ROUND THE WORLD #11. THE L.A. CONNECTION.
February 6, 2010

Location: Los Angeles, California.
Temperature: 11°C - 15°C
Weather: Pantone 132

Hello Los Angeles. I'm ashamed to say that I had absolutely no idea it was the Grammys weekend when we touched down in the City of Angels. As soon as we got in, Mega picked us up to take us out for a weekend of mayhem. I was wondering why he had a glint in his eye when he turned around and asked me "are you ready?" on Sunday night. The answer, for the record - no, I wasn't.

It got rather ridiculous, but I guess it's Hollywood style after all. A whole new experience for sure. Thanks for taking us out Mega. Super crazy, but super fun.

Went to catch up with my friend Elijah, who I hadn't seen since Tokyo last year. He took us to his friend Pete's (Union LA alumni) new store - CRAFT. Pete just opened Craft six months ago and as I said in my last post, it's great to see people still opening up physical retail stores, and put the effort into building and curating a space. It's also good seeing people try new things here in Los Angeles, a city driven by flash trends, yet still strangely dominated by oversized clothing, popped out tongues and big NE caps. His brand assortment includes Alden Shoe Co., Wolverine boots, MisterFreedom, Sugarcane, vintage workwear, denim and boots, with the focus on being mostly American/English made products, as opposed to China or asian mass produced items. A nice mixture of gentleman, vintage, and workwear. It was nice sharing thoughts and buying advice with you Pete. Make sure you pop in to see CRAFT next time you're in Los Angeles. Right next door to Opening Ceremony.

CRAFT
513 La Cienega
Los Angeles 90048
P: 310-855-3976
T: @craftlosangeles

The following day, we dragged ourselves out of bed, and lived the American dream - In-N-Out Burger for breakfast. You'd be surprised just how busy it was in there at 10:30am in the morning. We were #42 by the time we got there, and cars were spilling out onto Sunset Blvd from the drive-thru.

Out of curiousity we ordered the one item on the secret menu I'd never seen before - the Flying Dutchman. Please don't judge me.

With arteries freshly blocked, we sped down the freeway to Orange County towards Santa Ana, where we paid a visit and a long overdue catchup with the Triumvir triumvirate - Brandon, Brian, and Richard. Ordering at lunch got a little out of hand; we literally ordered the entire left hand side of the menu, which totalled about 10 or so dishes. Then we had Yoghurtland next door, where Brian tried to eat for free. Truth.

Popped into their showroom as well to see what they've been working on. Congratulations on the ongoing success of the Capcom Street Fighter licensed collection too. Very impressive to be working on something of that scale with such a globally recognised name.

Fortunately for me, Brian is also a bit of a camera nerd extraordinaire. He picked up this Russian lens for $15. I wish I knew what the engraving meant. All I know is that it stops at F2.8. Everything else seems like a bit of a mystery.

Thanks for the gear fellahs. Much appreciated.

After leaving Santa Ana, we stopped in to see Jon W (Vans Syndicate, Vault, senior footwear designer, all round rad dude), who wanted to show us the Vans World HQ in Cypress after we bumped into each other in Tokyo. Fantastic premises - and true SoCal company culture. Where else can you use such choice phrases like "dude", "bitchin", "rippin", and "rad" with one of the sales directors of a billion dollar company? Took a sneak at the SS11 California and OTW lines, some super good items in there, and some new silhouettes. I think people are going to flip when they see Taka Hayashi's new collection. Now placed under Jon's product direction, they're taking classic, old silhouettes and reviving some of the best aspects of their originals, but also adding a few modern touches, in term of materials and construction. Essentially, the best of both worlds. It's changing for the better, believe me.

Best staff incentive ever - the Vans staff/warehouse "mini-ramp". Sure.

Thanks Rian for this kind gift, the Syndicate leather/canvas slider belt. No thanks to the Department of Homeland Security and LAX for almost confiscating this.

Had a great time taking a peek behind the curtains, thank you Jon and Rian (Jay not pictured). Essentially these are the gentlemen who bring you the Vans Syndicate collection. A true passion project in every sense of the term, and a tight knit family of rag tag gentlemen who work with friends (not just companies) around the world. Sometimes I wish every creative/product dev group would work like this. It keeps things... real, which is why all of their co-designed projects exhibit a lot of substance and thought behind them, reflecting the person who designed them, as opposed to just a rehashed colourway packaged in a nice PR presentation. An amazing group of people to be around with, and tons of laughs too.

Finished the day with dinner with Jon at Cha-Cha-Cha on Virgil, Carribean cuisine. Jerk Chicken and Sangria, so good. Look forward to seeing you again soon guys. Look after that ankle Rian. Until then, stay safe, and try to avoid any falling acid.

More on la-la land tomorrow.