Vintage Rolex anyone?

Following Steven Alan's footsteps, J-Crew (yes J-Crew) is exclusively featuring vintage Rolex watches both in their stores and online. We're pretty sure they won't have the vintage sub below, the first Rolex Submariner model ever made.

A new fox in town

French record label Kitsune has just topped the footwear collaboration they did with Pierre Hardy last year with their first clothing collection designed by Masaka Kuroki. A new fox in town is the name of their new Fall 2008 collection for both men and women which is focused around denim and cashmere. In store from August 1st and available at boutique Kitsuné, 52 rue de Richelieu 75001 Paris.

Wall Art: London

They are now covering up all the Banksy art around London with wooden and plastic boarding because night marauders with chisels are actually trying to the take the walls home with them since his art is worth so much money. We are lucky to have gotten this shot a couple of months ago.

Maison Martin Margiela, The Exhibition

Martin Margiela (one of our top picks next to YSL) is celebrating 20 years of fashion with a special exhibition at the Antwerp Mode Museum from Sept. 12th-Feb 8th, 2009. Not your traditional retrospective, (after all, Martin Margiela was never the traditionalist), the Paris-based designer also has created exclusively for this exhibition several limited-edition items that will be on sale during the entire exhibition at the Fashion Museum reception desk. A catalogue in English will accompany the exhibition.

Dungeons and dragons

Chococat has always been our favorite Sanrio character and frankly we are a little dissappointed that Hello Kitty always seems to get the limelight but this dark Hello Kitty Black Wonder exhibition in Hong Kong deserved a post. You can help rescue Hello Kitty and Dear Daniel until August 3rd. Silly thing has made special tote bags, t-shirts, as well as a blazer and matching white button up for the occasion and Colette has done a special Hello Kitty watch. All available at the exhibition and Colette.

Ace Hotel x Pendleton

We stayed at the lovely Ace Hotel in Seattle years ago during a business trip and it's still one of our favorite boutique hotels so we had to post this Portland made wool blanket the Ace Hotel and Pendleton have collaborated on. Folded on each seat during Takahiro Miyashita of Number (N)ine's last runway show they are now available at Number (N)ine's Manhattan flagship store. More collaborations to follow with the Ace Hotel's New York location opening early next year.

Colette x Gap

Gap has commissioned renowned Paris boutique Colette to create a special one month installation in it's rotating concept store adjacent to the New York City Gap flagship store at 54th and 5th Ave. The Colette x Gap store will be open from September 6th to October 5, 2008. This will be Colette's first U.S. store making the brand's sought after items available to U.S. consumers for the first time ever.

Justice x Dior Homme

Justice supplied the sound track for the Spring/Summer 2009 Dior Homme show in Paris. The mix is hard and edgy but fits rather nicely with Dior's 2009 Spring/Summer menswear collection. Watch some of the show below and if your feeling it CLICK HERE to download the Justice mix. If zSHARE is still under maintenance CLICK HERE to listen.

Where books grow trees

You can sell your unwanted books to Greenmetropolis.com for money and help save our environment. By recycling used books not only are they saving existing trees, they're actually planting new ones. GreenMetropolis.com donates 5p for every book sold to the 'Tree For All' campaign run by the Woodland Trust.

Read the fine print

The Bat Pod

We went to the see The Dark Knight last night and besides Heath Ledger's amazing twisted performance as The Joker, the next best thing was The Bat Pod. We found some of the footage on You Tube but you HAVE to see the movie to see the best part. The machine (steamroller combined with a motorbike and atomic missile) was deemed so dangerous they actually banned Christian Bale from riding it on the set.

Artichoke Gratin - delicious!

Ingredients:

1 large jar of artichokes hearts in olive oil (chopped in quarters)
juice of 1 lemon
2 medium onions (thinly sliced)
2 tbsp of olive oil
1/2 tsp of sugar
Salt and pepper
3 garlic cloves (crushed)
3 sprigs fresh thyme (chopped)
3 big potatoes (sliced thin)
12 pitted black olives (quartered or sliced)
80ml of vegetable stock or water
140ml cream
Parsley (chopped to garnish)

Preheat oven to 190C/375F. Chop artichokes hearts into quarters. Saute the onion in oil with the sugar, stirring occasionally until golden. Lower the heat, stir in the thyme and garlic. Brush and ovenproof dish with oil and put in a slightly overlapping layer of potatoes. Scatter over a third of the onions, artichokes, and olives, and season. Repeat twice more and spoon over the stock or water. Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil and pour over the cream and top with the rest of the thyme. Bake for another 15 minutes then use the tip of the knife to make sure the potatoes are cooked through. Garnish with parsley and serve hot.

Newest addition to Union Square

The long awaited opening of the new Prada flaship store in San Francisco's Union Square (201 Post near Grant Ave) finally happened this week. Nearly 10 years in the works, the San Francisco flagship store project has weathered tough times that kept the former Brooks Brothers site empty for years. The old location on Geary St is now closed to make way for the new 5,650 square foot luxury retail store. In the continual upscaling of San Francisco's downtown shopping, Prada joins the recent openings of Barneys New York and De Beers, while Gucci is also slated to make a move from Geary Street to Maiden Lane in November.

Head Porter lesson collection

Widely recognized for their masterful execution of quality this Japanese brand continues to impress us. We're not smokers but if we were we'd be smoking in style with this Head Porter cigarrette case from their new lesson collection which also includes a day pack, pen case, mini-pouch, zipper wallet, tote bag, duffel bag, and a lesson case. Both available in solid colorways or two-toned (below). To see entire collection CLICK HERE.

Whitecross Street Market, East London

Every Thursday and Friday a fantastic variety of exhibitors set up on Whitecross St. in East London. The food market features award winning cheeses, organic cider and tapas, vegetarian Indian food, hot sausages, home made cakes, fruit and veg, olive oils, pesto’s and a whole lot more. There's also other merchants selling a wide range of other products but we like to go there for the food.

Lanvin x Acne

Long time fans of both Acne Jeans and the House of Lanvin we were thrilled when we saw these women's denim high-tops. Part of a larger collaboration between the two companies, these will be available in November.

Madvillainy 2

Our friends at Stonesthrow Records in Los Angeles have put together an exclusive made to order Madvillainy 2 Boxset which includes the Madlib remixes of the original album on CD, a 7-inch, a cassette tape of the infamous Madvillain demo tape, t-shirt, and comic book all wrapped up in a silver box like a mask. What more can you ask for? PRE-ORDER NOW or you may not get one.

Vans x United Arrows

Speaking of Japan...Vans and United Arrows (another Japan favorite) have collaborated on some vintage looking colorways of the Vans classic authentic model. To see more CLICK HERE.

Loveless

We found this bear in the "darkside" of Japan's sewer chic multiple story shopping emporium Loveless (sorry no website) in Tokyo. It has a rather obscure entrance so you wouldn't necessarily stumble in but worth the effort if you're in the Aoyama area of Tokyo. With over 100 designers ranging from Goyard and Paco Rabanne to more forward-thinking labels like Japan Mastermind and Libertine, an amazing vintage Gucci selection, books from the 70's, and a full bar you'll be entertained for hours. And if decadent medieval sewer isn't your thing you can travel upstairs to the "sunnyside" where you can find a bright luxurious atmosphere stocked with colorful frocks and accessories. Only in Japan...

One of a kind: Greenwich, London

We've searched high and low for one of these vintage military belts and so far have not been able to find one. We spotted this very stylish woman wearing this one extremely well in Greenwich.

Time for magic

Jamie Reid, British artist and anarchist has just done a new window display for Dover Street Market in London . His work, featuring letters cut from newspaper headlines in the style of a ransom note came close to defining the image of punk rock, particularly in the UK. His best known works include the Sex Pistols album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols and the singles "Anarchy in the UK", "God Save The Queen", "Pretty Vacant" and "Holidays in the Sun".

Frock in Park Slope

We love it when we hear any news regarding our old stomping ground - the Brooklyn neighborhood Park Slope. This news is particularly exciting because Frock NYC - one of the best high-end vintage stores in NY - just opened a new retail location on 5th Ave, close to where we used to live. Owned by an editorial stylist, Frock carries clothing and accessories from the 60's to the 80's. It's not cheap but if you compare the prices to what you would be paying for this season's YSL or Valentino it's well worth a little splurge. Alternatively, if you're just visiting the big apple and not in the mood for shopping it's still well worth the trip over to Park Slope to experience it's friendly neighborhood atmosphere, many shops, bars, and restaurants and of course Prospect Park itself.

Front page news

French label Kitsune has launched and new mix CD series called Kitsune Tabloid where DJ's get to tell their personal story through music. First up is Hamburg's Digitalism who turned in a diverse mix meant to get you through the rest of the summer. The mix is packed full of tracks by their past and present favourite artists and illustrates the wide spectrum of genres that have led to and inspired their sound. Containing the likes of The B52's, The Kills, CSS, Midnight Juggernauts, The Jonzun Crew, Zombie Nation, The Human League, Shadowdancer and Spank Rock it veers from electro to soul to funk to disco and everything in-between and is guaranteed to relax and funk you up in equal measures.

Camden Passage antiques village, London

Every Wednesday and Saturday a few blocks away from Angel tube station in Islington around 200 different types of antiques and vintage dealers and traders set up shop. There's the Antiques Mall, the Pierrepont Arcade shops (make sure you visit Fat Faced Cat- it's our favorite!), the Antiques Market stalls, and a variety of other outlets. The furniture and home accessories are beautiful and they have packing and shipping all on hand. We spent the early part of the day there yesterday (it usually dies down around 2pm) and scored a great vintage badge to sew onto our favorite jacket. There were tons of really nice vintage dresses, scarves, shoes, and bags too!

Shoe architecture

These definitely aren't your jelly shoes from the 80's! Vivienne Westwood, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Alexandre Herchcovitch, and Karim Rashid have all designed variations of the iconic jelly shoe for Brazilian label Melissa. This season, they took an even more avant-garde approach by inviting renowned architect Zaha Hadid to develop a new collection. Though the juxtaposition of fashion and architecture is fascinating, we're more partial to the sensibility of the Gloria design from Melissa.

Pinkie the peanut bunny

This is a tiny bunny the size of a peanut. Is it not the cutest thing you've ever seen? It can be worn as a brooch or kept as a lucky charm. Made from felt from Japan, each bunny comes with their own angora blanket swatch and a nickel-plated safety pin. Hand crafted by Sonja Ahlers they are available on-line at Makeitawesome.

Absolute Watchmen

Written 20 years ago, Watchmen is probably the most celebrated graphic novel of all time. Zack Snyder (of '300' fame) has taken on the daunting task of bringing it to the big screen. This trailer gives us our first look at his vision of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's bleak, alternate reality. If you haven't read the graphic novel you may be a bit confused, but remember when The Matrix trailer first hit...? CLICK HERE to watch it now.

A decadent house of heels

Not sure how excited we are about the new Liberty store opening on Sloane St in London because we really love visiting the old one in the historic building on Carnaby St. However, we are eagerly anticipating the new shoe boutique opening on the 2nd floor of their legendary Carnaby St location in September. A decadent house of heels, the department will be laid out like a maze of rooms (with shoes for every occasion) and the collections will be extensive including designers such as Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Viviene Westwood, Azzedine Alaia, Miu Miu, Balenciaga, Burberry, Stella McCartney, Chloe, and Marni.

Motorcycle diaries

When we visited Vietnam we were amazed at how many motorbikes were on the streets of Saigon aka Ho Chi Minh City. Crossing any busy street in Saigon is a dangerous obstacle course -no traffic lights, stops signs or crosswalks. Yikes!

Japan's got game

We love Japanese game shows! With the breakout success of "Wipeout" and "I Survived a Japanese Game Show," U.S. airwaves are about to be deluged with a veritable tsunami of Japanese-style game shows. Our favorites...

Japanese Pac Man


Japanese Tetris

Military marvel

We can't remember the name of this store or what street it was on but if you've ever been to Berlin-Mitte you can understand why. Owned by a complete military aficionado this shop had all kinds of military products- jackets, guns, shoes, bags. We especially love this army jacket with the tiger and giraffe patches on it. We've developed an obsession for military memorabilia and managed to bring home this French military duffel bag to add to the growing compendium.

Nike SB 2009 Blazer preview

The Nike Blazer has always been one of our favorite classic trainer styles. We remember running around New York a few years ago desperately trying to find the pink Ms. Piggy Blazers in our size. Nom De Guerre had run out of them but we ended up at Stash's store NORT/Recon where they had one pair left (in our size). These 2 stores in NY are great for exclusive Nike product and you will most likely be able to find these there first.

I found it in a junk shop...

Berlin-Mitte is the first and most central borough of Berlin and has got to be one of THE BEST places for junk shops in the world. They are everywhere! Wether your looking for kitsch household stuff, a crazy pair of retro speakers (below), or just good old second hand clothing and accessories the selection is unbelievable.

A small but powerful presence

We've been wondering what the guys at Money Studies/Turntable Lab have been up to! They've just announced a new summer line of t-shirt designs featuring a collaboration with Diplo's Mad Decent record label, new styles for their small but powerful roster and a Fully Fitted RE-EDITS EP on limited editon vinyl. Available now at Turntable Lab on-line. BTW- we're still waiting for that follow up Second Cousins mix CD...