RIME AKA JERSEY JOE

I recently came across the Hundreds new project with The Seventh Letter and this accompanying video with RIME aka Jersey Joe. For those unfamiliar, RIME represents the legendary MSK and Seventh Letter crews, and is widely regarded as one of the top graffiti writers on the planet.



Back in the summer of 2010, RIME and Brooklyn's Host18 were kind enough to adorn the exterior of my business with their artwork. The shop is gone, but the beautiful piece still stands strong.

RED SNAKESKIN?

Last month, Jotham Porzio and I put together this video for the Sole Designer app's introduction to the iPhone. The actors, Johnavi and Zach, did a fantastic job, and like all of Jotham's work, it came out looking great.

A HOLIDAY IN THE SUN

I experienced a somber moment last week when I learned that Leilow Hawaii, one of my favorite shops on the planet, was closing the doors at its Makaloa Street location. Leilow holds sentimental value for me as both one of the first companies to ever conduct business with me and as a personal source of inspiration. I wrote the following on January 27, 1999:

Back in June of 2005, I ventured into a cool, slightly "off the grid" shop that featured an interesting selection of American and Japanese streetwear brands (it was Kicks/HI). Making my way over to an Undefeated Pete Rose shirt that caught my eye, I momentarily paused next to what, to my knowledge at the time, looked like an amazing pair of Native American footwear. For the next half hour, the owner of the store, an eccentric, moustached dude with a (I guessed) British accent schooled me on the quality workmanship of Hiroki Nakamura and Visvim, along with his additional thoughts on the streetwear world as a whole. His thoughts on the store itself were short and direct. "It's very simple," he told me, "Leilow, Hawaii." The shoes were FBTs, and the mustached guy was none other than Jules Gayton, British pro-skater, DJ, Stussy Tribe OG, and owner of Leilow.  

I was already a casual observer of streetwear culture...I had my shoe collection and my stash of shirts, etc...but the 300+ days a year I had spent in a baseball uniform seemed to keep me from full immersion. My experience that day led to my eventual fanatacism, which led to gouged pockets, hours as a blog zombie, bloody-blister full-day trips around metropolitan Tokyo by foot (I even enrolled in college classes in Tokyo just to spend more time in Ura-Hara), heavy boozing, uncontrollable rage, restless legs, and more gouged pockets. Thanks, Jules. It also led to a retail venture of my own, and finally to this blog.  

In addition to running one of the dopest stores on the planet, Jules and store manager/friend of the shop Sam have produced one of the better, more original limited lines in the industry. I still get ice grilled over my "The Mixed Shall Inherit the Earth" tee. I am especially proud to be working with Leilow today, nearly four years after my first experience at the store. 

Leilow lasted for 10 years on Makaloa, an eternity for an independent men's clothing store, let alone a "streetwear" store. While I'm sure Jules will find continued success with all of his ventures, including Stussy Honolulu (check them out when you're in town), I'll miss the quaint Makaloa store with it's Isaac Hayes album art and sticker-bombed mannequins. I will forever be thankful for the friendships I've made through the store, and the excitement it instilled in me as an entrepreneur.

Aloha and mahalo.

24 HOURS IN VANCOUVER

As published in the April iPad issue of Sole Collector Magazine.



Check out the full article after the jump.

REVIEW: THE NIKE+ FUELBAND

As published in the March iPad issue of Sole Collector Magazine.

Review: The Nike+ FuelBand 
A Step Towards The Future
By Brennan Hiro Williams

Have you ever wondered how much physical movement you perform during the course of a 24-hour period? Walking to work? Shooting hoops? Skating? Instructing the uninformed on how to Douglas?

Cue the FuelBand, a new product from Nike's Digital Sport sector that aims to promote activity and motivate users in their everyday lives. The wristband tracks user activity throughout the course of a day, and, with the help of Nike+ software, converts that data into visible, useful statistical representations.

I recently spent seven days with the FuelBand, experiencing Nike's intriguing new gadget firsthand. What I found was a product cool enough to fascinate the everyday futurist and useful enough to quiet (most of) the skeptics.

Check out the full review after the jump.

THE #KOBESYSTEM

Here's a new Office Hours video we put together at SC HQ.

Moving on from the "NERF" Zoom KD IV to the Zoom Kobe VII, the SC team takes on the infamous #KOBESYSTEM:



I couldn't go without including references to Kobe's "White Hot" photo shoot in the video. Putting together the costumes was a task, but well worth it, I'd say.

REMEMBER

One year ago today, the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami struck off of the north-eastern coast of Japan.

Even on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, I remember that day in great detail. Up late working, a glance at the computer revealed an unusual amount of Twitter activity coming from friends in Japan. Minutes later, a link to an iPhone picture showed a shockingly fragmented public sidewalk. Then a burning building in Odaiba. Chaos.

I ran into the other room and turned on the television just as the breaking news hit CNN.

Is my family ok? Are my friends ok? Minutes seemed like hours. It was only afterwards that I was able to truly grasp the magnitude of the situation. While all of my love ones were accounted for at the end of the day, many people could not say the same. Not then. Maybe not ever.

The emotions of that day are something I am still not fully able to turn into words. What I can say, though, is that I am incredibly proud of the charitable efforts shown by so many of the people around me.

Over at NT, the community worked with MercyCorps to raise over $20,000 in small donations. Even with most individual donations totaling between $10 and $20, it only took a few weeks to reach a five digit total. MercyCorps, working with Peace Winds Japan, used these funds to provide disaster relief through several different methods, from temporary shelters and basic supplies to getting small business back on their feet through grants and subsidies.

Closer to home, my good friends Ryan Lindow and Yumi Kitade, along with FTC and W-Base, helped me put together a short documentary, For The Country, following cyclists Teppei "Nasty" Iwabuchi and Yuhei "Marco" Hirose on their first journey from Japan to the USA, only one month after the disaster.



I write this today to ask you to not only remember all of those we lost that day, but to also remember all of those who still need our help. Remember that, with a little good will, we can still do great things.

FLY OR DIE

I recently helped Jotham Porzio put together this video for the Air Jordan 2012 release. Most of the inspiration came from the (to put it plainly) confused reactions and commentary attributed to the early previews of the shoe. Initial reviews for the AJ 2012 indicate that it is one of the best performing Jordan sneakers to date; however, it seems that many people are still having trouble getting over the shoe's aesthetics and grasping the modular assembly system. To the Jordan 3 fan, the 2012 might be alien. In this sense, the "System of Flight" wasn't necessarily representative of jets and airplanes to us, instead evoking images of more futuristic transportation systems, and even UFOs.

Jotham did a great job with the visuals, using a shockingly minimal amount of computer-generated assistance. Arthur C. Clarke added the finishing touches.

SAMPLE SUNDAYS 4

Siouxsie and the Banshees "Happy House"