cocaine

as in i rather not say right now

baladoongdoong, thanks for the advice.

Been to Camden and Carnaby before and their stuff, like the labels you mention, are largely in house. Come to think of it, london doesnt have shops that do the whole collection of indie labels thing. (which is the point of my thread i guess. heh)

As for the label, its still a work in progress i guess.

Hey guys and gals,

I'll be heading towards london and stockholm in a few days and i was wondering if any of you knowledgable kind souls know of you any indie cool shops which stock up different funky fashion/tee shirt labels from all over.

I personally have a label back home in singapore and wish to bring my stuff over to Europe. Thanks buckets for the help and advice.

prata circle it is!

This is groovy!

So how do we folks keep in contact for any prata sessions?

While i applaud your efforts and largely agree there is a new dawn of creativity your post suggests, saying surrender and asylum are interesting is so wrong on so many levels.

Again, my little soliloquy above has explained my angst.

Hey there people,

I'm Singaporean and this is going to be interesting.

First off, Dear Kiteless,

2 words - Open your eyes. Your notion of "low-brow, bland and lacking of substance" is perhaps the worst stereotype that this city suffers ever so often. While I do not proclaim Singapore to be an indie music and fashion poseur, it does have its charm. The trick is finding the nuggets of brilliance.

Have you tried the little alleys of Geylang - with red light alleys that will put Amsterdam to shame? Or the food at Whampoa market - where the variety and selection will overwhelm even the staunchest food critic?

What about fashion and "art" you ask? Alrighty Let's pose. Pay attention Obsession.

"What culture? We have none here."

Do you even fathom to comprehend the layers attached to the big word you use?

Culture. An easy excuse to add everything you deem cool.

So what's culture to you?

Boutiques like Club 21, blackjack, venue and asylum that carry way cool hip non-singaporean brands? or labels comme des garcons and issae miyake?

How utterly singaporean.

"It's a society busy obsessing with consuming brand"

The irony is that Kiteless' comment is very relevant in describing the exact mentality you condemn but seem to possess, Obsession.

While you name drop at every turn to total coolness, the fact is that you consume the very imperialistic "non-culture" that you seemingly vehemently despise. What is cool and "art" to you mate is unfortunately non-singaporean and merely labels, MNCs under the guise of “cool†and “indieâ€. But you proclaim (like those shameless boutiques) that you folks are at the forefront of fashion and god forbid, art.

And that is exactly the problem ain't it? It's poseurs like you that make me sick in the stomach. Stop expounding the virtues of some foreign label and look inside for once.

There are cool joints (as opposed to your impression, Kiteless)

There are folks doing their own thing and struggling at their craft because our very own Singaporean colonial imperialists insist that they are not "hip" or without "culture".

Like you mentioned Black Bettie, there are labels that are at the forefront. They may not necessarily be recognized as hip or cool but at least they do not sell out.

Sunny Ang, Hooked, Instant Karma, the folks at BluePrint all create their own shit. They are but the tip of the iceberg.

It's not about the lack of "culture" mind you; it's the pathetic mindsets of individuals that cause tragic stagnation in progress because of the worship to established "indie" (sure, one is indie with outlets around the world) labels.

So before you finger point and start chanting big words like "no culture", open your eyes and as cliché and trite as it may sound, open your mind. Even if its inwards.

Btw, if u guys ever drop by, we can discuss this in detail over a beer.

Edited by cocaine on Aug 29, 2005 at 02:23 AM

could try a few of these (sides threadless)

http://www.littlepaperplanes.com

http://www.instantkarmaonline.com

Money Shot in NZ http://www.moneyshot.co.nz

Bounty Hunter http://www.bountyhunterinc.com

Instant Karma in Singapore http://www.instantkarmaonline.com

Hooked in Singapore http://www.hookedlcothing.com

Greyhound in Thailand.

love these labels

bargain prices will get u predominantly dodgy china/thai wears.

Still u could check out the heeren for great local labels here. labels like forskin, instant karma, blueprint... all good stuff.

sneakers wise try leftfoot in far east. Anything else would be slightly dodgy.

I read this particular forum with great amusement.

First off, Fortuity, i would personally reckon that dickhead would never judge a label based on their english prowess (or the lack of it) for he/she is lacking in that ability himself/herself.

Having said that, with a nick like dickhead, we would definately know who we are facing with, i.e. a dickhead. (duh.)

Back to the argument at hand.

As opposed to loads of zombie sheep who go from place to place whoring to big labels simply because they are big labels, i would like to think of myself as someone who could recognize talent in clothing design and not blindly worship.

Dickhead, The thing is i personally think that Fortuity is not being defensive or trying to come to the rescue of a very average label to be honest. You accuse Radioactive of posing (which i don't disagree) but you are guilty of that very same act.

You can criticize away at what Radioactive and you know what they say... everyone's a critic. The thing is what's the point of slamming every point when you do not offer anything positive to back your argument. Where is the alternatives then? What is not posing? which label does not subscribe to consumerist values? Which labels are 'decent', in your words? What is not "horsehit?" PRAY TELL?

Fortuity asked and i'm asking you. It seems all you do is talk in circles (of utter pointless rheotoric) but you never did once offer a proper alternative.

You know what they say about empty vassels mate?

Does anyone sense gusts of hot air?

So stop being like your nick and take a chill pill.

And i would really wanna know what brands you fancy. if any at all. Drop the names mate. Show the world what a non-follower , trendsetter you are. Shocking.

damn.

typed up a whole lot and message did not appear.

ARGH.

anyhoos, my meaning of cut n paste could be divided macro and more specific.

Macro is perhaps the ideology and conceptualisation. flesh imp falls into this category. They just remove the notion of NYC hip hop/street culture and transport it out of context in Singapore which simply does not work and is highly unoriginal.

while the specifics is the individual designs per se. BAPE is an example. Same logo different pieces. I don't belive they bring anything original to the table.

Argh, too lazy and frustrated to type everything out again.

anyhoos, i'll just shamelessly plug these labels again cause they truly deserve a 2nd look

greyhound (thailand)

instant karma (singapore)- http://www.instantkarmaonline.com

money shot (new zealand) - http://www.moneyshot.co.nz

gorillas (thailand)

zedd is dead (singapore)

project shop (singapore)

gun (thailand)

sigh. apologies one and all.

allo dolo

Maybe your amazing differs from my amazing. Thing is i like my get-ups intelligent, satarical and not cut and paste. I'm no street kid and i don't profess to be. Its satire mate.

And its not the designs PER SE that appeals to me. Its their conceptualisation. What they stand for and where they are coming from. Not everyone is street/skater/from da hood and all that b.s. Like i mentioned in a previous post, hip hop/street culture away from the americas is just not the same and many labels don't get that. What i want is a unique take AWAY from the norm- thats where i'm coming from.

And personally i don't like the americanisation of the tee shirt culture.

And yes it is indeed different with the real products.

From all your previous posts, it seems that u like picking fights so i'm taking a step back. And also, I'm not the sort to trainspot.

All i'm trying to say is these labels out there do stuff differently from the MNCs that most folks are besotted with.

Agree to disagree then.

Edited by cocaine on Sep 19, 2004 at 08:56 PM

Edited by cocaine on Sep 19, 2004 at 08:57 PM

sr20, Raijin: my point exactly. Adaptation is one thing but to copy wholesale sans context will just degenerate the original. Which is why i claim the MNCs (supremes, bapes etc etc) all have just become cold faceless companies without a hint of originality watsoever. Its rubbish. And many people are still their slaves which saddens me.

kiss: i don't think fleshimp is any good. in fact, although they are local (singaporean), i think they have no originality and like i mentioned above, suffer the same problem with the MNCs. Its copy copy paste paste. What is the bloody point?

found some websites of the labels i mentioned. These people are actually FRESH and GOOD which is rare in the aforementioned names above.

instant karma - http://www.instantkarmaonline.com

money shot - http://www.moneyshot.co.nz

Edited by cocaine on Sep 19, 2004 at 07:07 PM

I've been lurking for a while now and to be perfectly honest, i don't get the street hip-hop culture away from the Americas. That is, the supremes, x-larges etc etc don't do squat for me. To a large extent, i feel its largely a fad especially in the places i've been.

Which brings me to the main point of my post. I've been shuttling to and fro from Australia, NZ, Thailand and Singpore and i've been noticing a rise in the designers in these regions which will probably put many established american/western designers to shame.

The tragic thing is that many of us (yes i am guilty of it too) have been so enamoured with the "big brands" and the established labels that we overlook these labels that have been pumping out fresh perspectives constantly- which is a torrid shame. My point is, a large majority of us consumers have become label whores/zombies and it has dawned upon me that this street "subculture" has been going to the dogs and we don't even notice it.

These new designers however seem to inject a sense of awareness and a certain sense of intelligent aesthetic into what they are doing. I.E they are not PURELY for the bling bling but instead are passionate about their work (which i feel is lacking in many a big brand). And its a real disgrace not to notice them and award them the publicity they deserve.

These are just off the top of my head (i'm sure there are many others we guys can come up with) but here are some of these fine folk i'm been going on about:

greyhound (thailand)

instant karma (singapore)

money shot (new zealand)

gorillas (thailand)

zedd is dead (singapore)

project shop (singapore)

gun (thailand)

Like i said, these labels are but the tip of the iceberg.

I Don't mean to offend folks who dig the main names but i'm just wondering if the alternatives are much better.

cheers