Flawless Hustle – Urban Culture Blog | Hiphop Blog | Graffiti & Street Art

I’ve been following Maiden Noir for a couple years, but it wasn’t until this collection that I was moved enough to splurge on one of their pieces. They’ve always had outstanding quality and craftsmanship, but this season they’ve outdone themselves by crafting the entire collection out of wax coated cotton canvas from the British Millerain Company. I don’t know exactly what that feels like, but I’ll let you know when my jacket comes in the mail. This particular collection is also all muted darker colors, which is right up my alley.

Maiden Noir had always been one of those brands where I peeped their collections each season on the fashion blogs, and I liked them, but they were pricey and I was already doggedly loyal to a few other brands. I would describe their aesthetic as classic Americana meets crazy Pacific Northwest hermit woodsman with Military silhouettes. Sound confusing? Peep some of the pieces in the Maiden Noir Autumn/Winter 2009 “Darken Days” collection.

Select pieces from the Darken Days collection are available now at the Maiden Noir Online Store. The entire collection will be available within the coming weeks at Haven in Canada, DRGN in Mexico City, and Union LA. It’s really a shame that Union NYC shut its doors because they probably would have carried it too.

After the jump check out some more of the eclectic pieces on sale now at the Maiden Noir Online Store.
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Mark Ong aka SBTG is one the most famous sneaker customizers in the world, and Owner and Chief Designer of the Royalefam clothing line. Although based in Singapore, his name is known the world over in the underground fashion, and sneaker enthusiast world.

FH: In your own words, briefly tell the readers who you are and what you do.

SBTG: I am Mark Ong aka SBTG. I run a brand called Royalefam and i am a punk rocker , freedom fighter , a husband, a leader, a voice for Asia and a contributor to the world’s fashion / street subculture.

FH: I know you got your start in the fashion game customizing sneakers; tell us a little about that.

SBTG: I started out patching up my ollie holes throughout the late 80s throughout the 90s. The SBTG name gained worldwide recognition in 2003 when I killed it in a custom sneaker competition. Since the popularity was growing and all the branding elements were ready, Royalefam apparel was born.

FH: Tell me a little bit more about your start as a sneaker customizer, since that is probably what you are most well known for.

SBTG: Its been a crazy ride and a great life experience to be able to have this as a career. I have gone from being on the top, with all the opportunities in front of me to being down and just cashing in. There has been a lot of self realizations and shifts in way of being throughout the past 2 years and now I am back with a strong team and I am recommitting to my craft to contribute to peoples lifestyle. It ain’t just about me anymore u know?

FH: Tell me how you got in to customizing sneakers, and did you have a long term plan to have your own apparel brand, or did you start out just wanting to be a sneaker customizer?

SBTG: Well back in the 80′s when i started skateboarding at about age 8 or 9, i didn’t have a big rotation of sneakers. as a matter of fact i only had one pair. Being heavily influenced by my dads artistic talents, most things around me were aesthetically driven. Patching the holes up wasn’t enough, I cherished what i had so i made sure they were patched up in a way that looked like it was designed that way. It had to look dope! I always wanted to be known for something, and I was very into sneakers all my life. I wanted so much to have my own sneaker / colorway so nothing could stop me. I actually wanted to have a clothing brand but it worked the other way. But the whole point is I basically threw away the key the minute i walked in that door. I told myself that this is gonna be it, I’m gonna be here for a while now.

FH: So your customizing basically started out as a basic desire to design your own sneakers?

SBTG: Yup, very accurate.

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So, now everybody is all about Dim Mak.  What is Dim Mak?  Ok, do you know who Steve Aoki is?  Yeah, that’s his fashion line that he calls Dim Mak and I can’t go out anywhere without seeing at least one person who copped his line.  The main idea of the collection is USE DECO COLORS AND JAPANESE INSPIRED ART AND THEY WILL BUY.  And it worked.  The Dim Mak Collection constantly sells out like hot cakes at McDonalds because everybody in Los Angeles wants to go for this Electro/Urban-inspired/Early 90s/Late 80s/Pop-culture-ish look.  So you want to know what’s hot?  Dim Mak Collection.  Another artist who has used one aspect of his talents and parlayed it into the fashion world for an even more lucrative business.  Check Steve out on Myspace HERE.  And for the Dim Mak Collection, or the portion available for sale online, click HERE.

EXCLUSIVE FEATURED INTERVIEW WITH RESET COUTURE-SHAKING UP L.A. AND TAKING ON THE WORLD! ! !

Did you ever have an idea of an expression that you could not express?  A certain definition that could not be caught and put into a cage?  A social change that if the world could understand and embrace could change the lives of millions of people?  Are you sick of the media spoon feeding you all of the information that you receive just to get cultural indigestion a few hours later?

Everywhere you look, the shiny glossies are everywhere.  You cannot escape them and that is the way that it is meant to be.  I found it especially difficult to not let the images I saw in Hollywood today affect the way that I viewed certain ideas or concepts.  But when you are put into a cage, and the cage is big enough, you don’t even know that you are being herded into the cage with countless other cattle where the cow prodders are Abercrombie & Fitch and the Gap.

Today I interviewed an entity called RESET COUTURE.  A concept that keeps you holding onto your freedom of choice and freedom to not be force fed the slop that popular culture relentlessly shoves down into our conscious & unconscious minds until our very being is just a carbon copy of everyone else’s.  Here are the questions and here are the answers.  Just a warning:  If individuality and geometrically conceptualized ideas are scary for you, stop reading this and go join the masses of people lined up in Hollywood to eat Pinkberry.

Flawless Hustle: What is Reset Couture?

Reset Couture: Reset Couture is an experiment project in fashion.  Project being the key word.  This, to me, is more of an art.  Half of the clothing is wearable and functional, cute and marketable.  But my passion is on the conceptualized side of it.

FH: What does being a designer mean to you?

Reset Couture: Give me a cigarette.  (Lights cigarette and exhales)  Being a designer for me is art.  Art is life and I am living it.  However, as society has had its way, the word “art” limits you.  It categorizes you and conjures ideas from many different facets of life and it puts you into a box.  I live outside outside of that box and that’s what art and being a designer means to me.

FH: From where do you pull the inspiration for your work or does it just come out of your head or what? And to follow up, what are you currently working on?

Reset Couture: Ahh, philosophy, travels, the natural world, surrealism.  There is a fine line between reality and fantasy and I like to work with that.  Right now I am working on an idea called “Earth Eaters” and it’s all about transformation in regards to time and social development.  How ideas in society change.  Natural life transformation from less advanced to more advanced and how that changes into a different way of thinking. Natural past and future and discourse of contrast.

FH: What do you think of “pop culture”?

Reset Couture: It’s kinda a crock of shit.  I mean, it’s a tool of the media pretty much.  A tool of the system of what media views as socially acceptable and what isn’t.  It’s a way to control how people view present realities and how they want you to view them.  However, it is also used by many artists as a starting point to create provocative pieces.  It’s not necessary a “bad” thing.  It just depends on perception.

FH: Why do you choose the colors that you choose?

Reset Couture: Colors and shapes go together in a very strange way.  I hear sound in colors.  I perceive certain colors has having distance, closeness, dimensions and weights.

FH: Do you ever think that with the kind of work that you do that you couldn’t earn a living?

Reset Couture: I pretty much always knew I couldn’t get a job and fit into society.  From a really young age I thought other ways that other people don’t.  I guess I have these talents for a reason and that’s what I am going to put out into the world.  It doesn’t happen overnight though.  It’s a continual process.

FH: What places have you visited?  What places have you drawn other inspiration from?

Reset Couture: Mostly Europe.  Scandinavia.  Central and South-eastern Europe.  All over the U.S.

FH: Why do you think the general public is ready for your work?

Reset Couture: I don’t think they are.  Not in Los Angeles.  Sure in Berlin and Tokyo.  I am bored and disinterested in what I see here.  It’s all about IMAGE here and I want to shake that up as much as I can.

FH: If you had to put a soundtrack to what you are doing with clothing and design, what would you choose and why?

Reset Couture: The first thing that comes to mind is Kraftwerk-Autobahn.  A song that I just thought of right now because we are in front of all of these cars.  Berlin Diskotek.  Trashy Euro-Electro.  Good beats that make you wanna dance.

FH: It seems that there are few people that understand and are able to appreciate art.  What is your opinion about that?

Reset Couture: I mean, I don’t think everyone is cut out to be an artist.  If we were all artists, who would there be to stick out from?  If we were all exceptional, it wouldn’t matter so much to be the exception.  I also think that some people just don’t get it and maybe they never will.  Some people are just not artistically inclined.

FH: When you are getting ready for an event for a photo shoot or show, do you get nervous?

Reset Couture: Not anymore.  I have done it so many times that I have a good idea of how things need to get done.  I get frustrated about when people aren’t “together”.  This is my life.  Not a hobby.  I don’t do this on the weekends to be cute and vain.

FH: If you had to use one word to describe your work and what you do, what word would you choose?

Reset Couture: Oh God…Probably…Eccentric.

FH: Are you just dealing with design and clothing and a different way of viewing fashion right now, or do you have other plans?

Reset Couture: Well, I definitely want to expand into other areas.  Music and DJ-ing…Collaborative projects with photographers and film makers.  Knowing people and using what you have access to is key.  It’s hard to find people that aren’t motivated just by superficial things.

FH: Some people may say that your line of clothing conjures ideas of pop culture from the 1980s.  What do you think about that?

Reset Couture: Yeah.  The next person that says that my work is 80′s is going to get shanked.  Completely uninformed.  They see pattern and shape and they think 80′s.  That’s because the 80′s are “in” right now.  But I don’t think everything has already been done.  I come from the standpoint that I question, “What would happen if we could ERASE the collective consciousness and begin from a starting point of now to the future?”  Then what would happen?

FH: Do you have a team of workers?  Your work is simply amazing.  Who does the team consist of?

Reset Couture: Just me.  I do the design, patterns, sewing and graphics.  I am starting to the development of teams now.  I have met a lot of really amazing people lately.  I am looking to expand.

FH: You have said off the record that you consider yourself a “Child of the Future”.  What does that mean?

Reset Couture: So many people base their identities on the past, and it’s very limiting.  It holds us back from the potential that we can achieve as a humanity.  In a sense I’m looking to challenge this establishment.  We learn from our histories and past.  But it makes us old, old people.

FH: In your personal life or otherwise, who do you view as your largest inspiration?

Reset Couture: I mean, the people the I am inspired from are avant-garde European people from the 90s.  I like Alexander McQueen, Hussein Chalayan.  Um, Issey Miyake….a lot of the Japanese avant-garde.  Harajuku Fashion.  I am also inspired by my Babicka…which is my grandmother.  She is an amazing, amazing woman.

FH: What do you say about those people interested in your work or your line?

Reset Couture: It really depends on how they articulate themselves.  I can see through bullshit.  My bullshit radar is on 10 all the time.  Very few people are actually genuine.  Everyone is out for themselves.  They contact me to see how they can get ahead.  That’s what I’ve experienced recently.

FH: Tell me what you think about the government.

Reset Couture: The government is fucked.  Political systems are so screwed up.  Control and manipulative people.  Same with the media.  They instill fear and reak havoc to keep people from questioning.  Especially here in the U.S.  The government here is so fucked up.  I think the people here are FINALLY starting to realize that.

As I finished my interview with my question about how Reset Couture views the government, I realized that there is a lot more to Reset Couture than meets the eye.  To get a full understanding and gain a serious respect and appreciation for this work, you have to see it in person.

If you or someone you know is interested in purchasing some merchandise from Reset Couture you may view part of the available collection for sale here:  http://resetcouture.etsy.com

Contact Reset Couture
Myspace

A1 Bassline

Blow Up L.A. End of Summer Bash

“WTF are we?!!!” was my first thought as we rolled around with the Iranian cab driver through warehouses a few miles from Union Station. We rolled up on this warehouse that had all these party kids outside and stepped out the car just to find out that the club was “over capacity”. Please. Let me show you how this works. I went ahead and convinced the door guy to get my homegirl and I in so we could check out what the hype was. It was worth whatever I paid the door guy, because as soon as I walked through the doors A1 Bassline was pumpin’ in my eardrums. This place was for sure a dope spot and after grabbing a drink we noticed that we were just a few feet from PURPLE Crush performing live. A1 wanted me to give everyone his mix tape, so here you go.

Download A1 Bassline No Running September Mixtape Free
Download Mixtape (right click save as) provided by A1 Bassline

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“Park on the Dance Floor”

As far as the people go at this event, they get a 7 out of 10. Peeps are too scared to dance and for the guys, forget about it. Many of the guys like to do what my friends and I call “park on the dance floor”. We don’t really go for that, so we just dance so hard they get to the walls. Some people were throwin’ some shade too and I got my Shank Scarf stolen that night too. Wack. Other than that, this place was SUPER HYPE and the music was enough reason to go there. Blow Up L.A. will be having events in Los Angeles on the regular, so I will be sure to keep you all updated on what’s up and in the meantime, check out BLOW UP L.A. on Myspace by clicking here:

A1 Bassline Myspace
Purple Crush Myspace