weekend in tokyo

i arrived in tokyo on thursday evening and used the weekend to avoid jetlag for the upcoming shows, do some shopping and catch up with friends [as well as fill up on food i can only find here, like mos burger, basahi etc.]. i really should write a travel guide to tokyo one day, but i'm not sure how accurate it could ever be with things changing so quickly here year to year. so, for now and for this entry, a few highlights and photo-diary.

muji opened a new store in shinjuku on yasukuni-dori, close to my hotel [which is great, as the yurakucho main store is a bit far to go by bicycle with packages]. i spent a half a day there looking at everything [they added the IDEE furniture collection to their larger stores in japan, though the selections is limited due to space], eating in their organic cafe [fiber!], shopping the yohji yamamoto directed muji labo line, and stocking up on bath salts!

i spent saturday at tokyo midtown, the SOM designed mixed-use space in roppongi with my friend and musician of far east music, soichi terada [upper left in collage foto]. we saw an exhibition in the suntory art museum as well as the typography exhibition at the ando designed and issey miyake curated 21_21 design site. the suntory museum always has a great show of japanese art/craft, this time the pre-history of the kimono. i was disappointed with the show at design site this trip though – it came off more like a graphic design exhibition at a university than something becoming of their great space.

soichi and i also had a really authentic mexican meal at la colina in midtown – expensive but delicious. the band was pretty good...can someone identify what the giant 5 string bass guitar is [i've never seen one like that]? i requested "piensa en mi" which they actually knew [i would lose my appetite is i had to listen to "la bamba" one more time].

of course i went to my fave t-shirt shop, graniph. i got stuff for myself, but mostly souvenirs for my staff in NYC. our tokyo office mate, BACH curated the manga collection at the art shop installation/shop at isetan in shinjuku where i went with my friend tomoyo and i bought an overpriced polo shirt [please note: only in japan can you have a "fuck forever" neon sign in a major department store].

i'd list the meals i had if i was writing a food blog. enjoy the pretty pictures.

i love dust, artful dodger, jay-z, beyonce, ashanti + nooka

last tuesday i went out for drinks with mark graham, the creative director of UK-based i love dust, and his creative team after being introduced by my dear friend anya who is an art buyer at the martin agency in richmond virginia. mark and team were in NYC to install a show at the chelsea art museum which happens to be an early and constant supporter of nooka – ah circuitous synergies abound! and over cocktails and beers at temple bar, they offered to do a collab. not next season, or next year, but the next day. and at a speed i've never seen, a few custom painted nookas were displayed next to the customized nikes at the opening invitation only party on friday. jay-z, beyonce, ashanti and their entourages were there, but alas, i was NOT. i was [and still] in tokyo. the nooka studio was there to represent and i have the pleasure of simply blogging about it:)

there was also art by nyc-based vault49 in the dj room [one of which is featured in the foto above]. great stuff jonothan!

we will do more collaborations in the future, until then, enjoy the i love dust website here. i love their work.

flashfim online interview

this was uploaded on august 11th on the international fashion website, flashfilm. sorry i'm posting late, but i just found it today:
in japanese.
in english.

rooms in tokyo

i am writing this from jfk airport in nyc. i'm on my way to tokyo for a few things, one of which is "rooms", a fashion trade show [come by our booth if you're there], the yokohama trieniale [which we are the official watch. let's hope the factory delivers on time for people to actually see it!] and to meet with stores as well as catch up with friends and do other businessy stuff. the jet lag really takes its toll on me, but i'll compensate by filling up on ramen, gyoza, mos burgers, seasonal candy, delish sakes and shochu for 2 weeks.

nooka + complete technique

i bought a completetechnique ring at kidrobot in LA a few months ago, and my friend yuna said "oh! i know the designer of that ring. you should meet him, he's in nyc" when i wore it in berlin this july. unrelated, robert met the designer by chance at the trade shows in las vegas in august – multiple crossing synergies abound! well...today i finally met osamu koyama who is that man behind the brand. he has a great story and great products. we met to talk about a future collab which we're excited to do, so keep tuned for updates!

the perfect weekend

i love spending holiday weekends in nyc – there's no traffic on the street [making bike riding even more of a pleasure], and i can get tables at trendy restaurants without a wait. well, this labor day was no exception plus we had the most perfect summer weather everyday, not a cloud in the sky, warm and dry.

i started friday with my boyfriend at la esquina on the lower east side. i discovered last week that they have quesadilla de huitlecoche [corn smut in english]. huitlecoche is by far one of my favorite fungi and i've craved it since my first trip to mexico over 10 years ago. unfortunately, it is rarely on the menu in nyc, and when it is, usually from a can. it is fresh fresh at la equina and i've been there twice last week just to eat it!

saturday i had brunch in brooklyn with some designer/architect friends to discuss their product design ideas on their beautiful outdoor deck. i brought vietnamese sandwiches from atlantic avenue – DELISH. later, frank and i went to mr. blacks, a club that was once in the east village but is now in the flatiron district. it was a lot of fun, really reminded me of the days when nyc was fun to go out at night [then again, i was a go go boy when i was a club kid, but times have changed. a skinny hairy guy would never get work as a go go boy now]. the dj was good and the crowd diverse.

sunday i caught up with some friends and took my friend's kids swimming. sunday afternoon was the highlight of the weekend at the ghostly records party high atop THOR [the hotel on rivington]. as usual, missy and sam threw a fantastic party [see fotos]. it was a super duper friendly crowd matched only by the tremendous amount of young talent in one space. the boys were gorgeous as were the girls. the party could only have been better if everyone were naked. it was an early party and i had an amazing meal after in tribeca with my friend lisa [duck ravioli a souce of butter and olives + seared foi gras].

went for a bike ride monday in central park and had another amazing dinner, this time at bottega. ran into my friend marco and hiroki on the way home on 7th avenue, talking for 30 minutes on a busy street corner – totally new york and the perfect end to a perfect long weekend.

photos:
1. missy and sam of ghostly, 2. the beautiful danny of ghostly, photographer derrick gómez and film maker phil van, 3. the penthouse suite at THOR, 4. sunset, 5. the adorable english film maker matt tucker, über talented photographer timothy saccenti, and tim's girlfriend h.j [we chatted in japanese], 6. 2 of the 3 members of school of seven bells, a band i adore!, 7. me with the lovely jen of modular records [you know them, the presets and cut copy are on that label!], and 8. night view of manhattan....pretty huh?

i met other cool people but i can only blog about so much. i will add more in subsequent blogs. i love staycations.

coarse toys pain and chopper

i love what is now called urban vinyl. i remember how excited i got when i scored a full set of the tom kids by michael lau in the late 90s from my connections with medicom in tokyo. since then, my collection has swelled to the point where i can not actively collect anymore because i've simply run out of space. of course, i accept the limited edition and signed stuff from my friends at devil robots and mad barbarians!

nooka has certainly opened up the doors for me to meet a lot more of the people whose work i admire one of which is the people at coarse toys. they designed a campaign for vans which includes super limited edition oversized urban vinyl action figures. i tracked one down in NYC before i was contacted by them to do a trade for some of our product, so now i have two – pain and chopper.

at first they didn't like each other, but look what i caught them doing in the office. take it outside boys! they seemed upset i took the fotos...worried their girlfriends would find out, but apparently the girls don't have internet where they live, so no worries.

coarse toys website is here.