody didn’t move up the ladder to the premier shop league merely because a few guys displayed exceedingly good manners. As in most cases it was a long and sometimes rocky road to success. Which wouldn’t even have been pursued, if some thought hadn’t been put into it: “Carlos is our mastermind. A 40-year-old, Barcelona born and bred, self-made street veteran, who laid the foundation stone for the Grupo LTW, which is what the overall project is called, in 1996 with a tattoo studio.” In 1997 a second tattoo studio was added to the portfolio. A few
Text: Michael Sohn
It’s all in the name 42 – Bright Magazine
trips to Japan later and during a really virulent phase of enthusiasm for fashion in general and sneakers in particular, over the following few years the plan to set up Trust Nobody gradually matured. In the early nineties Carlos had already managed a small store. But Trust Nobody was set to become more. More exclusive, more multi-faceted. And in 2005 it was time: Trust Nobody started out as a pure sneaker store. “We profited from Nike SB’s huge success. As we were the only store in the whole of Barcelona to stock all Quickstrikes, we were quickly able to make a name for ourselves. We also organised release
events, took care of the colabs and were represented at trade fairs. As an active part of the sneaker community of course, to a certain extent, we always try to educate our customers, to push this culture even further.”
ring for the next round.” But the fight is easier if you stick together: the consulting corporation Reversible has joined the collective under the umbrella of Grupo LTW. And they are really going full steam ahead: “This young company offers brand consulting, PR and marketing, and have already been able to attract Crooks & Castles, Altamont and Etnies Plus as clients. And they produce the Spanish edition of Sneaker Freaker magazine too.”
Apart from Nike SB the salesroom in downtown Barcelona also stocks brands like Vans, Emerica, Etnies Plus, Nike NSW, Pointer, Carhartt, Acapulco Gold, Crooks & Castles, Nudie Jeans and Stone Island – a streetwear store with a large share of sneakers. The fantastic four: Mars, Chus, manager Alex and legal expert Antonio – a qualified lawyer – pool their super powers and give it their all in sales and legal affairs. In 2010 Nike in particular was way ahead. “From a technological perspective they are unbeatable. I almost feel reminded of my youth when Nike Air ruled the roost. And Vans are just bringing out so many cool classic styles, which then in turn everyone copies … You can’t get better than that.” 43 – Bright Magazine
At the beginning, as well as the shop they also ran a gallery, in which artists like Methamphibian, Dave White and local heroes like photographers Alberto Polo and Roger Ferrero presented their work. But to sharpen their own profile, which is certainly not a bad idea, Trust Nobody is now once again concentrating on its core skills. After all, Spain still hasn’t overcome the big economic crisis. “The situation on the job market is not pleasant at all. Our country is going through a deep recession. Many people are out of work. They might have more time for skating, but shoes, decks or wheels cost money too. It’s not easy for anyone, an eternal struggle. But at the end of the day someone has to climb into the
Streetwear, tattoos, consulting … as if all of that’s not enough. At the winter edition of Bright in January the guys are heralding the start of a new trade fair era. From now on, at every event a 60 m2 satellite version of an international shop will be reconstructed in the foyer. Visitors can get to know the concept, shop design, collection and, last but not least, the philosophy and work ethics of the team behind it and can also even buy the clothes, shoes and other goodies. Trust Nobody at Bright – certainly sounds like a lot of fun!
www.trustnobody.es
Photo: Hendrik Herzmann
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Relenless energy Drink ist Koffeinhaltig.
WILLOW!
Find out more at
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www.relentlessenergy.de
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Talk is golden
PR in a state of upheaval
Production: Romy Uebel Text: Jan Joswig Illustration: Tobias Roettger Photos: Amos Fricke
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A good product alone does not guarantee success in a complex market. It has to be communicated. And this is the job of PR agencies. The most important components of their work – market, media, consumers – are in flux due to the financial crisis and internet. PR has never been so important. But it has also never been under so much pressure to rethink its own position, and own strategies. Where is PR headed?
Beate Kroissenbrunner Work in Progress “No pain, no gain” Labels: Carhartt Look: Dress: Rope Script Dress Carhartt, Tights: Wolford Regular Reading: The Cure lyrics, Jules’ love emails, the tags on the streets... My must-haves for summer 2011: A new tattoo, a camouflage coloured parasol, a new favourite place
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“In 1922 a surfing drop-out founded the brand after spending his youth with waves, girls and singing.” This story about Hollister, the teenage offspring of Abercrombie & Fitch that was only launched in the year 2000, was made up: an unparalleled boldly brazen PR coup. Even if many other PR agencies would distance themselves from such fairytale fiction, this example shows the most important trend in public relations: the product takes a back seat and the emphasis is on the story about the product. The scenario: on the one hand a market increasingly dominated by increasingly interchangeable products and on the other a consumer population, better informed and more critical than ever before, to be accessed via a media landscape undergoing radical change. Classic communication, advertising in mass media, has long since reached its limits. The losses due to non-selective marketing are too high. But even the standardised press release from the PR departments is no longer able to meet the demands of the situation. So budgets from marketing are shifted to the PR departments, which are having to act in more differentiated, creative and specialised ways. The more chaotic the times, the stronger the PR. “As a result of the economic upturn after the crisis, PR budgets are growing. After Russia, Germany is the biggest fashion market in Europe. Fashion awareness is growing, more and more international brands want to be in on this market. The companies are realising that they’re not getting anywhere with classic communications methods. Budgets are being relocated from the marketing departments to the PR teams. The PR agencies are coming out of their niche and taking over from the advertisers as communication consultants,” states Christoph Kamps, founder of the PR agency K-MB, which represents brands like Drykorn, Vans and Absolut Vodka. And Christoph Kamps’ observations of Germany also apply on an international level. Johan Grönberg, who, with his Stockholm agency A.World.Beneath, looks after clients like Pendleton, WoodWood and Burton, confirms the evaluation from a Swedish perspective: “PR budgets are definitely growing. And the role of PR is changing at the same time. Activities in the digital and social media sectors are being put into the hands of the PR agencies by the clients themselves.” The differentiation of print, radio and TV is no longer relevant according to Grönberg, who adds that there are increasing numbers of hybrid forms that had no use for the classic-style press release. K-MB approaches this “micro-individualisation” by treating every medium differently. Michael Müller, founder of the PR agency Krauts, with clients including New Era, Keds and Palladium, also sees this increasing individualisation: “A classic press text doesn’t get you anywhere these days. I can’t send a story round that repeats itself from brand to brand: ‘I painted my first T-shirts myself.’ ‘It all started in my garage.’ Consumers now have more of a feeling for whether a story is genuine or merely fabricated.” “More inspirational” is a demand that more clients are making when it comes to their press texts, according to Kerstin Geffert from Silk Relations, which takes care of clients such as Tiger of Sweden, Nike and Scholl. Karin Leiberg, Media & Trend consultant, journalist for Sportswear International Magazine and lecturer at the Fashion Institute of the Berlin University of the Arts is on the other side of the fence and welcomes PR’s 49 – Bright Magazine
new specialisation: “I often had problems with some press agencies, nice ladies, but who couldn’t differentiate between professional trade magazines and consumer magazines. It was a service that followed the same pattern. Today you have to write to journalists in a personal tone and be able to react to the different media individually. It’s not as if you can just send round the same press mail to everyone and then you’re done. It makes sense to suggest an interesting story to the editors and to encourage them. Your best bet is to suggest a story to them. Authenticity, workmanship, you build up this whole world around the product. You have to be a trend researcher yourself, be really clued up and define and cross link current topics.” If you want to do justice to the more individual and critical requirements of the readers in the classic print sector, you have to move away from the uniform ad motifs that are spread throughout all media without differentiation. Print is by no means dead; the lifestyle market is brimming with innovative ideas. “Special interest is increasing, quality is increasing,” delights Christoph Kamps. Damping the euphoria, on the other hand, Michael Müller says: “Much of the current niche media claim to need money fast. When there were more independent retailers it was easier to earn a minimum amount. Nowadays it can very quickly get ugly. The media are organised into marketing groups and via their advertising departments are adopting a much more aggressive approach.” An ambivalent solution to the advertising problem are advertorials, spreads produced by the editorial team, but paid for (and bought) by the client. Contrary to press law, such advertising spreads are often not adequately designated as an advertisement and dilute the boundaries of independent and sponsored editorial content. But they can also enhance the quality of a magazine. “Trend-oriented readers like it when, in contrary to an advertisement, the magazine character is reflected,” declares Julia Winkels, former trend marketing manager at Reebok and together with Svenja Evers founder of the agency Bold, which looks after clients like Sennheiser, Etsy and Current Elliott: “Advertorials are seen along the same lines as PR. In the past the boundaries between bought and editorial content in hipster magazines were diluted, one could buy into it. Nowadays there is a much stricter differentiation.” Kerstin Geffert points out that to some extent ad motifs are not even budgeted for, but that the budget is completely reserved for advertorials. “Even if the spread is labelled as a promotion, it can use a different visual language that is individually coordinated to the magazine.” “PR wants to communicate a brand story. That cannot be achieved with the image of a garment from the collection in an advertisement,” is how Michael Müller emphasises the merits of an advertorial.
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Nora Karthausen Silk Relations “If I had eight arms, I’d be an octopus!“ Labels: Nike Sportswear, Niketown, Urbanears, Coloud, Marshall headphones and Freckles, my own vegan cake label
Look: Jacket: Nike Sportswear, Hoodie: American Apparel, T-Shirt: “Back to the future“ Print Top Shop (i think), Dress: American Apparel, Tights: H&M, Shoes: Nike Sportswear Regular Reading: Lodown, Streetwear Today, Bright Magazine, Brigitte, like to get sucked into Gala every so often, Facebook, highsnobiety.com, various blogs with cool recipes and lots of baking books: I can highly recommend My Sweet Vegan and The Joy of Vegan Baking My must-haves for summer 2011: I don’t care about what’s really in…I wear what I like, I love Nike sneakers and am thrilled with my new Marshall headphones! Apart from that, the most important thing is that we get a decent summer in Berlin!
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Monika Bocian radar berlin “Please let every day be different...“ Labels: Stüssy, Stüssy Deluxe, Jeepers Peepers, Relentless Energy Look: Sweater: Girls Crew Stüssy, Denim: Uniqulo, Ring: Lou Savoir, Shoes: Nike SB Regular Reading: The Skateboard Mag, Vogue, Hello and OK, and over and over “Life after God” by Douglas Coupland
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Kristin Rosche K-MB “There's no fun like work.“
Labels: Vans, WeSC Look: Shirt: WeSC, Ring: Asos, Skirt: Vintage, Shoes: Vans Paytin Regular Reading: anywho.dk, coutequecoute.blogspot. com, lynnandhorst.blogspot.com, all German lifestyle and fashion mags (for work), skateboard mags again and again, 032c, Vogue UK, Grazia UK, Dansk, Love
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My must-haves for summer 2011: Brielle leather jacket by WeSC, Ancestor Sweater by Vans and the Givenchy Nightingale bag to go with it. And every single piece of the white summer collection by “New York‘s prince of downtown darkness” Alexander Wang
As unanimous as the experts are, regarding the benefits of advertorials, they differ greatly in their assessments of other traditional PR tools. Kerstin Geffert is continuing to focus on limited editions. “PR is done by both cooperation partners for limited editions. When Markus Lupfer designs a bag for Cointreau, it makes it directly into Gala magazine.” Christoph Kamps on the other hand, believes that the topic is done and dusted: “Even smoked salmon at Lidl is limited these days.” An intensification of the advertorial principle from a PR perspective is maglogs, a mix between a magazine and a catalogue, which are directly produced by the fashion labels. Independent magazines are no longer used as a platform; the fashion companies are creating their own instead. An outstanding example of this is the Acne Paper, which, financed by Acne, but without dictating the choice of topics and production, fully exploits the possibilities of financial security in all journalistic enthusiasm. With maglogs, however, journalists are ousting the PR agents from their decision-making positions. Stephan Huber, editor-in-chief of trade publication Style In Progress is responsible for the Mystyle magazine for German clothing brand Wöhrl. Kira Stachowitsch from Indie Magazin presides over Monki magazine. ‘Hauling’ is all the rage on the internet at the moment. In online videos private individuals present what they have been treating themselves to on their shopping sprees. And this ultimately narrows the gap between manufacturer and consumer. So if the consumers are taking on the PR themselves, why do we need PR agencies? Intermediate steps on this path are blogs and social media platforms. It is becoming increasingly rare that PR has to address journalists as a mediator between the client and their product and the end consumer. More and more often they have to intervene in the self-organisation of the end consumers. Blogs are oscillating in their diversity in quality and content between fan platform and journalistic offer. The naivety of the blogger is confronted with the naivety of the customer in its dealings with the internet. Everyone wants to get in on it, but nobody knows how. “The media transformation means that customers are going to have to get used to huge changes. Many people don’t even realise what is happening in this country with the media. They are still betting on the classic lifestyle magazines. But if you follow the online shops, you can see only too well which clipping achieves what. Only a few magazines such as Gala and Instyle function on the wider market. There are still things happening in the trend sector. But much more exciting are the blogs,” analyses Christoph Kamps. “The clients expect the online-PR to be covered too. But in comparison to the USA, this sector is still in its infancy in Germany. The companies think to themselves: We’ll try a bit of that,” says Julia Winkels, comparing her America experiences
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at Reebok with the current situation. Michael Müller comes to the same conclusion: “Some of our client requests regarding social media are extremely naive. Do a little something on Facebook … Of course it doesn’t take long to set up a profile. But how can one person create contents in the midterm that go beyond the mere brand message, so the users don’t get bored? The brands are saying that we should tattoo their brand DNA onto the people. But that has to happen very cautiously. You have to transport something that results in a neutral benefit. Manipulating in the sense of a brand is only welcomed to a limited extent. There is enough online activism that doesn’t lead anywhere.” A lot of impact with a little effort is not possible on the internet either. Giving away three shoelaces and expecting 20,000 internet users to fight over them is illusionary. Michael Müller warns: “With Facebook as a standalone solution without any further communication channels you won’t reach an adequate number of users.” “You can’t rely on social media alone, you have to integrate lots of channels into the communication strategy. A successful media mix is important: a customer newsletter by post, a guerrilla campaign on Facebook,” recommends Karin Leiberg. Soberingly she adds: “These days there are many more freelance journalists, plus the many bloggers. The wheat will separate from the chaff and only the interesting formats in terms of content will gain in relevance. Being cute just won’t wear it anymore. Blogs are a good direct method for fast, cheap product placement. You give the bloggers a shop window, they spread the word on the internet, get their community to vote on the product – thereby supporting the PR work.” Kerstin Geffert raises another consideration: “If you work with blogs with 500 hits a month and poor quality photos, you should seriously rethink your cooperation with them.” The situation on the internet seems to contradict in many aspects the credo of Christoph Kamps: PR thrives on sophisticated storytelling. This is how one makes brands distinguishable.” Despite occasional social media overdose, however, the understanding prevails that the most important task of the PR team will be to react to the changes in the media world. Just like in the music industry a former mainstream is diversifying into more and more fashion niches with special interests and specialised knowledge. This makes sensible PR for the brand communication all the more important. “Advertorials or limited editions are exchangeable tools, similar to a hammer or a saw when you’re building a house,” explains Johan Grönberg: “Good PR stands out for the fact that it understands and respects subcultures.” The number of PR agencies in this avant-garde field is increasing rapidly. Boutique agencies are what Christoph Kamps calls these little service providers, which offer an extra portion of zeitgeist. This increases the importance of sensitive PR for brand communication. And the customers seem more inclined to try out new and smaller methods. From this thicket of classic communication and internet, of journalists, bloggers and users only one formula leads to success, suggests Christoph Kamps: “Reaching the masses, yet staying independent. Think big in a micro-individualised way.”
Sandra Haller Styleheads GmbH “Check yo’self before you wreck yo’self” Labels: Eastpak, Sir Benni Miles, Zoo York, Marc Ecko Cut & Sew, Ecko Unltd. Look: Jacket: Eastpak, T-Shirt: Zoo York Juniors, Trousers: Lee Regular Reading: the-garden-berlin.net/blog, highsnobiety.com, lookylookyposse.de/blog My must-haves for summer 2011: To drink: Rin Tin Tonic (rhubarb meets gin and tonic water). To wear: Overalls, all-in-ones with all kinds of prints
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Denise Graff W.A.R.D. GmbH “Keep it simple and smart!” Labels: Iriedaily Look: Beret: Vintage, Jacket: Swinging Wool Jacket Iriedaily, Brooch: Liebetanz, Shirt: Bisou Shirt Iriedaily, Trousers: Women Texas Pant Carhartt, Shoes: Pointer
My must-haves for summer 2011: Styles: chambray dresses and shirts like the Jeehaa dress and Chambray Bisou shirt by Iriedaily. Shoes: Model Kate by Premium Shoes, Pointer Shoes, the Summer Shivo dress and the Sarah tunic by Sessún
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Regular Reading: Lodown, Spex, BitchSlap Magazine, brandeins, Hear The World, H.O.M.E., Spiegel, spreeblick.com, hypebeast. com, justbreathe.de, “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle” by Haruki Murakami (basically everything by him), “Answered Prayers” by Truman Capote, “Der Brenner und der liebe Gott” by Wolf Haas, The Furniture of Charles and Ray Eames, travel guide to Bali
Alina Barnstorf Schröder+Schömbs PR GmbH “Reaching the top without losing your foothold at the bottom –managing the balancing act between niche existence and contact rates.“ Labels: Converse, Wrangler Look: Top: Second Hand from NY, Bracelet: re-design, Jeans: Wrangler, Shoes: Converse Regular Reading: Style and the Family Tunes/stylemag. net, Zoo Magazine, Lodown and on Thursdays, Gala, Grazia and Co. – purely for professional reasons of course! My must-haves for summer 2011: Lady All Star by Converse, a newly reissued sneaker, worn in the thirties by the first ladies’ basketball team. And the Jack Purcell Helen: this is the first time that there is a retro badminton shoe designed exclusively for girls. The Jen denim chino by Wrangler has the perfect summer wash effect and when it gets hotter I’m looking forward to wearing the Ruby denim shorts.
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赤 red
1
黒
name • 名前 :
• MAKE YOUR •
MARK
IN THE SHOE
spORT is a univERsal wORd
スポーツは世界の言葉
1977 52
RETRO ROCKET 優勝 勝
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優勝
Trade comes from trading Text: Nicolette Scharpenberg
… that should be clear to stationary retailers in particular. So here are a few complimentary motivational ideas and survival strategies.
There’s no question that the pressure is on, thanks to the growth in online trade. Almost every week new fashion web shops are being launched, and the proportion of customers shopping on the net is growing annually by 20% according to a survey by the specialist magazine ‘Textilwirtschaft’. Ergo: less customers are going to actual stores, turnovers are falling and many businesses have already had to file for bankruptcy. To remain attractive despite the torrent of e-commerce and the rampant economic crisis requires creativity and commitment. Customer loyalty is the key: shop events are the magic word. With the help of cool creative events you can access your customers on an emotional level and the shopping experience is inculcated – what is known as relationship marketing, in insider jargon.
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And to take the wind out of the sails of those who are already muttering things like, “too time-consuming, too expensive, no staff,”: dear retailer, perhaps you weren’t aware but there are a lot of labels that can join you as partners to bring cool ideas for promotional shop events. A shining example is Volcom, a label that throws in all the equipment needed for a juicy barbeque including barkeeper and urban artists, or Fenchurch, who can organise a sumptuous daytime art event including DJ in your store and even take care of a wicked party in the evening. As you can see, it’s often simpler than you think to make things happen, even on a shoestring budget. A small in-store party with drinks and music every month or two is the least that you should be putting on the regular “to-do” list. For everyone who wants to take things up a notch, we’ve compiled 10 of the coolest ideas.
Volcom Barbeque at Chicas in Munich
Kitted out with tent, grill, bar and barkeeper the Volcom crew turned up at Munich’s boardsports shop, Chicas, turning the shop’s forecourt into a BBQ paradise. The sales team grilled sausages and mixed elaborately decorated cocktails. The accompanying entertainment was a horse-shoe-throwing contest: the winner went home with a bag of Volcom goodies. The whole spectacle was topped off by the street artist Vera Costa from Portugal, who flew in especially for the event and decorated the mirrors in the store with the Volcom look.
Photo: Julia Luka Lila Nitzschke
Flower Pop-Up Store at SOTO in Berlin
SOTO caused a sensation last summer under the motto “We ain’t got no flowers”. For two days the Berlin store transformed itself into a flower pop-up store. 4000 white blooms from the flower market were handed out to every customer who had found one of the black cat stickers distributed all over Berlin beforehand, and returned them to SOTO. What the whole campaign actually meant was conveyed to the customer in an even more circuitous way, as a story printed on the wrapping paper. Of course customers who simply wanted to treat their ladies could also buy the flowers as normal. Those who missed the campaign can download the whole story and listen to “The Cat” at
www.weaintgotnoflowers.com
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Colettegym & Cooklette at Colette in Paris
Of course you’re allowed to turn up in limited edition Vans, a jumpsuit from adidas by Jeremy Scott or in a chic Chloé dress, but primarily it’s all about ladles, saucepans and cookie cutters here. Cooklette is the name of the project by the Paris concept store Colette. On a regular basis they offer cooking courses for their customers who get to create delicious specialities with a professional chef and the sales staff. Anyone can register for the stylish cooking session on their website. And to ensure that the pounds don’t end up on your thighs, Colette is offering sporting sessions at the Colettegym with yoga, Pilates and, in the summer, even surfing – and after all that hard work you’ll want to treat yourself to a whole new wardrobe!
Goldsprint Competition at theflashgib in Stuttgart
The “Goldspring Competition” in Stuttgart’s concept store theflashgib took place as part of the exhibition “J’ai mis un tigre dans mon vélo” by artists Cédric Viollet, Guillaume Jolly and Jérôme Romain aka Cloben in February 2010. In cooperation with RVCA theflashgib invited its customers to take part in a bike race. The guests’ cool fixies were parked in front of the store, and inside two track bikes were provided for the guests for a head-to-head race – named Goldsprint. The races were electronically timed. Three winners were chosen from the 20 participants, including one female, who all got to take home a cool goody bag sponsored by RVCA.
AAL Ride Tour by Cleptomanicx at Black Sheep in Dresden
Take Conrads, Dennis Laass, Lennie Burmeister, Niklas Speer from Cappeln and Tjark Thielker, Captain Clepto and Blockparty Entertainment, pack them all off together in a coach and get the AAL Ride Tour from Cleptomanicx rolling! They’ve already been on the road twice, visiting different skate shops all over Germany. In 2008 they went south, in 2009 eastwards to Leipzig, Erfurt and Dresden. Concept: the Clepto skate team skateboards with the kids in front of the shop while the Blockparty DJs EZ Iron Cee and Stoecker Stereo provide the sounds and Captain Clepto plays for prizes with his Geddo Gambling Casino. At Black Sheep in Dresden Clepto even presented his very own Black Sheep contest, which takes place every year on 1 May, including a kick-ass party in the evening at the Fahrenheit 100 club.
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PXA Basketball Tournament with Soto x MADE, Pigalle, BRKW and many more …
Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris – these are the three cities where the ‘family’ meets every year for a fun-packed b-ball tournament. The PXA Basketball Tournament started out in July 2009 in Paris. Nike AM1 approached the shop crews from POK (PainOchoKolat) and BKRW (Black Rainbow) to organise a 3-aside basketball tournament for men and women. After that the PXA Tournament was also put on in Berlin and Amsterdam. This time round the triumvirates from Soto x MADE, BRKW, Pigalle, Amsterdam Brigade, colette, Nike Sportswear, Universal Music, Candy Berlin etc. are playing too, as well as some teams invited to join in by the various crews. PXA has now become a firm fixture on all participants’ calendars and is the perfect place to meet up with friends and have fun.
Early morning drinking and shopping at Cream in Hamburg’s M&V Bar
Drinking and shopping for early birds was offered by Cream in Hamburg’s St. Georg district last autumn. As a homage to the Oktoberfest and in conjunction with the neighbouring M&V bar, Cream treated its customers to a hearty Weißwurst breakfast including pretzel and wheat beer for a mere 5 Euros. On top of that, clothes and sneaker bargains were up for grabs, remaining stock from diverse favourite labels were reduced in part down to 70%. A definitively cool alternative to the simple summer sale.
Photo: Julia Scheurer / Sneakerqueen www.SQ210.Blogspot.com
Artrebels Trailerpark
If you’re planning a really big event, then you should take a leaf out of Copenhagen-based Artrebels’ book. The collective of artists, musicians, illustrators and authors runs a shop in the meatpacking district and organises their annual “trailerparkfestival” at the Enghavevej skate park for their charity organisation “Heartrebels”. It’s all about bringing together different creative fields to create synergies. Bands and DJs do their stuff, there are live painting performances and young designers present their fashion. All profits from the festival are donated to a good cause: the “Heartrebels” organisation.
“In vino veritas – a superlative spaghetti session” by WeSC of Fuhrer Sports in Offenburg
Last autumn the motto at WeSC was “in vino veritas”. In keeping with the collection, catalogue and campaign, the Swedish label organised a tour with several stops in Germany and Austria. The WeSC sales team cooked Spaghetti Napoli in every store for the customers, served with lashings of red wine (grape juice and water for the kids) in WeSC branded bottles. To go with the theme the tables were kitted out with checked tablecloths and pots of basil – all in the traditional ristorante Italiano style. First stop was Fuhrer Sports in Offenbach. The great weather meant that the event could go al fresco, with tables and cooking station set up outside. Ciao e buon appetito!
Fenchurch Day & Night Action at Railslide in Frankfurt
The Fenchurch Day and Night Action Tour was launched for the first time in Germany this year. The concept is to offer the labels’ partner shops an all-inclusive Fenchurch experience package. This includes: in-store art, fashion and music events during the day, and partying at a cool club in the city in the evening. Railslide’s first tour stop was at the beginning of December in Frankfurt am Main. During the day there was an art exhibition in the store, including DJ, and the Fenchurch merchandising team redecorated the window display. In the evening the partying continued with DJ Craze & DJ Passion in the APT Club. Guests were photographed in front of a Fenchurch poster wall and of course there were some nice giveaways. The whole thing was supported by L’Agentur and Yosoy Music.
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Laura: Scarf – Aschön, Jacket – Obey, Tank top – Lifetime Collective
Curiosity killed the Cat!!! 62 – Bright Magazine
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Laura Sophie: Jacket – Nike Sportswear, Body – Motel, Belt – Stylists own, Pants – Lifetime Collective, Jewellery – Perry Gargano
Martin: Shirt – Lifetime Collective, T-Shirt – DVS, Pants – Carhartt, Watch – G-Shock
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Tobi: Jacket – Wemoto, T-Shirt – Makia, Pants – Altamont, Sneakers – adidas original Skateboarding, Necklace – Perry Gargano
Sarina: Jacket – WeSC, T-Shirt – Iriedaily, Pants – Nikita, Keychain – Esther Perbandt, Bracelet – Perry Gargano
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Theresa: Top grey – Element, Top white – Lifetime Collective, Coat – WoodWood, Leggings – Models own
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Vincent: Jacket – Ezekiel, Shirt – Element, T-Shirt – Ambiguous, Shorts – Ezekiel, Watch – G-Shock
Christopher: T-Shirt – Burton
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Dube: Jacket – Living Mutants, T-Shirt – Wemoto, Pants – adidas, Sneakers – Alife
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Helena: Shirt – Altamont, Shirt checkered – Cleptomanicx, Belt – Element, Shorts – Element, Chain Bracelet – Arrondissement, Bracelet – Perry Gargano
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Annika: Scarf – Aschön, Shirt – Atticus, Pants – WoodWood, Bracelet – Perry Gargano
Photography: Lars Borges Styling: Linda Ehrl Production: Romy Uebel, Tobias Friedberg, Paale Lüdcke Hair / Make-up: Manuela Kopp Production assistance: Nada Carls Styling assistance: Alex Cassimiro Photo assistance: Falko Saalfeld Models: Helena / Mega; Annika, Martin, Vincent / Seeds; Christopher, Tobi, Laura, Laura Sophie / UMA; Dube, Sarina / Izaio; Theresa / M4
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Through his eyes only Sem Rubio
Text: Roman Schönbichler
Can anyone remember the pictures that Craig Stecyk III shot in the 1970s of the Zephyr skate team? His portrayal of young kids in tattered pants, going to the limits with their boards, shaped the aesthetics of skateboarding at that time. Today this tradition is being solidly continued by Spanish photographer Sem Rubio – over the years his works have become an indispensable contribution to skateboard iconography. Tracing back Sem’s professional history is almost like a CIA mission – impossible. So all the better that we managed to get hold of him and ask a few questions in person. Sem had just got back from a tour in Brazil where he was shooting for the adidas skate team – an interesting opportunity to get an understanding about this country through Sem’s eyes. Señor Rubio doesn’t even consider himself an artist, but merely someone who reflects. And although his most famous works are mostly linked to the skateboard world, his true passion is capturing moments in general, of life on the streets. The main influences on his style are films from the thirties and forties, plus the work by street photographer William Klein – perhaps this is also one of the reasons why an analogue camera with black and white film is his weapon of choice. His grainy, in part blurry, hard contrast pictures speak a very clear language and don’t just impress skateboarders around the world.
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Hi Sem, you just returned from Brazil. How was it? It was huge, we didn’t only work with the US guys, but also the international skate team so we had a really big crew. In this country everything is very “Brazilian”, skateboarding too. The obstacles and parks are very different to what we’re used to so I hope I was able to capture the atmosphere of that. Unfortunately I didn’t have too much time for personal snapshots, but I also took a short break there and had a little look around. You mean your little vacation? Yes, exactly. We took a really risky detour to a remote surfer town called Ubatuba, which is somewhere between Rio and São Paulo. It was just plain paradise, a jungle experience that I will never forget. Not to mention those giant killer wasps. So what was it like working with the adidas skate team? Were there any cultural differences? That wasn’t the first time I worked with adidas. I actually used to be a skater myself until I had to retire after an injury. But I was lucky enough to be introduced to the European adidas skate team by my old Antiz team colleague Julien Bachelier. They hired me for a shoot in Tenerife and since then we’ve established a long partnership, which I’m really grateful for. And about the cultural aspect – I believe that brands should organise trips like that more often. Of course there were moments when the language barrier was a factor, when you just don’t get your joke or idea across properly, but as far as I know everyone had a good time. And even though
we all come from different countries, as soon as we started riding, we communicated with our common mother tongue: skateboarding! You also worked with Mark Gonzalez there, right? Tell us more... I have to admit that shooting with Gonz was just overwhelming. It was such an honour to shoot with THE street skate pioneer and I was amazed by his attitude and skills. When this dude is on the board he still gives 100% - and he taught me a very important lesson that I will never forget. Really? Yep, we went to this really good looking ledge spot and he started looking all serious. So I asked him: “Doesn’t really look like a fun skating session, huh?” – BAD idea! After Chewy Cannon started warming up Gonz stepped into the game and just killed it. I really had to change my view on assumptions that day. We also went to his art show in São Paulo where we met most of the town’s skate and art scene. It was really cool to see “Gonz Art” everywhere; my favourite piece was the one entitled “Mark’s Strip Club” – genius!!!
You weren’t the only photographer there. How did you get along with your colleagues? Do you share skills? Usually this is an issue as everyone has different techniques and you might get into each other’s way, but this time it went really well. The crew was easy and I even ended up stealing one of their angles. Sharing skills? – No chance! Sabotaging is the safest strategy here! Sorry guys, for your broken or lost cameras, but I have a family to feed! (laughs) What were your personal highlights on this trip? Apart from my short visit to Ubatuba, I am really happy with the shots of Gonz at the car park downhill bomb. Another memorable moment was the last evening when we all went to a Brazilian club and everyone danced to the samba vibes. What do you see for the future of skateboarding? Skateboarding has changed significantly in the last few decades and will continue to do so, but to me only on the surface. Tricks, trends, haircuts, clothing, shoes, board sizes and shapes are constantly evolving, but the soul of skateboarding has almost remained untouched. So I don’t see any reason or indication why that would change so quickly. And as far as the future is concerned I can only quote Dennis Busenitz: “Don’t use wax – go faster!”
Sem Rubio’s works will be on show at Bright at the adidas Skateboarding stand.
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Matix Capital Collection is proud to support the art of American clothing manufacturing, and stands behind the quality and craftsmanship of Made in USA goods. Each piece in the capsule is made exclusively of materials sourced domestically and is crafted in downtown Los Angeles.
V I S I T U S AT B O OT H 24 8
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ART BRIGHT
Winter 2011
Dinner is served! As always, at the Bright Tradeshow’s lavish Artist Kitchen every exhibitor is free to cook up their very own artistic soup! Once again, the completely tiled 400 square metre former canteen kitchen of the Stasi Headquarters will be transformed into Art Bright, the meta art fair of the Bright Tradeshow, so to say. Together with the West Berlin Gallery and Artig & Co., we’re once again presenting the “Vector Lounge Bright Special” as a special highlight in the large cinema hall – a battle in which some of our graphic design artists will be competing against one another in a simultaneous illustrative contest. So, right on the first day, the competing illustrators will be hearing: “On your drawing pads, get ready, go!” and the subsequent awarding of the winner over a few beers should be reason enough not to miss this creative kick-off. We’re looking forward to seeing new and old faces alike, and whatever happens, a whole host of new artistic input and output!
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Heath
Kirchart
Even if he left the great stage of pro skating in August 2010 and has hung his board up for the time being, things haven’t settled down for Heath Kirchart by a long chalk. As his career drew to an end the Emerica film “Stay Gold” was released, which is a little like a homage to Heath and his inimitable, understated self-destructive skating style. At the same time and with its subtle Heath-specific irony the Kirchart Commemorative Deck appeared on the market. In the meantime, to stay fit Heath travelled the 5300 kilometres from Los Angeles to New York City by bike in less than two months. At the winter edition of Bright 2011 he is now exclusively showing us the “Heath Kirchart Commemorative Exhibition” – a retrospective that was created together with Emerica and features photos from his career, product shoots from Alien Workshop archives and a whole host of other mementos.
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Every psychologist would attest to obsessive behaviour by the artist Pisa73. To be exact: Pisa73 has an obsession with the police. His most recent works, the “Black Series” and the “Grey Series” almost exclusively show images of the police in action: police using the arm lock, police “holding” demonstrators down on the floor – helmets, body-armour and heavy boots as far as the eye can see. Pisa73 took the photos on Walpurgis Night (“Witches Night”, a traditional spring festival the day before the first of May, which has been known to end in riots and demos in Berlin) at Boxhagener Platz in the Friedrichshain district of the German capital and the day after in Kreuzberg. He later transferred the images with spray paint onto cardboard in his studio. The fact that in those moments there is no differentiation between legitimate self-defence and attacks by uniformed police, that there is only friend or foe, is demonstrated clearly by the artist with his use of monochrome colouring. The reason for such an intense dealing with the topic can be found in his background as graffiti artist. Pisa73 is keeping schtum about that though. But what is certain: there is no other way for him – a phalanx of the German guardians of order has even made its way all the way to Miami as a mural, where he exhibited in 2009 at Primary Flight. As part of the Art Bright Pisa73 will be showing that he also has other talents: naked women, the lettering of the word “Idiot”, a crashed car – all relatively lightweight motives in comparison.
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PISA73
BASEMENTIZID: Creative Coexistence
“Think global, act local” is the maxim of Sergej Vutuc’s Basementizid gallery. Which one could shrug off as humour. Whereby this language confusion only proves one thing: that the man practices what he preaches. He is a cosmopolitan, born in Bosnia and from Zagreb and Heilbronn has now ventured out into the big, wide world. As a skateboarder and citizen of the world he has trained his eye for urban spaces and how people deal with them. So it’s good that Sergej is not only a gallery owner, but also an artist in his own right. And in this dual function Sergej the gallery owner will be showing photography by Sergej the artist at Bright Art. And that seems quite logical, seeing as his monograph book “Something in Between”, which all the images were taken from, has just been published. In his foreword about the black and white photos, which were manipulated and distorted in a dark room, Jocko Weyland writes about an “awkward coexistence of this world made of stone on the one hand, and everything natural on the other,” manifesting itself in the images. Fortunately, it must be said, as the photos thrive off this tension. And without this tension and the pressure to somehow endure it, even by making it visible in some way, the artist Sergej Vutuc probably wouldn’t even exist.
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Is skateboarding art? Yes, no – who cares?! Skateboarding is skateboarding. But that the skateboards themselves can be art: undisputedly. Even if the motive for hanging a skateboard on the wall is not primarily about the collector’s deep understanding of art. Julius Dittmann, son of Titus Dittmann, is once again blurring the boundaries between skateboarding and art with his sculptures. Man-sized figures, put together from old decks, axles and wheels, pushing in the typical pose (Mr. Push) or grinding a rail (Mr. Smith). If you examine them more closely you’ll notice that Julius has “implanted” the two skaters, who kind of remind us of the “Robots” from the Disney film of the same name, with hearts. And the heart of their creator is also in the right place: it’s the working process he’s interested in, not about suddenly being an artist. All he wants to do is solder and screw, drill and break. So perhaps there’ll be a Skateboardin’ Skateboard doing a wallride soon, too?
J u l i u s D i t t m a n n : S K AT E BOARDIN‘ skateboards
T e x t :
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B u s s e r t
At this winter 2011 edition of Bright the West Berlin Gallery will be showing a selection of unstoppable, creative street activists, who have fortunately allowed themselves to slow down long enough to show some work at the gallery. At Bright they are exclusively and legally presenting their latest work. With Alias, Mymo, Prost, Peachbeach, Timrobot and Giacomo Spazio, Guillaume Trotin, curator and founder of the West Berlin Gallery, has managed to round up a colourful creative troop of local Berliners and Berlin-based artists. Since 2009 he has been showing monthly changing exhibitions at his gallery, which is close to the former border between East and West-Berlin. For the Artist Kitchen at Bright he is promising a mix of different styles and techniques, exhibits made from stencil art, character and graphic design, as well as illustration on materials ranging from wood and canvas to paper and metal. At the focus is the idea of depicting all the various techniques of the urban art machine: including tags, stencils and painting. Following a successful debut of the West Berlin Gallery at Bright in summer 2010 we’re looking forward to a winter reunion.
WEST BERLIN Gallery
Vector lounge Special
BRIGHT
Ready, steady, go – it’s time for the battle of the artists! To kick off the trade fair, Vector Lounge and Art Bright are inviting you to the contest and presenting the “Vector Lounge Bright Special”. The basic procedure of the “Vector Lounge International” is as follows: two teams of four graphic artists compete simultaneously in two metropolises to create artworks. Progressive drawing tools, screen projections and video streams are used so that a worldwide audience can observe the battle – both online as well as analogue and projected onto screens. The “Vector Lounge Bright Special” on the first day of the fair will see a selection of our valued artists from the Bright Artist Kitchen competing head to head on the stage in the large cinema and working on their digital drawing pads until the final gong sounds. On a large screen this process can be watched and cheered or slated by the audience! Directly afterwards the winner will be presented and celebrated at a nice little get-together to round off the proceedings with plenty of beer in the Artist Kitchen. We would like to thank the West Berlin Gallery and Artig & Co. for this exclusive collaboration and are cordially inviting you to support the artists involved! 2 teams, 4 against 4, 8 artworks, 1 winner!
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Rallito X: Manipulated Society
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The mind is overrun with a multitude of eyes and at least two primary, male genitalia – that is the post-modern human, as Rallito X sees him. Although this doesn’t quite conform to the common idea of reality, it cannot be declared out of hand if one wants to get to grips with the consistently conceptual work by the 33-year-old Spaniard. What began on the street in the form of stencils, largeformat posters and painting work that is partially sprayed, partially applied with a roller, is gaining an increasingly performative character. “JOIN THE PHALLIC REPOLUTION” was the wording on the banner, which a group of participants wearing penis head masks presented to the world at one of the big demonstrations in Spain at the end of September. We can assume that Rallito X will also be grappling with the city in a socio-critical way during his Berlin visit for Art Bright. These “interventions” at locations of symbolic importance will be filmed by a camera team and presented as audiovisual works: at the trade fair.
FAUXAMI: The Art Skatebaording
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B u s s e r t
Jürgen Blümlein and Daniel Schmid are Germany’s cultural skateboard advocates. As curators of the skateboard museum in Stuttgart there is hardly any aspect of the sport that hasn’t been covered by one of their exhibitions. “Freaks!” – on the variations of the object itself (seen at the last Art Bright), “Made for Skate” – the history of the skate shoe, “The Mags We Read”, and now “The Art of Skateboarding”. On the premise of the phenomenon that skateboarders are often also creative people, the duo is exhibiting work by artists from the skate scene: Germans, like the Hamburg-based illustrator Stefan Marx and the street artist Flying Förtress from Munich, as well as the ex-skate pro Andy Howell, who once described “The Face” as “Disney on drugs”. On top of that Jörg Blümlein will be represented with his “Pixel Plastics” images, reminiscent of pictures that have been too closely zoomed in on. And what do the busy curators, also known under the label FauxAmi, have up their sleeves for the future? They will only reveal this much: it will be a book. Topic and title are still “top secret”...
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AnzeigeBerlin
It sounds like the works of someone’s later years when you read the title of the ArtBright contribution from Adam Sello: “Ten years Anzeigeberlin – documents and pictures from the past by Adam Sello”. The list of exhibited pieces “various mementos, the new issue #35, our picture calendar for 2011” also sounds rather sober and modest. And those are exactly the tones the trained psychologist, filmmaker and photographer tends to chime: he is not a man of verbally produced hype – he wins you over with his images: his fantastic, spectacular, both moving and static skate pictures. The latter can be seen regularly in the magazine he established, Anzeigeberlin, in which the word count is definitely modest, but which has made a name for itself due to the perfectly arranged and brilliantly taken shots he has taken of skate culture in Berlin. So considering the capital city has been his home since 1994, Bright should be a home game for him in every respect. For 2011 he is preparing a project of historical scope: “In 2010 I put a lot of time into the realisation of a big dream together with my friend Tobi Freitag: we want to build a multifunctional abstract sculpture with recycled granite slabs from the demolished Palast der Republik (People’s Palace) on which you can skate, but which has otherwise nothing in common with the usual skate parks. Over the last few years it was nearly impossible to find a space for the project in the city centre, but it looks like it may become reality in 2011. On the grounds of the former Tempelhof Airport we are allowed to build freely as part of a pedagogical project and the city is even sponsoring it. After all this time I can’t wait to see if it really will happen.”
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Champfest Magazine x FIXEDGEARLONDON pt. II
Our firm friends from Champfest Magazine and FixedGearLondon (FGLDN) are once again travelling from the Thames to the Spree to grace us with their presence and a joint exhibition. In an exclusive presentation with photos and artwork from the latest Champfest 003 issue the twin sisters Moni & Joanna Kawecki are showing what their quarterly, independently published mag is all about: sharing a little piece of printed art and design love with like-minded folk with a bicycle obsession. And for those of you who have always wanted to put together your own magazine: with the interactive activity “Editor for a minute”, Bright visitors will have the opportunity to compile their very own Champfest issue with their favourite content from existing pages, all whilst enjoying a caffeine boost from Bicycle Coffee Co. (freshly imported from San Francisco). Together with the boys from FGLDN they are also presenting a photo exhibition – what unites the two artist groups is their penchant for the same material, the exclusive use of the characteristic Ricoh films. At the Bright Artist Area the FGLDN bicycle collective founded by Andy Ellis in 2005, will also be showing off Fixed Gear videos, sleek frames, their latest clothing range and the current 006 issue of Fixed Magazine.
2 0 Ye a r s BRIGHT
of
intro
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Cologne-based Intro magazine is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2011. To mark this occasion the editors, authors, artists and friends of the publication have rummaged around in their wardrobes and dug out some legendary old shirts, which can now be found on the walls of the Bright venue along with accompanying stories. Intro is celebrating its anniversary year with a re-launch and new makeover. And with a lot more content and even more cultural journalism to boot. Alongside the unchanging main focus of music, Intro will be dealing more intensely with the subjects of fashion, film, art, literature and games, as well as picking up and commenting on social issues. There will also be a general overhaul of the layout including attractive photo spreads. At the exhibition, designed for Bright, which can be seen on the third floor, the largest open space in the building, things will likely be somewhat less modern and stylish as a result of the grubby old shirts. But current photos of the owners and explanatory words will ensure the right balance. The shirts (which have meanwhile become unique specimens) will be pretentiously presented behind square glass panels.
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F r i s c h e m e i e r
YOUR:OWN Gallery presents Louis Reith
If not football, then surely art is a good reason for DutchGerman relations and exchange of interests. In April 2010, journalist, event manager and art communicator Jeroen Smeets opened his gallery YOUR:OWN in Amsterdam’s historic district; prior to this YOUR:OWN was a creative agency for clients like Nike Football, Altmont and Red Bull. The future looks promising too, with the launch of their own art magazine “eight” in the pipeline for March 2011, as a complement to the rest of the business. We are really looking forward to it and are delighted that Jeroen is helping out as ship’s cook in our Bright artists’ kitchen and conjuring up some scrumptious eye candy. With images by Louis Reith YOUR:OWN presents a selection of works that oscillate between typographical elements and fine art. Not words, but rather shapes and lines can be “read” in Reith’s works. Using pages from books in some of his pieces he removes them from their original meaning and plays with a very individual form of typo-art. Reith last exhibited his creations in group exhibitions in Enschede at the Eerst! Gallery and in Nashville, Tennessee at the Paper Planes Gallery, which is all the more reason to eagerly anticipate his solo show at the winter edition of Bright in 2011.
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One of the most expressive contemporary photographers of street culture at the moment is the New York based, native Italian Alessandro Zuek Simonetti. Since growing up in Italy in the nineties he has been accompanying everyday situations with his camera and capturing them in a candid manner, mainly in black and white. These honest and hard-hitting images resulted not only in a professorship at the Institute of Arts in Padua, but also in countless publications in international magazines like Rolling Stone, GQ, Warp Magazine Japan and Vice. Zuek can also look back on fantastic collaborations with brands like Carhartt, 55DSL, Lee, Evisu, Slam Jam or even the Sky High Pro Skateboard series with Zoo York, for which he presented black and white architecture photos of New York on decks. At Bright Signore Simonetti will be presenting his DD/MM/ YYYY project – a sort of photo diary of images he took using a compact camera, which he always carries on him, during the past five months in Europe.
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Distributed by ICC Distribution : T 0032(0)93244616 : www.iccdistribution.eu : www.supremebeing.com
Posh the Prince!, 28 Musician and Performer from New York HBC – Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 9, Berlin-Mitte
www.hbc-berlin.de
Or like Berlin, where they go another night, alright! 92 – Bright Magazine
Photos: Katja Hentschel
www.glamcanyon.com
Anna, 23 Singer Bar Tausend – Schiffbauerdamm 11, Berlin-Mitte
www.tausendberlin.com
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Sara, 28 Club Promoter from Madrid NBI Club – Schönhauser Allee 36, Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg
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Niki, 31 Promoter and Fashion Editor Broken Hearts Club – changing locations
www.thebrokenheartsclubberlin.com
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Emmanuelle, 25 DJ Madame Claude – Lübbener Straße 19, Berlin-Kreuzberg
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Marlous, 31 Graphic Designer from Paris Smaragd Bar – Prinzenallee 80, Berlin-Wedding
Gerald, 32 Fashion Designer HBC – Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 9, Berlin-Mitte
www.hbc-berlin.de
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Felix, 25 und Sarnai, 23 Editor and Designer King Size – Friedrichstraße 112b, Berlin-Mitte
www.kingsize-berlin.de
98 – Bright Magazine
tough
Style.
Foto: camilo Gutierrez
Simple in Black or
white
you WAnT moRE? WWW.G-sHock.Eu/G-vEnTuRE
BRIGHT Winter 2011 – room 113
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GA-100A-7AER
GA-100-1A1ER
Interview + Text: Paul Kampfmann Photos: Sneaker Freaker
Sneaker Freaker – Keep your laces loose!
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Sneaker Freaker – what began in 2002 as a bit of fun has meanwhile grown into an international magazine with a circulation of 25,000 and diverse international offshoots. It is sold in all the stylish places: from the small sneaker store around the corner to global players like Barnes & Noble or Urban Outfitters. With the sneakerfreaker.com platform, founder Simon “Woody” Woods and his team generate up to three million site views every month and boast 60,000 active forum users. Between projects for Puma, Nike, New Balance or Lacoste the Spanish edition was established in 2008 and then in 2009 the Russian issue was added to the list. At the end of 2010 Sneaker Freaker was published for the first time in German, which meant that it was high time for a catch-up.
BRIGHT: Congratulations on the 20th issue! Do you even have time to celebrate or is it just full steam ahead? Woody: There is precious little time to enjoy the release of each issue, because the next is always around the corner … But I also care too much about the magazine; I’m a super duper control freak. I care about every single photo, every single word and even make sure that every single shoe is laced properly. Sneaker Freaker is a very personal project. Print is dead, they say, but Sneaker Freaker is alive and kicking. How come? It’s definitely a tough time for publishers, but I would say that people love us because it’s a tangible product with a long shelf-life. We also make the products look good and it stimulates the desire of both the hardcore sneaker heads and the “normal” people. Since we only produce three magazines a year, it’s an event each time one comes out. Given that there are thousands of blogs out there, we have to work closely with the brands to stay one huge step ahead. We keep the magazine pure and aren’t starting to make detours into 101 – Bright Magazine
music or video projects to make more money. We work our asses off on every issue to ensure the right mix of cool colabs, new models and vintage stuff. It’s funny: we are unlike any other magazine out there, which is what we need to survive and prosper. The mega-features on Nike ACG, Reebok PUMP, Steve Van Doren (Vans) or the retrospectives with Airwalk and Vision really stand out – nobody would read 10,000 words online, but they do in traditional print. Why sneakers? The catalyst was really just to make something fun for the hell of it. I also figured I’d be able to get a load of free sneakers! At the beginning I had neither a business plan, nor the hope of a second issue. Things never turn out how you think they will. I certainly never thought I’d still be here writing about shoes all day, but at some point I 102 – Bright Magazine
realised that it was looking a lot bigger than I originally expected. So what were the first shoes you got for free? To be honest: I’ve forgotten! Well it was eight years ago … But I can tell you the last pair I got for free: a pair of Converse, made by the Japanese designer sak. I’m ashamed to say I begged like a baby for those. So thanks again to Ian Ginoza and Karin Hesselvik, the saks are easily my favourite sneakers of the year. What was your previous job? My background is as a graphic designer. I worked in advertising and fashion for many years and aIso worked on Hollywood films doing design work. For the first few years I literally did every single thing for the magazine myself: writing, taking photos, design,
I would remove the shitty tag from the cover of the first few issues. Sorry about that. What drives you? Probably the same as many other creative people: I need approval from my peers. If people thought the magazine sucked, I’d probably pack up and do something else. I love old American cars; that’s my hobby as well as sneakers. But the world already has 1000 car magazines. So I’m definitely better off making the best magazine about sneakers in the world! When did you first realise that you had struck a nerve? It all started after the first issue with crazy amounts of phone calls and e-mails. I was doing interviews with media all around the world. Then we started to get stores ordering the magazine, and I’ll never forget that the first was Colette in Paris.
everything. It is a little crazy when I think about it now. Today, we’ve grown to staff five: Mafia, Anthony, James and Hans DC. Last week Alex from Germany joined the team as an intern. He’s 6 foot 9 inches tall! So it’s a full house at the moment. Is that stressful? It’s a lot of hard work, but it’s always been entertaining to say the least. Honestly: who wouldn’t want to fly around the world talking about sneakers for a living? I have fun and meet so many great people. The best piece of advice I’ve ever been given is not to make a decision simply because you’re tired and worn out. It’s a lesson I’m reminded of many times and it motivates me every time. Would you do anything differently if you could? 103 – Bright Magazine
Does the magazine showcase your own taste or general trends? We can only show what there is. So if brands are making great shoes, the magazine will look great too. So we reflect the market and general trends. But we have to filter the shoes: right now for example, we have over 2000 shoes in our office – it smells like a Chinese glue factory. But only maybe 100 models will make the cut – so I guess I am picking according to my taste more than I think …
wanted to interview me and asked me when they could come by our office. Unfortunately I never heard from them again after I told them I was based on the other side of the world. Give us a brief overview of the colabs that you’ve done … There’s been quite a few: the Sharkskin “Blaze of Glory” for Puma, the Puma “Geography Teacher”, the “Skippys” made from kangaroo leather for New Balance and the flip-flops for Quiksilver. We also had the “Alvin Purple” with Asics … Thanks to Helder and Luke for making that happen! We have a Lacoste boat shoe ready for December and more projects, which are still top-secret. How many pairs of shoes do you own? Like every collector I don’t think about how many I have, rather it’s how many I don’t own. I guess it’s around 900 pairs … No matter how many I give away: they keep turning up on the doorstep every day. Plus I still buy sneakers all the time … But it could be worse. Could you imagine how many I would have if I was US sample size 9? After eight years: what is your personal shoe trivia highlight? That adidas used to make hi-top sneakers in Romania. The model was honestly called “Dracula”. How are your expansion plans going?
So what do you think: what’s the next big thing? Unfortunately most kids are very conservative right now, everyone seems embarrassed by colour. So they are all wearing canvas sneakers or all-white vulcanised sneaks. Boring. It’s hard to see what’s coming next, but I think low profiles and plimsolls will be here for a few more years yet, which is a shame. But if that’s what they want … nothing stays forever, and I’m fascinated to see what comes next. History always repeats itself, especially with clothing.
This is definitely the craziest aspect: I could never have dreamed of designing sneakers for brands like Puma or New Balance, but to think that my magazine would be translated into multiple languages really is bananas. We started in Spain three years ago and it’s been going very well. Russia came online at the beginning of 2009 and in late 2010 we launched the German edition (sneakerfreaker.de). Germany has a huge sneaker scene so I’m really happy about it … and am going to have to improve my German!
Are people still surprised that Sneaker Freaker comes from Melbourne? Definitely. The New York Times
Thank you very much for the interview!
www.sneakerfreaker.com
Sperry Top Sider Bahama Chukka
DC Match
Sneakers Vans Skate Hi Gorilla Biscuits
Element Hampton
Selektion: Pascal Prehn
www.sneakerness.com Fotos: Michael Breyer & Robert Eikelpoth
www.roberteikelpoth.com
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New Balance 574 Classic
Palladium Pampa Boot Stussy
Element Prescott Elite
Pro Keds 69er Lo
Kix DCAC
Pointer Conor
DVS Uno
Nike Air Max 1
Nike SB Blazer Mid
Nike Stefan Janoski
KangaRoos Combat Eco
Lakai Guy
DC Gatsby
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Nike SB Dunk Hi Hummel Stadil Hi Slimmer
WeSC Gobi
Supra TK Society
Nike Auto Trainer
Axion Liberty Onitsuka Tiger Himalayan Tiger
Boxfresh Swish
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Converse Chuck Hi Woolrich
adidas Stan Smith 2
Puma Suede
Hub Dexter
Onitsuka Tiger Saiko Runner
Asics SportStyle Gel Lyte III
Circa Valeo
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gsm europe: +33 5 58 700 700 spring 2011
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live . learn . grow – element eden.com
Forvert Hermes in store: March 2011
Emerica Sign Language in store: February 2011
Turbokolor PAU in store: March 2011
Analog Pla Johnny McCormack in store: March 2011
Iriedaily Mini Monk Tee in store: now
Zoo York Wheel in store: February 2011
Rhythm PT in store: February 2011
Crème Loud and Proud in store: February 2011
ĂŠS Timer in store: February 2011
Ucon Feed me in store: now
Ambiguous Brain Logo in store: February 2011
Ontour Shadow in store: February 2011
Makia Stargazer in store: February 2011
Forvert Theme in store: March 2011
Alias One Les Yeux de la Nuit in store: now
Zonders Doom in store: now
667 Magic Chair in store: February 2011
Iuter Shohei in store: March 2011
Back in Black
Wemoto Sneakerness in store: February 2011
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Lousy Livin’ Were you drunk or not in store: now
Obey Legion in store: February 2011
Stüssy DC Detective Tee in Store: March 2011
01 – Atticus L.A.M.F. Belt in stores: March 2011
06 – Element Luxy in stores: now
11 – Carhartt Palm in stores: now
16 – Fenchurch Razwina in stores: March 2011
02 – Vans Shakes in stores: February 2011
07 – Iuter Queue in stores: February 2011
12 – Lifetime Collective Mystery Braid in stores: February 2011
17 – Burton Studded Belt in stores: February 2011
03 – Analog Parole in stores: March 2011
08 – Globe Stockdale in stores: February 2011
13 – Lifetime Collective Hamptons in stores: March 2011
18 – Mazine Leather Belt in stores: February 2011
04 – Iuter Shutter in stores: March 2011
09 – Atticus Square Up Leather Belt in stores: March 2011
14 – és Weaver Belt in stores: February 2011
19 – Iriedaily FloBo Belt in stores: February 2011
05 – Vans Cable Leather Belt in stores: February 2011
10 – Obey Everyday Belt in stores: February 2011
15 – Cleptomanicx 2C CI Belt in stores: now
20 – Makia Canvas Belt in stores: March 2011
Arrangement: Marius Farwig
Belting Pot
01 20 19 02
18 03
17 04 16
05 06 07
15 08 14 09
13 10 11 12
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2011
We A cti v i s ts S HO T B Y C HE RY L D U N N www. we s c. co m
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COME SEE US AT BRIGHT!, 1st FLOOR, Room no.107
Thermonuclear Protection
Vans Laptop Sleeve; 14” in stores: now
Airbag Craftworks Cupertino Maritim; 13”, 15“ in stores: March 2011
AMOS King Ken Netbook Sleeve; 15” in stores: now
Carhartt Hazard Second Skin; 13”, 15”, 17” in stores: February 2011
SKFK Notebook second skin; 15“ in stores: now
Paul Frank Macbook Sleeve Skurvy core; 13“ in stores: now
Lapàporter Braid; 13” in stores: now
Henrik Vibskov Puddy Computerbag in stores: February 2011
Eastpak Reebot; 15“ in stores: now
Incase Neoprene Sleeve; 10.2” in stores: now
alkr Urban Protection Sleeve; 13”, 15” in stores: now
Kingdrips X Superhorstjansen Cherries for Gorgo, 13” in stores: on request
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...and along came Paul!
Text: Roman Schönbichler Photos: Stefanie Suchy
What makes Paul Rodriguez Junior so special? The fact that he’s already won almost every contest? That he is one of the best street skateboarders in the world? That he looks like a star? That he’s a damn nice guy? It’s the full package! The young man from Los Angeles conscientiously answers every question without any objections, and what he tells us shows that fame, money and success still haven’t gone to his head. Even though he doesn’t travel very much he always enjoys coming to Germany. European skaters enjoy his respect, as, unlike the kids in his homeland, who are spoiled by perfectly designed parks, here they skate in a rough and ready way, having to deal with cobblestones and all. On the other hand, he tells us, his colleagues in the USA suffer from the fact that skateboarding is still a sport on the peripheries of
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respectable society – more often than not, skaters are stopped by the police, searched and given a warning. Even Paul once ended up getting arrested, but was then quickly recognised and even invited to give talks at local schools. Hypocrisy makes him angry: “So what’s it going to be then!? A second ago they wanted to put me in jail and now I’m supposed to speak to the kids? Am I a criminal or a role model?” Even Paul’s famous father, the comedian and actor Paul Rodriguez Senior, wasn’t very enamoured with his son’s wish of becoming a professional skater. But, as having the gift of the gab seems to be something that runs in this family, dad was soon persuaded otherwise. Nowadays he is on hand to provide his son with advice and assistance with almost all of the decisions he has to make. Perhaps that’s also the reason why Junior is so down-to-earth. As, despite his passion for skateboarding, his first priority is his family: his daughter Heaven, who means the world to him, recently celebrated her second birthday. In an interview with us Mister P-Rod revealed what else he gets up to.
Paul, what defines you? Skating, skating, skating, I’m almost scared to think that one day I won’t be able to skate anymore. Which responsibilities and obstacles does one have to confront as a professional skater? You have to be aware that your career is restricted merely to your performance. Lots of skaters come unstuck when they become famous. As soon as they are pros they start resting on their laurels, get lazy or lose their focus. They waste their talent and simply throw their careers away so they can party and continue their downward spiral.
What are your favourite places on the planet? My number one is Los Angeles! But there are still a few other cool spots, for example Australia: good people, good skate parks! But Japan also fascinates me. There, you can leave your wallet lying around, come back two hours later and it’ll still be there. The food that you order actually looks like the picture on the menu. In the USA they serve you a plate of mush that has absolutely nothing to do with the photo. The Japanese are much politer, prouder and knowledgeable. I’m lucky that I don’t have to travel too much with my job, so
What do you have to do to earn money as a skateboarder? First and foremost that depends on you as an athlete and businessman. No matter how good you are, if you are sponsored you should work within certain structures, which includes participating in competitions, show performances, demos, signing autographs, shooting ads, etc. If you do all of that then the money will flow in from the sponsors. I actually enjoy doing all of that as I believe it’s a part of the job! I have more time to concentrate on the cultures, languages and customs when I am abroad somewhere on holiday. I haven’t been to Europe for three years for example. Oh yes, Germany is the best place anyway (laughing).
Is there a limit to the number of sponsors you can have? As long as the sponsors’ products don’t overlap, you can have your face on as many billboards as you want. For example, having two shoe brands isn’t allowed. Otherwise it doesn’t really matter: bags, watches, phones, trucks, computers, hearing aids or condoms... (laughing). Speaking of which, the wildest rumours are flying around about pro-skaters on tour. Have you ever had a problem with groupies? NO! I HAVEN’T! And that really annoys me! The biggest problem with the groupies is that I don’t have any!
Finally, who are the most important people for you in the skating world? Of course, primarily the people I skate with: Daniel, Shane Nugget, Tory Pudwill and Terry Kennedy! But I wouldn’t be here without those who have inspired me: Eric Koston, Andrew Reynolds, Daewon Song, Tom Penny – as a child my bedroom wall was covered with photos of them and now I’m on first name terms with them all – that’s absolutely amazing! But I still admire them because they are such incredible skaters.
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“I skate and rest... until my body is ready to skate again – all day, every day“ Paul Rodriguez Jr.
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Decks Text: Nada Carls
www.momskitchen.de
Graphics and skateboards – a combination with history. At the latest since the Dogtown era, the skateboard industry has been exemplarily dedicated to “creative board design” and in principle nothing has changed about the praiseworthy tradition to this very day. Or maybe it has? Whereas once, skull designs, photo prints or neon brandings were known to adorn boards, these days there is a lot more space for art. Art, not in the sense of “I used to be a professional skater and now I’m into graphic design,” but rather art by established artists
from the most diverse of styles, who use the skateboards as a substitute canvas. Exhibitions of creatively designed decks are no longer a rarity – the deck has officially gained its own independence in the art business. Between colourful boards and the hardware industry, some real collaboration gems crop up now and again. And we are presenting a few of them here.
MOB x Jeff the Brotherhood
Rock’n’roll meets skateboarding. In the middle of the German region of Hessen lives a guy with a funny name and good ideas: Capt. Cracker is really called Christian Roth, and together with Michael Neuss he runs MOB Skateboards in Gießen, he enjoys taking photos and is so good at it that he has recently published a book of them: “Control is always automatic”, in a limited edition of 500. MOB has worked together with artists ranging from Shepard Fairey to Michael Leon and Helge Schneider and has brought 118 – Bright Magazine
out a range of superb decks. His opinion on collaborations is clear-cut and convincing: “I have always simply chosen the collaborations that I was interested in. Nowadays every Tom, Dick and Harry is doing something with some kind of ‘famous’ people, that’s just not my thing.” In short: Cracker’s current favourite band, Jeff the Brotherhood from Nashville, is still totally off the radar in Europe, which in his opinion made them perfect to design the next MOB deck. Rolling Stone’s description of the seventies-inspired heavy post-punk-riffrock band was: “Your friendly punk pals find a real soundsystem, walk scrungy line between Melvins and Ramones”. And we say: thank you for the music we’re looking forward to the release of the MOB board in spring 2011.
www.mob-skateboards.com www.jeffbrotherhood.blogspot.com
Three Red Paintings, 1988 Black-and-white photographs and vinyl paint on board 94 ¼ x 128 ¼ in.
Supreme x Baldessari © 2007 Sidney B. Felsen
“Coz there is always something to rise up against,” said Bad Brains in 2007 in an interview with Supreme, and with these words seemed to be quoting the label’s unwritten mission statement. For 16 years the New York skateboard and streetwear label has embodied the brash oppositional attitude, influenced by punk, hip-hop, skate and art, which makes them opinion leaders for rebellious kids and grown-up individualists. The name Supreme says it all, and this is more than palpable in their shop on Lafayette Street, not far from Broadway in Manhattan and regarded by fans and even the crew themselves as the hub of the universe – here, urban skateboard culture is represented consistently in Noses & Ears, Etc.: Head (with Nose), 2006 Three-dimensional archival digital photographic prints and acrylic 54 1/8 x 47 ¼ in.
a self confident and selective way. As well as Bad Brains, Supreme’s testimonials and collaboration colleagues include artists like RZA, Public Enemy, Malcolm McLaren and Damien Hirst. At the launch of his Supreme deck Hirst demanded it shouldn’t be hung in a museum, but actually used for skating and shredding instead. The tradition of uniqueness and originality at Supreme is continuing in the latest cooperation with contemporary artist John Baldessari. In 1970, as part of his “Cremation Project” the Californian artist, who is now 79 years old, burnt all of his paintings created between 1953 and 1966, baked biscuits with their ashes and promised the art world: “I will not make any more boring art.” And no sooner said than done: after a total of 50 years of creative work with over 120 individual exhibitions and 300 group exhibitions there is no doubt about Baldessari’s standing on the fine art scene: his art includes paintings, photos, video performances, collages, cut-ups and conceptual work. And now skateboards too. With Supreme a series was created that consists of three decks with motifs from his Gemini Series: Noses & Ears, ETC. from 2006. In Germany the Supreme x Baldessari decks are available exclusively from Firmament in Berlin.
www.supremenewyork.com www.baldessari.org www.am-firmament.com 119 – Bright Magazine
Skateboard deck showing a detail from: Noses & Ears, Etc.: The Gemini Series: Two Faces, One with Nose and Military Ribbons; One with (Blue) Nose and Tie, 2006 three layer, fourteen color screenprint, mounted on sintra with hand painting 34.75 x 36.75 x 3 inches Published by Gemini G.E.L., Edition of 45 Wrong, 1966 – 68 Photoemulsion and acrylic on canvas; 59 x 45 inches
Palace x Bankhead
“Crew love is true love” – as well as LookyLooky, Patta and other cool collectives, PWBC from London are also aware of this. The Palace Wayward Boys Choir is the rolling board environment and platform for Cliché, Stereo, Slam City Skate and another mob of crazy guys who hype each other up: the crew also includes Lev Tanjus’ Palace Skateboards. The still relatively young hardware label released its first board collection in 2009, with Carhartt team rider Olly Todd, who has been sponsored by Palace ever since. Another Palace supporter from the early days is Will Bankhead, who designed artworks for DJ Shadow and Money Mark record covers at British label Mo’Wax back in the day. These days Bankhead works as a freelance designer and photographer and runs the Tees’n’Tapes portal Trilogy Tapes. The design for Palace Skateboards is like many things he does: a little scary, psychedelically absurd and dark. An exclusive photo spread for “I want you” magazine also reflects this style in his photography. Lev’s comments on the cooperation between Bankhead and Palace are
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charming and self-explanatory: “I have known Will as a London skateboarder for a while. There isn’t really a special story on how the intensely banging graphic for our Palace Deck came about. Will has just got amazing old books and tons of interesting imagery and strange stuff at his house. Sometimes when I have deadlines to get bits done and I need help, I get the 59 bus to his yard and Will always manages to put some killer shit together on his computer. Cheers Will!” And if that’s not crew love, we don’t know what is …
www.palaceskateboards.com www.thetrilogytapes.com
aNYthing X Jumonji
If you’re out and about in Manhattan and looking for a bit of NY skateboard cred you should visit the aNYthing shop in the Lower Eastside. As well as books, the in-house designs and stickers, now and again you’ll also come across a few surprises. To our request for a current aNYthing artist deck first came a “No”, followed by a “Well we did want to make one anyway”. Three weeks later the colab with skateboard legend Harry Jumonji was in the bag. The eccentric, artist and board aesthete has written New York street history. Nowadays he takes care of skate kids, is demanding the construction of a skateboard hall in New York and is planning a joint book with aNYthing maker A-Ron. In an interview he gave us an insight into New York skate history: Harry, tell us a bit about yourself! I came to New York City in 1982. My dad stole me from my mom so he could give me a better education. I didn’t want to go to school so I went 121 – Bright Magazine
to California in ‘83. The guys that I had looked up to in skateboarding became the guys I later skated with every day – so I learnt from the best. Back in NY in 1986 I worked with Christian Hosoi for Andy Warhol’s Interview mag. At the time I didn’t have a clue about art, all I cared about was skateboarding. Little did I know that Keith Haring, who painted my board, Basquiat and Warhol, who ran the whole gig, would end up dying shortly afterwards. The city was insane back then. Skateboarding wasn’t that cool. Either you breakdanced, wrote graffiti or you listened to punk rock or hardcore. Hip-hop was turning into a monster. We skated in the grimy and dirty skate park Brooklyn Banks. But skateboarding really happened from Washington Square Park down to the finance district, speeding along Broadway, dodging taxis, buses, Chinese ladies and bikes – that’s real street skating. When I came to NY there weren’t even any skate shops! We used to meet in the park, got high and went skating. In the city it was like the movie “The Warriors”, the crime rate was at its highest; mayor Koch didn’t give a fuck about the quality of life of the citizens. You were scared to ride the subway at night, they were bombed from top to bottom, the cars too. Dirty on the inside but beautiful to look at from the outside: colourful from top to bottom. All these different people saw that on the platform and then the next day: BOOM – it was gone. That’s how street art works! I think that’s what made the city so interesting. How did the collaboration with aNYthing come about? I know Kiernen and A-Ron, the founders of aNYthing, from the early days at Supreme. They have always been cool and have stayed loyal to me. They also stuck by me when things were tough. I was running the streets, on the edge. But they never turned their backs on me. These days a lot of streetwear brands are trying too hard to be cool. But we don’t give a damn; we are the “downtown dirty officials”. Seriously, you got that from us. I know where I come from and show the people who were there for me respect. And a lot of them are dead now. It’s a New York thing and it’s our thing, go do your own thing.
And finally can you say a few words about the artwork? It’s about the culture, the history and the roots of the NYC madness, about everything located downtown below 14th street, and not the Upper West Side facing Central Park. The aNYthing X Jumonji deck is limited to a batch of 100, will be released in January 2011 and is available in Germany exclusively from Civilist .
www.anewyorkthing.com
On Friday the 21st, join the lord of the lines in the enchanted forest of relentless.
SATURDAY 22ND, BE READY FOR THE CASH FOR TRICKS COMPETITION IN THE ENCHANTED FOREST OF RELENTLESS.
THURSDAY 20TH MINIRAMP CHALLENGE IN MATT’S WORLD OF RELENTLESS.
Word or street? How much cake could you eat? Can you beat Cpt. Clepto? Registration (office): Thursday Ceremony (movie theater): Saturday
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Catch your personal challenge at the following spots: CLEPTOMANICX (253/2) DVS & MATIX (248) ELEMENT (265) ROUGH DISTRIBUTION (208) DNA / ALIEN WORKSHOP (216) ETNIES (118/D) NIKE SB (267) 24/7 DISTRIBUTION (159) GRAVIS / ANALOG (222/1) URBAN SUPPLIES (211/212) RELENTLESS SKATEBOARDING AREA
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Bright Winter 2011 — Room No. 253/2
fcstpauli.com cleptomanicx.com
Photographer Thomas Wolfzettel will also be portraying the different faces of Bright Berlin. Keep an eye out for his studio or a flyer and become a “member of the Bright Brigade”. If you already are, find your portrait at
www.brighttradeshow.com
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Bright Brigade 125 – Bright Magazine
Blurb
At the end of the BRIGHT production phase we get to hold an effortless-looking magazine in our hands that we’re usually pretty pleased with. Getting there, however, takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears, not to mention shouts of “Never again!” whilst exhaustedly tearing our hair out. Here are some everyday phrases overheard in the BRIGHT editorial office …
If I was calling I wouldn’t answer the telephone either … I really like it but can you please change the colour and the design? Author Paul Coelho once said: “If you want to be creative, try to forget that you have all that experience!” If you can read, you already have an advantage.
We are always right – right as in Bright! I’m so unforgiving – I don’t even forgive myself! Time for me to put my terrier costume on and go hustle a few ads! For some reason I’d always thought that PR was classed as a service job – WRONG … Deadline behaviour – that‘s what separates the men from the boys.
No brain, no headache!
If deadlines meant something then there would have been a LOT of casualties today! I’m surrounded by intellectual superiors … NOT! Look on the BRIGHT side! Everything will be okay in the end. If it‘s not okay, it‘s not the end! You can be the victim or master of your own brain.
Who am I? And if so how many? What kind of funny farm have I actually ended up at here? Which part of “just do it” did you not understand?
Today I’m absolutely pro everything! Success never sleeps. We do the hustle and we do the hustle!
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I expect that text to be in my inbox BRIGHT and early!
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Exhibitor Contacts # 667 www.sixsixseven.net 101 Apparel www.101apparel.com 4Star www.fourstarclothing.com A ACE www.acetruckmfg.com Adidas Originals www.adidas.com Adio www.adiofootwear.com Aeme www.aemeclothing.com Alessandro Zuek Simonetti www.zuekphotography.com Alien Workshop www.alienworkshop.com Almost www.almostawebsite.com Alpinestars www.alpinestars.com Altamont www.altamontapparel.com Ambiguous www.ambiguousclothing.com Amok trucks www.havoc-distribution.com Amphetamine www.amphetaminebearings.com Analog Clothing www.analogclothing.com Anenberg www.anenberg.com Angelboy www.247dist.com Angst Skateboards www.angst-skateboards.com Antiz www.antizskateboards.com Anzeige Berlin www.anzeigeberlin.de Arty Farty www.artyfarty-gallery.com Asics SportStyle www.asics.de Atmosphere www.atmosphere-clothing.com Atticus www.atticusclothing.com B Baker www.bakerskateboards.com Baretta www.baretta.de basementizid www.basementizid.com berlinfashion.tv www.berlinfashion.tv Black Diamond www.havoc-distribution.com Black Label www.blacklabelskates.com Black Magic www.247dist.com Black-Panthers www.247dist.com Blast www.247dist.com
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Destructo www.destructotrucks.com
Girl + (Product) Red Art Auction www.theartdump.com/red
DGK www.dgk-skateboards.com
Given www.givenskateboards.com
Blind www.blindskateboards.com
Diamond www.diamondsupplyco.com
Globe www.globe.tv
Bliss www.blisscamp.com
Dickies www.dickies.eu
Gravis Footwear www.gravisfootwear.com
Blueprint www.blueprintskateboards.com
Dickies Footwear www.dickies-footwear.eu
Grind King www.grindking.com
Bones Bearings www.bonesbearings.com
Digital www.247dist.com
G-Shock www.gshock.com
Bones Wheels www.boneswheels.com
Dissizit www.dissizit.com
Brewer www.247dist.com
Divine www.247dist.com
Habitat www.habitatskateboards.com
Brixton www.brixton.com
Djinns www.djinns.eu
Habitat Shoes www.habitatshoes.com
Buckle Down www.buckle-down.com
Dog Town www.dogtownskateboards.com
Burton www.burton.com
Doh-Doh www.247dist.com
Heath Kirchart www.emerica.com/team/ heath-kirchart
Burton Snowboards www.burton.com
Dooks www.247dist.com
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Dregs-Longboards www.dregsskateboards.com
Cargo www.247dist.com
Durkl www.durkl.com
Carhartt www.carhartt-streetwear.com
DVS Shoes www.dvsshoes.com
Celsius www.celsiussnow.com
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Champfest www.alachampfest.com
Electric Visual www.electricvisual.com
Chocolate www.chocolateskateboards.com
Element www.elementskateboards.com
City Stars Skateboards www.citystarsskateboarding.com
Element Shoes www.elementskateboards.com
Clan 010 www.clan010.com
Element Skateboard www.elementskateboards.com
Cleptomanix www.cleptomanicx.de
Elwood www.elwoodclothing.com
Cliché www.clicheskate.com
Emerica www.emericaskate.com
Confusion www.247dist.com
Enjoi www.enjoico.com
Cons www.converseskateboarding.com
Ergo www.ergophobia.com
Consolidated www.consolidatedskateboard.com
És www.esfootwear.com
Converse www.converse.de
Etnies www.etnies.com
Core Trucks www.core-trucks.com
Ezekiel www.ezekielusa.com
Crail Trucks www.crail.com.br
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Creation www.creationskateboards.com
Fallen www.fallenfootwear.com
Creature www.creatureskateboards.com
Famous Stars and Straps www.famoussas.com
Creme www.cremeskateboards.com
Faux Ami www.fauxami.de
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Femi Pleasur www.femipleasure.com
DNA www.ridedna.com
Flip www.flipskateboards.com
DC Shoes www.dcshoes.com
FMS Shoes www.famoussas.com
Death www.247dist.com
Forvert www.forvert.com
Deathwish www.bakerboysdist.com
Foundation www.foskco.com
Dekline www.dekline.com
Frisur www.frisur.sg-services.eu
Delight www.delightskateboards.de Dephect www.dephect.com
G Girl www.girlskateboards.com
H
Holden www.holdenouterwear.com Hollywood www.247dist.com Hoodlamb www.hoodlamb.com Hooligan www.hooligan.de Hoopla www.hooplaskateboards.com Horsefeathers www.horsefeathers.eu H-Street www.h-street.com Hubba www.hubbawheels.com hurley www.hurley.com I Icon www.iconsnowboards.com Imagine Skateboards www.imagineskateboards.com Independent www.independenttrucks.com Innes www.innesclothing.com Intro www.intro.de Ipath www.web.ipath.com Iriedaily www.iriedaily.de Iriedaily Wood www.iriedaily.de Iron Trucks www.pivot-distribution.de Iuter www.iuter.com J Jart www.jartskateboards.com Jessup www.griptape.com/news Julius Dittmann Just Junkies www.justjunkies.dk K Kingpin Skateboard www.247dist.com Kluster www.kluster-skateboards.com Kontrol Weehls www.kontrolwheels.com
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L Lakai www.lakai.com Lamono www.mono.la Layback www.247dist.com Les Ettes www.lesettes.com Lifetime Collective www.lifetimecollective.com Long Island www.pivot-distribution.de Loser-Machine www.losermachine.com Lousy Livin www.livincompany.de Lowcard www.lowcardmag.com Lowlife www.lowlife.com Luck Bearings www.luckybearingsco.com LWA www.lwa-wakeboards.com M Made for Skate www.madeforskate.com Magenta www.magentaskateboards.com Makia Clothing www.makiaclothing.com March www.marchskateboards.de Matix www.matixclothing.com Mazine www.mazine.de Mini-Logo www.minilogoskateboards.com Monster www.skateboardmsm.de Muckefuck www.muckefuckskateboards.com N Nike 6.0 www.nike6.com Nike SB www.nikeskateboarding.com Nikita www.nikitaclothing.com O Obey www.obeygermany.com Ogio www.ogio.com okapi www.okapi-caps.com Onitsuka Tiger www.onitsukatiger.com Ontour www.ontour.nl Orion www.oriontrucks.com Osiris www.osirisshoes.com P Palisades www.palisadesskateboards.com Paradise Longboards www.havoc-distribution.com Paris www.247dist.com
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Peter Grimm www.petergrimm.com
Sanuk www.sanuk.com
Thunder www.thundertrucks.com
Phantom www.phantomtrucks.com
Satori www.satorimovement.com
Titus TV www.titus.tv
Pig www.pigwheels.com
Schmitt-Stix www.247dist.com
Toonstar www. toonstarclothing.de
Place www.placeskateboarding.de
Shake Junt www.shakejunt.com
Toy Machine www.toymachine.com
Plan B www.planbskateboards.com
Shisha www.shishabrand.com
Tracker Trucks www.trackertrucks.com
Positiv www.positivskateboards.com
Shoe-Goo www.247dist.com
Traffic www.trafficskateboards.com
Powell-Golden-Dragon www.powellgoldendragon.com
Shorty´s www.shortysinc.com
Transworld www.skateboarding.transworld.net
Powell-Peralta www.powell-peralta.com
Shortys-Lil‘ www.247dist.com
Tricks Skateboards www.pivot-distribution.com
Preloved www.preloved.de
Shortys-Silverado www.247dist.com
Trust Nobody www.trustnobody.com
Primary www.primaryskateboards.com
Sitka www.sitka.ca
TSG www.ridetsg.com
Primitive www.primitiveshoes.com
Sk8Dice www.sk8dice.com
Turbokolor www.turbokolor.com
Process www.247dist.com
Skate Aid www.skate-aid.org
Twothirds www.twothirds.com
Project www.projectskateboards.co.za
Skate Mental www.skatemental.com
Puma www.puma.com
SkateMafia www.sk8mafia4life.com
Ucon Acrobatics www.Ucon-Acrobatics.com
Pyromaniac www.pyromaniac-clothing.com
SKF www.skf.com/portal/skf/home
Upful www.247dist.com
Q
Sneaker Freaker www.sneakerfreaker.de
U
V
Qhuit www.qhuit.com
Sneakers www.sneakers-magazine.com
Vans www.vans.com
Quiksilver www.global.quiksilver.com
Source www.boardsportsource.com
Venture Trucks www.venturetrucks.net
Spitfire www.spitfireskate.com
Volcom www.volcom.com
Radio www.radioskateboards.com
Sportswear int. www.sportswearnet.com
Vulk www.vulkeyewear.com
ragwear www.ragwear.com
Staf Magazine www.stafmagazine.com
Rasa Libre www.rasalibre.com
Stereo www.stereosoundagency.com
Wemoto www.wemoto.de
Record www.recordclothing.net
Streetwear Today www.stw2d.com
WeSC www.wesc.com
Red-Dragon www.reddragonapparel.com
SUB Industries www.subindustries.com
Westberlingallery www.westberlingallery.com
Reef www.reef.com
SuburbanBliss www.suburbanbliss.net
World Industries www.worldindustries.com
Reell www.reelljeans.com
Superbrand www.247dist.com
Reflex www.reflexbearings.com
Superplan www.superplan.net
XtremeDVD-Skate www.247dist.com
Relentless www.relentlessenergy.com
Surf-One www.surf-one.com
XtremeDVD-Snow www.247dist.com
R
Rise above Skateboards www.riseaboveskateboards.com
W
X
T
Y
Riviera www.rivieralongboards.com
Tech-Deck www.techdeck.com
Yackfou www.yackfou.com
Robotron www.robotronskate.com
Teenage-Runaway www.teenagerunawayurethane.com
Yohan Collins www.flickr.com/photos/yohancolin
Rocksmith www.rocksmithtokyo.com
Tendencias.tv www.tendencias.tv
Your:Own www.your-own.nl
Roger www.rogerskateboards.com
Termite www.termiteskateboards.com
Roxy www.roxy-europe.com
The Hundreds www.thehundreds.com
Zero www.zeroskateboards.com
Royal www.royalskateboardtruck.com
The Skateboard Mag www.theskateboardmag.com
Z-Flex www.zflex.com
Ruckus www.ruckusmetal.com
The Zonders www.thezonders.com
Zimtstern www.zimtstern.com
RVCA www.rvca.com
The-High-Five www.thehigh5skateboards.com
Zoo York www.zooyork.com
Think www.thinkskateboards.com
Zoo York Shoes www.zooyork.com
S Santa Cruz www.santacruzskateboards.com
Thrasher www.thrashermagazine.com
Z
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