Came across this article about the current retail climate a few days at my favorite daily reads, the NY Times haha. I’ve pasted the article below as sometimes you need to login but do yourself a favor and get a free NY Times account anyways. Seemingly there’s light at the end of the tunnel… for some. As it stands, the high-fashion retail sector seems to have temporarily found their way to combat the pain and hurt inflicted by their previous retail tactic of slashing the shit out of their prices for their luxury products. This obviously has serious ramifications on a branding and perception side. You’re reinforcing the notion, “why pay full price” when I can get that for 70% off 3 months after it has hit the retail floor? In addition, the once “exclusive club” for luxury goods has all of a sudden opened its doors wide open.

For the meantime, high-end stores have been taking on lower stock and orders and they’ve seemed to be able to effectively modify the simple Economics 101 supply/demand model in their favor. By shifting the supply curve, they’re selling more at full-price at the cost of having not being able to satisfy demand but that does seem to be the lesser of two evils. Much better than selling stuff off super cheap. The wealthy have gotten their Hypebeast on and been coerced into buying at full price on the thought that this shit is limited!!! I don’t doubt it, it has worked for the most part for so long. I’ve never really stood behind the cashier aside from some short stints back in the day at Foosh, I’m really unsure how this model can work on more mass/affordable goods level. The margins are much higher on luxury goods so obviously for everybody below, you need to sell that many more t-shirts and sneakers to equal that one handbag, bespoke shoes or Italian-made suit. So what I’m interested to know, for retailers at different segments of the market, we’ve seen massive mark-downs become the norm in the retail environment over the last little while… what seems to be the best way to overcome this? The luxury retailers seemed to have found a Band-Aid solution which I think should work as eventually the luxury consumer will return close to their original habits… but what about the rest of us?

And… as I was re-reading this it also dawned on me… who else is getting screwed over? Designers of course, if orders (at the high-end level) are smaller, does that put a damper on creative output? Hmmmm?

-Eugene (flickr | Twitter)

By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM
Published: November 18, 2009
All around Saks Fifth Avenue, merchandise is sold out. The $2,520 Marni shearling vest? Gone. The $5,295 Brioni leather bomber jacket? Only one left. The $1,995 over-the-knee Christian Louboutin boots?

“All gone, except for this,” said Nick Passerelli, a Saks employee, dangling a size 11 boot from his fingers.

After a brutal year in which the nation’s luxury retailers were forced to offer their wares at stunning discounts, they are trying to get their magic back. And they may have found a way: deliberately running low on merchandise.

Saks, the chic Manhattan department store, is a prime example. Its inventory is down by double digits compared with last year. That is partly a response to lower demand, of course, but it is also a business strategy aimed at weaning consumers from deep discounts. By carrying fewer goods and selling them at full price, Saks is essentially telling customers: buy it now or live without it.

“Upscale stores want to train the customer that luxury equals exclusivity and that they cannot assume they can wait and they’re able to buy it on sale,” said William S. Taubman, chief operating officer of Taubman Centers, a mall developer and owner.

This less-is-more strategy is risky, of course. If retailers sell out of goods too soon, they will lose profits they need. But they think it is even riskier to stock up too much.

This time last year, purveyors of high-end goods were drowning in merchandise. Consumers had stopped spending in the economic downturn, forcing stores to cut prices sharply to unload designer goods. At 50 or 70 percent off, once-expensive stilettos and suits flew off the shelves.

But the discounts prompted some consumers to wonder what those items were really worth in the first place. And to the distress of retailers, shoppers began to feel entitled to those eye-popping discounts — not just at big-box stores like Wal-Mart and value-price department stores like Kohl’s, but at Saks and Neiman Marcus, too.

Now, as the economy stabilizes, luxury retailers are taking measures to stamp out discount fever.

They have significantly cut their inventories and are trying, with some early success, to sell their wares at full price. Both Saks and Neiman Marcus have gently told customers that there are fewer goods to go around this year.

Burton M. Tansky, president and chief executive of the Neiman Marcus Group, says he does not think he is retraining consumers. Rather, he said, he is doing what is best for the health of his company.

“We’ve told our customers that the availability is less than they’re used to seeing in the stores,” Mr. Tansky said. “We’ve suggested that it would be prudent to shop early.”

If a particular item sells out at Neiman Marcus, the ability to restock the shelves will depend on the merchandise category. In general, though, lead times for manufacturing luxury goods are long.

“As you go up the ladder to European designers, it’s virtually impossible,” Mr. Tansky said. “But in contemporary apparel, women’s shoes, it’s possible.”

Saks, too, has told customers its inventories are lean.

“We’re out of stock on a number of hot items people want,” Stephen I. Sadove, chairman and chief executive, said this month as he walked through the sprawling shoe department at Saks in Manhattan. “Our associates are telling people, ‘If you want this item in your size, we only have three of them, we only have two.’ ”

That strategy might be working. “I’ve been running out of sizes because I’m selling out,” said Lera Alexkseyeva, a Saks employee who sells clothing by Brunello Cucinelli. Saks bought 21 gray cashmere and fox fur jackets designed by Mr. Cucinelli in the medieval village of Solomeo, Italy. All but one jacket have sold — at $2,695 each.

A big question this Christmas will be how successful retailers are with the strategy. Some surveys have found that, so far, the prospect of lean inventories is not prompting consumers to hasten their holiday shopping. Shoppers could wait out the retailers until late in the season, in the hope that they will panic and put high-grade merchandise on sale.

“Bargains seemingly may matter more than selection for the consumer,” Michael P. Niemira, the director of research and chief economist for the International Council of Shopping Centers, said in a news release this month.

Regardless of when consumers choose to shop, retailers are glad to have a better handle on customer demand.

Speaking about the luxury market, Peter E. Nordstrom, executive vice president and president of merchandising for Nordstrom, said, “The business might not be exactly where we want it, but it is relatively stable.”

Nordstrom has always had a wider range of prices than Saks and Neiman Marcus, and so has less need to hit the reset button with shoppers. The chain weathered the downturn better than its competitors. And while it has less inventory than last year, Mr. Nordstrom said when it came to Christmas, “we think we’re going to have enough.”

Saks came in for sharp criticism from designers last year for the magnitude of its discounting. Mr. Sadove is being aggressive this year about managing inventory, and acknowledged the possibility of not having enough merchandise even for customers willing to pay full price.

“I think we in the industry may go too far and cut back too much,” he said. “You’re going to lose some sales. And that’s O.K. versus having too much and having to sell it at these very high markdowns.”

In fact, chains said they were selling more merchandise at full price today than they were a year ago. And while the stores will not reveal exact numbers, they say a reason their earnings are improving is that they are selling a higher proportion of goods at full price. This month, Saks posted a profit for the first time in months, and Nordstrom said its profit rose as well. Neiman Marcus will report its earnings in December.

While there will be sales this season, as there are every year, most analysts are predicting they will be less drastic than last year.

That is good news for high-end chains that suffered after years of giddy double-digit growth fueled by easy credit. While those days are gone, for now at least, some industry veterans say luxury retailing will thrive again by returning to its roots.

“What’s luxury retailing about?” Mr. Sadove said. “It is about a scarcity of supply.”

So there was this Tuesday…… and the Hypebeast team heads up at the infamous Haight Street in San Francisco to well…. do work …and one of the stars from Aladdin welcomes us.

Follow us…

And on to the action…

Bringing you the San Francisco streets up close and personal.

Luis, showing off his double knot tying skills.

We don’t have an arcade machine in the office nor any video game systems because we are too focused on what we do! So……. we improvise! Shin-Ku-Hado-Ken!!!!!!!!!

Death by Louis Vuitton…. Drew gets lined up for execution first!

Luis passes out via heart attack before they got to him….

and me well you can see me smiling under my Louis execution Bag…..  :- )

Tuesdays are just the beginning of our week so stay tuned for what happens next in the dreaded OFFICE!!!!!

and Cut!

Derek // Team SF

Office on a Friday… got a few things done around there. Took about 200 pictures of Upper Playground x Grotesk. Ended up rolling with two shots for about 7 black graphic tees. That makes sense to me currently as I put off studying. Anyways, to the visual aids:

Follow us…

The hallway

Sandwich Shop.. where everything was sold out.

Luis.

Luis’ desk.

Then we headed over to Japan town. Which caught me off guard because it actually is Japan town. We were driving in and then I lost the ability to read the signs. That is when I realized that we were past the point of no return. A bunch of drifting BAPEs were walking around the streets making me nervous.

Finally hit up the Fatlace function for their 10th Anniversary

Luis chopped it up with John from ID Agency.

Heed the door’s warnings or the wrath of Japan town will get you.

Signing off…

Drew // Team SF

The one thing I consistently find fresh and invigorating about Hong Kong is the unintended forms and shapes that often make their way into the everyday landscape. There’s something interesting about seeing something so mechanical and non-deliberate manifest itself into something aesthetically stimulating… Well all in my eyes of course haha. Shots were taken mostly around Wan Chai and the last three in my hood, Lai Chi Kok.

-Eugene (flickr | Twitter)

adidas Originals 2009 Fall/Winter KZK 7Hole… thanks Erman and Kase!

Whelp, here goes an exclusive look into what happened yesterday over here at the Hypebeast SF Headquarters. First off we had to ship out a few boxes, a task which ended up being way more difficult than planned seeing as we went to the wrong UPS miles away when the Hub was located right around the block.  Since none of us are actually from this labyrinth of a city, getting lost is an everyday thing. We got lost on the way to UPS, then again on the way to the Blvck Scvle flagship store.  The long day of work and driving ended with some of the best pizza that has ever graced a paper plate.  I snapped up some visual aids which can be seen below.

Finally found UPS.

View from the 2nd floor Blvck Scvle Store.

Blvck Shvdes…we really need to stop spelling stuff with a V.

Varsity Jackets.

Dinner.

Signing off…

Drew // Team SF

Last week I came back from an 8-day jaunt into Japan. The Tokyo equivalent of diamond slangin’ Zoolander was gracious enough to put up my with “smelly” vitamins and other herbal concoctions for a week or so at the most exclusive of accommodations… Hotel Jey Perie. Having been to Japan a few times before, each time seems to lend itself to something new. Japanese culture or not, I think every single culture out there maintains its complexities that really aren’t discoverable over these short visits. You really can’t immerse yourself into the true cultural underbelly even through force-feeding yourself, there are after all only so many hours in a day and only so many people you can speak with.

I met up with a handful of really insightful people but the majority shared one common bond of being Tokyo transplants or frequent travelers to Tokyo. This may seem like a weird deduction, but I think that’s the best way to learn about another culture is through its non-native dwellers and citizens, especially given a culture like Japan. I was speaking with Isa of Nom de Guerre over lunch and I think he perhaps summed it up best. As a native New Yorker, multiple visits to Tokyo has instilled a certain understanding of how Japanese culture works to him that made pretty good sense. He somewhere along these lines, Japanese society has neatly laid out a series of guidelines for you to follow. This regimented system is not something to really go against, however there are some outlets for expression. Where they do have these outlets, the Japanese seem over-indulgent such as porn, sex and drinking or they are extremely well-versed and talented such as design and the realm of creativity… they do after all have a word for the overly obsessive “otaku”.

But back to foreigners maintaining analytical prowess over the locals which is something that extends not just to this particular instance but globally as well. As I see it, “expats” have the ability to objectively breakdown the various and analyze the framework of a society without fear of over-stepping and questioning the society as a whole. I see it sometimes in Hong Kong, expats are afforded some perks in various ways. As I mentioned, life is seemingly quite regimented in Japanese culture, yet for the foreigner, he has the opportunity to question the societal code before him/her and juxtapose it against his own set of cultural values. No doubt somebody from North America living in Japan can create a hybrid culture pulling the best elements of both. In terms of absolute learning, one thing you cannot escape is that speaking with a local Japanese is sometimes not the easiest due simply to communication issues. I’m not sure if any native inhabitant of their respective country would whole heartedly question how their system is run? It seems like a rather interesting topic on the whole to see how Japan’s cultural foundation is the starting point to so many other things and in my opinion, something that can explain some of Japanese cultures interesting quirks and spawn-offs such as the over-indulgence aspect but also the other more creative and skilled talents that are allowed to rise to the surface like art and sport. I think Japanese culture and Chinese culture are two things of almost polar opposites but both have attained great success on the global stage. Japan’s approach to everything they do has earned the respect of a global community, while China to some degree has earned this sort of respect but at the expense of other more questionable initiatives.

While I was in Japan, I also got the chance to meet up with the one, the only, infamous Philly Vannilli aka Phil Gaedicke. Known for throwing the masher tradeshow that is Bread & Butter Barcelona, he put together a piece over at his Highsnobiety blog outlining the use of Nazi symbolism through NEIGHBORHOOD’s various channels including a t-shirt seen (although not designed by NBHD) at the NEIGHBORHOOD 15th anniversary party. Had I written this blog post earlier in the week like I had intended to it may have been slightly more relevant but I think that Frank Liew and Jey Perie both sort of had some of the same points as myself. I don’t condone the usage of iconography that has been associated with one of the most deplorable acts in human history, but I do like to look at things objectively and see what the basis of one’s actions are.

NEIGHBORHOOD’s design langauge has always incorporated a certain American motorcycle rebel aesthetic to it. With it has come a slew of questionable icons and imagery such as the Swastika derived from American bike culture which to my knowledge began post World War II when soldiers returning home would display these as proud badges of victory (SEE BELOW FOR MORE INFO). I guess somewhere down the line (or it was always present) developed into a quasi-racist movement as well. I’ll be frank I’m not too sure but it’s not really the point of my argument. But back to everything, speaking with some people who have awareness of the Japanese education system, it seems as though the general education regarding the happenings of World War II in the curriculum are rather lackluster and really don’t give an accurate portrayal of what actually happened. This naivety and protectionist approach manifests itself onto other aspects of life as well. As I understand, AIDs and drug use are two things largely considered non-factors locally and considered a foreign epidemic. But as it stands, we’ve always known that traditionally, Japanese fashion brands have been loose in their appropriations of foreign and most notably American culture. They do some things very well when it’s a uni-directional relationship such as de-constructing and producing apparel based on vintage examples. But I think this sometimes disconnection with their use of foreign themes coupled with their inability to truly understand the connotations of a sub-culture (language barriers have always been a big issue in my mind) make for some sometimes subtle or at other times more grave mis-communications. It was well established through the comments over on Phil’s post that he wasn’t out to portray NBHD as Nazi’s but that the imagery used was unacceptable. I’m just sort of going along with the statement and agree, but is the misappropriation innate brought on by Japanese culture’s own workings rather than the ignorance of one brand. I’ve always been a strong advocate for the power of society and the impact it has over its citizens and as I see it, I think these misunderstandings will undoubtedly continue on.

But at the end of the day, this whole debate was largely one sided in which nobody from NBHD chimed in, and likely wouldn’t really give a shit anyways which seems to be the right play haha.

-Eugene (flickr | Twitter)

Additional Note: The usage of Nazi imagery in American bike culture began more as something to push the buttons of society and incite reaction according to Kiya Babzani of Self Edge (through an AIM convo we had). Basically, Sonny Barger in particular started the trend when was with the Hells Angels. He found a helmet at a thrift store in LA with a swastika emblazoned on the side. Eventually the trend tickled down and slowly a large group of these people were getting the imagery done in various facets, simply to piss people off… goal accomplished we’d all say.

Yeh… these weren’t actual “sleeves”.

Not sure how old these kids were, but they were pretty good on the ball.

When I first saw Jules back at MAGIC in 2008, I was too scared to say hi. He had too much swagger and I was intimidated. I had a few opportunities in Tokyo to sit down and chat with him. Undoubtedly one of the nicest and most genuine industry heads I’ve met. For somebody who wasn’t born into this crazy Internet shit, his open minded approach and his desire to keep on learning is admirable to say the least.

Kinfolk Lounge in Naka-Meguro

Who the fuck gets dressed like this for a kick-around? I hope to see Arsenal shit-kick Barca in the Champions League final… oh 4-0 sounds about right.

Jason’s lost… but I’m with him so that makes me lost as well haha

This place is way over-hyped I think

Compared to Hong Kong, well anywhere compared to Hong Kong is a bicycle friendly city.

I guess Tenga is looking to start branding itself… for those unaware it’s a “masturbation tool”. Think disposable pocket pussy. Go get your DEEP THROAT CUP now.

Uhhh… explain to me the HARD one… oh and it’s a limited edition haha.

The notorious Tomonori Mitsuo holdin’ it down. Told me once you go Tenga you never go back haha.

Ok yeh, I sort of OD’d on the typical touristy Tskuji Market pics.

Jefford’s been a good buddy of mine and Hypebeast’s first-ever source of cheap, un-paid labor (aka intern)… I guess school wasn’t taking up enough of his time so he and some friends went the way of starting their own toy company, darkmatters. Pretty happy for the dude to take the plunge like that, it’s never easy starting something, well that’s not true, it’s easy to start something but finishing it is often much more difficult. No doubt the aesthetics of their first toy the NGA4 (named after the word for tooth in Chinese) isn’t going to be everybody’s cup of tea but I think the execution turned out pretty good. The darkmatters crew also put together an interview with the designer Paddy Leung to see where her inspirations came from. You can pick up a NGA4 figure at darkmattersonline.ca/store for $40 CAD.

-Eugene (flickr | Twitter)

One of my colleagues sent this to me and I’m thinking hes planning on purchasing a set for home use. Interesting concept eh?

- L.A.

Came back from Tokyo late Friday night (pictures and updates to come!) and woke up to an early Christmas on Saturday. My girl Kristen at adidas Performance hooked it up BIG TIME… and someone who I speculate is perhaps one of the busiest PR-people in the industry due to her involvement in adidas Soccer AND adidas Basketball. I’ve touched on it relatively recently, the adidas Predator X got its full unveiling with the help of Zinedine Zidane. Based on what career path I’ve chosen, I think it’s somewhat evident that I’ve been big into footwear. Starting off as a kid, both on-field and off-field boots/sneakers were something I paid a great deal of attention to. I still remember walking into Eurosport (not Soccer.com) as a kid back in Edmonton and looking at the racks of shoes… immediately gravitating towards the most expensive ones, thinking why were they so expensive. However unlike my lack of footwear choices on the streets, I was actually able to get some decent soccer/football boots as a kid. I still remember getting my first pair of adidas Predator Accelerators in the funky molded soft-ground version. In subsequent years, I pretty much found myself wearing each version of the Predator which got its update every 2 or 3 years.

In retrospect, the Predator was basically useless to me… and a win for the marketing team. As a keeper, who are you ever going to need to bend a ball? Even in the run of play, I’m sure you can get by with out any Predator vamps haha. However, I do think that PowerPulse technology which offered a weighted forefoot genuinely worked for more power when it was released in later models.

In addition to the Predator Xs, Kristen hooked up some F50i Tunits as well, something I definitely was more than grateful for. The shoe’s a bit of an interesting one. The sole plate allows you to effectively customize the stud pattern as well as the types of studs used ranging from soft-ground to firm and hard ground studs (basically the length/composition of the stud). You can also change the insole style for different types of performance and swap out different uppers such as leather and ClimaCool. As we speak I’m actually wearing the F50i boots on my feet haha. I’m a US 9 in all adidas leather boots but I have a feeling these F50is will be more than difficult to break in cause of the Sprint Skin upper. I’ve actually never really worn a synthetic boot… I’ve gone the old school method of just buying kangaroo leather boots in a size that fits in the length, disregarding width and just letting the leather stretch out. Yeh it hurts and takes some time, but the end result is a perfect fitting.

Mini Out-of-the-Box Review - adidas Predator X: Best fitting Predator I’ve ever worn out of the box. The toebox seems to have been re-designed for a wider fit. Some other people like my friends over at The Original Winger have been feeling the same in terms of fit. Aesthetically… just one thing bothers me and that’s the Predator branding on the instep. The rest of the boot has really grown on me. The tongue-less set-up is a bit weird since its the first tongue-less Predator. The boot is REALLY STIFF at the forefoot cause of the PowerSpine technology. The heel counter is pretty solid and the lacing offers a nice lock-down fit but the Predator line has been doing this for some time so I wouldn’t expect anything less.

Mini Out-of-the-Box Review - adidas F50i Tunit: My upper is the Sprint Skin one as mentioned and although I have my concerns, eventually the upper will stretch out a bit I think. Personally I don’t like the feel of the Sprint Skin, it seems too smooth. For me, the Tunit aspect seems like a lot of trouble but if you’re really keen on extracting that little bit extra out, might work out for you. The boot’s shape itself is more narrow that the Predator X. Aesthetically the boot is awesome and a lot cleaner than the Predator. Whereas the Predator carries itself as the top-of-the-line model and rightfully-so, I think the F50i does well to mask its technology a bit better to keep it understated. The V-notch lacing is cool as well. The previous F50 series had this ridiculously hard to access lace system but this works a lot better. I know what to expect from the Predator X for the most part so I’m more looking forward to wearing these haha.

After not playing for more than two years, I finally got back into it within the last month. Found two teams relatively quickly and basically began my career as an outfield player at age 25 haha. I’ve played as an outfielder on the rare occasion back in the day, but believe it not, but only recently had I actually played my first-ever back to back games in the field. It’s been pretty fuggin’ fun throughout, all this time before I was hitting the gym pretty consistently but just doing it for the sake of doing it… now at least that has some carry-over. I feel myself re-learning the game as you adopt a new position. The game itself within the defending third is something I obviously know very well from being a keeper, but from the midfield on, it’s a bit different. Luckily my disconnected friend (as in no Facebook, no Twitter etc) Andy Mataya has been giving me his words of wisdom.

Once again, big thanks to Kristen. Got a session on Wednesday… can’t wait!

-Eugene (flickr | Twitter)

Back in the day, I loved looking at the customized gear of pros. From test colorways to re-configured outsoles and gloves, I found myself nerding out over that stuff. A big one for me that interested me was the mixed-sole Copa in which people would shave off the studs of their adidas Copa Mundials (or any molded boots for that matter) and then drill a hole with a stud insert so you could have 6 longer studs alongside the usual molded ones. It would probably clog up in the rain but offer a bit more control with the ball under your feet… But since I play mostly on Field Turf or firm to hard grounds, there’s little use for this. Italian brand A-Line actually offered this in a production model as well… not sure if they’re still around.

Hypebeast is on the look out for interested individuals looking to become a part of the team as a non-paid intern. Interns must possess a strong interest in fashion, sneakers, toys and varying degrees of interest in art, music and electronics. The job premise includes street photography, product photography, event coverage, and the ability to build a base of contacts. A strong desire to become educated on different subject materials is also an asset.

A list of skill requirements include the following

- Proficient skills in English and the Internet
- Articulate and creative writing style
- Ability to proof-read
- Basic Photoshop skills – crop, resize and edit
- Basic HTML skills
- Knowledgeable in the necessary fields of interest
- Ability to work independently
- Advanced skills in Photography (Mandatory)

Assets include the following:
- Post-secondary education

Unfortunately this is only open to interested parties in the City of San Francisco or surrounding areas, who are willing to commute. You will need to provide your own equipment (Computer/Camera/Software) and have your own form of transportation throughout the city. We’ll have a good amount of assignments in various areas of San Francisco.

For all interested parties, please send a package to jobs@hypebeast.com which includes a resume and photography samples based on relevant subjects as well as a general introduction into your brand interests/hobbies. Please ensure all documents are included in the application as we will not review incomplete applications.