{ThrowBack Thursdays} Karl Kani Apparel

    On this segment of Throwback Thursdays I decided to highlight a brand i wore growing up and more importantly one of the most influential clothing company's of the late 80's and early 90's by the name of Karl Kani , ill never forget the heather grey long sleeve with just the signature font written across the front i wore that literally till the threads came off, it wasn't really the brand itself that caught my attention but the  quality and fit of the garment is what i loved.


    I did a little research on the brand and found out that the owner of the brand is Carl Williams who was born in Brooklyn , New York , son of a Costa Rican mom and Panamanian pops which I never would have taught honestly. The name actually comes from Carl which he changed to Karl for brand purposes and Kani rooted from the words "Can" and "I" basically in a since asking himself the question as his brand name which was pretty intriguing nonetheless in my opinion, Carl never studied design or tailoring (Like myself) but had a growing love for fashion and began making himself custom fits which later led to making Outfits for all his friends.


   I found that in 1989 he came out to LA to open a shop with his friend on Crenshaw Blvd in Los Angeles but with no luck the store closed very promptly which led him to move to Hollywood to give it a second run but once again it was no success. What I found very unique and interesting was that he first got his big break when he had his friends hold up signs at (The Today Show) on national television  with simply the name of the brand across it and it actually gave a kick start to orders.


   Fast forward a couple of years and every major Rapper and Hip Hop artist has referenced his brand in their lyrics , here is a couple i found
  


                                                                                              - Rick 

Jay-Z

"Youse the fag model for Karl Kani/Esco ads

Went from, Nasty Nas to Esco's trash"

Jay-Z - Takeover

"I had the Karl Kani shit on. If you looked at my clothes you could see I was out of there."

Redman

"I would be brief but my Karl Kani's didn't dry"

Redman - A million and One Buddha spots

"Karl Kani down, camoflouge can't hide the sounds"

Redman – Rollin

Eminem

"One day I was walking by with a walkman on when I caught a guy giving me an awkward eye. And I strangled him off in the parking lot with his Karl Kani"

Dr. Dre feat. Eminem- Forgot About Dre

Big Punisher

"I got the Squad over-qualified, pullin over Karl Kani Range Rover tilted, three-wheelted hydraulic slide" How we roll

   Here's some ad's of a couple of my favorite rappers wearing Karl Kani -

 

The New Regime Presents: "Portrait of a Harlem Artist: Justin West"

The visual duo The New Regime have put together a solid short featuring ASAP Rocky visual artist Justin West.
Check it out..






Directed by Christian San Jose & Phil Mao @_TheNewRegime

Thomas Czarnecki: From Enchantment To Down (Photo Series)

"From Enchantment To Down" is a collection of photographs by Paris-based photographer Thomas Czarnecki depicting fairy-tale heroines in scenes that are darker than the fairy-tale settings we're accustomed to. The dark and brilliant series features the likes of Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, the Little Mermaid, Alice from Wonderland, and many more.

Fucking cool.

images via thomas czarnecki

FreshFiber Retro iPhone Cases

I love my iPhone. I want to protect it, always. You should want to do the same because, and I speak from experience, there is nothing worse than trying to read the cracked-screen while simultaneously avoiding getting shards of glass stuck in your skin.

Check out these cases from Freshfiber. The collection features a boombox with integrated kickstand, a cassette tape with rotating reels, and a camera case with hanging system. Explore their website for more interesting cases, they even have some for other phone models and gadgets including wackBlackBerry, Samsung, iPads, and iPods.

Four Eyes House, Coachella Valley

I have four eyes. I love architecture. I will be in the Coachella Valley area very soon. Why isn't this my vacation home?!

Legit sad this isn't my place. Anyways. Four Eyes House was designed by Los Angeles-based Edward Ogosta Architecture and was designed to enhance the homeowner's experience of the beautiful desert valley.

The unique design features four "sleeping towers," each with a small bedroom on the top floor that is accessed using either a ladder, spiral stairs, switchback stairs, or shallow-riser stairs. Each bedroom comes with a window that frames a specific optimum view for it's respective position including: morning sunrise in the east, mountain range to the south, city lights to the west in the evening and overhead nighttime stars.

I'm in love. Someone move me here. Please?

{WestSide Wednesday} Lakers Vs Celtics 1985 Championship Game

As some of you may know I'm a huge Los Angeles Clippers fan ,  (Yeah I know posting something about the Lakers is contradicting)  but nonetheless Clippers have not won a Championship so unfortunately I cannot post a Clippers reel. So with that being said this segment of West Side Wednesdays we dug up footage of Game 6 of the 1985 World championship game where the Lakers ultimately won.  I chose 1985 of course because it was the Dream Team in my opinion and it was a year before my birth so it fit somewhat accordingly. 

P.S  Peep out ugly Kevin McHale though, he ran like a serial killer.  It's still clips all day till the casket!!

- Rick

Cluct Summer 2012 Collection

Japanese brand Cluct released their Summer 2012 catalogue via retailer and online fashion magazine Unbar. Cluct pays homage to American and European style through workwear-inspired silhouettes in high-quality materials. I really dig the shots and it's always interesting to see Japanese interpretations of American lifestyle.

images via unbar