ROUND THE WORLD #10. MASH GOLD.
February 2, 2010

Location: San Francisco, California, USA
Temperature: 10°C - 13°C
Weather: Pantone PMS 292

The USA, the last leg of our round the world visit. Before business in Los Angeles, we decided to fly into San Francisco for a quick stopover, to see some friends and to explore the legendary city for the first time.

Fell in love with Mike Martin's drive - a beautifully restored VW Type 3 "squareback". I love all of its little imperfections, it reminds me of Ivy's old classic minis. We were hosted by Mike, Michelle and Mika during our short stay in SF, thank you very much for the warm SF hospitality Martins! Fortunately for us we arrived in between storms, so it managed to stay dry throughout most of the visit.

Our first stop, Mexican food. You have no idea how hard it is to find good mexican food outside of California. Mike took us to Pancho Villa for burritos in the Mission. After switching between three languages over the past two weeks, I was starting to really confuse myself, and was speaking Japanese to a French taxi driver just the day before on the way to CDG airport. I thought I'd finally finished having to use a foreign language... until I arrived in the Mission. Hola Gato!

We took the opportunity to go to the Nice Collective showroom and see Mike's clothing range, Martin, in person. He's now in his second season of production and we'd seen a lot of photos of it, but never had the chance to check it out in person. It's a combination of all of his interests - style, cycling, and photography all mixed together and presented in garments. Very subtle technical aspects are infused into the clothing, including 3M reflective thread, which I'd never seen before. The shirting is also cut with a longer tail, for leaning over on bike handlebars, and the magnetic buttons are a superb touch for easy access, especially if you're riding around and trying to fumble with zips. The teeshirts also feature some photoprints of Mike's incredible photography, his first and foremost profession. All shot at F64, honest. We've seen a lot of clothes over the past two weeks, but I really liked this collection. A very unique touch geared for either a niche or a regular consumer, and I love when designers incorporate little special features like the 3M thread. Being manufactured by SF fashion and design house Nice Collective, it also fits well and is manufactured to their high standards. It's fitted, but not as slim as some had told me about it - I fit most items in an M, which is quite similar in sizing to a Japanese size 3/L. Above is a preview of some of our favourite items from the SS10 and FW10 ranges. See more Martin here.

Nice Collective have also been working on this project with banking heir and eco-adventurer David de Rothschild. The Plas-tiki is a 60ft catamaran whose hulls are constructed out of no less than 12,000 reclaimed plastic bottles, a three year (and counting) initiative gearing up for a 11,000 mile (17,700 km) journey from San Francisco to Sydney. Nice Collective was tasked to design the interior of the yacht, using eco-friendly processes. This is their prototype uniform for David and... Richard Branson?

Mike & Gabe were also kind enough to drop these into my suitcase - a full winter riding kit, including a cinelli saddle he had kicking around, and one of their new winter riding caps made by Chuey. Super nice and super warm, I almost wish I had this in Europe. Maybe this was Mike's subtle way of telling me to ride more. It was also nice to find out the story behind Rainier's fascination with mushroom hunting too. Thanks a million guys.

Managed to finally meet up with the very talented Levi Benny Gold. He worked with us earlier last year on the MASH NZ teeshirt print, so it was great to finally meet him in person. We met up with him at his upcoming retail space in the Mission, which he's currently renovating and getting ready to open in the near future. This is Benny's first venture into a physical space for his line and a huge personal leap; very stoked for you my friend, and I'm sure it will be a hit. It's nice seeing people still focusing on physical retail spaces in a world starting to be dominated by online retailing. The personal touch and creativity in designing and fashioning a physical space that represents your organization. Benny is an amazing individual too - for someone who has worked with some of the biggest names in our industry and being instrumental in some of the biggest movements in our arena, he has remained a super cool and humble man. Very inspiring, thank you for taking the time out to chat and have a cup of tea.

We went and destroyed a gigantic Tortas with Benny, Mike and Joshy. I had assistance from Levi, quite possibly the most popular dog in San Francisco. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if one day he answered to "Hey -is-that-a-french-bulldog?" instead of Levi.

We went for a stroll around the area and down to Valencia with Benny after lunch, in an effort to process the 2kg sandwich we had just introduced to our digestive systems. Stopped into SelfEdge San Francisco. Very nice to meet you Kiya, thanks for the conversation. Rest up, I hope you get on top of your jet lag.

826 Valencia, the independent Pirate Supply store. Funny story, this was originally set up as a free writing lab and workshop by author David Eggers, but unfortunately due to city zoning laws they had to set up a retail or food outlet in their desired location on Valencia, so what's a writer to do? Set up a store for Pirates. Yup. Incredible initiative though, and a very amusing store, all completely manned and operated by volunteers.

Picked up a copy of the San Francisco Panorama from the workshop. A great project published by Eggers' independent publishing house McSweeney's, in which a group of writers have come together in an effort to try and preserve the printed word. This one-time, one-print issue is their interpretation of the newspaper format, what they considered one of the first victims of the digital print era. It features an eclectic range of articles, from political pieces to a guide to the best ramen. I feel a little ironic writing about this on an online medium, so I guess I'll just stop right here. Do grab a copy if you can find one. The first print run sold out in days.

Not only is Benny a super nice guy, but it seems like he's psychic as well. Thanks for the socks, believe me, it was very crucial at this point in my trip.

Closed off the quick whirlwind SF visit with dinner with Mike, Michelle, Mika, Benny, and Hiromi at Burma Superstar. Reccomendations - the rainbow salad pictured (listening to the guy's accent explaining the million ingredients is worth the price alone), fermented tea leaf salad, and potato curry.

Good times with good company. Thanks for the hospitality all round SF. Amazing city, and such a great vibe, very different to anywhere else I've been to in the USA and reminiscent of the 'community' feel back home. Thoroughly enjoyed the short time that we were there. We'll be back.