On December 6, Manny Pacquaio will be fighting Oscar de la Hoya in a much anticipated match of the gloves. 5 & A Dime have already made their prediction - down goes Oscar. Check it out: Look out for the Pacman himself sporting a Chicharon Adventures tee in the coming weeks. Right Gerard? *Source: 5&A Dime
In the fall of last year, we released a t-shirt called Identity. Both Kim and I were students of political science and we learned the concepts illustrated on the t-shirt: cultural hybridities and hyphenated identities. It was our attempt at making you think more critically about who you are. The bottom of the shirt reads "I am _______________". We packaged the tee with a fabric marker so that you could fill that part in yourself. People would write in their nationalities, their occupation, whatever. And the shirt did well; I guess you can say our $30k/year education served us right. While I was surfing the internet(s) yesterday, I saw a lot of the voting campaigns that have hit the web. There's Jessica Alba's controversial advertisement for Declare Yourself where her mouth and body are all taped up. I saw the Shepard Fairey spinoff of Sarah Palin above the word "NOPE". Then I saw The Gap campaign which is releasing mid October. It's a simple white tee that reads "Vote for ______________". When I first saw it, I thought...pretty cool. Another interactive design that forces you to think. Although the timing is obviously perfect, the t-shirt shouldn't be limited to writing your candidate of choice. Like your identity, it's so much more than 'that'.
When I was growing up, one of my favorite brands was Stussy. I was heavily into the surf culture back then, and along with my 3 or 4 Swatch watches, I wore a lot of their t-shirts. I remember going to San Diego circa 1991 and picking up a small Stussy bag that I used for years. Unfortunately it was lost in my move from the Valley to LA when I left for college. It was a small hemp bag that had the logo all over it plus the words, "Emancipate yourself from mental slavery". I gotta admit that I didn't know it was from Bob Marley's "Redemption Song", but those words stuck with me. As a 4th grader, it was actually the first time I learned the word emancipate. Fast forward to today and Stussy has done it again. This time from Marley's "No Woman, No Cry". They've teamed up with East Coast boutique store Commonwealth to release a tee with the words "In this great future, you can't forget your past". On it is the image from the '68 Mexico City Olympics wherein Tommie Smith and John Carlos did the Black Power salute whilst accepting their gold and bronze medals for the 200 meter dash. Word. Photos courtesy of Hypebeast
It seems like all I've been blogging about has been that lookbook. So I'll gladly divert your attention to a couple recent shipments we've received. Kim got a pair of Jordan VIII's in the mail yesterday. These are one of my favorite editions partially because of the Looney Tunes advertisements. Kim's never owned a pair of Js before so this is good news. And she managed to find a colorway that I haven't seen before (maybe because my eyes go directly to the black and aqua ones). Though you'll never find me wearing those two colors together, I must compliment them. I opted for something a little simpler. I've been looking for old school karate shoes. You know like the black slip ons with a tan sole? I haven't been able to find any, so I went for an alternative. I was content with the switch that I received today. With my purchase, I even gave a pair to child in need. Kim - did your Jordans do the same? Didn't think so.
My blog title doesn't necessarily mean a three part collaboration between French brand Louis Vuitton, auction powerhouse Ebay, and hip hop artist Kanye West. It's more of a chain of events entry with one connecting to the other. Kind of like an Alejandro González Iñárritu film (Babel, 21 Grams, Amores Perros). Louis Vuitton sued the shit out of Ebay and won some $60 million USD. LV claimed that ebay had done too little to stop the sales of counterfeit goods like handbags, leather goods, perfumes, etc. Serious breakthrough in combatting piracy. We've already seen success with LV x Pharrell, we've recently heard of LV x Comme des Garcons, and now this. Announced today was the design collaboration between the luxury brand and Kanye. His first project: mens shoes. The womens line will follow in the fall season. What a good day for Louis Vuitton. How many Chicharon Adventures tees does it take to get a piece of that collab?? *Photo courtesy of hauteconcept.com