Asian/Australisian Labels

[Guest]

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 Singapore 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

[cocaine]

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

[sr20det]

i think it has to do with where you're geographically located. region plays a big part to how you integrate hip hop into your culture/lifestyle. someone who listens to hip hop and dresses "hip hop" in london will obviously differ from someone in los angeles. this applies to all elements of hip hop, not just fashion.

take for example, the DMC chapionships. when you listen to a country like italy perform vs usa you're like HUH? but that's just how they perceive hip hop over there. you can't really say what is better or not, it's all preference.

but there's an interesting point to note, hip hop did ORIGINATE in america. so it's only fair to say that's where everyone else is emulating the styles from, boring or not.

[kissfromme]

www.fleshimp.com - singapore

[raijin]

im generally bored with all the big american and japanese streetwear companies..

taps,supreme,alife, etc.

thier not really putting out anything great or original..

[cocaine]

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

[Dolo]

i didn't really see anything all that fresh or different on the two sites you posted nor from flesh imp. all three looked kinda "copy copy paste" like you mentioned. Maybe in person they look different.. but outside of maybe two designs from Instant Karma it was all kinda "eh" in general.

For example: Money Shot not only did an Apple logo shirt but a Don King shirt... two images which have been done to death. But on top of that flipped yet another NBA logo based design, except this time Jerry West is replaced by an Uzi. How is that really all that fresh or different?? And not to just single out Money Shot but the "Label Whore" shirt from Instant Karma for example (among a slew of the others). That's fresh and exciting?? That really all that different from the shirts that say "Bitch" in rhinestones or some Juicy Couture shirts? It's barley a step up from the "I tease boys" tees. Then some of the other tees look very very very Geoff McFetridge and Ryan McGuinness esque. I like both artists... but emulating them isn't fresh or exciting. To be fair I though the dead bird and Brocolli designs were aight.

I'm sure there are some small labels out in Asia/Australia flipping some amazing stuff that hasn't gotten much shine as of yet. But the two you just chose really poorly illustrate your point.

sorry man.

Edited by Dolo on Sep 19, 2004 at 08:28 PM

[cocaine]

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

[Dolo]

i'm not trying to pick a fight... seriously. I got into fights, but i didn't pick them

I just think some of the satire and wit you're seeing has actually already been done by other brands way back when. Maybe i'm not really getting what you mean when you call something cut and paste? give me an example.

If you like 'em, rock em with pride, Peace to you.

Edited by Dolo on Sep 20, 2004 at 07:16 AM

[fortuity]

a local lurker speaks out:

i think i sorta know what coke means. perhaps he means cut and paste with the "do what everyone is doing" mentality? no one's pushing boundaries. i reside in singapore too and what do i see from these supposedly underground brands like supreme, bape, zoo york..etc? it's either some teeny senseless graphic or just a word (e.g)"supreme" across the chest and it costs you $100over buckeroos. and the shop that sells it is in some icky corner in a worn out shopping mall. do i hear the word - low rental? hello. with prize idiots clamouring for a bit of what the US of A is churning out, any idiot will know that they (both retailers and manufacturers) are surely laughing their way to the bank well done. i don't quite call that underground, it's just MNCs with a twist. and i dont see any artistic merit i have to pay to anyone.

or mabbe it's the cut and paste with the idea of parodying something else. but i guess someone forgot to inform that there is a POINT TO PARODY. i have seen some brands that parody perhaps for the sake of COPYING some other big brand's/ some pop culture icon's nice or recognizable graphics. that is just sad.

been thru a bit of instant karma. to be fair, instant karma at the very least has some interesting designs that are interesting to interpret. so far, from what i've seen, it's satire does not seem to copy or borrow wholesale. i also don't see any irritating meaningless graphics or one-worders. it seems that they are not any big or/and underground brand so maybe they have to work hard for their moolah! haha! here's hoping they don't sell out anytime soon!

as for moneyshot, the label is not readily available here and its site was down when i tried accessing it.

just an average joe with my 2 cents worth. don't bite me. please.

[Kofi]

The thing is there are no original ideas, just original interpretations of them.

To some extent I do agree with the previous post. Even within the "underground" there are trends which influence designers. The only thing that allows some of the brands to maintain their underground status is content and the fact that they might not have the extensive distribution of brands like diesel for instance. But at some point we all borrow and steal other ideas and try to reinterpret them. And there are many underground brand which have gone beyond (ie. Triple five Soul).

In the end it's all branding and capitalism and the only thing that separates one brand from the other is opportunity and access. US based brands (especially NY ones) have the luxury of being an easier sell to the world market and that's just the truth. But I still think there is still room for other brands to get a piece of the pie. It'll just take more work and some serious pr.

......but I digress

PS check out my line http://www.annansi.com

______________________________

Making Africa Pop!!!

www. annansi.com

[Guest]

I agree with you folks to a certain extent.

What i mean but cut and paste can be examined in perhaps 2 levels.

Lets look at the macro picture:

Here what i am going on about is the ideology and the conceptualisation of the label. Cut and Paste would be totally lifting another person's idea, taken out of its context and putting it into a situation of farcical proportions.

Case in point: Flesh imp in singapore as someone mentioned as a good label to highlight. The thing is these people claim to be NYC hip hop / street. Offering to bring a bit of hip hop into the singapore streets. That's to sum up their stuff. Thing is there are no hoods, no NYC style in singapore. Taken out of context, it's just doesnt work. And thats understating it.

Therefore, It's blatant cut and paste.

The second level is perhaps the specifics (which dolo and fortituy perhaps concentrated on):

These are "cut & paste" on a individual design level. This perhaps is harder to define. As Kofi stated, nothing is truly original. That much i agree on. However, i believe that doing the same thing over and over again is truly unnecessary and in a sense exploting the consumer.

Case in point: Bathing Ape. While i understand the logo is that monkey, i don't appreciate a different color tee with the same logos all the place. And getting glorified for it. I don't get it. To me, its cut and paste.

The labels that i mentioned tho:

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)

Yes i'm plugging them mad. But they deserve a second look.

[cocaine]

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.