I Art You

Lotek is a BMX clothing brand that has been turning out some extremely stylish kicks an appeal lately. The clothing line is finally available to Canadian stores through Ryder Distribution where previously fashionable Canuks had to do the mail order thing to get their Lotek Fix.

The crown jewel of their newest collection is the Lotek Palms Night Tee. The vivid contrasts and peaceful print provides a refreshing view. It is one the nicest t shirts on the market these days and for Lotek’s $19.99 price the company is practically giving them away. The same vivid contrast and subtle colors can also be found in their Lotek Night Wolf Tee, but the design on that one is not so pleasing for me, it reminds me to much of a Northern Getaway sweatshirt my mother bought be before I was too old to dress myself.

Japanese athletic shoe company ASICS’ was originally called Onitsuka Tiger, until it merged with another company in 1977. The new company was named ASICS but the Onitsuka brand has lived on as a high end retro clothing brand sold in many prosperous countries around the world. The brand offers up the perfection combination of retro styling with modern design. The brand is sold through Onitsuka boutiques at premium prices.

The Company is most famous for its shoe designs and has collaborated with many international graffiti artists for past collections. Although popular in Europe and parts of Asia the brand has yet to receive a lot of attention in North America and retains some underground alternative credibility.

The Shadow Conspiracy has since its formation been one of the great underrated clothing brands on the face of the earth. The Shadow Conspiracy is a BMX company that designs and cells bike parts as well as a fantastic clothing line.
The darker side of the Shadow Conspiracy brand is very luring, the images are thought provoking, and it is almost impossible to wear the clothing without someone asking you what brand it is and where you bought it. Which segways into another reasons why this brand is so great, it is not easy to find. If your a member of the BMX community you may be quick to disagree with that statement but the truth is that if you want to buy Shadow Conspiracy clothing the best option is hoping on a BMX or skateboard mail order site and seeing if they carry it.

A group of young adults in LA have managed to drum up some controversy and a little business over their new clothing venture. Their Crazy Robertson brand is based on John Jermyn a schizophrenic homeless man who has developed a small following by dancing on roller skates along Los Angeles Robertson Boulevard. Dressed in all black, leotards, and a visor, the tall figure is hard to miss and is beloved by most Robertson Boulevard regulars.
The clothing is sold in a boutique on the boulevard and to date every item has sold out. There are t-shirts and hoodies available with the hoodies priced at $98. Jermyn has signed a contract giving him 5% of the ventures profits.
Although people are quick to criticize the brand it has been very successful at creating publicity and has much more artistic merit then most clothing brands today. Homelessness is a major issue in the United States today, and despite its importance it is often under represented in art work. The more one reads about the Crazy Robertson the more one is inspired, live free, do what you want, regardless of how others label you. Sounds like a positive message to me, and the clothings not to bad looking either.

Bathing Ape was founded in 1993 by Tomoaki Nagao who goes by the nickname Nigo. The company produces urban fashion that continues to become ever more popular and well know around the world. There in lies the problem that the brand is now experiencing. Despite becoming ever more and more commercially successful the brand is doomed to failure, and will probably exist in relative obscurity within a few years.One of the elements that made Bathing Ape so popular in Japan was its unique “Japaness” now threatened by expansion into Hong Kong, Taipei, and New York. Where as before anyone wearing Bathing Ape was assumed to have traveled to Japan, actually found the fairly well hidden stores, and paid the exhorbent price of the clothing. Today there may be as many knock off bathing apes popping up around the world as originals. Very few people wearing Bathing Ape today actually own real Bathing Ape, making anyone that pays the ridiculously high price for the incredibly watered down brand rather foolish.
With more and more stores opening around the world and desperate expansions such as the Bape Cuts hair salon, Bape Cafe, and Bape Sounds Records combined with the abundance of fakes and the ‘clientèle’ so clueless they are unable to separate the fake from the real Bathing Ape appears doomed. It is unlikely that Baby Milo will live to become an adult.