Kaws 4ft Companion Black

After the release of his 4ft Grey Companion last year with toy maker Medicom, KAWS is back again with news of the release of the Black variation. No official word on release date yet, but these won't be around long when they do touch down.
KAWS is fast becoming the new boy in town and has already built up an almost cult following through his large portfolio of toys and now his clothing label OriginalFake, again with Medicom, has brought him a new fashion orientated audience securing his name as a seriously cool brand.
And when you've got a cool new retail business which sells only the finest items from clothing to housewares and accessories, who do you get to design the store? Well Masamichi Katayama has to be the obvious choice...

Kofmehl

Kcuf me, this is one hell of a way to make a bold statement of youth empowerment as a music venue. Goes back to the punk era of youth against the system, holding gigs in old warehouse and squats. Ssm Architekten ag have pulled out all the stops to make this monolithic building something that I find rather attractive in an industrial, almost imperial manner. If only this had been around in my youth, there would be much rebelling against curves...

F.I.L. yer boots

As you should be well aware by now, I absolutely adore Visvim due to the construction, design, material selection, branding, marketing and ethics of the brand. One thing that I haven't mentioned so far is the F.I.L. stores which carry the Visvim brand across the 5 stores. The Free International Laboratory (F.I.L) stores are now synonymous with the clean styling of the brand and help create a calming atmosphere in which the brand can be viewed, but perhaps more importantly, touched.

As with the rest of the Visvim/F.I.L/Cubism branding I can't help but love the design (or lack thereof) of the shops. I could waffle on about clean lines, simple shapes, neutral backgrounds and how this helps to accentuate the chaff from the other stuff, but I'll just let the photos do the talking.

Again a long post but I'm sure you'll understand when you see these places...

First F.I.L. in Tokyo


Tokyo Relaunch at new location


Store front sign, Tokyo


F.I.L Sendai


Sendai exterior


Massive glaring in-your-face sign, Sendai


F.I.L Hiroshima


F.I.L Hiroshima


F.I.L Kanazawa



F.I.L./Cubism Offices Meguro Rice Factory

Wonderwall / A.P.C. Kita -Aoyama

Wow, I've really been getting into Wonderwall, a Japanese interior design practise run by Masamichi Katayama. For years this guy has been working with Nigo to create BAPE's massive array of ultra cool shops to serve the brand and create an atmosphere that has become a signature of the brand.

Wonderwall has been involved with many of the leading brands in the top end streetwear scene including OrignaFake, Loopwheeler and now for A.P.C.

Don't usually like to put up so many photos but if anything is worthy, its the work of Wonderwall...

Nike Dunk Edge

Graff legend and King affiliate has just been asked to design a Nike Dunk as part of their iD programme.

Not much can be said apart from;
I want some, and
spoooop

Southbank Safe

Good news for the skateboard community down in London at the recent response to a petition organised for the retention of the Southbank Undercroft for skateboarding.

The Southbank Centre have said they won't be kicking out the skaters and in fact are in talks with the community to find out ways to improve the Undercroft!

Official word is:

"...the Southbank Centre recognises the importance of the Undercroft in bringing together skateboarders from across the UK and the value that the skateboarding community has brought to many young people and the South Bank area itself...The Southbank Centre has said that it has no plans to redevelop the Undercroft used by skateboarders. In fact, they are in close discussions with the skateboarding community about how to improve the current skateboard area and about how the community might become more involved in the Southbank Centre's artistic programme."


Via KingApparel Blog

Honeyee Mag Vol. 5

If you've read my earlier posts I'm sure you'll be aware of Visvim, and how much I've begun to really appreciate the quality of design and the beautiful materials that they utilise. What you may also know is that once I get a sniff of something I like, I'm usually all over it it like a bad rash.

So when I spotted the release of Honeyee Mag Vol.5 I had to get excited. On the front cover we see my man of the moment Hiroki Nakamura pissing around with some elk hides.

Unfortunately the mag is only produced in Japanese so I'm not too sure what's inside, but you can be sure it'll be a good read if mr.blog (Jeff Ng of Staple & Honeyee) has had any input.

Best get back to the Japanese lessons...
And saving up some more dollar for the next Visvim release.