Michael Akira West is the
Owner and Creative Director of 686 Technical Apparel. The following are some of
his experiences inside and out of the industry across the globe. *Add Comments at Bottom of
Page!
Good style
never gets old January 31, 2013
Although one’s personal style will
evolve and adapt over a period of time, the true essence of style is something
that should come naturally.
I
love it when style is timeless.
When it comes to products, there’s a
few out there that I automatically gravitate towards.
The Lincoln Automobile Company is
one example of an iconic company that (in my mind) was the dominate force in the
auto world, back in the day.
I
can’t speak too much of what they’re doing today, but when it comes to
yesteryear, Lincoln ruled it.
The mission of the 686
RECLAIM PROJECT is to change the way you
think about "throw-away" items and realize that these discarded materials can
have another life.
Reclaim is our social
initiative to minimize our carbon footprint by utilizing minimal process of
technical garment mfg.
The halo effect of Reclaim
is that it fosters new ideas and creative cultures. All of which 686 is about.
Next week, we’re embarking
on our annual SIA and ISPO tradeshows in Denver and Munich.
We’re putting on a Reclaim
design contest which involves three up and coming amateur designers.
Check out some of the
entries and see how it all starts.
Blair is one of the chosen
designers for SIA. Good stuff.
Here’s another entry.
Sasquatch!
The Gopher.
Hand-Made.
Flavors of the world.
There’s a huge difference
of a designer who can sketch and illustrate vs. actually constructing a garment.
The ones that get invited
to the Reclaim design contest must be capable of all above.
The devil's in the details.
On the other hand...
Pow
Wow #3 January 25, 2013
The idea to do things with
talented people is to create something that’s much bigger and better than doing
it alone, ie: 1 x 1 = 10
My friend, Jasper from
Hawaii, is a prime example of what this means.
Pow Wow is his vision and over the past 3
years, has gathered a tremendous amount of energy.
Check what Pow Wow is
about: POW WOW IS A GATHERING OF CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS THAT ENGAGES WITH THE
BROADER COMMUNITY IN THE PROCESS AND CREATION OF ART.
“The beauty of art is most
commonly enjoyed during its final stage. All the blood, sweat and tears happen
behind closed doors. However, that is where the real grandeur lies. The process.
Imagine for a moment a gathering of internationally renowned artists in one
place. A place that will allow them to do what they do best: be creative. We
give them the tools, the space and the freedom to paint for one week. We make
that process open to the public, allowing them full engagement and interaction
between the artists and their audience. They witness the creativity in its
entirety and become an essential part of the artists’ process. It’s about the
breaking down of those closed doors and making art accessible. Now take a step
further and imagine transforming a whole neighborhood with art within a week.
Seeing creativity happen all around you from beginning to end and bringing
people together through the act of putting paint on surface. A POW WOW.”
Nearly 10 years ago,
Dragon x 686 got together and produced one of
the very first collaborative projects that this industry has ever seen. On the
eve of our double decade, we felt it was a great time to up the ante once again.
With the contribution of
Dragon's Director of Product, Mike Tobia and founder and CEO, Will Howard, we
used their revolutionary APX frameless Infinity Lens goggle as inspiration and
designed a collection of jackets that speaks the same language of modern and
minimalist design.
If you live in Los Angeles
and been to Dodger Stadium, you know there’s something very special about the
stadium in Chavez Ravine.
Only a few miles from the
heart of DTLA, Chavez Ravine brings a long history about the
constant changes in the city of Angels and somehow represents the opportunity of
the American way.
The story of New Balance
resonates from New England, where they were born and raised over the past 107
years.
California culture is
synonymous with skateboarding and in my opinion; Dodger Stadium is an iconic
landmark that represents this transition from the old to the new.
This is the reason why I
wanted to bring some of my friends to Dodger Stadium and introduce New Balance
Numeric.
Come inside and see some
history.
Frank’s lucky #6.
Starlight Starbright.
From Boston.
To LA.
If you’re curious to
understand more, check out the story that Lee wrote for boardistan HERE or the one from Bobby at the
Hundreds HERE.
Geek
it on January 17, 2013
The good thing about Vegas
is that it's only 2 hours from my doorstep to crazytown.
The bad thing is that it's
only 2 hours from my doorstep to crazytown.
I had some meetings at the
semiannual Consumer Electronics show (CES) in Vegas.
Oh boy, it's going to be a
long few hours here.
If you’ve never been to
CES, imagine a thousand Best Buys connected to each other, the day before
Christmas.
It's literally chaotic.
The rad thing is that
there’s so much cool stuff to check out such as 3D everything.
Here we go.
Who needs stylists when you
can have Big Brother help you out.
Check out the kitchen from
the future. This fridge will do everything except make the food for
you.
I spoke too
soon.
I love ready-made plastic
salad.
Anyone that’s connected to
the electronic world is here, including the auto industry. Check this whip
out.
White walls!
Audi brought their clean
minimal vibe to the show.
I ran into some familiar
faces from Transworld, Hypebeast, Hex, Zumiez, Beacon, and Lifeproof.
I also made some new
friends including illustrator/designer/fashionista/bun master extraordinaire,
Sophia Chang.
Check the goods.
On my way out, I stumbled
upon the good folks at Skullcandy.
Their booth was located
outside in a mega tent where they're showcasing all their upcoming projects.
Aaron is part of the
executive team and in charge of their expansion overseas.
I didn’t know Aaron way
back in his Real World days, but soon after, we’ve had
some good times during his tenure at Oakley and Dragon.
What’s happening man?
Aaron shows me some of the
new things brewing in the kitchen.
Skullcandy was the first to
market headphones to the market.
They’ve also committed to
be leaders in the space with being one of only 2 other global electronic brands
to design, develop and produce their own DRIVERS.
Warning--The end result is
something you’ve never heard before.
Something’s coming #1
Something’s coming #2
Made
here January 16, 2013
I’m a dude that enjoys the
“process” of making things.
I like the touch and feel
of putting time into the parts and getting a finished product in the
end
Matix has been around for close to 15
years and has stuck to their US manufacturing standards of always making part of
the collection in here.
Once January hits, I tell
my lady that I’m out of town until sometime in March.
In between the winter
season, sales tours, tradeshows and everything else in between, I feel like I’m
going on tour with a band.
A different city or country
each week may seem exciting, but after doing this for a long time, it starts to
hurt.
My body doesn’t seem to
recover as much as it used to.
The flip side is that it's
always fun and great to see old friends and make new ones.
This time around, I’m in
Keystone, Colorado for the world famous Zumiez 100k - Hello Keystone.
First chair up with Danny
Kass, our new director of marketing,
Brent and Austin Smith.
Droppin.
It doesn’t take long to
remember that LA is always close by - Seventh Letter represent.
Good times on the hill
today, I better get ready for the craziness happening tonight.
The 100k is an annual event
dedicated to Zumiez employees who sell over $100k worth of product per
year.
The invite only event is
truly the biggest tradeshow in the industry because every pro athlete, industry
exec, musician, personality is here (along with 1,200 kids who sold over
$100k).
It’s themed each year-I
wonder what it is this year?
Here are some more
hints.
Lots of people
everywhere.
These two are from
Bellingham, Washington are 686 fans and asked for my
autograph.
Are you sure you have the
right dude? I sit at my desk and design things.
Sell lots of product at the
store, get lots of stuff, good night.
I got
5 on it January 14, 2013
Guess where I am?
Somewhere here.
It’s cowboy country in the
mountains
For the past 5 years, I’ve
been heading to Steamboat, Colorado about this time to get my shred on with some
old friends from around the way.
Marty and Tammy have been graciously
hosting a few invited guests from the industry and the entire Zumiez buying team
for the past decade.
After some fun times
sledding at Buff Pass, Stagecoach and the mountain, the
highlight of the trip was playing dice.
YES, dice...
Jimbob from Zumiez and Gerfried from Blue Tomato are trying to figure out who’s
doubling down.
After many hours of
playing, guess who rolls home with this stack? OG freestyle shred legend, Dale
Rehberg.
Stackin'
Dale-you hold onto that
stack, while I take your Noboard outside and try and do something
stupid.
Believe the hype January 8, 2013
Everything starts with an
idea.
The difference between
something you think about vs something that comes to life can be worlds apart.
I’ve always preached to the
choir that it comes down to PEOPLE and TIMING.
With New Balance Numeric it definitely involved both of
these important points.
Product won’t be available
until July, but we’ve recently gathered a curated group of heads of retailers to
the tastemakers at the world famous Dodger Stadium
in Chavez Ravine this past week.
Check out what went down
via our friends at Hypebeast.
Girls
who like Boys January 4, 2013
Girls who like Boys and
Boys who like Girls - well sort of.
The heads at Skateboarder
Mag felt the same when they launched their recent Holiday lookbook with the help of some Girls, who in
fact like Boys featuring the Matix Hemsworth Jacket.
Whore? January 3, 2013
The freedom of speech is a
powerful thing.
However the freedom to surf
is something completely different...
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