The Tastemakers Society

Another episode up on Flake TV this time around it features a girl named Grace giving us a walk through the Barcelona gallery/shop Iguapop. The space has a gallery section for exhibitions and another separate section for the clothing they sell. They also sell art prints and independent magazines. I’ve seen a few of these Flake TV episodes in Barcelona definitely peeking my interest even more to go visit.

FLY dvd and it’s issue FLY 16X9 trailer has just dropped, and it’s a doosey. To see the trailer click here.

The whole fashion industry is at an odd-ish/new place right now more and more brands popping up on the regular. Streetwear has grown to new levels, the legendary luxury brands have some new comers to look out for, while there’s also this new space being occupied by brands who are blurring the lines between street and upscale. So these days when I look at fashion and brands I want something different, I want to see that someone is trying to think outside the box, and dope designs don’t hurt either. Especially t-shirts, if you make t-shirts you better come with your A+ game because if not you just get lost in the haze of all the other thousands of t-shirts floating around out there. Drukker Enterprises are trying, they’re coming out the box and don’t seem afraid to take a risk or two. Throwing weezy and nicholas on a tee are ways to get out of the box.    

What is ITS? that’s excatly the question that’s asked on their website and the meaning of the name is International Talent Support. And what they do, well in definiton it’s simple enough to say, they help support talentd creatives from all over the world. To show their support and help make visible these talents the ITS group puts on 3 main competitions that gather the best from all those industries and allows for the winners of the competition and even the runner ups a chance at great breaks into the industry. The 3 ITS competition categories are fashion, accessories and photography, setting up various prizes and opportunities for the participants. The trailer for ITS # Seven is above.

Proof 7 clothing has done some interesting things for their spring ‘09′ collection and they’re expanding, so be on the lookout other streetwear brands. In a time were the phrase “only the strong will survive” is the future we’re heading in, brands will be dropping from the market, while new brands will come with hopes, dreams, and wack designs, living off of hype for a while before ending their fate like others before them. But P7 clothing is proving to have that all mighty “staying” power, and it’s prevalent in every collection they drop, they keep progressively getting better, experimenting more and always adding something new. Take their lampshorts (pictured after the jump) for example they made the shorts out of herring bone fabric lined with cotton silk jersey, with pockets, another special zipper pocket at the upper part of the pocket area, and a third hidden pocket at the bottom side of the shorts, to help hide those things that need to be hidden, such as weed. You can get a preview of the spring collection after the jump or you can view the whole collection here.

H&M is at it again they’ve collaborated with the best names in high fashion to bring moderately priced clothes designed by these designers into their stores. Now maybe making the best store collabo to date, H&M has hooked up with luxury brand Comme des Garcons and the full collection is available online now, so you can take a gander and see what you think. In my opinion its one of the best collections H&M has gotten put together from it’s designer projects, the patterns and silhouettes are amazing. Plus I love the use of polka dots and the way Comme des Garcons mashed up the look of street with a little bit of that “grown man” look, rocking button ups has just gone to new levels. And ladies, well, ladies, just peep what they’ve got for you, and the entire collection here.

Prada spends a lot of time making short films these days…. I’m not too sure how to take it, it’s not exactly taking too much focus off their clothing. But, then again I’ve never been too much of Prada fan any way, at least they’re trying to think outside the box even though they might have gotten into the wrong box. This video is supposed to be an animated short film in conjunction with their autumn/winter 08 collection. The video was directed by James Lima and was inspired from artist like Dali, Escher, and Dunchamp.

For Diesel’s XXX’th (30th) birthday they’ve created a international party. They’re putting on a concert in 17 countries all on the same day. In a marketing move to promote the concert and I think for just plain fun Diesel created SFW-porn.com (safe for work) porn site and the above promo video for it. Diesel sure knows how to celebrate their 30th, I might have to enlist them in a few years when I make that quantum leap to 30.

This is the first of two website updates for this morning. The first is Ksubi the international fashion brand, they designed their website to mimic the classic basic look that Google made famous. At the top of the webpage you’ll be able to click on search, projects, men’s store, women’s store, sunglasses store, and products, click on one of the links and it will direct you to a page the looks similar to what a search result page would look like on Google. Also, type something into the search and see what you get, you might get a “no results” search or you might just get a Ksubi interpreted version of your search, have fun (that’s a hint that the word “fun” is searchable) with that.

I dedicate this tee for all those under the age of 18, or haven’t yet been fully credited as an american citizen and of course those felons who may not be able to vote according to their state laws and restrictions. So whatever the reason you may not be able to vote or someone you know can’t vote, or you just want to get it for a child (great kids t-shirt), just pick it up here.

Brothers are a wonderful thing, a connection I’m envious about and will never have because I have a sister. In history there has been some great brotherly duo’s, the Mannings, Cohen’s, Wright’s, and Bush’s, well maybe not the Bush’s but you get my point, brother’s can go on to do some great things. And on their way to becoming another great brother combo is Chad and Evan Birenbaum founders and designers of new shoe brand 100 Styles and Running. They have clean designs and make a comfortable fit using high quality material, like walking on air. Chad (pictured above), the oldest had a chance to answer a few questions for me, read up on what he had to say about brotherly fights, favorite movies, being a cops son and his connection to the show The Wire.

photo by Omar Sverrisson, edited by Lina Hanson

There’s handmade and then there’s Sruli Recht handmade, blood trickling handmade is what Recht specializes in. Technically you’d describe him as a designer but in hind sight that would be too restricting, a more appropriate title would be, ‘maker of things’, which would pretty much cover anything, which is exactly what Recht handles, everything. Sruli Recht an Iceland native has mastered the ability to create, it sounds relatively easy, but think about it, he made a mobile cutting table, a belt, a rug, shoes, need I go on more, he can jump from project to project and you would never be able to guess what was coming next.