Vogue Nippon x Takashi Murakami Products | Fashion's Night Out 2010

Vogue Japan is of course also celebrating Fashion's Night Out. They got together with superstar artist Takashi Murakami, who designed a t-shirt and a tote bag, each coming in 3 colorways and releasing on the day of the event.

via HighSnob

AMBUSH: Verbal & Yoon | Where It All Happens

For VERBAL and YOON, the duo have become a musical and fashion mainstay within Tokyo’s vibrant landscape. Prior, they each occupied different parts of the creative spectrum before coming together to launch AMBUSH DESIGN. Initially formed as a means for YOON to live and work in Japan, AMBUSH DESIGN has been characterized by its unique designs and details. We focused on the couple in their Tokyo studio to gain a better understanding of their brand AMBUSH DESIGN, their Western influences and how Tokyo plays a roll in their inspirations.
Directed by: Caesar Rodriguez

I have to add that videos like this are favorites of mine, where you get to know more about the people behind some of the various items in the world that call out to me. I have been a fan of just about all things AMBUSH since I originally saw Verbal's POW! 3-finger ring in a Teriyaki Boyz video several years ago when I truly became a fan of Japanese fashion. Here, I share this for all of you guys to enjoy.

via Hypebeast

Takashi Murakami x Britney Spears | POP Magazine

When Japanese pop art meets American pop music, very creative things transpire. For the new issue of Pop Magazine, pop star Britney Spears and renown Japanese artist Takashi Murakami collaborate on a manga meets pageant queen style photo-shoot.

via Hypebeast

Takashi Murakami | Interview Magazine

Interview Magazine has maintained an amazing track record of interviewing a heavyweight cast of personalities as their latest interview features the king of Superflat art, Takashi Murakami. The interview was conducted by Alison Gingeras, chief curator of the François Pinault collection at the Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana in Venice, Italy. The interview begins casually discussing Murakami’s current relationship with dogs and goes further in-depth over a four page interview. The whole interview can be seen over at Interview.

GINGERAS: So we can add dog breeder to the list of all of the various things that you do. You’re a painter, sculptor, animator, gallerist, an entrepreneur . . .

MURAKAMI: Being a breeder is so very hard! [laughs] You’re working with DNA.

GINGERAS: Well, your work is so much about hybrids, isn’t it?

MURAKAMI: I don’t think I’ve realized that until now. I’m always very interested in breeding. Raising cacti is breeding. My lotus plant collection is breeding. The insects are breeding.

GINGERAS: But isn’t that part of what you do visually? Especially in your most recent work—for example, the epic 16-panel painting you made for Palazzo Grassi, [727–272: The Emergence of God at the Reversal of Fate] . . . In a way, you’re cross-breeding Western, postwar art language and the Japanese superflat aesthetic.

MURAKAMI: This specific work is like a DJ style.

GINGERAS: DJ style?

MURAKAMI: You know, bringing records and mixing.

GINGERAS: But you don’t think that what you’re doing is more analogous to bringing together a Western Jack Russell dog with an innate breed of Japanese dog? I don’t think it’s like when you’re deejaying, because with that kind of mixing you know what you’re going to get. But when you make a painting, you don’t always know what’s going to happen.

MURAKAMI: Oh . . . That’s the critics’ take?

GINGERAS: Yes. [both laugh] I was thinking about the work you made for the Pop Life show at the Tate Modern, where you took a Western Pop reference—The Vapors’ track “Turning Japanese”—and retranslated it into a Japanese otaku sensibility [otaku refers to people who have an obsessive interest in things like manga, anime, and video games] in a video starring Kirsten Dunst as a majokko [magical] princess. I thought it was such a perverse and subtly complex way of making your work accessible to a public that might not know who you are—which was the case in London. Yet you weren’t dumbing it down.

MURAKAMI: When I approached the film director, McG, for this project, I proposed for him to use the Akihabara neighborhood—Tokyo’s “electric town”—as a backdrop. The film was supposed to star the Japanese otaku cult girl band AKB48, but at the very last minute, they dropped out. After they dropped out, we had just three days. So I was ready to give up.

GINGERAS: Really?

MURAKAMI: We had the money and planning in place and I thought it would all fall through, but McG didn’t let that happen. He said, “Okay, Takashi, I have a question: Do you want to make a film or not?” So in just one day he got Kirsten Dunst to come to Tokyo, he brought in this music, and he asked me if it all fit with my ideas. It was perfect because my goal was just to introduce people to what is Akihabara and try to explain its significance to Londoners and to serious art people. I was trying to capture what was happening in Japanese kid culture. I didn’t at first understand this process of shooting a video. The whole planning happened over the phone. Three days later, McG arrived in Tokyo and started shooting. It was all done after an 18-hour shoot.

GINGERAS: Had Kirsten Dunst ever experienced this aspect of Japanese culture? Had she ever been to Akihabara? Did she know about cosplay [costume play] and all that?

MURAKAMI: No, no. She may have had some information, but she had no experience with it. I think she really enjoyed it. That McG is really talented with people. He was great at making the actress feel good and motivated. You know, McG twisted my idea so it could fit with Western expectations . . .

GINGERAS: It’s funny, because I had the impression at first that McG twisted your idea by adding this pop song to your piece. But what made it even more perverse is how you then assimilated the hybrid of the Hollywood star and Akihabara landscape in the way you made this monumental wallpaper backdrop for the video for the Tate presentation.

MURAKAMI: I had to do that. I had to make up my identity, right? [laughs]

GINGERAS: Yes and no. Your contribution to that show speaks to how, despite your being one of the most famous and popular artists working today, most people still don’t grasp the complexity of your work. It still seems that most people understand that your work is the Japanese version of Western pop art. But I’m actually captivated by the indigenous Japanese side of your work. It seems that you try to translate or make accessible this deep Japanese-ness to non-Japanese audiences. Just the other day I was talking to this art historian who was saying, “Takashi Murakami is like a Renaissance artist. He has all these different assistants and young artists working with him under the Murakami school.” And while that’s true, as you’ve said yourself, your whole model of working comes out of the Edo period [the pre- and early-modern period running from 1603–1868] and the archetype of the Temple School. I was also thinking about how Geisai [a Tokyo art fair created by Murakami to support emerging artists] is founded on an indigenous Japanese idea—that of the arts festival. It’s not the application of a Western idea of an art fair onto your contemporary reality. Does that make sense?

MURAKAMI: It’s true that I pick up many ideas from different Japanese things. The way I formed my studio and how I organize things actually came out of the model of the Japanese animation studio and the manga industry. The manga industry is gigantic in Japan. There are so many layers to the business, like making a video, making a spin-off game, cards . . .

via Hypebeast

Nooka x Gommi Arcade Watch

Nooka has come together with New York based Japanese anime-inspired lifestyle brand, GOMMI ARCADE, to create the limited edition ‘Future-Shock’ zub timepiece. The limited edition piece is a twist on the time manipulation device worn by Gommi in the ‘Future-Shock’ comic/manga, written by Zak Hok. It features the popular Nooka zub zot face in blue, with the original ‘Gommi Marvel’ iconic artwork printed on a white polyurethane band. The watch is schedule to be released in March and is limited to 800 pieces.

via HighSnob

Ambush x A Bathing Ape: Kaiju Collection

Extroverts Verbal and Yoon’s label Ambush have joined forces with A Bathing Ape to produce this jacket, shoes and complementary accessories. Performing as Dr. Octagon, Kool Keith created the half-shark-half-alligator-man image and the Japanese designers have realised it. As with previous Bape jackets, this one is split in half – one half takes familiar shark form with the other taking a similarly styled (and fully ‘ambushed’) alligator, which is complete with an Ambush eye and scales over the body. Alongside the jacket, are these Baby Milo rings and a Bape head necklace; both have also been mutated, with Milo’s head being cut to reveal his brain, and with the Bape head being melted. The latter is available in a range of both single and two-tone colourways. As you can see, further accessories along the same theme have also been created, as has this new partially-woven shoe. Again available in prominent colourways, the lace up shoe appears clean, with only a small Bapesta logo on the side-heel. The Kaiju (Japanese for 'strange beast') mini collection will be available Spring 2010.

Definitely gonna have to try and cop one of the chains and I find the shark/gator hoodie interesting but I dunno if I can commit to copping that.

Check out some poster releases for the collab below:




via Hypebeast

Bape Store Singapore | Opening

Bape will open a Singapore flagship store in December. The store openes its doors on December 19th and of course they will release special t-shirts, commemorating the occasion. This will mark the opening of the 7th Bape store outside of Japan.

Bape Store Singapore
333A Orchard Road #02-02/03
Mandarin Gallery
Singapore 238897

via HighSnob

Kaws Book Announced by Rizzoli

Rizzoli has amounted a series of very strong titles on and by people from our culture in the last couple of years. For Spring/Summer 2010 the book publisher will come out with the Supreme book by Aaron Bondaroff and today we learned that a book entirely concentrating on the life and career of New York artist Kaws will also be released.

“This comprehensive monograph explores KAWS’s art career in depth, from his early street art interventions to his recent send-ups of familiar cultural icons. With wit, irreverence, and even affection, KAWS takes infa- mous entertainment characters such as the Simpsons and the Smurfs and traps them in plastic blister packages while reinterpreting their appearance. The packaged “Kimpsons” and “Kurfs” are new types of hybrid artworks that both serve and criticize contemporary consumer culture. Also featured is KAWS’s astute and prolific body of commercial work, including apparel from his Japanese store OriginalFake, a partnership with Medicom Toy, as well as product design, limited-edition toys, graphic designs; collaborations with architect Masamichi Katayama and artists Hajime Sorayama, Todd James, and Mark Dean Veca; collaborations with companies including Comme des Garçons, Levis, Lucas Films, The Simpsons, Nike, Supreme, and Marc Jacobs; and Japanese companies such as A Bathing Ape, Undercover, and Visvim.”

The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum will hold a large Kaws exhibition from June 27th until January 2nd 2011 and for the opening of the exhibition the book will also be released. We will keep you posted!

via HighSnob

Kr3w Phantom Watch

Kr3w pushes out a new watch for Holiday 2009. Features include: “Matte Polycarbonate Plastic Case, Strap, Crown, and Moveable Top Ring. Matte Dial with Tonal Gloss Markings and Hands with Lum. Hidden Stainless Steel Butterfly Clap and Caseback. Three Hand Japanese Quartz Movement, 3 ATM Water Resistance.” A good option for those who want the look without breaking the bank. The Phantom runs for $50 USD and comes in a choice of six colors. Early release at Factory 413.

via HighSnob

A.P.C. x Supreme Collection

In a collaboration mentioned some time ago, the A.P.C. x Supreme collection will hit stores early next month. The capsule consists of two different pieces, a pair of denim and a graphic t-shirt. The denim takes cues from A.P.C.’s iconic New Standard with additional back-pocket emroidery and a pin. The t-shirt comes in two variations, a red one for Supreme stores and a black one for A.P.C. stores. The collection goes on sale in the US both online and in-store on October 1st, 2009 while Japan will see the release two days later on October 3rd.

In 1987, Tunis native Jean Touitou created the French fashion label A.P.C. (Atelier de Production et de Creation). Over the years A.P.C. has distinguished itself as a prestigious clothier of fine apparel based on classic items and silhouettes. A.P.C. is headquartered in Paris with primary stores sprinkled across various parts of the world including France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Tokyo and the US.

For fall 2009 A.P.C. and Supreme will present a two piece capsule of a denim jean and graphic t-shirt. The jean, a specially designed version of A.P.C.’s classic New Standard style, will feature a back pocket embroidery and a removable pin. The tee will come in two colors; red (available exclusively at Supreme stores) and black (available exclusively at A.P.C. Stores).

Available in-store and online on October 1st. Available in Japan on October 3rd.

More Pics:



via Hypebeast

Wooden Speakers

Shiny plastic accessories are a dime a dozen these days—at least in terms of style, not price. That's why these Wood Speakers from the Japanese company Evergreen stand out like affordable sore thumbs. Only $25 each, these low-tech looking blocks of wood play clear sound and feature light up clocks.

via Cool Material

Art Convenience Store | André x Medicom Kubricks & mastermind Japan Umbrella

The Art Convenience Store will be opening its doors at colette on September 21rst. The theme of the pop-up store is “Souvenir from Tokyo” and thus the store will feature numerous interesting collaborative items, including Hiroshi Fujiwara x Frixion pens, Jun Takahashi (Undercover) x Gimbis biscuits, Chitose Abe (Sacai) x Sanrio, Nobuhiko Kitamura (Hysteric Glamour) x Snoopy, Medicom Toy x André Kubricks, as well as a mastermind Japan umbrella. Today we can already preview the umbrella and the Kubrick set.

The Art Convenience Store will be at Uniqlo in New York and Doverstreet Market London before arriving at colette. Afterwards it will travel to Joyce Hong Kong and Isetan Tokyo.

Check out the Kubrick set below as well as a solo shot of the mastermind Japan umbrella:


via HighSnob

Bape Shark Parka & Vinyl Toy

The much anticipated and widely previewed Bape vinyl toy has finally released in Japan. The figure comes along with the purchase of the PONR (Point of no Return) shark hoodie. Both the real hoodie and the hoodie that the accompanying Teriyaki Boy-like figure is wearing come in the same color. Overall they offer the package in 4 colorways.

Take a look at the color options [with accompanying toy] below:





I must say that it's nice to see the PONR design back in a way, although I'm sure most fans probably aren't too thrilled that they're going back to the well with these PONRs...oh well.

via HighSnob

Baguette High Top Sneaker | Rhythm Footwear

Japanese brand Rhythm Footwear has come out with an interesting looking new high top sneaker for Fall/Winter 2009. Entitled “Baguette”, the sneaker features a velcro strap closing, which is attached to a large flap over the upper. The closing certainy gives the sneaker a spacy look. It comes in black, grey and red and will be available soon at Nano Universe.
And yet again I must ask "why do the Japanese have to get all the good shit?!?"
lol...alright, now that that's over, I do have to say that these things are AMAZING...they kind of remind me of Ato's but in a weird sort of way,...mostly the straps of course.
Now, I need a way to read/order from ZoZo...lmao

Images:




via HighSnob

LUKER by Neighborhood Collection

In an upcoming collection from NEIGHBORHOOD, the Japanese brand heavily influenced by rebellious motor culture will release a capsule titled LUKER BY NEIGHBORHOOD. An early look previews a collection headed by a leather jacket as well as simple tops and bottoms.

via Hypebeast

A Bathing Ape 2009 Summer Plaid Shirts

Being someone who has never been a fan of plaid, I must say that some of these are really starting to grow on me...so much so, that I can almost consider seeing myself in one...lol

From the last weekend onward, Japanese label, A Bathing Ape, accomplished several things including successfully opening their Bape London Store as well as launching their collaboration with Ghostbusters. In addition, Bape also released these short sleeve plaid shirts in five different styles. Simple and easily wearable, these plaid shirts are now available at Bape Stores for 12,390 YEN.





via Hypebeast

'A Bathing Ape' 2009 Autumn Style Manual

A Bathing Ape unveils their new 2009 Autumn Style Manual [by General], basically a lookbook showcasing product from their fashion lines for women, men, and kids. All items carry on the Bape tradition with a slew of the Japanese cult label’s signature street style aesthetic, combining classic items with a distinct Bape flair.

A nice lookbook of more Bape goodness. :)

Check out the looks:












via Bape Nerd