The simple mission

For The Gents

From May 3 to June 3, Bblessing, one of my favorite men's boutiques in the city, will have a limited run (natch)  store on the Refinery 29 network of online shops. While the physical store on Orchard St. will continue to stock favorites like Surface 2 Air, Yoko Devereaux and Opening Ceremony, the online boutique will focus on mainly on Bblessing's own line of t-shirts, jewelry goods and sweet knick knacks and select pieces from Raf Simmons and more. Per usual, the selection is focused and the goods are handsome.

Not much here for Mom, but hey, do yourself a favor and pick up some items for yourself so you look nice when you see her. And when she asks about the bag you bring over, just tell her you are going to med school part time.

Go forth and step up your man game!

Dress Up

It seems nary a week can go by without a Y3 shout on the Simple Mission and today's news bulletin in no exception. Starting right this second, you can cop some new duds from seamstress to the stars (and soon to be stars) Christian Joy, at her newly relaunchedwebstore. For the ladies, there are some very cute new jackets, dresses and legwarmers and for the dudes, Joy has produced some hand-screened t-shirts and blamdanas. Both sexes can enjoy the tote bags, so start thinking of that special someone who is deserving of such a treat and get those orders poppin'.

In other Yeah-related yakkity yak, props to Simple Mission extended fam Blood On The Wall for landing the supporting slot on the Yeahs' US tour. Carry on!

Casting Call

Ludlow Street's lovable hooligans The Cast have been grinding away at turning out gently distressed,  thin and cozy t-shirts and hoodies for a minute now. You'd never think so much care went into making clothing that looks like it's survived no less than three world wars and five ex-girlfriends, but trust, there's a whole lot of love in everything the Cast designs.

As part of their brand new Fall 2006 collection, the boys are kicking it up couture style by adding a line of cut and sewn items such as slim-fit blazers, high collared shirts and leather jackets to their list of wares. And just because they're cool like that, you're invited to come and check all the new gear at their studio on Ludlow Street tonight. Come, see, feel, drink, be merry and peruse their new look book. I hear they cast some handsome fellers to be the faces of the Cast for 2006.

The Cast's Autumn/Winter 2006 viewing will be held at 119 Ludlow St (basement level) from 8-10 PM tonight with an after party happened shortly thereafter at Motor City 127 Ludlow St. DJs Vietnam and J Penry will be in the building. 

T-Time

Now that the smoke and mirrors of fashion week have cleared, many of New York's young designers are rolling out their ’06 collections on the virtual catwalk aka the interweb. Most of what's been rolling into the inbox has been pretty zzz, but the the new t-shirt collection from fashion mash up masters Wowch has been blowing my mind for a minute.

I wish I could show you the uber limited shirts they designed for the DFA for xmas, but those joints sold out quicker than you could hit a cowbell.  Like in their previous collections, the Wowch dudes have taken kittens, lions and various other signifiers such as bikinis, beer mugs and cut and pasted their way into my little heart with their double-take warranting designs. This time out, they've even enlisted some of their pals to do the honor of modeling these handsome duds. Fuck a Napoleon Dynamite, Wowch got your liger right here—as do spots like Iheart, 222 Gallery and Rojas. Click here for the full deets on where to cop em and go get 'em, tiger! 

Horror Business (Er, Economics)

Now that there's a generous thirty year cushion separating the commodity from the fact (oh wait, didn't the fact start out as a commodity? Nah. Anyways...) I'm cool with high minded record geeks appropriating classic punk iconography to do clever fashion things. While Nike can still go fuck themselves for that Minor Threat campaign, I know that after a while images become part of the "public domain" and so I support the "death of intellectual property" and yadda yadda. And besides, just like a killer breakdown, a sweet t-shirt design will always be dope in my book when it is executed properly. Case in point: the new line of Misfits and Judge-inspired tees from Fucking Awesome's Winter ’06 collection and the aboveCrass rip from the culture cannibals at Mishka's Fall 2005 line. 
I'm usually the last person to encourage "commodity fetishism", but if you can, I'd say throw these cats a few beans in the spirit of supporting good people making cool things. Also, in the spirit of supporting my own commodity fetishism, if anyone has an OG copy of Agnostic Front's Victim In Pain LP on Ratcage that they wanna flip, holler at me. Truly. Holler. At. Me. 

Joy De Vivre

Even though I don't think I'd look all that smashing hopping around the LES in a Louisa top with jersey pant (stop me if I'm wrong ladies,) I've always took a liking to designer Christian Joy's work—when it's been on other people. After patiently waiting a few seasons, it looks like I'll finally have mychance to rock me some CJ, as the BK-based designer to the stars (and the kids!) has opened a new online shop for her killlller T's. Best of all, she's looking out for the smaller brothers out there with a line that's got sizes ranging from youth medium to extra-medium. Somewhere out there, right now, the man behind "Purple Rain" is getting out his purpleplastic out and stocking up for his next tour.

Joy De Vivre

Even though I don't think I'd look all that smashing hopping around the LES in a Louisa top with jersey pant (stop me if I'm wrong ladies,) I've always took a liking to designer Christian Joy's work—when it's been on other people. After patiently waiting a few seasons, it looks like I'll finally have mychance to rock me some CJ, as the BK-based designer to the stars (and the kids!) has opened a new online shop for her killlller T's. Best of all, she's looking out for the smaller brothers out there with a line that's got sizes ranging from youth medium to extra-medium. Somewhere out there, right now, the man behind "Purple Rain" is getting out his purpleplastic out and stocking up for his next tour.

Simple Text 008 - Killer Kicks

Operator: Hello, Elliot?
Simple Mission: Speaking. Who's this?
Operator: You have a call from "two years ago". They have this idea. They want artists to create customized, get this - SNEAKERS!
Simple Mission: What are they pimping now?
Operator: Pro Keds and some dope graff artists.
Simple Mission: Shit, I'll take it. Even old ideas can be fresh when put into the right hands, or in this case, the right feet.
Operator: Bad joke, but I'll put you through.

Ok - so that never happened. But I do have to share this little nugget with you. Pro Keds got some ace graff artists including FAILE, BAST, LASE, Andrew Kuo and Derrick Hodgson to straight up funk up their Royal Hi sneakers. Designs range from all-over leopard print designs to images of pink angels. It's all rather abstract, so you can tune into your own trip.

Each artist design is limited to 750 pairs and will be available at finer footwear shops in gentrified neighborhoods the world over. Reasonably priced for stylish and wearable pop art, these canvas bad boys will make you think long and hard before you bid on those $300 Heineken Dunks on ebay.

Here's a few teaser photos of the BAST design.

Shot on location at Simple Mission Studios.
Styling by my roommate's friend Maggie at 9 AM.