stw2d.no.47 - The Hundreds - January 2014

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1 /2 014 J a n u a r y, F e b r u a r y, M a r c h

“work is the best part of our lives” T H E

H U N D R E D S

Dear readers, welcome to 2014 and thanks for 2013, but as the new year has already started, we can say: “welcome to the shows again”. But welcome to this the hundreds issue stw2d.no.47. “work is the best part of our lives” – they say, those simpatico guys on our colorful cover. A few years ago, when I first met Bobby and Ben, they just started to work on their first steps to bring their brand to Europe and since than we meet once a while and always have big smiles on our faces. It is because they asked me already quite early if they get on the cover. Finally it is like that. Sure, I follow their activities quite close and have much respect for what they have achieved within these past years. I think they really deserve it now. The quote I chose out of their interview is matching really well to their lifestyle and underlines what I think about Bobby and Ben. Always on the run, always on the hunt, always proud of what they do. Hard work I guess, but a lot of fun and activism – streetwear activism might be a good description for what they do, as all disciplines of a Brand are well managed. In fact they created new ways and tactics to establish their Brand into the world wide web, as well at retailers and their clothing flies out of the best streetwear boutiques. The Hundreds Bobby and Ben talk to Andy and Kellen Ellis which is already an harmonious blend itself. The Interview gives kind of a review of their successful past 10 years and more insides of how their work became the best part in their lives. The Hundreds is huge.

streetwear today the quarterly magazine for international streetstyles IMPRINT ISSN 1860-9996 streetwear today Alte Hattingerstrasse 11 | D-44789 Bochum | Germany | Tel: + 49 (0) 234.6 23 97 89 | office@stw2d.com | www.streetwear-today.com Editor in Chief: Martin Magielka (V.i.S.d.P.) | mm@stw2d.com Assistant: Janek Ehlers | je@stw2d.com Editor: Erik Hüsken | eh@stw2d.com Editor: Marcus Welt | mw@stw2d.com Editor UK | Jason Jules | jj@stw2d.com Editor USA | David Gensler | dg@stw2d.com Editor: Michael Leuffen | hml@stw2d.com Editor: Lorenzo Taurino | lt@stw2d.com Fashion Editor: Sara Magielka | sm@stw2d.com Fashion Assistance: Meike Ratsch | mr@stw2d.com Design: STUDIO F | Anja Steinig, Miriam Busch, Xaver Hirsch, Tino Rothämel www.studiof.de | as@studiof.de Cover 47 “work is the best part of our lives“ – the Hundreds

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Further contributors in this issue: Stefanie Levers, Superblast, Barbara Richter, Lily Niedziela, Lisa Pardey, Dominik Rodemann, Haniball Saliba, Clyde Semmoh, Tobias Wirth

Next to this fine coverstory we have a handful of nice photo shootings in this thick issue. A diversity of styles, a great mix of brands, which give an overview of the spring cloth you might look for. Oh, a good chance to give a big thanks to the teams taking care of those productions. On Top we have people, headz, artists and freaks to name. Bart Verdoorn, Jon Kooley, Looky Looky, Kira, L7M, Didier Rar, or Kevin Lyons might awake your interest too. Musicians? J Dilla, Snoopzilla, Numero Group or if you like it more faster and louder it would be Long-Distance Calling. Sure we feature new up and coming brands and their products. We are streetwear today and we want to insure that you are aware that in 3 issue to go we have reached NO.50. This will happen in October and some cool things are in the making for this jubilee. Have fun! Martin Magielka for streetwear today.

and many more... Marketing, Advertising and Publishing: Heavy Traffic UG Alte Hattingerstrasse 11 | D-44789 Bochum | Germany Martin Magielka | mm@stw2d.com Janek Ehlers | je@stw2d.com Check the itunes store for our “best of stw2d“ application and give us a like at our facebook site, check our film project at www.iamhere-project.com. Subscription Service: Meike Ratsch | mr@stw2d.com Retail and Distribution inquiries: Janek Ehlers | je@stw2d.com via www.streetwear-today.com

Great Britain (UK): Emblem Group | eg@stw2d.com Japan: Kaigai Inc. | www.kaigai-inc.co.jp Netherlands: Betapress B.V. | www.betapress.nl Norway: Listo AB | www.listo.se Spain: Comercial Atheneum | www.atheneum.com Sweden: Svenska Interpress | www.interpress.se Switzerland: Valora AG | www.valora.com Singapore: Basheer Graphic Books | www.basheergraphic.com Thailand: Peng Ha Shieng Co. Ltd. | phs@stw2d.com Printed by: wir machen druck

National distributor (Germany): Stella Distribution GmbH Frankenstraße 7 | 20097 Hamburg www.stella-distribution.de International distributors: Austria: Morawa Pressevertrieb | www.morawa.com Belgium: AMP | www.ampnet.be Brazil: H.B. Revistas | www.hbrevistas.com.br

We cannot be liable for unrequested material we receive. Unrequested material can be used any time. Reprinting of streetwear today – complete or in extracts – only by written agreement. Published features from freelancers must not share the opinion of the editorial staff. Place of jurisdiction is Bochum.



Š 2013 adidas AG. adidas, the Trefoil logo and the 3-Stripes mark are registered trademarks of the adidas Group.

IN STORES JANUARY 15TH #STANSMITH




What´s the difference between commissional and free work for you? Commissional work consists up to 90% of compromise. You have to approach differently, the challenge and fun are distinct. You cannot work in the way you´d probably C O N T E N T like to, but this is most of the time what provides 6 attraction and opens new paths upon a task.

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CONTENT

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STW2D.NO.47 1 /2 014 J a n u a r y, F e b r u a r y, M a r c h 3

..................PREFIX “work is the best part of our lives”

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.............T H I S PA G E

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . L I N E S Burton, Nixon, Onitsuka tiger, Puma, New Era x Liberty London, Converse x Isolda,

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . B R A N D Neuw, Mavi, Roscoe, K.O.I., Dickies, L1, G-Star Newson, K-Swiss and Bart Verdoorn

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Vans x Della, Nike, Billabong Garage, adidas Originals Blue, O’Neill x Pendelton, Roos, Supra, K1X Oahu Pack, Hummel x Kira, Iwishusun

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . S H O O T The City Cowboy by Tobias Wirth

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . B R A N D Looky Looky

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . A RT I S T Conny Mayer

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . C O V E R Ben & Bobby Hundreds talk to Andy & Kellen Ellis

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . S H O O T Kevin – Lighthouse keeper by Karin Nussbaumer

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . H E A D J Dilla x Akomplice x Joey Bada$$

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . A RT I S T Kevin Lyons

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . S H O O T À LA MAISON NUMÉRO 64 by Sevda Albers

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E V E N T G-Sessions

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . AT H L E T E TNT

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . S H O O T Rooftop by Lisa Pardey

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M U S I C Long Distance Calling, Snoopzilla, Numero Group, Avotre

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C O L U M N Dominik Sprenger

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.............L A S T PA G E Subscription

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LINES

10 Back in 2006 and again in 2010, the Burton Brand created the Olympic uniforms. Now again. This is a big thing even for a Brand like Burton. Thus the Sochi Games will mark the third consecutive Olympics where Burton has a partnership with the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association (USSA). They created a one-of-a-kind uniform made for the best US riders. Most of the riders have been involved in the design. The pinnacle pieces surely consist of technical outerwear and in addition they ride with matching hats, gloves, base-layers and some fleece to wear while competing. “We’re really proud that the 2014 uniform builds on Burton’s legacy of creating fun, unconventional designs that stray from the formal, traditional look of most uniforms. The vintage quilt and flag print of the jacket combined with the corduroy pants give the uniform a “heirloom hippy” vibe that lines up with snowboarding’s laidback culture while paying respect to America’s longstanding creative heritage. It will stand out in Sochi for sure.” said Greg Dacyshyn, Chief Creative Officer at Burton Snowboards.

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AND THE OLYMPIC U.S. TEAM UNIFORMS

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Since 1998 Nixon watches stand for outstanding design and product quality and are desired by surfing-dudes as well a business-guys. But the the upcoming release of the BAJA sets an exclamation mark even in their product history. Engineered for optimal performance in an outdoor experience, this digital timepiece hits the ground running with breakneck speed and lasting endurance. Not your run-of-the-mill utility watch, The Baja’s protective angled bezel conceals an arsenal of digital assets including: compass, flashlight and thermometer, strapped with a nylon cuff and band. Test the limits and leave a trail of awesomeness. The Baja is featured in Surplus/Gray/Blue, All Black/ Red, All Black and Black/Steel Blue/Neon Orange.

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THE BA JA

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© 2013 Bernd Hummel GmbH. „KangaROOS®, ROOS® and the kangaroo device are registered trade marks owned by and used under licence from Asco Group Limited“

www.facebook.com/ROOS www.kangaroos.de

COIL R-1

BORN 1986


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BURFORD

For all of you who do not want to miss the comfort of a running shoe while wearing a casual, classy leather boot, the Onitsuka tiger Brand has it. The newly developed OT BURFORD is named after a small town in Oxfordshire, England. Those Brits are known for their great hand crafted leather shoes and this is the charm what constitutes those boots. As Onitsuka Tiger is coming all the way from Japan, this Moccasin-looking mid high boot is a combination of both worlds. British style meets Japanese simplicity. Based on abandonment they have perforated or embossed tiger-stripes on side which underlines that clean and slick look. Five different colorways with suede and nubuk leathers come along in a down to earth tonality. Brown, grey, beige and black are furnished with blue and orange stitch seams giving the boots a nice but not to pushy detail. Each pair where put on a white running outsole for perfect comfort while stomping. To sum up this sneaky mock-up model is a must have and will be up for grabs in January 2014!

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PUMA DISC BLAZE LEATHER CAGE Honestly the PUMA disc Blaze sneaker never where my top favorite sneakers. Bright 80’s colors and the combination with the really innovative and great technology which the Disc Blaze definitely is, was maybe just too much for me personally. Actually what is this Disc Blaze? Easy! You just slip in your shoe and turn the “disc” till it fits perfectly. No more lacing terror and the other alternative, the Velcro fasteners are not really stylish anyway, if you ask me. Means the technical side of things made me say: “cool”. So I like and dislike this shoe at the same time. But now this will change... 5 minutes ago I got that mail with the subject “PUMA Disc Blaze Leather Cage”. Wait. LEATHER? Downloading the images I saw these beauty’s. Three different colorways with premium leather in a very nice “crafted” look in combination with the Disc Blaze technology as already mentioned. By the way I love the look of cork and all three models come with a cork side part, which just look great! We’ve come full circle now. Yes it’s an 80’s running classic touching a sneaker freaks heart of today. The PUMA Disc Blaze Leather Cage drops in January.

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NEW ERA X LIBERTY LONDON

In February a collaboration by lifestyle brand New Era and floral print expert Liberty (London) will release a limited collection of caps in three unique designs. The caps will only be available in selected stores like Colette, Lazzari und Loud and the New Era stores in London, Birmingham, Berlin and Frankfurt. The collaboration combines the classical silhouette of the New Era 59FIFTY Cap and the “Emma and Georgina” print by Liberty, that has its roots in the 1970s. The collection will feature three color-combinations of that print: blue/white, blue/blue and multicolored. The caps will cost 70 – Go get one!

CONVERSE X ISOLDA If you live in Brazil you maybe enjoy our feature about your fellow countryman l7m in this issue of streetwear today. Another thing to enjoy will be the new sneaker collaboration of Converse and Isolda, which is exclusively available in your home country! Both companies announced a whole footwear range, that shall celebrate Brazil’s vibrant culture through a series of bold and colorful prints. It comes in form of a bold palette of watercolors and exotic hues brought to life on a series of iconic sneaker silhouettes from the Converse archive. “The notion of color and self-expression is a very important part of Brazilian culture,” said Alessandra Affonso Ferreira, Creative Director of Isolda. “It was exciting to fuse the creative and rebellious universe from Converse with Isolda’s tropical fashion chic and create prints reminiscent of my childhood in northeastern Brazil and as a teenager in England during the 1980s Punk scene.” The collection features a total of nine different prints rendered on three of the brand’s most iconic silhouettes – the Converse Chuck Taylor, the Converse CONS Auckland Racer and the Converse CONS Skidgrip. Inspired by elements from Brazil’s tropical climate and culture, the collection features a series of bright cashews, guavas, “tutti frutti” and gemstones prints, along with playful renditions of lobsters and octopus. The sneakers also feature an all-over printed canvas upper and lining, an all-white rand, and premium white leather logo detailing. The Converse Isolda Sneaker Collection will be available in limited quantities at select retailers including Dona Coisa (Rio De Janeiro) and Cartell 001 (Sao Paulo). BOA SORTE COM SUA COMPRA!

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F INE T UNE J A CK E T

WATER REPELLANT DWP DURABLE

HYPERFLOW TAPED SEAMS 2 WAY STRETCH 3K BREATHABILITY 3K WATERPROOF

ONEIL L .C OM


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Vans gets in touch with Della. What is Della you might ask. Della is specializing in handmade textiles. This is not the only special thing about Della. It‘s a social engaged institution from LA employing more than fifty woman coming all the way from real poor villages in Ghana. Every product they sell and you might buy give more woman the chance to find work, get the right technical training, visit writing and reading lessons and give them a social and health insurance. This very special collection contains six of the iconic Vans models twisted into the colorful Della capsule collection. Every piece is unique and your perfect fella for the upcoming spring season. In times of a throwaway society where people often don‘t appreciate clothing and do not care about the circumstances how those pieces got produced, it is one more project which shows the right respect. For me it‘s finally a good reason to buy some new shoes!

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NIKE – KOBE 9 ELITE are thick cushioned on all sides. The KOBE 9 ELITE is completely different. The combination of the materials and the design support the natural moves of your feet and cater for resilience, speed and strength. Kobe is one who feels the game and is really interested in evolving the perfect fitting shoe with a material combination to get the harmony he needs while jumping and running on court. Some details like those 9 red stitches on the heel remind of the scars on his common calcanean or the outsole which shows the footprint of Kobe make these shoes the next thing in basketball.

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“I let my emotions out when I step on the basketball floor, it’s always been my escape, and these shoes will touch a nerve on the court in the same way I do.”

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“I draw inspiration from where I am as a player, as a person, and where my career is at this moment. I’m trying to do something that the majority of people think is impossible to do,”

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Nike Flyknit, Flywire and Lunarlon? Yes, these are some innovative and inspiring technologies Nike introduced over the past years. The ones of you who ever wore one of those Flyknit kicks with their seamless and ultra-light upper, will already love this high tech upper for sneaking around the block in style. Lunarlon – “a sole like you are walking on clouds“ – you might say, if you have one of the different Hybrid-models of the past, too. To put it straight, the upcoming Kobe Bryant signature model the KOBE 9 ELITE puts all these technologies in a new basketball silhouette. We know basketball-shoes as often clunky acting shoes which

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BILLABONG

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Surf Heritage and a sense for colors get in the jungle camo mix when it comes to Billabongs “Garage� Collection releasing for spring 2014. The Brand develops more and more clothing which are inspired by their own roots but twigs and arms reach out into streetwear. The street approach gets a platform with capsule collections and collaborations releasing from season to season. For spring the Garage Collection brings Ethnic and Congo themes with a natural color palette to the stores. The right mix in between surf and street is supplied by a natural tree camo color blocking or jacquard and stripes featured across the line. Backpack, Hat, Cap, T, Shirts, Shorts, Pants and a windbreaking jacket vary in tonality but match perfect in quality and details.

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THE G A R AGE C OL L ECTION

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The adidas Originals Blue line

sport utilitarianism


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There is a special line mixed in the extended adi Originals roster. We talk about their adidas Originals “Blue” collection which is adi‘s premium apparel and footwear line which melts functional sport utilitarianism with a cool street attitude. It is sports heritage inspired but the cuts differ from typical sports clothing. And yes it is mainly “Blue” that typical adi blue which gets a big focus within the whole line. Okay and than, looking ahead to next year‘s football tournament in Brazil, this spring collection draws most inspiration from our fav ball sports, while summer prints and patterns are influenced by Brazil‘s general geographical location and climate. Classic soccer aesthetics meet that rave cultures pick up on football jerseys which have been creating that 90 ies lifestyle norm. Maybe this mixture sounds strange but the harmony of different water-repellent fabrics, premium lightweight ClimaLite materials with unique prints let you understand all those inspirations. This casual look is contrasted with sophisticated and tailored ideas from the preppy 1960s. On top, French terry toweling sweater and lavish cotton garments add a bit of comfort, while sleeveless tops or jackets with multiple pockets show agility and functionality. Oh and when it comes to footwear within the line, it is defined by re-imagined classics. Just to name the women’s Stan Smith Platform Sandal or the Jabbar Mid which runs by in a jungle print. Reinforcing the sporty football theme, some of those shoes feature iconic design details but all these are updated with 21st century tech running stories like heel stabilizers and web blocking. Overall it is Blue! The adidas Originals Blue! streetwear today 1 | 2014

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Staying warm in the wintertime is an important thing these days. Sure you should look good in your cloth at the same time, then everything is kinda perfect. To have the possibility to choose from a variety of goods matching the main piece, which is the jacket it is an other important approach of today. O’Neill and Pendleton teamed up to bring us the “Penwoolpack”. It is the jacket that perfectly combines the new technologies of O’Neill with the lining from best quality wool the Pendleton Woolen Mills have to offer. Next to this the smooth checkered woolen shirt, a classic 60’s board shirt, a woolen cap and a backpack build the whole matching collection. Oneill is busy to create cool goods for surf and snowboarding fanatics while the streetstyle gets more and more important too. Like everybody working on functional products Oneill comes up with new technologies and developments like HYPERDRY and 3M thinsulate care for pure function in your clothing. Pendleton is that traditional brand with a 150 year long history of probably one of the best woolen products we know. Pendleton is no insider tip anymore. It is established in the fashion world with lot’s of other collaborations and products. This fresh Oneill x Pendelton assortment comes in a blue and beige tonality where the blue has the main role in combination with earth tones and grey details to get it on point. What we like about collaborations gets perfectly executed. Two great brands who are quite perfect for itself combine their strength to an even better outcome. Well done.

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The trend definitely goes to high performance sneaker for all day. It‘s not just important how they look but rather how they support you while wearing. The DYNAFIT from Kangaroos is such a role model for the ladies. On the first view it‘s a nice slip-in-sneaker in a nice colorway. The dotted design on the top of the shoe is a nice detail and matches perfectly to the pink/ purple midsole and logo design. The model is a retro-model and came out in 1994 for the first time. The Dynacoil damping system supports you while running thru town and cares for an efficient energy-recycling. It stabilized your foot and is on the newest technical standard what Kangaroos has to offer. All in all an every-day-sneaker with high performance features in the usual Kangaroos quality.

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KANGAROOS DYNAFIT

SUPRA MUSKA’ S SKYTOP IV

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“The Skytop IV is something completely new,” Muska said. “It’s pushing footwear design into the future, it’s merging worlds, and different genres – it’s high fashion meets high performance athletic footwear. We really wanted to create a shoe that you could go skate with the homies in, then come home, put a fresh pair on, and go out at night in – one to skate, one to chill.“

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This is what those kickz are all about. Perhaps this Skytop IV is the future of skating. These hightops are not just simply a skate shoe it‘s a fashion thing, a lifestyle statement for everyone. In these, you surely wont skate the mainstream way. There is a lot to mention what these kicks are all about. For example, the lightweight black SUPRAFOAM midsole is a high performance sole for your great boarding experience. Anyway, the overall look is fresh and let people stare at your feet while showing off at the next club night. This limited edition model comes with a removable red shroud to change the look but In fact that red suede-upper look is just tasty great and gives this shoe a full on special look.


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THE OAHU PACK BY

K1X

–KID ASTRO

FEAT.

Are you searching for new trends? Where do new trends in streetwear begin where “Of course, basketball culture has played a huge part in do they start and jump around? Clothing shaping streetwear. Basketball sneakers such as Jorwhich is happening in todays streets has dans or the Chuck Taylor are obvious examples. Or many influences or inspirations but also in current trends like tube socks, tank tops and mesh return those influences reach out into jerseys - all of which are deeply rooted in basketball sports and other directions where it might culture. K1X is an underdog, competing with huge confit. It is that natural give and take which glomerates in the basketball market. Our USP in this makes streetwear that interesting today. dog-eat-dog environment, is quite simply: by-ballersWeather we talk about streety styles in for-ballers authenticity. As well as added streetwear functional snowboarding gear or in this appeal and a necessity to be bold. We are still a small case Hawaian Oahu flower print board intimate company, run by ballplayers with an affinity shorts into basketball. It all makes sense, It for hip hop, practical jokes and fine clothing. So I guess is all fun and exciting. our products are quite personal – and that’s a good thing. The exotic floral pattern we coined “Oahu” (after We had the chance to get some direct the Hawaiian island) plays a leading role in K1X’s latest quotes from Niels Jäger of the K1X Brand. spring /summer collection. The overall vibe is reminiscent of board shorts - mainly because I always thought it was a dope look: to play ball in surf shorts. And that’s quite a typical way for us to approach the birth of a new collection.”

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THE ANTI-GRAVITY...

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Images by Jon Lopez

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The Oahu Pack consists of a cool selection of streetwear pieces to be used also on ballers grounds. A Mountain Parka, tank top, hoody, mesh shorts as well as footwear including the “Cali” (above) and “Anti-Gravity” (below).

The Astronomical Kid, Brian “Astro” Bradley is a nimble MC from Brooklyn, who became the first rapper to crack the top 10 of a mainstream music competition (X-Factor, USA) in 2011. Powered by his enthusiastic followers, dubbed “The Astronauts,” Astro captivated viewers with his mix of bravado, charisma and skill. With interests in music, photography and film, Astro is poised to be a multimedia star and a presence in pop-culture for years to come. Make no mistake about it, at just 17 years of age, this “kid” is for real…

„The Anti-Gravity is K1X’s most iconic basketball shoe. James White, formerly of the NY Knicks, wore it at last year’s NBA slam dunk contest. International pros all over the world have adopted the “AG” as their weapon of choice, most notably in Japan and in the German BBL, including star players such as David Bell, Brandon Thomas and Darius Adams. Part of the Anti-Gravity’s allure so far, has been it’s solid pop-color concept, which makes it a distinct eye catcher on the court. The all-over pattern on this spring’s Oahu edition has already drawn great reviews from various sneaker sites – and is the perfect illustration of K1X’s unique concept: to create basketball products with a streetwear edge. The AG boasts top-shelf performance features and was created for both the courts and the streets.“

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HUMMEL X KIRA PL AY GAME

Scandinavia and Japan are two of the main places What is your daily routine and who is involved? where fashion comes to life in these days. The Hummel Fashion and product design and thus more planning Brand got both in the Mix. Their designteam from Den- and things like that. mark works close to Kira from Japan and these get Since a while you design and create clothing for their inspiration from traditional sportsfashion and the hummel Brand. How did this collaboration the innovative urban Tokyo streetstyles. That means came about and what makes hummel the special Hummel and Kira. Actually who is Kira? Kira a.k.a. Ryo brand for you. Yoshihashi is an art director, fashion-designer and I am working as part time for the ROOTS company planner for countless national and international and they gave me that job for Hummel design. brands and fashion-projects. He also works on fash- Hummel has a long history in the sports industry ion-events, Pop-up-shops and works close with the and I am just mixing their rich history with a modern Japan-Fashionweek to arouse even more interest for Tokyo style. his country. But here we talk about the continued col- Since you work for them what has been the laboration between Kira and the Hummel Brand. For biggest change? Spring 2014 the related Hummel J collection “Play Nothing much. I am developing new styles new shoe Game” accrued and consists of limited edition sneak- designs together with them. ers, i-phone-cases, two bags in cooperation with the We think you are an important part for changes Japanese design-brand “Masterpiece” and more cool and the development of the Brands output. apparel pieces for sure. Decent prints and a completely What is the pleasure and what feels like pain? new combination of different cloth makes the whole I am very excited to working with a brand which has collection special and simple at the same time. We a long history for sports and i feel welcome and I have not found any difficulties at this point. had a short chat with Kira to find out more. What is your favorite thing to work on? When we check the sample garments who come up Hey RYO, we would like to know more about from factory, fresh out the box, i am always curious you and your work. Why you have this a.k.a. to see the new products. That excites me. KIRA, where are you based? KIRA is like my nickname for friends of mine; actually Footwear or apparel? Both. KIRA is from a cartoon character’s name. Yes, I am based in Tokyo, Japan. THANKS FOR YOUR TIME.

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IWISHUSUN DOIN͙ ’ THE GOOD DEED.

We’re living in a world of consumption where companies trying to sell as much stuff we don’t need as possible. Consumers act almost submissive in the way they spend their hard earned money, when it comes to the latest fashion trend, games console and the worst of it all – smartphones. We’re also living in a world where those things do not count at all, a world that exists like a parallel universe. It’s the world of poverty. In this world medical care is extremely rare. Due to social imbalances, medical treatment is reserved for people with cash. Something that is unfair to say the least. Swiss born Cathy Boom, the former publisher and editor-in-chief in personal union for over 15 years, of the sadly deceased magazine Style and The Family Tunes teamed up with her brother Patrick who runs Omnibrand a clothing producing company based in HongKong, to what they simply describe as “give back”. Their mutual attempt and main concern is the worldwide fight against blindness. This finds its expression in IWISHUSUN, their fashion label that is based on the premise to release top quality clothing items and exclusive collaborations in order to give 100% of the profit to the non-profit organisation ORBIS whose main target is to reduce preventable blindness. They started in November 2012 with product # 1, a down jacket. Every jacket they sold saved an eyelight, meaning IWISHUSUN raised the money to provide operations for countless people suffering from cataract. Throughout the last year they came up with eight new products including collaborations with Italian whizz-kid Marcelo Burlon who provided a T-shirt with one of his signature graphics and Berlin-based jewelry designer Sabrina Dehoff who createded a limited edition necklace with two pendants that pay tribute to sunlight. We had a conversation with Cathy Boom who was kind enough to give us some in-depth info about the project and a glimpse to the future development of IWISHUSUN.

Stw2d: IWISHUSUN, that´s an interesting brand name. It sounds also like a motto. Please, shed a light on it... C.B.: Well, first of all it´s about saving eyesight, that´s when it already makes sense. The next thing is that you open a poetic space with a name like this. Plus what one associates with sun is life, positivity, light. It´s a strong and positiv expression, it´s about giving something back. Stw2d: How did you come up with the idea of a charitable fashion brand? C.B.: Well, the basic idea was to utilize one´s own skills for something that is

sustainable and usefull. And I wanted to create something new in terms of charity, something that appeals to people with a demand for design and a certain aesthetics. I´m pretty sure that a lot of them are willing to „give back“ and feel addressed through our look and feel. IWISHUSUN is a concept against greed. After deduction of all costs we spend the whole profit in order to provide medical care for blind people suffering from cataract. It´s also an example for the corporate world. If every company would „give back“ even just a small amount of their profit, the world woud be a better place. Stw2d: It seems like your attempt is well accepted, since you collaborate with designers from different fields. C.B.: Well, it´s fun to develop new items with designers and most of them are open and up for „giving back“. And together we bring forth an even stronger drive. Stw2d: Can you reveal something about future plans/ collabs? C.B.: Well, we actually have a few things in th pipeline that I don´t want to talk about right now, but what´s obvious for IWISHUSUN are sunglasses and we´ll have another collab with Marcelo Burlon in 2014. streetwear today 1 | 2014



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Okay, it all started in Brussels, Belgium, more specific in the Nieuwlandstraat where the swedish designer Par Lundqvist began to tailor and alter vintage pieces from his massive denim archive. Here he works now in close collaboration with two other denim freaks from Australia. Steve Little and Richard Bell became friends with Par at international denim shows. The Neuw Denim Brand was born and the threesome took inspiration from traditional denim craftsmanship and they aim to create the jeans like their favorite bands create their songs. “The best bands are the ones that have a burning passion for roots music and the rebellion, aesthetic and lifestyle connected to it. Great bands take us and the music to new places by experimenting with the original, raw sounds and rhythms.” Translated to a Denim Brand it means that they love the traditional attention to simple details; but looking to the core the brand has modern aesthetics and is contemporary and timeless while injecting innovative fabrics and finishes. The Spring/Summer 2014 range is built around memories, good and bad, from Par's hometown, Eskilstuna in Sweden. “It’s not a place that is ever likely to top the list of the world’s most live able cities or top 50 places to visit before you die. We’re not trying to romanticize the place. But it did teach us how to fight, run, drink and dance.”

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You should know frontline shop as it is one of the first online retailers showing cool streetwear brands since decades. Since 2009 they started an own Brand called RO S C O E featuring Sweats, Shirts and Jackets. Now they ad an own denim line to their full collection. Sure they have different fits, washes and finishes in rinsed, mid blue or black optic. ROSCOE DNM matches perfect to the rest of their line and all items get produced in a controlled, ecological and sustainable manner. This with best denim materials and with a great love for details. Sure it is exclusively available at their online Platform.

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Did we featured Mavi yet was the question running thru our office the other day. No not yet. So, founded in Istanbul in 1991, the designer of Mavi Jeans create a full collection of jeanswear for the ladys and men. Their philosophy is to build a brand around perfect fitting jeans that convey a great mediterranean feeling in terms of fashion and detail. Actually Mavi translates blue in turkish language and talking about perfect fits it also matches the cultural lifestyle aspects of their targeted consumers – the Maviterranean. Cool in store action and concepts made it a fashion forward brand that successfully developed from a jeans brand to an international clothing institution sold in more than 50 countries.

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Actually it all started with their first line in July 2011. The K.O.I. Brand got going out of the passion for a quality denim product and the three founders tend to swim against the stream like those quite intelligent Koi fish do. Ignoring the financial climate they just started the Brand which now gets successfully sold in about 160 carefully chosen retailers worldwide. And yes, the idea for the name K.O.I. came from founder Tony Tonnaer’s Koi tattoo which swims on his right shoulder. Lucky they are, it matches their a.k.a. Kings of Indigo. The Kings want you to enjoy your jeans as long as possible making jeans with a great fit, construction and wash. No fashionable trendiness but a classic you can wear your whole life. Jeans have a tendency to get better with time; the fit taking on the shape of your body and the wash showing a bit of your personal history when properly worn in. “Wear them with pride!” – they say. On the one side

it is a small but effective collection where American classics mix up with Japanese fetish for detailing. The other side is that the Kings work with a big focus on sustainability. Next to recycled materials saving resources, they organize repair events and want you to do the same while providing repair kits when buying some of their goods. By using finest organic cotton K.O.I. helps to protect the earth. Those fields where this organic cotton is grown, are free of pesticides and fertilizers used for conventional cotton growing. Next to these facts they do not stop having a quality product concept only as they also make sure everybody working on their products and packaging does this in a fair way and inside a quality work environment. That is why they are a member of the Fairwear foundation which stands for a verification initiative to enhance the quality of life for workers in the fashion biz all over the world.

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DICKIES 1922 – REMEMBER YOUR PAST I see that sometimes streetwear feels the need to look like workwear. Is it the need for a little solidness? Is it just the look of a classic which gets never out of style? I mean surely the wheels can look way different, still it is a wheel somehow. You can change the Material. Should we use a camouflage? No pink! Or should we? What is the original idea. What was the first piece? Why you wanna know? Maybe more precise what was the jacket the most original, or the best vintage? Sometimes a few updates need to be done to get that perfect fit, the perfect sizing. Details? Experiences? Knowledge? And there have been people who did a great Job in designing a Jacket already decades ago. The style of today has a past looking back to early 1900. A decade along? In closer inspection 1922 and in this case, when the Dickies Brand began to produce their first workwear items. Strength? What is so special? Minimalism? Decent? Basically basic? A quality garment for a reasonable price on the hangtag? Andy Ellis puts some velcro to tighten the trouser leg next to the chainwheel. This while riding fixed in London and now in L.A., others ride lowriders, bicycle moto cross machines, boards, custom bikes cars whatever. What all might have in common is a tattoo here and there. But workwear is everywear. Head to toe, or accentuating. down to earth or flying high, heritage line or state of the art. Dickies is celebrating their rich heritage with a dedicated line. The timeline stops at historical moments in defining their Workwear items. It feels like a timeslip through a best of their pieces, when an original became a men. Copper oxide burrs are sewn at pocket corners as was done in the 1950’s the back pocket stitch decoration from 1950’s when Dickies first began making denim jeans, a.k.a. “Ranch Wear” 100% cotton yarn dyed check men’s japanese selvedge chambray long sleeve shirt fit descriptions from 1936 cut out of the official selvage edged 8.2 Twill Type I Cramerton Army Cloth; developed and made of high count 2-ply yarns, dyed with the fastest dyes known and preshrunk for a premium finish made in Uvalde, Texas, USA... in other words. “The Dickies 1922 Heritage Collection uses the construction techniques and the quality fabrics of our archival garments with updated fits for the customer of today. Crafted and executed to the most minute historic detail, the following limited edition pieces are the true roots of American Work Wear. All items relate back to a garment or catalog in our archives. Working forward through the rich Dickies history, newer items include the 1948 western shirt, 1952 truck driver jacket and 1953 jean.”

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A LEF T H A N DED BA STA R D I S - Someone who is driven through their desire to perfect their craft - Unique individuals who don’t follow the straight and narrow path - Usually right brained, creative, eccentric - Abnormal, extraordinary, inspiring

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L1, hmm, maybe also El-One. L1 outerwear is Nitro snowboarding's clothing Brand. It is a fact they have only premium goods in their range. Timeless styling and design, attention to details and an excellent fit of the garments simply work with the individuals representing the Brand „not only“ in the mountains. Mainly it was L1 and their team riders, especially Jon Kooley who first brought a street edgy style to outerwear and thus to the mountains. Water repellent denims, technical comfort and an overall street touch meets their main focus – the premium quality. Outdoor boarding gear is one thing, than it is on the teamriders, tastemakers and those who love a quality product to represent the Brand. They brought the street to the snow. L1 has numerous individuals in their roster spinning with boards and ideas, mix matching the street style while maintaining the utmost levels of performance. "L1 has always and will always have one driving vision: Steet inspired, team driven outerwear with a focus on quality, fit and attention to detail. Breaking the mold has been our philosophy since 2003. We believe that not all snowboard outerwear has to be the same, and not all snowboard outerwear is for everyone. This is the way we do it, it's not for everyone. L1 is outerwear." – J O N K O O L E Y For 2014, L1 continues to push the boundaries of conventional snowboard outerwear but we at streetwear today are curious to present you their first styles dedicated to the streets only. L1 streetwear will hit shelves for Fall 2014.

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G-STAR R AW BY MARC NEWSON – TRENCHCOAT FE ATURING THE NEWSON A-LINE PAT TERN CUT

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I remember we had long discussions. Not Marc Newson and me, but all of the crew of streetwear today and some other friends. It was in 2003, so 10 years ago. It was our Issue stw2d.no.07 and we discussed if this man would be a good cover story for a streetwear magazine. G-STAR RAW BY MARC NEWSON was already 10 years ago the reason to check out his work on clothing a little closer. For sure he was in and if we would have the possibility to interview a great designer like him again it will always be a pleasure to welcome him in streetwear today magazine. Now that you hold stw2d. no.47 in your hands we have again the same reason to give him a feature. But it is 10 years G-STAR RAW BY MARC NEWSON. First, I think it is great that the G-Star Brand continues this long lasting collaboration, secondly I follow Mr. Newson’s work and his take on

the G-Star collection ever since. But actually already since 1989 the G-Star Brand innovates the market and has been a denim pioneer that is known for its directional and cutting edge style in a “raw” and “just the product” manner. For this spring 2014 the Australian designer updated again his G-Star collection. Still we can see his recognizable clean and raw look taking inspiration out of classic American sportswear. Newson’s architectural approach to construct denim goods gives the range his typical sporty twist. Premium denim fabrics are the essential parts of the line and a piece like his trench coat features the distinctive Newson A-line pattern cut. Worker jackets, classic bombers, the technical and reversible tour jacket get accentuated by sweat ware classics.

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Innovation, simplicity, relevance, creativity.

K-Swiss Bart Verdoorn

I can't remember the first time I bought a pair of K-Swiss shoes – it truly is decades ago and K-Swiss back then became one of my constant companions regarding shoe brands. Of course I always followed the development their shoe designs and the story behind it, but I never knew much about the people that were really responsible for it, season after season. So when I had the opportunity to address some questions to a man “behind the scenes” I gladly took it and here is our interview with Bart Verdoorn, the new Global Product Development Manager Lifestyle for K-Swiss with some insight information about his brand and the shoe market in general.

Bart Verdoorn – Global Product Development Manager at K-Swiss

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Can you describe differences between shoe markets? Europe and Asia for example? Currently everything out there is global, everybody can access every collection around the world. Internet helped achieving this development. But if you look at retail there do are differences. Europe is no USA and Asia is no Europe. Consumers are not so easily put in boxes these days. It is more about their aspirations and their goals in live than if they are trend followers or trend setters. That said, every continent has their own peers and people they look up to. Those make the local differences. Another difference is the retail climate: where the Asian market is more build up with own branded retail stores, the European market is much more a multi brand/wholesale environment. This brings different challenges in designing and developing collections for each region. Own retail needs to attract the K-Swiss consumer to their stores, where multibrand environment benefits from other brands that attract consumers. But with own retail on the other hand you can showcase in an ideal way the best of your brand and make statements with brand products. At first, Bart, congratulations to you new job! Did everything go well with moving to the new office? What What is the key to successful shoe design? are your first impressions? Innovation, simplicity, relevance and creativity. Shoes should never be Thank you very much, I am very looking forward to over the top, but a personal design element is adding value. In a good it and thank the company for this great opportunity design you find some kind of passion. When you experience that as a to help building the brand out of our Global Headconsumer, than you must have that sneaker. That’s how I see myself quarter. I will start my new role within a month or so. buying sneakers as well. As a sneaker lover, there must be some chemCurrently I am planning my move and leave my old job istry between me and my sneaker. And believe me, there is lots of behind in the best way possible. For my previous role, chemistry in my house. I am too ashamed telling how big my personI visited the Global office quite frequently, so I am faal collection is. miliar with it and my future colleagues already. But the product team set up has had some recent changes. With In your new position, how would you describe the role that K-Swiss plays new senior management and a new VP of Product, Eric on the global market? Sarin, the company is looking at new directions and exciting things to come. Till recently, within K-Swiss every region has create their own collections and direction. Going forward, there will be one brand What was your job at K-Swiss before you became their Global message: court style will play an important role in this. Focus Product Development manager? will be a key word. This allows to grow further as a brand, and experience kind of the same look and feel, but still allowing After a career with the Adidas Group, I joined K-Swiss two local differences. and a half years ago being the responsible person for the Product Department in the European and Middle East region. ManIn the short and in the long run: What are your plans with K-Swiss? aging categories as Lifestyle/Classics, Tennis performance footwear and Tennis performance apparel. I worked close with The K-Swiss brand is like a car that’s been re-sprayed 10 times sales and marketing, help building the brand. I traveled cross over the years in 10 different colors. We’re stripping back the Europe listening to retailers and consumers. Trying to underlayers of paint to get back to the original color. What we stand their business and buying behavior, to help growing and found is a heritage American tennis brand, with a rich hispositioning K-Swiss in a better way going forward. tory, a deep product archive and global brand recognition. We will start putting segmentation in place and develop I was wondering how is it even possible to work on a global basis? How collection against that. Something that is new for K-Swiss do you get the information you need to predict global developments and on a global level. Some regions are further developed how do you react to them? than others, but it will mean that some hard decisions need to be made. We will specialize in tennis again, be It is key to work with the regional merchandise managers on each true to our tennis history, and will use our American continent. In that way you get the best sell thru and trend informaroots within the brand voice. In the lifestyle footwear tion, that helps building future collections. But on the other hand, we have to think bold and out of the box sometimes to be creative and innovative. We do work with global trend agencies, that help identifying global consumer trends, to stay relevant and trending. Traveling cities, meeting consumers and retailers around the world inspire and build knowledge for global product development. This together with global marketing, helps us being consistent in our messaging, but we do not close our eyes for local opportunities and needs.

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K-Swiss All Court

space, we’re the only heritage American tennis brand, so we have clear differentiation. And with court coming back as a major trend, that positioning is timed perfectly for us. We will reduce our product categories to be more focused on our core competencies, and have introduced a tiered distribution strategy, which is something the brand never had. Performance Tennis will be where we innovate and invest in technologies, and will be the performance pinnacle of the brand. We will also be in the training category, but we are approaching it from a tennis perspective, so a focus on lateral movement. So we’ll have a unique, differentiated point of view in training. Finally, we’ll be strong in the lifestyle I understand there is a lot of work and responsispace, with our Classic and court bility ahead of you – what do you do to relax and product, which will be our biggest get inspiration? category. It will be our True North, for the mid and long term. Time with my family; my beautiful wife Madelon and two children Sylvester and Reva (four and one year old). My children give me loads of inspiration, about how they experience life these days. They make me think more about the future, and how they make me put certain K-Swiss Adcourt 72 things more in perspective. Together we all love to travel and explore the world. Next to an occasional run, I am striving to pick up my tennis game again, something I haven’t been doing since I was 12 years old. But with Tennis as the backbone of the company I feel the urge to breath and live this sport more. With the Californian sunshine, I am sure this will be no problem. Thanks a lot Bart and we wish you and K-Swiss all the best for the years to come...

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K-Swiss classic 2 low and mid

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"We will specialize in tennis again, be true to our tennis history, and will use our American roots within the brand voice. In the lifestyle footwear space, we’re the only heritage American tennis brand, so we have clear differentiation." Bart Verdoorn

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THE CITY COWBOY BY TOBIAS WIRTH concept/photography TOBIAS WIRTH st yling FABIANA VARDARO (BASICS BERLIN) styling assistant THUY TR ANG NGUYEN THI hair/make up KIM KEUSEN (ACE FURY COLLECTIVE) models W YNSTON (IZ AIO MODELS) MARION (NATHALIE MODELS PARIS)

MARION Jacket – Muuba Shirt – Wrangler Skirt – G-Star Belt – Levi‘s W YNSTON Vest – Weekday Shirt – Hendrik Vibskøv Jeans – Wrangler Hat – Vintage

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Jacket – Scotch & Soda Shir t – Franklin & Marshall Shor ts – adidas Originals Shoes – Converse Hat & Belt – Vintage

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Shir t – Wrangler Jeans – Wrangler Belt – G-Star Scar f – Ben Sherman

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LEF T MARION Shir t – Wrangler Jacket – Wrangler Jeans – Samsøe Samsøe Shoes – Converse Scar f – Ganni W YNSTON Jacket – Levi‘s T-Shir t – Converse Shor ts – Levi‘s Belt – Selec ted Homme Shoes – Element

RIGHT Jacket – Samsøe Samsøe Sweater – Element Dress – Weekday Hat – Villa Necklace – Vibe Harsløf

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Jacket – PRPS T-Shir t – Samsøe Samsøe Sweatshir t – Element Trousers – Dockers Belt – Levi‘s Boots – Vagabond Sunglasses – Andy Wolf

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Vest – Levi‘s Top – Samsøe Samsøe Jeans – Paige Shoes – Ganni Hat – Vintage Bracelets – Pilgrim

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Shir t – Samsøe Samsøe Bomber Jacket – adidas Originals Necklace – Vintage

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Vest – Minimum Shir t – Hendrik Vibskøv Jeans – Levi‘s

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MARION Dress – Levi‘s Shir t – adidas Originals Bandana – Topman Boots – 100 Miles

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W YNSTON Jacket – Levi‘s Sweatshir t – adidas Originals Trousers – Franklin & Marshall Boot – 100 Miles Bandana – Topman Watch – G-Shock

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© a a a elt

THE HERSTORY OF LOOKYLOOKY BRAND 56 Unbeschreiblich weiblich

There aren´t many brands run by girls, (or should/must I say by women?) out there that have a street origin. Street means in this context – skateboarding, hiphop, grafitti and other (once) independent forms of youth rebellion. The one you might think of is way too elitist to be filed into this category. What´s so annoying about them, is their bully attitude. They come along like a bunch of testosterone driven jocks, always ready to kick someones ass who´s weaker then them. It´s that crappy American „fuck you, pay me“ mentality and the obvious use of sex resp. physical attraction assisted by the cliches of high heels and lingerie as power that makes it so abhorrent. Sadly most men are that simple, and easy to manipulate. But ...where is the love? Which brings us to the subject of this here article. LOOKYLOOKY - the mutual brainchild of three Berlin women. Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Luzille, Conradi and Hateress founders and CEOs of LOOKYLOOKY est. 2007. Contrary to the above mentioned mobsters they represent a generation of women who are not carrying their vagina pride like some macho in too tight pants showing off his rabbit´s foot. Why? Because they have enough self-esteem to be what they are without adapting male dominance demeanor. I seriously doubt that they are Andrea Dworkin´s dream girls. They represent women that are best described with this wonderful sagacious sentence by og Riot Grrrl Kathleen Hanna (of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre fame) - “I´m more interested in a feminism that ends discrimination for all people.”......

LOOKYLOOKY grew organically because the three owners are not some greedy a´holes. For Luzille, Conradi and Hateress it´s not just . “..all about the Benjamins.“ They nurture their little venture with patience and passion. What started with one(!) T-shirt expanded little by little and their latest collection consists of ... items. Their guiding principle „Crew Love is True Love“ is a stroke of genius and so catchy that other brands bit it without a sense of shame. The LOOKYLOOKY Ladies are pretty sovereign and relaxed about these incidents that they asked me kindly not to reveal who those tools are. Well, ok. Let me put it this way: ” I know who you are and you fuckin´suck! ” A fattie loosened their tongues and they gave me some intel on their lives and whatnot. They are smart, nice, emotional and sometimes a little ballistics.

First of all, we need some biographical data – age, origin, career, STDs, you know the drill Luise: My parents and I came to Berlin in 1988. We lived in Frankfurt/ Oder and left via emigration application. We settled at Kottbusser Tor where I then grew up. I got my highschool diploma at the Evangelisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster in Berlin Wilmersdorf. I got an E in ancient greek in the Abitur exam. That was a totally different world and I realised fast that I needed to find something where I could meet people who were unlike. I couldn´t explain what exactly unlike meant at that time. Later it became clear that I was simply looking for kindred spirits. I started skateboarding when I was sixteen and worked for Radar Berlin, an agency that took care of different skate brands. This is where LOOKYLOOKY made its first baby steps after we founded it in 2007. Thereyby I met Tadi and Nico. They established the creative platform Made and took me on their team, where I work to this day. streetwear today 1 | 2014


Julia: I grew up as a loved child of divorce far away from Berlin, in the most beautiful and romantic city of Germany (sorry Heidelberg): Regensburg. The most italian city north of Italy with the largest palace in Europe, The Thurn und Taxis Palace (yup, bigger than Buckingham Palace).

I have a deep connection to Berlin though, my grandparents used to live here before WW II. The houses on Rigaer Strasse 99 and 100 would be mine now if it wasn´t for someone who intervened. Due to that, I now live in Kreuzberg. I was a busy grafitti writer in my teen years with full support of my parents (I´m gonna pay you all the court fees and fines, promised!). As a child of a movie theater operator, I was born into the world of cinema. There´s nothing I know better than screening rooms, cinema chairs and the box office. That´s the reason I moved to Berlin in 2000 where I worked and studied in the realms of film at first. After several detours, I am now working for Nike and achieved one of my personal life goals.

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How did you guys meet anyway? L: I met Conny through skateboarding. She was sitting at the skatepark Am Neuen Ufer close to Mierendorffplatz on her board and I stepped up to her and asked if she could already do an Ollie. It´s a miracle that we became friends after such a conceited call.

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Conny: Born in Berlin West. You don´t ask a lady for her age. My career at school, in quaint Wilmersdorf, was schlepping but beautiful. It was a big advantage to get out of Rudow right on time for puberty I started riding cycle races when I was fifteen. In the beginning it was very dilettante then very professional. After all that sweat, ambition and championship craziness, which went sometimes better and sometimes worse, I wanted to fulfill a dream of mine : skateboarding. It turned out to be quite difficult because I was grown-up, at least on paper and also pretty alone with that undertaking. After all that sports I studied fashion which comes in handy these days. Between 2004 and 2006 I moved to West-Germany in order to work. In the beginning it was lonely, but you realize pretty fast that small towns can be cool as well. After that I worked and scampered in Australia but it solely was all about surfing. On my return we founded LookyLooky on a summer day at Görlitzer Park.

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I met Julias at Radar Berlin, occasionally we were workin together. I introduced the two and it went boom. C: Can you already do an Ollie? From there it was love.! Luise introduced Julia to me. From there it was love! J: I got to know and love Luise during my internship at Radar Berlin. She introduced me to Conny and since we found ourselves so aweSome we became friends and founded LOOKYLOOKY so I can only agree: Love!


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5 8 idea was it, how did it Why does LookyLooky exist, who´s emerge?

L: It was quite clear pretty early that we wanted to do something together. The three of us are a special blend, ideas were flowing all the time about what we wanted to do. Eventually it was a T-shirt with a six color print. Economically totally irrational. But we didn´t care. We sat down and there was this energy to change something or do something differently. This is why we established LOOKYLOOKY. J: All the others were like: „Yep, copy & paste, blabla.“ Well, we´re still around. Successfully!

How do you generate ideas, is the realisation democratic or is their a rotation in dictatorship? L: We meet up and pool in all our ideas. We decide for a direction and all pieces are determined democratically. Because we are three, we often have a simple and fast way to come up with solutions.

Additionally there is one piece in every collection were each one of us has total freedom with hardly any say for the other two.

Where does the street affinity come from? L: Because it´s real and from streetwear of course C: Trainers. They are the connection link to the point. J: This is were it all began, it´s where our roots are. Conny and Luise skating in the streets, me bombing in the streets.

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How do you generate ideas, is the realisation democratic or is their a rotation in dictatorship? L: We meet up and pool in all our ideas. We decide for a direction and all pieces are determined democratically. Because we are three, we often have a simple and fast way to come up with solutions. Additionally there is one piece in every collection were each one of us has total freedom with hardly any say for the other two.

Crew Love is True Love. Please explain that motto of yours. L: LookyLooky accrued from friendship and coherence. We believe this is what makes everything possible. We want to get this feeling and a sense of belonging across. This is why CREW LOVE IS TRUE LOVE is our bottom line and we trademarked it. C: Friendship, Solidarity, Loyalty, Love. J: Without this clause, it won’t work in life.

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C: You´re not supposed to say retarded. Nicknames appear out of the mist, they just find you. There ´s not much you can do about it.

Whom would you like to kick in the nuts? That´s metaphorical, so who sucks really bad? L: I stay out of this. C: That remains internally. J: I don´t know nothing!

la

L: Stüssy, Civilist, Nike. No comment to brands that suck. I think it´s unprofessional and most of the time not about taste but some sort of resentment and that´s poor. Besides that I don´t want bad blood, Germany is just too small.

© le

Name your three favorite street brand (excluding LL)and three street brands that suck.

C: Stüssy, Civilist, Poler. Brands that suck: they exist for sure J: All the above mentioned, plus three more, because of love and such: Radio Skateboards, Cleptomanicx and marriedtothemob. Brands that suck : I don´t care!

What are your three favorite designer brands? L: See ya. C: Acne; Dsquared, they have a really good look sometimes;. Moschino, best advertising J: Moschino, Chanel, Marc Jacobs

© Kate Bellm

What´s your favorite drug (excluding sex. Something like matie maracuja cake or Latte Macchiatto with garlic-macadamia flavor) L: Alcohol and cigarettes and capuccino with caramel flavor C: Smoking weed with Erik; Smoking weed with Alex and Lars; Smoking weed with Luise; Smoking weed with Luise and Sophie and Julia. Oh, alcohol as well but that´s legal and no drug. There are even TV ads for booze. J: depends - smokes and other banging stuff

© a a elt

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Conny was born in Berlin West. Concerning her age she pulls a Greta Garbo, being all mysterious, but she is still a young artist. Conny studied fashion design and textiles at ESMOD Berlin. After a three year stint in the German country side, where she worked as a designer for Mustang Jeans in Künzelsau, she returned to Berlin. In 2005 her work was exhibited at Berliner Liste Fair for Contemporary Art, represented by, in the mean time defunct, Hermann & Wagner gallery. After years of trial and error and working freelance in various fields, Conny decided to focus on her first love – art. Her illustrations and paintings appear on the fly and visceral, the imagery seems to be simple and carried out with a childlike innocence, but a closer examination reveals deliberate structures and psychological layers. The first noticeable thing is that it´s not evident wether the artist is male or female. But given the sometimes raucous subjects one would rather expect a male artist. So much for prejudice. Instead of complaining about male dominance, she claims her rightful place without further ado, thus Conny represents a strikingly contemporary woman. Her Berliner Schnauze and sincerity is a great disguise for her warm-heartedness, she is endued with positive ambition and perseverance which is most likely the result of her experiene as professional cyclist. She pushed the crank for the German Team cross country on a mountain bike and the German Team road in her teen years. We picked her brain with some difficult questions.

What made you become an artist in the first place?

Initially it was the aspiration for perfection, it´s the opposite now.

My style is changing frequently and yet it stays the same.

Artist, such a dazzling term... First of all I began to differentiate between what is art and what is illustration. I´m just in the beginning to apprehend myself as an artist, bit by bit. What makes me an artist first and foremost is, that I never was better in anything else than this. I guess the crucial point is that I always drew a lot, at some point my ambition changed from staying at the original and how to stir out of it. My parents commended me a lot when I was a child. I suppose this gave me the essential confidence to further improve myself. Acknowledgement is a good thing but not the most important, after all it´s about to bring out what wants to get out of you. Eventually it´s the urge to produce, paint, draw that makes me an artist in the first place.

How did your style develop?

CONNY MAIER I am a female teen wolf

ARTI ST

What do you want to express with your work? I´m engaged with various themes that I process. What I do is, slightly exaggerated, research. The things I observe and study are trivial as well as profound.

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Right now it´s cigarettes and religion that inspires me the most. Then, it´s always great to discover and scout art. Things arise in my everyday life in totally various ways, most of the time it´s something that I wasn´t aware of, that I begin to get interested in or fascinated with.

What inspires you, how do you generate ideas?

What´s the difference between commissional and free work for you? Commissional work consists up to 90% of compromise. You have to approach differently, the challenge and fun are distinct. You cannot work in the way you´d probably like to, but this is most of the time what provides attraction and opens new paths upon a task. Free work is free, it´s as simple as that.

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C.R.E.A.M. - atelierconradi.de


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ndy Ellis from London & Kellen Ellis formerly of LA, interviewed the two men behind The Hundreds brand the day before Thanksgiving. All retail clothing personnel are busy rushing around and preparing for the biggest shopping day of the year, Black Friday. Luckily, The Hundreds owners, Bobby and Ben, warmly welcomed the pair to their headquarters, everyone looked busy as ever! A tour of the warehouse and offices was first on the list, and explanations and inspiration around some of the amazing art work in the new head quarters was told. The group sat down to pick some brains in Bobby's office, which was full of skateboards, artwork, inspirational photos and a couch full of simpsons toys, not to mention hundreds of other awesome things!

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BOBBY AND BEN HUNDREDS TALK TO KELLEN & ANDY ELLIS.

Your 10 year anniversary is coming up, what's changed in those 10 years and what's in store for the next 10? B O B BY For us a lot has changed, and a lot has stayed the same. When a publication like Streetwear Today started it meant so much in this industry and still does, yet I feel like the consumers and the community today has kind of lost that appreciation and connection to where street wear really originated from, the kind of street wear ethos we're inspired by. In that sense it's changed, it's different. It's not better or worse, it's just a different game. For us as a company, a lot has changed. It started of with just the two of us and now we walk through the office and warehouse and there's over 100 people working for us. We have overhead and responsibilities. We're also 10 years older, we have families and different priorities. As much as I want to be known as a good designer, writer and storyteller, I want to be a good businessman, a good boss. On that level its changed, the culture has changed, we're always trying to keep the boat steady and still have that connect and reference and reflect on where we started which was real, true street wear to us. B EN We started in Bobby's apartment, right behind an In Out, smelling burgers all day. From there it went from small office, to small office, to the Rosewood store to behind Hall of Fame, to another warehouse downtown, to the one we're in today. A lot has changed within the company, we started off selling to 10 stores, to 100 stores, to now thousands. I think the landscape of street wear has changed. The first few years street wear was more collector based, if thats the right word. People had to have it, it was limited. There was a sense of urgency. We sold to 10-20 shops in the state in the beginning because that's all there was! People started catching on and it got a bit bigger and bigger, and now when you sell to over a thousand stores, the bigger brands change and there isn't that urgency. It changed to being a mom and pop brand to a business, and we now run it like a business.

Do you think that urgency still exists on a base level for smaller companies? B EN It still exists in some form, I'm sure. I don't see it, I don't know the small brands. It's just not the way it was 10 years ago where we'd put out a new era hat and we'd have a line around the block of 4 cities. I don't see or feel that anymore, OF gets it, they have Tyler and the music and people go to see him and get that Odd Future experience. Supreme still gets it for some product as well, I guess I don't see it as much any more, overall. We'll still have an occasional drop where we'll sell out in a day. Diamond or Stussy does too.

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Does that make you miss anything about the past of your brand? B EN Sometimes, but it's just different. If we had lines again, it'd be great but its different now. Different landscape. We grew up. We were in the minor leagues before and now we're in the majors (for us). Actually the majors might be sitting next to Volcom or Quiksilver or something, I dunno, but for us this is the majors. Things have even changed from 5 years ago, different ball game. Who are the brands/adversaries that you think are in the same ballpark as The Hundreds? B EN I wouldn't call them adversaries at all, it's definitely friendly competition between us. Last night we were at the Crooks n Castles event, and we grew up with these guys the past 10 years and its all friendly competition. Everyones trying to make money, it's all respect. Stussy, Obey, Huf, Diamond those are some of the bigger ones. B O B BY That's kind of how it was 10 years ago as well. When we started there were over 50 brands and its kind of whittled down from that. Back then there were 200 brands and everyone had a shot and from that, only 10 carried it out a decade later. But now in the wake of that, there are ton of brands, a lot of our supporters and customers now have a brand and were inspired by what we've done and wanted to emulate that. They still support us but also want to have their own thing. I think that's something that social media and internet cracked open and I think that's great, but for us it just means there is less of a pie for the guys who are in this for careers. Everything is equalizing, its beautiful to watch actually. It’s awesome!

Alright, going back to when you both were living in Culver City in an apartment behind In-N-Out trying to make things work, what made you think ok we're going to do this, lets make this happen? What were you doing before this? B O B BY We met when we were both in law school, we just didn't want to be lawyers any more at a certain point. There were initially 4 guys involved in this project and we needed to figure out how to make money. I was already blogging and wanted to do something with my art, blogging and tee shirts. Ben knew the business element that I didn't know. I wanted a creative outlet, and Ben wanted to create the infrastructure for it and do sales. We had to figure out money and put our heads together. It wasn't out of necessity, it was out of a response to everything going on around us. It was a response to what was going on in the culture and community. All the things that we were into at the time: Supreme, Alife, Bape in Japan, Neighborhood. None of it was really coming from LA and Los Angeles was looking to other cities. We had Union and Undefeated but we really didn't have these brands coming out like they were in NYC. So were like how do we spotlight things back to LA? Southern California is where street wear started! Home to Stussy, FreshJive, First Wave, how do we bring back Xlarge? It was a response to that. We just wanted to have fun and make a living doing it, instead of having to work in an office or do something our heart wasn't in to.


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That being said, what are some of the awful jobs you may have had before The Hundreds? B EN I liked all my jobs! My first job was working at a dry cleaners, but I had fun there. I learned a lot and worked there a long time. Then I worked at a bank for a few years, and Nordstrom for 2. Then I went to school and started this project. I like working. B O B BY when I was in law school I had internships and externships for legal related stuff. I worked for the city attorney, I worked for a judge. Even those, the worst thing is the uniform.I hated the uniform. Suit and tie, sitting in a cubicle. The kinds of people I used to run with seemed like they had just given up.

So it’s safe to say that The Hundreds was created as sort of a backlash against this sort of life? B O B BY Maybe against the rat race. I think we stand for defining what your passions are and chasing them, and to do it in a way that it effectively becomes something. It's important to define what your interests are and if you want to make a living at it, work hard and carve out a market to pocket for yourself in this world. We had these passions and street wear on this level didn't exist at the time. There was core underground street wear that didn't make money and there was this massive urban scape. So we thought ok for this to exist we have to create the platform, we got on our hands and knees and started building that platform for us to exist. Once it existed, we created something out of nothing. I think that's a big message that a lot of our supporters take home and why they follows us to begin with, we're an inspirational and aspirational brand. We've been so open about our entire process from the beginning. We have nothing to hide, we're not scared of competitors. You can sit on our website blog and go through everything from the very beginning. Every single day and how we did it, so all these kids who don't want to take

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a traditional path of a cubicle job, school or college, falling in line with a mass produced job, It may inspire them to think, I'm a unique and different person and I have my own vision. B EN we get a lot of kids who meet us and are inspired and ask us for advice. Every so often we have a Q and A session at the Santa Monica store or a local college, our number one asked question is how to get started. It took awhile to get used to, I understand its a big leap of faith for a lot of people to put all their eggs in one basket and start up a clothing brand.

You talk of LA culture so I just want to shine some light and have some LA specific question. Tell me about some hidden gems here in LA, places to visit and such that someone not from here wouldn't know? B EN A big part of LA is mexican food. If you come to LA you have to eat mexican food. You can get it at local trucks and stands, most of them are pretty good. Our favorite is La Taqueza, downtown. Get a carne asada burrito! Another treat you have to have is In-N-Out Burger and Korean food! Other hidden gems in LA, If I'm to have a drink I go to a bar called Roger Room, it's a small little bar that looks like a speakeasy, kind of hidden. If the place is full the doorman will take your number and call you when you can come back. B O B BY We have good museums, LACMA, MOCA, Little Tokyo, downtown. B EN A great beach is El Matador, a hidden beach. Its beautiful. B O B BY LA life, what I hate about it is traffic, but everything outside of that is awesome. You're an hour away from the mountains if you want to go to the snow. I'm only 5 minutes away from the beach so I can get in the water every morning if I choose, it's the birthplace of skateboarding, the food is awesome. Because we're on the pacific we have the best asian


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food, we also have the best Mexican food. My favorite thing about LA is that it's diverse. We're represented by hundreds if not thousands of cultures, ethnic backgrounds, religions, creeds and educations. The diversity is important for all of our overall intelligence and appreciation for the world. I love traveling. I would go out of my mind if everyone looked the same. I love being at the dmv and theres different languages being spoken and everyone has different ideas about what the right and wrong thing to do is, socially. Who are your biggest influences or living legends in LA? In general? B EN Magic Johnson, what's better than Magic Johnson?! Growing up as an LA kid, he was everything. I had to have Magic shoes over Jordan's! What he's doing with the dodgers now and inner city kids, he's great for the city, why has he not run for mayor? I look up to businessmen, not in the apparel world, but people who own entire estates. One family that owns all of something, people like that spark my interest. When people talk about them, oh they own it. I look at people that successful for inspiration. Like if you want street wear, you have to go to The Hundreds, they own that, you have to go to them for it. People that have successful businesses, go on to own property, they own the biggest museums, art collections. B O B BY I grew up liking skateboarders and artists but I

wouldn't call them my heroes or inspirations. I love Michael J Fox, his characters were amazing but I wouldn't say I modeled my life around him. There were lots of artists that I looked up to but I always wanted to do better than them and do different things than them. I can never answer this question, I should just come up with something solid. I love Garfield! He's not even real, can he be my hero? Garfield and Michael J Fox then! Have you ever met anyone you fanned out on/were excited to meet? B O B BY Gonz! (Mark Gonzales) He was walking through a room at a party. Fan out. The great thing about working here is we get to work with people that we fan out on. I love Futura, one of my favorite artists, now a friend. I still find myself not knowing what to say sometimes. Becoming friends with these artists, picking their brains and working with them is one of the best parts about what we do. I have so much respect for them.

BEN Bobby is really good at entertaining some of these kids, I'm not much the talker between the two of us. When we visit the shop in SF, kids come up to ask questions and Bobby rifles off these questions and keeps them entertained, he does this when we travel too. He loves to entertain them.

What do you do when you're not working? B O B BY Work is the best part of our lives. Its the most exciting. B EN Yeah it really is! For me, I have 3 kids and I rush home to see them when I'm not working. I try to cook a few times a week, it keeps me busy and sane. B O B BY Kids, Surfing, Reading, Writing and Drawing. Some of that sounds like work, the writing and drawing that I do in my spare time is totally outside of work stuff, I don't share it. I love keeping that stuff off the grid. My time in the water, my time reading is my time. I share some stuff with the public but also keep private. It may seem like I share a lot publicly, but theres a huge chasm of what people see and what's really going on. I don't put my whole life out there even if it seems like it.

What does being on the cover of Street wear Today mean to you? B O B BY To us, it's funny! Back when we started the brand, when we first met Martin very early on in the company, maybe 2005, we were traveling through Europe for the first time, and the first time we had to have met him was Bread and Butter. When he said “hey! I do Street wear Today”, the first thing we said is “your putting us on the cover of the magazine”. He kind of laughed, but we were dead serious. He asked what would warrant that? Because we're the best! It became kind of a recurring joke every time we saw each other we'd mention oh are we on the cover yet? Just this past summer in Europe he put his hand on my shoulder and said, “It's time for a cover.” We must have wore him down or earned it, but either way it feels good! I remember early on when joking about being on the cover, we really were serious! We had been doing this for 3-4 years now thinking we're the best, we're the biggest! We deserve this. It's been a serious ongoing joke for 5 years now. It's an honor.

B EN I met Jay-Z and fanned out. I was stoked to meet him at a concert 2-3 years ago, our old marketing director was his personal assistant for years and we were backstage and he walked by and they hugged, I got introduced, that was a big one. If I met Kobe it would be really cool. Michael Jordan, I would definitely fan out! Magic too.

Speaking of fanning out, what's your craziest fan moment? How is meeting some of your supporters and customers that you've inspired? BOBBY Everyones really great. I like when people introduce themselves, I like to know who i'm dealing with and engage them in conversation, I've met some really wise, eager kids. I feel like we have some of the best.

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W O O L V E S T S W E AT E R Hackett

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lighthouse keeper

P H O T O G R A P H Y Karin Nussbaumer www.karinnussbaumer.com A RT D I R E C T I O N Frank Visser www.ijm.nl S T Y L I N G Clyde Semmoh www.helved.nl M O D E L Kevin

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‘Tell me when you’ll give me to the sea.’

J A C K E T Delikatessen P O L O Samsoe Samsoe B E A N I E Vintage PA N T S Norse Projects

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J A C K E T Barbour PA N T S Lee 101

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S W E AT E R Bellerose PA N T S Levi‘s Made & Crafted B E A N I E Vintage

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J A C K E T Barbour PA N T S Lee 101

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W O R K E R J A C K E T Amsterdams Blauw by Scotch & Soda S H I RT Drykorn

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S W E AT E R Amsterdams Blauw by Scotch & Soda PA N T S Amsterdams Blauw by Scotch & Soda

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B R E T O N S T R I P E T O P G-Star PA N T S Samsoe Samsoe

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J A C K E T Diesel Black Gold S H I RT Norse Projects PA N T S Mads Norgaard

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J DILLA AKOMPLICE JOEY BADA$$ – For The Love of It

Akomplice has melded the posthumous talents of J Dilla (partnering with the J Dilla Foundation) with those of the burgeoning Brooklyn emcee, Joey Bada$$ in a collaborative capsule line that will enable youth access to music. Included within the collection is a t-shirt and crew neck that pay homage to the hallowed producer through an angelic cloud-graphic of J Dilla’s face cleanly printed across both. J Dilla’s influence on hip-hop and the music industry as a whole is undeniable. He is venerated as one of the game’s best producers and has the credits to substantiate the claim. Unfortunately, Dilla’s life was cut short at the age of 32 due to a rare blood disease – but his music lives on. East Coast’s own, Joey Bada$$ is precocious, ready and raw. At the tender age of 18, the Brooklyn emcee has garnered the respect of industry veterans and his rhyme-style harkens back to the golden era of hip-hop. With the above facts in Patrick Liberty talks to Ms. Maureen Yancey mind, the collaborators found themselves with a moral obligation to connect these two generational pillars of hip- PATRICK: Let’s start with your musical background and tell hop. A collaboration of this magnitude wouldn’t be comple- me where Dilla might have gotten some of his magic from. te without original music. Exclusive to the collection is a 45 record, which contains an unreleased Dilla beat dubbed YANCEY: Oh god! (laughs) You know what, to tell you the “Two Lips“ on Side A, and an unreleased Joey Bada$$ track truth about it, his first inspiration was James Brown (laughs) over the aforementioned beat on Side B. Social responsibi- – so I can’t touch that. But, I studied classical music as a child lity serves as a shared tenet between the J Dilla Foundation, and aspired to be an opera singer. It was my dream, to be an Joey Bada$$, and the Akomplice Brand. With that in mind, opera singer. To be another Leontyne Price. 100% of the profits from this project will be donated to purchase instruments and music lessons for inner-city P: So growing up he had a lot of music all around him then? youth. This is bringing music to those that would otherwise go without. To unearth the emotions behind the music, Y: Oh, yes. His grandmother loved country, and she was very Patrick Liberty sat down with Dilla’s mom, “Ms. Yancey,“ for much present in our lives. It was not a week that she didn’t an interview, which appears below. spend a couple days at our home. So you know, she was always

present. She liked country western, but then she liked Ray Charles and Sam Cooke, also. Mr. Yancey, of course, was a jazz musician, so he was always listening to jazz, playing the upright bass or keys. He wasn’t a professional with the keyboard, but he wrote his songs and improvised with the key board, and then played the upright bass. So there was that influence, and then of course James Brown. P: Okay, so that’s sure a good mix of things.

Y: Oh sure, and then the gospel. You know, Dilla sang in the church choir until he was 17. P: Oh, wow. So, I read that he was playing records in the park and also spinning in the park. What age was he doing that at? Y: He was two! Two years old! But that was the only activity that he ever embraced, was music. And so he’d come home, and where the normal, or regular child would play with bricks, rocks, little army men and Ninja Turtles and things like that, Dilla wanted music. And he never, ever answered to anything else. MODEL:

Joey Bada$$ PHOTOGRAPHER:

Blake Peterson

P: So I have a funny question for you. Do you prefer to call your son J Dilla or James Yancey, or

something else? What’s most natural for you when you refer to him?

Y: I’ve called him all of them. I’ve called him James, or I call him Dilla, in the later years, but

usually James. That’s what I’ve called him for so long. I can remember when he didn’t live in my home and he was in the Detroit area, and the phone call would come through and I would have to go from, “James?” to “John?” because I was never certain who I was talking to. The telephone voice of Dilla and Illa J (brother of J Dilla) is exact.

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P: That’s funny. You know, me and my brother who run and

own Akomplice are the same way. My parents have to ask us on the phone who’s talking because they can’t tell. So, did your son have a favorite beat he produced? Like something that you know was his favorite thing that he created of all time? Y: Yes, I’ll say that there were two specifics that enlightened

him from the inside out. And that was the remix that he did of Miles Davis’s, “Oblighetto.” And I don’t know why, because I had to warm up to that particular track. You know, I like things that are different and I like abstract in any type or form, but to me it was like an abstract painting when I listened. It took me many places. But that was something that he was so proud of. Just watching him when he was telling me about it, he was just elated. The other time that he was that excited was when he heard “Runnin’” playing. I was working at daycare and I was watching the TV in the corner while parents were picking up their children, and he came barreling up the steps! What it was, was that he heard this track on the TV. It was a ski commercial and they were playing “Runnin’” during the ski commercial. He almost fell to the floor he was so excited. That was something that never really happened with Dilla. You know, he would enjoy his music, but I never saw him just get excited for it, clap for it, or just scream out. Because he always heard something that he either wanted to do or wanted to go back in to do. Every time he listened to something he would go back. He shelved a lot of material, and I remember how he would have me organize it into certain boxes because he was going to have to go back on the track. He wanted to see what was done, and because it was something that he knew he had figure out what that might be yet.

P: It’s funny you say that because the photo shoot we just did with Joey Bada$$, I’m the same way. Every time I do anything if you ask all my employees and people around me, I’ll say “I wanted to do that, I’m unhappy with that, or it can be done better the next time.” But I got back at the end of the day and I looked around and thought, “I can’t think of one thing I would’ve gone back and done differently this day,” which for me is a very rare feeling. I really couldn’t believe it. This isn’t how I normally view it. Normally I’m like, “Why didn’t I do that? That would’ve made it one step better.” And no one else really thinks that way. But then after I said that I actually thought of something that could’ve been done better the next day. (Ms. Yancey laughs) P: My next question, how much music does Major Labels or MCA have of Dilla’s that isn’t released yet? Y: It’s really just an album, that was a shelved album. And

what Egon is doing is a Pay Jays production. He decided to release it as singles, because it stretches it out when it’s kind of short. Which is a brilliant thing to do because you have other MC’s with like minds that are doing small projects and different things, rather than if you wanted to bring it right to significance or something, you don’t want it to just be at an end, because then there is nothing left. So it was a very smart move. There are other things, of course, that many people in the world have and that is content of Dilla’s, because we shipped all his music by bin and batches. There are many artists that he’d make certain batches for, like Erykah. No one

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has what Erykah possesses. He did tracks solely for Erykah cause they’re kindred, kin. No one else would know what they would be and she is in control of them and he did them for her. It was a special thing. But then she was not privileged to have the type that he did for other people. P: Oh, wow. Y: Because I remember her asking and she said to me, “Well, I

didn’t get anything.” So I told her I’d ask him about it, and I did ask him a day or two later he told me, “No, I’m not giving you anything to send her.” And I said, “Well, she didn’t get one, she’s not on my list.” I followed instructions, you know. I had everyone’s address and I went to FedEx daily, but she was not on that list. And I just felt bad, of course, because I adored her. I wanted to make sure she got what she wanted. He said, “I don’t send her what I send everyone else. I send her what I make for her because she is special. And I do work for her. So no one else gets her stuff.” So I knew not to ask again. (laughs). He kept it short, and believe me we understood each other. If he told me something saying “this is why,” I didn’t question him. P: Tell us about the J Dilla Foundation, the mission to cure Lupus, and what other missions the J Dilla Foundation has. Y: OKAY! There, that’s exciting, got me smiling. Our mission

I felt the exact same way. I took it as him blessing the project. Joey said the same thing in the studio. Him and Kirk Knight felt him in the back of the studio during the session.

at the J Dilla Foundation is to open the eyes and the ears of all children. And to teach them what they need to sustain Y: J Dilla’s presence has been very noticeable at different times. themselves, spiritually. To open up their minds so they can During some of the studio sessions he was there, and it was as see all the beauty that they possess, the beauty that’s theirs, if “BOOM. He’s just there with you.” And usually those are the and to be able to look beyond. To enjoy music of all genres and studio sessions that are a one time take and it’s a rap. There’s to get something out of it. To have something to hold on to no going back. I can feel him with me so strongly sometimes. when you need to be in your secret place. Or when you need He is my number one guide. something playing to you during hard times. Music can bring you back to freedom through devastating times. I know that P: When I told Joey about what Catch and I had felt he said, for a fact. Music, it just can take you somewhere. It can brighten “It’s official.” your day and improve your soul for just about anything. It really can just be a soothing song. And you know, with the Y: Yes this means it is definitely official. (laughs) foundation, that is the goal. To make sure that those avenues are open, not just for music but for painting, and art. I am P: Thank you is there anything else you want to say? just opening my eyes and I see more vision and beauty in what I’m looking it. It kind of makes you wonder and it gives you Y: I’d just like to say thank you so much for doing this, all for an extra eye to see that art. the love. Tell Joey thank you and I can’t wait to meet him. P: How did you feel about the Akomplice artwork when you

saw it?

P: I hope to come out and meet you at J Dilla day. Maybe we all can all meet and celebrate that day.

Y: It blew me away. You guys really tapped into something

that nobody has ever really been able to tap into before. It had an angelic feeling to it. I think that this might be the most beautiful J Dilla artwork I’ve ever seen. P: I haven’t told Jonathon Taylor or almost anyone this, but

Dilla day is February 7th 2014 in Detroit.

when my friend Catch and I were driving up to my parents’ house in the mountains, we were on a conference call with Shelly and Jonathon Taylor and we talked about how they really liked the artwork and I brought up the idea of Joey Bada$$ being on the unreleased Dilla track. Once we got off the phone, I had this feeling, and Catch said it out loud before I did. He said, “it felt like J Dilla was in the car with us during that call.”

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office, where he was doing a mural painting organized by German “44309 Streetartgallery” and the London based artist agency “pigment” , that is specialized on the promotion of urban artist from Brazil. So we sat down in a nice restaurant and had a conversation about art, social problems and live in general...

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L7m was born and raised in the outskirts of Sao Paolo – a city of 20 million people which is the biggest city south of the equator and has more inhabitants than London, New York City and Berlin combined. As a boy he wanted to become a train driver but he very soon discovered, that art can bring him to much more interesting places – both in his imagi nation and in real life. (While I am writing these lines he is in Dubai for example). So at the age of thirteen he started experimenting with spray cans, ink and acrylic and he learned to convert the madness and the chaos of the city around him into pictures, that are as fascinating as the country he is living in. It was an incredible coincidence, that we were able to meet L7m only 15 minutes away from our

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Brazil is a country of contradictions. In fact, there is maybe no other country in the world with similar contrasts between huge mega-city-areas and totally untouched nature with indigene populations that hardly have any contact to the outside world. In most parts of the world, Brazil is still the cliche of a caipirinha drinking nation of football and carnival maniacs, but if you take a closer look you of course find an incredibly rich cultural scene that can compete against every other country in the world and today we would like to introduce one artist we especially like: L7m.

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How did it come to this collaboration with the 44309 gallery? It was from a invitation from Pigment . Pigment represents Brazilian contemporary artists supporting them to work with new art galleries, art festivals, aiming promote their art in Europe. I read in an interview that you like to paint in abandoned places and that you would like to paint in Chernobyl... is that still your plan and is Chernobyl THE symbol of abandonment? Yes this is my dream, I wish soon get it done. Definitely Chernobyl is a symbol of abandonment . I also read that the birds you often use in your pictures are a symbol of freedom and that you think that our perception of freedom is false... what means freedom in your opinion and how can we achieve it? Freedom is like to go outside, paint in the street without thinking anything and breathe fresh air. In your work there always appears to be a contrast of beauty and sadness, elegance and roughness... is this a hint to how you see the world? Yes,I mix feelings and how I see the world. I like to make this very easy to understand, the world oscillates between good and evil, I show the reflection of it all through my painting. How would you describe the streetart scene in Brazil? It is a huge country, so is there a kind of nationwide scene or does every bigger city have an independent scene? I think the street art scene in Brazil is growing fast , every corner of a city you find a new artist . I'm not from a big city like Sao Paulo, but I can see that street art is more and more potential beyond the capital. Brazil will be the host of the upcoming football world cup and even we here in Germany hear about a lot of protests against that... can you tell something about your view of that situation? The world cup has something good for the country but also has its downside, Brazil is been made up for the World Cup this time. What do you like about your home country and what do you hate? I like the simplicity and joy of my country and hate corruption and lack of ethics of who governs. What do you do when you're not painting? Are you into sports? I'm always painting,when I'm not painting I'm skateboarding and playing basketball. Where do you get your inspiration from? My inspiration comes from everything that I like and hate, my fears and dreams. Can you live by your art or what do you do for a living? I'm living and surviving of my art. What are your plans for the future? Spread my work by all corners of the world and bring the message to everyone in a visual way.

Thanks a lot! And all the best for the future.

For more information visit his facebook profile on www.facebook.com/Streetart.L7m

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L7M - Simplicity and Joy This L7M mural painting sits on a wall in Dortmund. The realization was organized by German “44309 Streetartgallery” and the London based artist agency “pigment”.

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Kevin Lyons creative director, designer, illustrator, and founder of Natural Born. Kevin Lyons is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design where he received a degree in film and has a Masters Degree from CalArts. Later in his life Kevin has held teaching assistant positions at both RISD and CalArts, and has been a visiting critic at the Yale Graduate School of Design. Also he was an Assistant Professor of Typography at the Pratt Institute from 2000 – 2002.

Oh wow, I was nervous again, even I get used to meet those headz of the streetwear industry. But it is different to meet somebody you heard of and you just like what he does – for me, as I follow the activities of Kevin Lyons since ages – I am going to meet somebody I really respect for his creativity, his fun. It is kind of impossible to let you know every thing he did in the past but to give you a glimpse… Kevin Lyons has worked with such clients as Nike, Dcshoes, Stussy, HUF, SSUR, Supreme, Converse, Umbro and Coca-Cola or American Express among others.

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To dive a little deeper and show his spectrum of work it can be named that he won a Cannes Golden Lion for his campaign for Diesel. In 2001, Kevin was named to "The Top Forty Designers Under Thirty" by british all time favorite ID Magazine. He is the former global Creative Director for Urban Outfitters. What else might be interesting? Prior to Urban Outfitters, Kevin served in a variety of diverse roles including, Design Director at Stussy Worldwide; Art Director for Spike Jonze's Girl Skateboard Company; US Art Director for Tokion Magazine and Senior Designer for Nike Inc. And this is just a short list of his activities next to his passion for Illustration.

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To check out his exhibition at the basement of the DC showroom, which later on was moved to Paris retail Icon Colette, was one reason to be invited to Paris. The other reason was the launch of a product line design directed by Kevin Lyons for the DCshoe Co. It is a snowboarding topic and the jacket, some pants, hoodies, shirts and hats pop quite cool in red, blue, grey tonality while giving advice to run things proper with a selection of signature footwear.

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It was Paris in December when I was about to meet Kevin. An event was held at the DCshoes Paris showroom. When we came to the place to be there was already an illustrious crowd having a beer or two. Surrounded by the iconic art work of Kevin I became busy to chase him and his charisma with my camera. Both of us instinctively got the idea. His head stuck out here and there, he was very busy talking to a lot of friends, painting skate decks, signing shirts, scribbling new characters.

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Dcshoes x Kevin Lyons: within the collection, sweat ware, snowboarding stuff and premium sneakers line up to a series of custom snowboards that carries Lyons signature touch.

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DIDIER RA

explore the human Did this ever happen to you? You discover a new artist and while exploring his work there is one big question in your head: What the heck was this guy thinking?? In most cases I realized, that it is impossible to reconstruct the chain of inspirations and influences that resulted in the specific style of an artist. But regarding Didier Ra we have at least one defined starting point for that chain - because if rumors are true, one of his earliest inspirations was growing up next to a cemetery. Didier was born in Marseille on November 2nd 1973, and in France, November 1st is a traditional holiday called “Toussaint”. In memory of the deceased, people decorate graves and there are also processions around the graveyards. Witnessing and participating in this event year after year is described as a great influence to young Didier and it is the explanation for his work displaying a certain fascination for the morbid. Other influences like science fiction, fantasy comics, manga or bio mechanics followed and Didier merged all that into his unique style, that he is now about to present thru the spacejunk art centers in France. In his shows, he creates a “gigeresque” dungeon of paintings and sculptures that catch the viewer at very first sight. A closer look reveals, that Didier uses everyday objects like teaspoons, hairdryers, soda capsules or computer motherboards to materialize his vision and to create a bridge between the fantastic world inside his head and the world around him. For quite a while the spacejunk art centers are notorious for supporting and presenting outstanding artists and we greatly appreciate their work. Didier Ra's very first solo exhibition with spacejunk is called “ Junks from Jupiter”. It was opened in Bayonne in November and will tour the spacejunk galleries till the end of may 2014. We were happy to find the opportunity to address some questions to Didier directly.

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DIDIER RA Junks from jupiter touring show from 14 nov. 2013 31 may 2014

The “Junks from Jupiter” exhibition will be presented in Spacejunk art centers on these dates: Bayonne: 14th November – 11th January 2014 Lyon: 06th February – 04th April 2014 SJK | Grenoble: 17th April – 31st May 2014

Spacejunk

special date: Spacejunk group exhibition at Ispo show Munich 26. – 29 . 01. 2014

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BAYONNE | LYON | GRENOBLE | BSM WWW.SPACEJUNK.TV

Can you explain the title of your exhibition “Junks from Jupiter”? A few years ago, I needed a logo for an illustration for my own sketch book’s cover. I'm a SciFi and esotericism fan and I looked in the symbols of the planets and I appropriated that of Jupiter (it appears on all my works since). And I must tell you that I like to think that my sculptures are made by a clumsy mutant in a dark sewer in a post-apocalyptic world or by an alien from a distant planet….. So “Junks from Jupiter” came naturally. Your sculptures sometime have a religious touch and depict figures like Christ or the Virgin Mary - what does religion mean to you? Like you know, I was born on the “day of the dead” (November 2nd). Early on, when I was a kid, I was fascinated by everything related to religious imagery and icons. “Unfortunately” I stopped believing in god at the same time I stopped believing in Santa Claus (lol). But this allows me to have a critical look on the matter and no scruples to misappropriation. You use a lot of everyday objects for your sculptures – how do you find and select them? It is very easy: I'm a compulsive accumulator and I keep all my items since 20 years with the idea of making something out of it one day. In addition to that I keep things that I find in the streets and sometimes tattoo customers and friend bring me things that they found somewhere... it does not end. I understand you attended art school. What were the benefits of your time there? I think the interesting thing about attending art schools is, that it allows you to learn the basics of drawing, painting, sculpturing. It's also good to learn the history of art and discover all the great artists who created before us, and of course to be with other artists of our generation, which generates emulation and a desire to always do better.

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For more information please visit www.spacejunk.tv

You started becoming a tattoo artist at the age of 20 – what was the motivation behind that? The motivation came when a friend of mine planned to open a tattoo studio. I just left art school, had no job and said “OK, I try that!”. I bought my first tattoo machine – without ever using one before – and since then I never stopped using it. My friend never opened the studio, by the way, lol. You admire the works of Leonardo da Vinci – can you tell us more about that? I admire him and many others (classical and contemporary). What I admire about him is his scientific side. His studies of the human body and his various inventions and sketches are amazing beauties and ingenuity. What are your plans for the future? I am already working on the next show with Spacejunk art centers, a collective exhibition with tattoo artists only. It is planned for February, and after that I'd take a vacation. It is already two years that I worked non stop for the ”Junks from Jupiter” exhibition. Merci beaucoup Didier et bonnes vacances!


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G - S E S S I O N S & C E L E B R AT I N G 3 0 Y E A R S O F S H O C K R E S I S TA N C E The final event of the G-SESSIONS was held at Berlin’s Kraftwerk. Exhibited were some exclusive collaboration and limited edition watches from the thirty years of G-Shock history. The story and development of G-Shock, future projects and the final participants from Berlin, Paris, Barcelona, St. Petersburg, Manchester, Milano and Amsterdam of the G-SESSIONS were introduced during a diverting press conference. Afterwards there was a big party with more than thousand guests who celebrated the winner – skateboarder and action sports photogarpher Nikita Vilkin Yarutskiy from S. Petersburg and partied hard to Kid Simius, Genetikk and legendary German Hip Hop DJ Stylewarz who joined forces with DJ ESKEI83 to set the roof on fire. This day we also had the chance for a brief chat with Kikuo Ibe, inventor of the first G-Shock and Yuichi Masuda, Corporate Officer of Casio Computer Co. Ltd.

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KIKUO IBE Stw2d 30 years ago in 1983, what was the initial idea to create a heavy-duty watch, what purpose did you have in mind? K. I. One day in the office, I dropped my watch, which was a gift from my father, and it was broken. That was the trigger which made me try to develop an unbreakable watch. I started drop tests from 10 meters high and then I conceived the triple 10 concept which is 10 meters shock resistance, 10 bar and 10 year battery life as a development policy. My biggest challenge was to design a normal sized watch with a shock resistant structure. Stw2d Which is your favorite model besides the very first one, which is your favorite I suppose?

Y U I C H I M A S U DA Stw2d Usually luxury watch brands have celebrity ambassadors. You stepped up to this level by teaming up with Eminem. What’s the reason behind this move? Y. M. G-Shock identity and Eminem’s personality fit perfectly, besides that he is an avid‘s G-Shock lover. Stw2d Speaking of luxury watches, what’s the idea behind the MT-G and who’s the target group? Y. M. The core target users of G-Shock are young people, but I wanted to develop a more refined G-Shock for matured people who used to wear G-Shock when they were young.

K. I. If I had to pick one it would be the second G-Shock model with mud resistance. Stw2d The G-Shock series, esp. certain models have become pop cultural items. What are your thoughts about this? K. I. G-Shock watches are not just fashion items but authentic products with shock resistant function as a base. Stw2d What’s your favorite of the 30 years collaborations and why? K. I. I won’t favor any particular model because I think, they are all great in its very own special way. Stw2d What are your hobbies, what do you like to do for recreation? K. I. In my spare time I like to work in my garden and task myself with vegetable cultivation.

Stw2d How far has the “Triple 10” concept expanded since its beginning in 1983? Y. M. In the beginning, G-Shock was loved by blue color workers in the U.S. In the 90‘s, young people started to feel sympathy with G-Shock. G-Shock has become a unique brand. The Triple 10 concept is a development policy from the beginning. We always try to develop new G-Shock products based on advanced technology that can survive under extreme circumstances. Stw2d Since physical fitness became some sort of “lifestyle” during the last years and outfitters came up with technical gadgets to keep track of your achievements, what do we have to expect from G-Shock in that field? Y. M. The G-Shock identity does not adapt fitness so that we do not have a plan to Stepp into that field, out our mother company Casio provides fitness watches in different categories.

Stw2d Oh okay, so what does the future bear for Mr. Ibu? K. I. I want to concentrate even more on agriculture.

Stw2d 65 million watches sold, what’s going to happen once you’ve reached the 100 million mark? Y. M 100 millions, that’s what I want to achieve during my stay at Casio.

Nice one.

Okay, thank you Mr. Masuda

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Berlin Thomas Hanisch with Ambassador Patrick Mohr did a perfect job with their creation matching beautifully their clothing.

Paris Kirikoo Des from Paris works in the field of performance dance which mixes up with music and digital art to develop conceptual performances dealing with genre codes and gender roles.

Amsterdam “times is rough and tough like leather” by amsterdam’s finest. Tomas Overtoom and Liza Korfman from Ontfront with the help of Ceiser, Urbmath and TP.

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Barcelona Johann Wald known as an MTV moderator is also working as a DJ. His charisma and powerful ways to express make him fame. His G-Shock and the related packaging and installment comes with many details to clap hands again.

London Ghostpoet. We had a nice interview with him some issues ago. The London Hip hop Singer and Producer has a new album called “Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam”. His G-Shock watch comes in white with a colorful strap.

Milano Giorgio Di Salvo is the designer of the fashion Brand Marcelo Burlon but also works in other disciplines as an art and creative director.

St. Petersburg – the wining team Nikita Vilkin Yarutskiy is one of Russia’s best known action sports photographers. To him, it’s very special to leave the G-SESSIONS as winner: “I was already really thrilled about Russia being a part of the G-SHOCK G-SESSIONS! For me it was very important to integrate my influences from the skateboard culture into my idea, especially the difficulty of overcoming your own fear is essential to me. So, I am really happy about the fact that G-SHOCK fans all over Europe appreciated my idea, and that I can wear my own vision on my wrist very soon!” streetwear today 1 | 2014


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TNT - Tony Trujillo

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Stream-of-consciousness & keywords: Lorenzo Taurino / gudezeit.de b/w Portrait: Christopher Shaw (fotoshaw.com) b/w transfer: Michael Lang

CHRISTMAS IS OVER AND DADDY DEADLINE IN FRONT OF UNCLE ALOIS' HOUSE IN SLOVENIA. SHALL WE LE T HIM IN? HE'S BEEN WAITING OUTSIDE FOR QUITE A WHILE. EVEN THOUGH I'M NOT INTERESTED IN MEETING HIM, I FEEL THE URGE TO LET HIM IN, BECAUSE ... I'M STUPID LIKE THIS. WELL, EVERYTHING HAS TO COME TO AN END.

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In the last issue of stw2d I did an interview with Lizard King, the king of passion. He's puts 101 % into everything he does. Be it positive or not so healthy, but in the end - he keeps the fire burning! So does TNT aka Tony Trujillo aka Skater of Year in … I'm not a journalist, I'm a writer. Don't ask me to google the year that Tony got the trophy by Thrasher mag's very own Phelber.

everything was fine and he was ready to go. But then there's other times, where he's in party mode and puking into the van and dwelling like shit and yelling at everyone - typical Jake. When he's not drinking or whatever, he's a good guy. Sometimes he just dishes it out and people are just fuckin' too scared to say anything, but when you talk to him, he's fuckin' normal.'

The thing I can definitely maybe remember is, that the party was called a hayday by the ones supposed to serve and protect … from having too much fun? Sounds like the first part of an infamous Thrasher mag shirt from way back then. But let the old fart have a look at the interview he did with Tony and let's hear it from him what it's like to tour with Thrasher mags editor-in-chief-skatepunk, who's part of the band called 'Bad Shit'. So, what is it like, Tony? 'It's like a roller coaster. On the last Skate Rock, Jake wasn't drinking, so we got along well and

So be it, as everybody is just human, born to make mistakes, but there are also perfectionists in the band. Trujillo remembers practicing with the other Trujillo: 'We've been playing with Robert Trujillo. He plays with Metallica, Infectious Grooves, and Suicidal Tendencies. His work ethic is just unbelievable. He lives in L. A., he flies up to San Francisco, practice with Metallica, then drive over to my house and practice with us, then he would drive to the East Bay and practice with the Infectious Grooves guys, then go back to the airport, fly back

TNT 5 by VANS – "I like the feel of it. I like the thin sole and it's not padded anywhere, it's old school." – Tony Trujillo


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and do it all again the next day. And even when he gets home, he goes to his shed and practice, practice, practice, so he gets it done. He wants to make it perfect.' Fair enough, to each his work ethic. Actually, the day I did the interview with Tony, was the day after the outrageous night VANS offered everybody on the boat they rented. Metal Maier was spinning tunes, Captain Clepto was rolling the dices, pros, ams and peeps of all colors were having their more than fair share of good times that night. Tony, do you have any advice for the happy hungover victims? 'I used to just keep drinking, but that was the problem. I stopped drinking almost a year. I stopped, because I had issues in my life. Waking up in the morning and your first thought is 'What's your first drink gonna be?' You know, that's not fuckin' healthy.' It ain't healthy to not get enough sleep, either. Therefore, we switch to the keywords-mode in order to get some solid sleep. Thanx for your k.o.peration, ladies and lads. Trujillo and Taurino inna da Superbude St. Pauli Hamburg

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‌ road! I've been traveling and skating since I was 14, but things change. I got a pregnant wife and a five-year-old kid. So, I got two homes. When we're playing with Bad Shit, she is on tour with us. Her mom lives near to our house and she would take care of the house and our son. So me and Trixie have our alone-time, when we're together on the road. I had ankle surgery by the beginning of last year, so I was a lot at home, but when I'm back on it, I gonna try and film for this Vans video, trying to be on the road 75 % of all the time.

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I like the feel of it. I like the thin sole and it's not padded anywhere, it's old school.

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T A T T O O S

Yeah, mostly done by friends. I don't pay them, that's why they aren't so great. This is a Trixie one, Neckface, another Neckface and this one here says 'no mercy'. This arm is all Skate Rock. Skate Rock Japan, Skate Rock Australia, the East Coast, Mexico City, Bangkok ...

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Dude. He is the pinnacle of what skateboarding is, what it should be, how it should be done: fast, hard, whatever is in your way, destroy it. Cardiel doesn't limit himself! That's pretty solid.

It's like a family. I've been with them since I've seen 'Fucktard' when I was 13. That's like real and raw skateboarding. I grew up an hour north of San Francisco. I handed Bob Burnquist a sponsor-me-tape. And ever since, we travel and skate together and we love to laugh, man. That's about it. We're Anti Hero! We can do whatever the fuck we want.

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LONG DISTANCE CALLING MUSICAL STORYTELLERS. Long Distance Calling on tour 06.02.14 07.02.14 08.02.14 11.02.14 12.02.14 13.02.14 14.02.14 15.02.14 16.02.14 17.02.14 18.02.14 19.02.14 20.02.14 21.03.14 22.03.14

(NL) Zoetermeer / Boederij (D) Dortmund / FZW (UK) London / Barf ly (E ) Madrid / Caracol (E) Barcelona / Apolo 2 (CH) Zürich / Komplex (A) Wien / Szene (A) Innsbruck / Weekender (D) Stuttgart / Wagenhallen (D) München / Backstage (D) Berlin / Lido (D) Dresden / Beatpol (LUX) Esch-sur-Alzette / Rockhal (Gr) Athens / An Club (Gr) Eightball Club / Thessaloniki

Photos by Martin Großmann

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Some weeks ago I went to a concert of my favorite metal band “Baroness”. They played at a local venue, together with two other bands I had never heard of. And shame on me, normally when I don't know bands I spend their stage time drinking beer at the bar or with a smoke outside while posting stupid things on Facebook. But this time, everything was different! About 30 seconds after a band called “Long Distance Calling” hit the stage, I had already forgotten about the bar, the beer and all the rest – really – I can't remember the last time a band captured me that quickly and made me fall for them in only three our four songs time. You may think that's exaggerated, but honestly, L.D.C. during that show delivered the essence of what music should be about: An emotional voyage through the ups and downs of life. Musical Storytelling in high definition with some surprising twist. On a technical basis, well, they are often defined as “Post Rock” or “Prog Rock” with strong metal influences and sprawling songwriting that can result in tracks of ten minutes or more. They are also a bunch of excellent musicians that play together perfectly and they seem to be nice guys, too. But in the end everything is meaningless if you don't find a way to the heart of your audience. And it is obvious that Long Distance Calling found that way because they are not only pretty good, they are pretty successful, too. Their last two albums reached amazingly high numbers in the German album charts (yes, it's a German band!), their concerts are crowded and the German music press loves them. After quite a while without vocals or with guest vocalists they even found a permanent singer last year which will further push their possibilities and popularity. Although the band is pretty busy at the moment, bass player Jan Hoffmann took the time to answer some of my curious questions... Listening to your music, it appears to me that you don't really care about expectations. Both – regarding your discography and the individual songs, there is always this moment when I think, “these guys just do it for their fun.” But still you are a “chart band” – what kind of pressure comes from that?

When we started the band we didn't plan or expect anything. We just try to get better and better, so the only pressure that we feel comes from ourselves but the most important thing is fun indeed. We try to ignore pressure and expectations from outside, I think that´s the only way. When you released your third album “Long Distance Calling” in 2011, each of you had a side job or some other occupation. In the mean time I can imagine you hardly have time for anything else besides LDC. What is your situation now? Can you live/survive on making music alone?

We are still doing stuff besides the band but we are all students or self-employed so we can shift our time mostly for the good of the band. In the first year when a new album comes out, we can live from the music, the second year is a bit more tough.

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But we are not doing it for the money, it´s just a nice bonus for the “work” behind it, we do it because we love it. Preparing this interview I read a lot of other interviews and there hardly was one without the question why LDC don't have a permanent singer. You have one, now, but why do you think was this question so important for others? I don't think your fans ever cared...

Maybe it's still a bit strange to hear (rock)songs without vocals and we always worked with vocals (we got one vocal song with guest vocalists on each album) and we just wanted to expand this a bit to discover new ground for us. We started the band without a permanent singer because we didn't find a good one, that's all. Now we have a good one and of course we want to include him into the band and our universe and bring the band to the next level, also and mainly in terms of better songwriting etc. In your article on German Wikipedia I read a sentence that really made me laugh. It went like “Due to numerous repetitions of certain parts, their songs are relatively long.” – I don't think your music is repetitive, but apart from that, what is the real secret of writing “relatively long” songs?

It´s just very hard for us to write short songs. We really tried that many times but then there´s another riff or part that we like and we put it into the song and sometimes parts are repeating but most of the times the songs are just evolving and bringing a lot of different parts to the song. You achieved quite a lot in a relatively short period of time. The German music press loves you. You're selling records. Your fan base grows. What do you expect from the future?

We don't expect anything as nobody knows what happens. We just appreciate what we got and built with the band and we all know that it will be over one day but until then we will give our very best and people will decide what happens with us in terms of success. Apart from music – what do you do to relax and to get new inspiration?

Well I guess that's pretty different for any member in the band. As for myself, I like to read a lot and go for walks or watch movies or just talk to people. anything can get you inspiration in life if you walk the earth with open ears and eyes. Since I write for a streetwear magazine I have to ask: Do you care for clothing and which stuff do you like? I remember at least one Carhartt shirt when I saw you on stage in Dortmund.

Haha well, that's also different within the band I guess but I really like Converse and Carhartt stuff a lot! Thanx a lot, Jan and all the best for the future!


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SNOOPZILLA AND DÂM-FUNK when the funk hits the fan

Snoopzilla & DâM-FunK: 7 Days Of Funk (Stones Throw)

Rome wasn’t built in a day – an epigram that the California based musician, producer, dj, and vocalist DâM-FunK acknowledges too be true. When he officially released his first record „Rhythm Trax“ in 2008 he already look back on a long career as a bedroom producer who kept the funk for real in his own four walls. Beside producing music, making his living with not music related jobs, collecting records and drum machines he was known in the Leimert Park section of L.A. for throwing his „Funkmosphere“ parties where he created a musical renaissance that is rooted in early-80s music styles like boogie, modern soul and electro funk. His guests were all kind of folks who like to groove to the likes of Slave, Aurra, early Prince, Prelude Records and obscure electronic Funk. In 2009 he established himself as a visionary for neo boogie funk producer with his first real longplayer „Toeachizown“. That the funk was in his blood since long he proofed a year later with „Adolescent Funk“ - a compilation of his very early works that he created between 1988 and 1992 with his favoured setup of Linn drum machine, Korg M1, and Casio SK1. Since then each funk lover around the globe knows DâM-FunK and his glittering boogie funk tracks full of astral traveling keys, sparkling synths, galactic harmonies, and nonchalant grooves. Also legendary XXL rapper Snoop Dogg heart of his one-off skills and says. “I’ve had funk influences in my music my whole career. DâM-FunK is cold. He’s keeping the funk alive and I knew I had to get down with him.” Now the King of Modern Funk had met the G-Funk entertainment icon that has sold over 30.000.000 albums and received 15 Grammy nominations. Together they produced „7 Days Of Funk“ – the first Snoop Dogg project with a single producer since his debut album „Doggystyle“ in 1993. On the album Snoop performs under the name Snoopzilla and pays homage to the legendary funk master, Bootsy Collins, who often went by the moniker Bootzilla. To get some background information about this real thrilling music collaboration we spoke to DâM-FunK about his work with Snoop and his love for funk.

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Stw2d: Hey DâM-FunK, how you doing? DâM-FunK: Everything is cool man. Everything is rolling smooth. Stw2d: How would you describe your music to someone that hasn’t heard of it? DâM-FunK: I would say first of all: my name is Damon and DâM is short for Damon. I am just someone who really cares about funk music and I am just looking out to share this with as many people as possible. Stw2d: Can you tell us a bit about how you met Snoop Dogg and how the „7 Days Of Funk“ project started? DâM-FunK: In general it started because Snoop and me have a very particular friendship in music. For real it started when he once came over to my house late at night. I was really surprised he did! I had already interacted with him on birthday parties or the tribute to Nate Dogg. But when he came over and we did the song „Niggaz Hit D Pavement“ it was really something special. He said man we need to do more and he agreed to do an album. We produced seven songs in the next couple of weeks and Snoop came up with the concept „7 Days Of Funk“. Stw2d: Did you write the music especially for the collaboration with Snoop? DâM-FunK: Some music is specifically for Snoop. And I left some of my music for Snoop to pick. I gave him my huge catalogue in a zip drive and he could choose what he wanted. Then he puts his ambition on top of my music. It was a very organic process I can say. Stw2d: Would you say the album represents the DâM-FunK sound you are known for? DâM-FunK: I would not call it typical. It is more like a sophisticated funk sound. It is not rooted in the past. We tried to bring funk to the future. We tried to create different moods and not some retro bullshit. We wanted to take funk to the next level. Our record is a smile with a tear you know. It is music you can feel. You can ride to it. It is modern sophisticated funk that still has a gangster in it too. Stw2d: What influence had Los Angeles on the album? DâM-FunK: LA shaped it because of its whole vibe. The car culture. The sound systems. The weather. It is not a rainy album! Here in LA the sun shines often and that gave us beautiful visions. Also the way we dress, the way we wear our hair is important. LA is just a big part of it but you don’t need to be here to feel the album. The album is inviting anybody from around the world to feel the funk. Stw2d: Did Snoop wrote lyrics or did he just improvise? DâM-FunK: Hey specifically wrote things for the music. His lyrics are a mirror of what he was going through at that time we recorded the music. Stw2d: Why he chooses the alias Snoopzilla. DâM-FunK: He just wanted to give props to the people who started funk. That is the problem with many new producers today - they forget the forefathers who helped them to be on the level they are on. Snoop and me respect the people who made that music before us. You have to respect these people to be able to progress further. Stw2d: What people you mean? DâM-FunK: Junie Morrison, he was one of the founding members of Ohio Players. Then there is Slave, Change, Patrice Rushen, P-Funk, Barry White. I could name many.

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Stw2d: Was there any additional producer involved in „7 Days Of Funk“? DâM-FunK: No. I did all the music, Snoop the vocals. We have a couple of special guests though like Steve Arrington, Bootsy Collins, Dal Young, or Tha Dogg Pound. Stw2d: And how was it for Snoop to produce with an underground artist like you? Before he worked mostly with stars like Dr. Dre. DâM-FunK: I think Snoop worked with me like with anybody. His professionalism is top-notch. He worked fast and hard. And he is very easy to work with because we are linked to each other. We are from the same generation. We grew up in Southern California and we respect each other. Nobody get out of line. He did not act like a diva. Him and me we act like friends. And that is cool because I like to work with people with whom I have a connection. I don’t like pure business so much. And I must say that stunned me about Snoop. He is so cool and laid-back. Stw2d: And what does the album personally mean to you? DâM-FunK: It means a lot when somebody in Snoop’s calibre decides to work with me. To be honest: I am aware that there are a lot of great artists who know who I am but for some odd reason they never decided to work with me. I don’t know if they are afraid of the music or it is too funky. I don’t know what it is. Snoop is in a commercial level where he is worldwide known and my friends all say: Dâm we know one day this would happen. I don’t see it like that. I just stayed true to what I do and now after all those years those people who really appreciate it come by and work with me. The record with Snoop is a lesson for people who just stick to their guns. People who believe in something – be it in a sound, a design of cloth, a piece of art you paint, or just something in your regular job. You just got to stick to your guns and believe that your vision is something worth. And this project with Snoop means to me that all I did before and where I believed in all those years was for good! Stw2d: On the album cover you see a comic. Does it illustrate your vibe with Snoop? DâM-FunK: Well Funkadelic and P-Funk had always such covers. Snoop told me that Bootsy Collins told him: as long as you keep the funk alive keep it with an animated mind. And I like that: to keep an animated mind. This cover works like that. It is drawn by underground legend Lawrence Hubbard. He is someone who stuck to his guns with the six Real Deal comics he did. The music is partly rough as the artwork and it represents the city life as the artwork does. Stw2d: Comic’s bring us to our last question: what superpower would you like to have? Dâm-Funk: (laughs) To be able to travel without a car and levitate!

Text & Interview: Michael Leuffen


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NUMERO GROUP Since the golden age of hip hop and its art of sampling the word re-issue has become something more then just a name for re-releases of million seller albums of bands like The Beatles, Rolling Stones, or Led Zeppelin. Since the early nineties formerly hard to find and out of print soul, funk, and jazz albums found their way back into the record shops. Often they were just re-printed without love and over the course of the years only a few labels established themselves as re-issue platforms that go beyond. Companies like Soul Jazz Records, Honest Jon's Records, or BBE published old music with large-scale Liner notes and background stories about the artists or genres they focus on. Most of the re-issue labels that deliver more then just music are based in the UK. Since 2003 the Chicago based company The Numero Group, initiated by Tom Lunt, Rob Sevier, and Ken Shipley, established himself as a real unique archival record label from the USA that releases original albums and reissue compilations of previously released and unreleased music from a variety of musical genres. Most of the label's releases feature music by artists and bands that found little commercial success upon their active career or their material's initial release. In the beginning the label's focus was on rare soul and R&B music, as well as on labels like the defunct Capsoul label from Columbus, Ohio. Since a while they also shade a light on old southern rock, psychedelic, rock, gospel, or odd folk. Their artist roster contains of slowcore bands like Codeine from New York, Belgian synth pop legends like Antena, blues and soul singers like Syl Johnson, punk groups like Hüsker Dü, or private press soul and gospel heroes like Otis G. Robinson and Love Apple. None of their releases just comes out with a normal cover. They are featuring carefully re-mastered music packed in collector’s boxes with huge background stories and photos about the artists. To find out what makes Numero Group special and what you have to do to be a unique re-issue label we talked with founder Ken Shipley about his business and passion for music that would be without him just a footnote of a footnote in music culture.

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More then just a re-issue label

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Stw2d You will soon release the work of the British musician Nikki Sudden. Was this something you caught in the air? It is a re-release that does no fit into your usual soul, jazz, and funk roster. Ken Shipley Sometimes opportunities like Nikki Sudden arise and you got to work on something you never knew that you would go to work on. And when you get this opportunity you just want to do it better then anybody else has done it before. And then you put it into a context that the world has not seen. I look at record like a product that has a ten-year live span. The first version of a record can last for about ten years. But then ten years later you got a whole different buyer that can become interested in the music you released. Take a release like the Syl Johnson we did. His music has been re-released before but it had never been covered the way we had covered it. Stw2d So this means you try to make releases that stand against time? Ken Shipley I think in many ways great music comes back to the surface. You can’t hold it down. But we try to bring it back in a way that it got a value now and in ten years too. Stw2d And how you do that? You got a team working on packaging, line-notes, mastering? Ken Shipley There are eight people working here at the office in Chicago and they all do different kind of things. I don’t design anymore but I still do a lot of liner notes. I think a lot on the packing. I constantly think on the way records used to be made. We have our special people for mastering too. And we work long and detailed on our releases. The Boddie Recording Company compilation for instance took us seven years from the time of the idea came up to the release date. Stw2d Your releases also often get purchased by people who are usually not record buyers. How you explain that? Ken Shipley Our quality transcends. We make records that people did not know that they wanted to own. Our releases mostly look like art and not like a record. That was a plan from the very early be ginning. We look on record covers like on gallery space. Great record covers always want to be displayed and people want to buy goodlooking records. Stw2d And what exiting new stuff you got in the pipeline? Ken Shipley We are doing a Ned Doheny record. He made great neo-soul records with a special tip! And we are doing all the works of Unwound who was a nineties band. We are also in the process with a couple of more Eccentric Soul compilations. One will be by a label of Cleveland, Ohio called Way Out Records. Then we got a hard rock compilation that is all just amazing Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin inspired hard rock. Stw2d And what was your biggest hit so far? Ken Shipley The first Eccentric Soul by the Capsoul label. Stw2d And if you could be in any band – living or dead – who would it be? Ken Shipley I would not be in a band. I would be working at Warner Brothers in the seventies. I always felt that being a musician is a very difficult life. I much rather been working on the other side and making things work for them!

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Stw2d Ken, how did you end up running one of the finest reissue labels of today? Ken Shipley In my high school years I played in a couple of bands. But I was better as an organizer then as a musician. When I was 18 I started my first record label Tree records before that kind of collapse and I took a job working for Rykodisc. So I worked in music since my entire adult life. I am 36 which means I done it the half of my entire life. Stw2d And what was then the impetus behind the start of Numero Group? Ken Shipley When I was working at Rykodisc I had a particular focus on the catalogue division. I was assigned to build some replacements because they were loosing big stars like David Bowie or Nick Drake. I was thinking that there is a big chance on things like the Frank Zappa back catalogue and things like that that just needed to be pulled out. For two years I was going to their stacks and I was looking for the next David Bowie who is a really hard artist to replace. Then I lost my job at Rykodisc and I was looking to do something else. I really wanted to continue the work I did there. My idea was always finding something unique and rare. So that is how it all came down to Numero Group which I founded with my two partners in 2003. Stw2d Since the rise of hip hop and trends like the acid jazz movement re-releases of old records flooded record stores. But these were often just reprints with no specials like liner notes or so. Numero Group does more then just a re-release. Was that the initial idea behind the label? Ken Shipley I always looked at what has been done in the UK and I wanted to it better. Working in the United States gives us a unique geographical opportunity to succeed in a special way. Most of the records that have been done in the nineties were done with very little knowledge about the artist, with very limited access to master tapes and the story behind the music. The focus was not so much on artists or labels. We looked at a label like ACE in the UK of whom we thought they done it right but the time had changed and you could do a better design, a better packaging: we wanted to take that chance and do it better with a bit more style and flair. Stw2d Lots of music you re-release comes from US labels that are hard to find in Europe. Was that also a reason to make a difference to other labels like BBE or Honest Jon’s? Ken Shipley Absolutely. Just being here and having that access gives you a huge leg up. When you have boots on the ground it just allows you to have opportunities that no one has. When you outlook for records and you come across real master tapes you got a unique chance to make something different. Stw2d This means also that the people who run Numero Group are record collectors, too. Ken Shipley Yes we are all record collectors. But not so much good stuff is found in record stores these days. Most of the best digging is done over the phone or in people’s houses. Many things we discovered because we followed a lead. We began poring a threat and that took us to a place where nobody would go. But there is no real focus. It is weird to say that: but our catalogue has no focus and our interest has no focus. You catch something on the air and you want to go down the path.


P bless the Moog like Gesundheit Philipp Maier aka Santé is a DJ and producer from Berlin, who originally hails from the Swabian hinterland. Ulm, a city close to the Bavarian border, to be precise. After teaching himself to play guitar in his early teens, Santé bought himself an Akai MPC-2000 when he was 16 and set the ball rolling for a life entrenched in electronic music “I was totally into sampling and house” he recalls of those early days of button pushing and experimentation. Aged 21, he moved to Berlin in 2002 with the ambition to study music at Universität der Künste, but much to his surprise he was rejected and prompted to explore new avenues. A studio internship became a full-time job, producing jingles and ad music for six years alongside fostering his passion for house music at any opportunity. We had a little chitchat with him about his musical output, his label “A Votre” and the small but stylish accompanying collection of clothing.

Where did you lost your virginity in terms of playing in front of an audience and how did it come about? My first paid and officially announced show was in my old hometown Ulm, at “Chateu Knarzzz”, where I supported Radio Slave. It was intangibly amazing and inspiring and marked the pivotal moment when I decided to become a DJ.

What was the next step, how did you proceed?

What was the reason for you to move to Berlin and when did this happen?

The next quintessential episode was meeting two guys named Ali and Basti - also known as Tiefschwarz. They hired me as an engineer for their label Souvenir. I got the freedom to try out a lot of things there and I also got the opportunity to release my music on Souvenir. This fruitful, intense relationship lasted for three years, then I decided to fly the nest in search of new pastures. My style had taken on more verve in the meantime, I bolstered the warmth of house music with a loose techno rhythm and percussive drive. The sensuality remained, yet with more dance floor urgency. Whether it´s one of my live shows or one of my DJ sets you’re listening to, I always try to get the infectious groove and contagious energy going.

In 2002 I moved to Berlin because I wanted to study music here. It was the only possibility in Germany which was quite attractive to me. Unfortunately I didn´t pass the entry exam and never got to study there. When was your first record published? My first Ep was released in 2008 on the label Rekids. That was another major step for me. I always wanted to have different styles and releases and a look at my release history reflects the diversity - from bastions of techno like Cocoon to the Kings of big room house Defected, through to underground darlings like Desolat, Supernature and 8Bit.

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That´s quite a past you have with different labels. I think, launching your own is a daring move. What motivated you to take that risk? After working at Souvenir records for 3 years I thought I needed my own platform and opportunity to be able to release or do what I like to do. It was about time do establish my own brand. Avotre is supposed to be not only a music label, I want it to be a platform for creativity in general. I want to combine the output of all my friends from music to art, from art to skateboarding and whatnot, under a modern and urban roof. Let´s face it, when we talk about urban lifestyle these days, what we mean is everything that comes from the „street“. The label serves also as a channel for your own small line of clothing. You must have a real good intention for this. I am into street wear since like forever and also wanted a different kind of merchandise. Not just a T-shirt or a sweater. I found the right production company in Portugal and we started producing the first collection. The main idea is to link music and fashion. With every shirt you buy, you always get a CD for free and the artwork of the CD is basically the graphic part of the clothing line.

Who are your musical heroes and where does inspiration come from?? I totally love Joy Division, Talking Heads and New Order. I am still listening to them every day and these bands were the reason why I wanted to play guitar and became interested in electronic music as well. When I was fifteen and heard New Order`s “Blue Monday” for the first time, it was like an epiphany - I became aware of synthesizers. Things like this led me into house and techno eventually..

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What do we have to expect from Monsieur Santé in the twenty fourteen? I am already working on my first artist album and, touring touring touring...... I hope it will continue like last year..

What was the greatest experience of your career so far? There wasn´t a particular event. I get the opportunity to travel all over the world and play in front of hundreds of people, that alone is quite amazing. Visiting every country around the globe is such an incredible and inspiring feeling. If you had the choice whom would you like to remix? My biggest dream as a producer came true this year. I remixed Depeche Mode, nuff said. And whom would you like to remix one of your own tracks? That would be, without a doubt Stephan Kosalla aka DJ Koze. Are you a francophile given your moniker and name of your label It comes from the french phrase “ A votre santé! “ which literally means „to your health“ but basically „cheers“. One night at the age of 16 I was thinking about a DJ moniker. A friend of mine always used to say „santé“. I thought this expression would fit me pretty good, et voilà. To find a name for my label was obviously pretty easy... What´s in the pipeline with the clothing line, what´s the next step and what else do you plan? We are going to work on a new label compilation and also on a new clothing collection. We also plan some limited poster artworks. More diverse stuff and interesting projects will follow.

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A COLUMN BY DOMINIK SPRENGER PART 6 WHAT IS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY? - IT’S ALWAYS FREEDOM VS. COPYRIGHT

Stw2D has invited Attorney-at-Law Dominik Sprenger to write his • Certain goods, distribution channels, profit or non-profit take on intellectual property and how to handle that in everyday’s activities? A license can be literally sliced into numerous variawork. Dominik has spent one half of his life skateboarding and tions of using the license item. The owner of the intellectual proplaying in rock bands and the other half working as a certified in- perty may want to only grant a license for certain products or tellectual property lawyer. A great mixture of knowledge. He says: distribution channels where he is not willing or able to start own activities. Or the license may e.g. only refer to non-profit activities “Every society aiming for cultural and economic development for CSR reasons. faces the same dilemma: On the one hand everybody needs free- • Editing, Adaptations? It might for example be necessary for the dom for creativity. On the other hand, if there was only freedom licensor to edit or adapt the licensed item to comply with the laws for everybody without protection of the individual creative work, of his license territory or for other reasons. The licensor usually there would probably be a lack of motivation to be creative. In this wants to handle this very cautiously and grant this only upon prior column’s part 2 (stw2d II / 2012) I had talked about the licensing specific approval. and distribution of creative street wear or other quality design products. Since then, several stw2d Readers asked me for more LICENSE FEE (ROYALTY), GUARANTEED PAYMENTS information on licensing agreements. So here we go: The various ways to calculate license fees and their advantages and disadvantages are almost worth to write a particular part of this column only on that issue. Basically there two ways to calcuWHAT KIND OF ITEM SHALL BE LICENSED? First of all you check what kind of item it is that shall be licensed. late: One is not related to business figures: E.g. a single flat fee or It does not necessarily need to be an item that is protected by price per item or period of time. The other one is related to busiintellectual property law and/or a official registrations. With a ness figures such as percentages of turnover or profit. If a licensee license contract it is even possible to agree on a license to a cer- does not want to disclose business figures to the licensor, a lump tain know how or certain business ideas that are not protectable sum or certain flat fees will be the solution. This might be bad if by law. It just might give anybody who gets that information ear- then not many of the goods produced under the license are sold. lier than others a great advantage. So it makes sense to ask for Connecting the license to business figures could have left that money before disclosing that information. If a license agreement risk with the licensor. To avoid that, licensors mostly ask for a refers to an item that is legally protectable – like a patent, a design certain guarantee payment. In that case the licensee will want to or a trademark – it is important to make sure that this legal pro- set later royalty payments off against prior advance or guarantection is taken care of and valid before talking about further teed payments. That way the risks can be equilibrated. details of a license agreement. WARRANTY REGARDING THE LICENSE ITEM If remarkable license fees/royalties are being asked for, the licenTHE 6 GENERAL QUESTIONS ON THE LICENSE Regarding the actual license there are 6 important aspects to sor should in return warrant that the intellectual property is well protected and that the licensor is liable for any third party claims consider. Is the license: • Exclusive/Non Exclusive? If an exclusive license is agreed on, being raised for alleged older rights to the item. it should be made clear if or to what extent the licensor still may use the intellectual property without causing problems for the OBLIGATION TO USE THE LICENSED ITEM licensee. Particularly license agreements concerning trademarks should • Transferable? A right for the licensee to transfer the license to oblige the licensee to use the trademark. The licensee should be other parties or to grant sublicensees should be considered tho- obliged to safe documents of the use he makes of the licensed roughly. A transferable license can lead to less control. Particu- trademark. That enables the licensor (as trademark owner) to prove larly for a trademark license that can be dangerous because the that the trademark is being used in the market. In most countries trademark owner needs to control the quality of the products sold you need that proof to keep the trademark registration alive. under the licensed trademark. If transferable rights or the possibility for sublicensees are needed (e.g. if the licensee is a corpo- OK, that was it for this time. Hope I have helped and encouraged rate group of several companies that all need to use the license) you more to find your best possible concept of freedom vs. copyit should be made clear under what conditions and upon which right. Stay tuned. Your’s Dominik” approvals that is allowed. And is the license limited regarding: • Territory? E.g. splitting the license into various territories gives If you have further questions let us know and watch out for the opportunity to grant several exclusive rights at a time Dominik’s column in next issue stw2d.no.48 • Duration? In often makes sense to split the duration into optional www.kanzlei-sprenger.com periods that can be connected to the licensee’s achievement of a certain minimum turnover.

DOMINIK SPRENGER

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