Coat of Arms - Street Wear Culture

Brian Procell and Naghman Chaudry’s Coat of Arms, opened May 4th, and aims to be the premier location for high end fitted caps in New York. The 400 square foot retail space is brought to life by 70’s vintage flocked demask wallpaper, Ralph Lauren Studio Purple paint and mahogany shelving with brass accents. The store plans to carry its own brand of custom fitted caps as well as a mix of street wear and fashion brands such as WESC, Eriffs, Secret Destiny, Evisu, Freemont and Subscript. In addition they will stock 80’s deadstock Starter, The North Face, and Obermeyer jackets and a selection of collectible toys. As well, they will also soon be acquiring some extensive vintage collections of Polo Sport USA.

While we are seeing a proliferation of stores and companies with similar ideas (especially in the fitted cap market) that seem to be competing for the same clientele there obviously seems to be a market for this as despite constant closures and fierce competition many companies continue to thrive in an already cluttered market. Partially buoyed by hip-hop/sneakerhead culture and partially buoyed by Japanese street culture obsession it seems as if these stores will continue to exist until the next big cultural wave comes. However, in some respects it seems like these stores might be around to stay for a long while yet as fitted hats are blowing up, as can be witnessed by the meteoric rise of the now ubiquitous New Era fitted cap which is now present in not just hip-hop culture, but skate culture, and other youth cultures. As well, with the cultural cross-overs and hybridizations, such as hip-hop/skate (look to Lupe Fiasco, Pharell, etc. or even at many young hip-hop kids skating around Manhattan) many staples and trademarks of one culture are spreading to the other and brands from one culture are collaborating with the other such as the DC/New Era collaborations. On the other hand the turn to the 80s and 90s in sneakerhead culture is keeping demand for classic deadstock high as Nike and other companies continue to release kicks with colorways one can only describe as reminiscent or definitive of eras past. Come on, I dare you, just try finding some gear released this season to go with those hot pink and neon yellow Air Max’s you just copped.

COAT OF ARMS
43 Clinton St (Between Stanton & Rivington)
New York, NY
Hours: 11am - 8pm, 7 days a week

Optimus Prime Voice Changer Mask

It’s really a shame, but even if my current situation gets better, I think I’m destined to be broke. Every time you think you’ve seen or bought the dopest thing you just have to have, the next thing comes out. Right now, my current obsession is the Optimus Prime Voice Changer helmet. The design is from the new Michael Bay movie which means its 10 times “slicker” than the cartoon (not to upset any purists), but everyone knows slicker doesn’t necessarily mean better and either way, simply put, the helmet is badass.

As sketch as I must have looked wandering around Times Square’s Toys ‘R’ Us trying to find this helmet and the Optimash Prime Mister Potato Head (see above post) I really couldn’t care less because this thing is hot to death. With a demo, on and off mode and 3 buttons, one for the transformation sound, one that issues one of 5 phrases such as “The DECEPTICONS must be stopped” and “AUTOBOTS…roll out!” as well as the kicker, a button that makes your voice sound like OPTIMUS PRIME’s radness is bound to ensue. As much as I hate biting and people rolling out in the same thing I’ve got to say I can only look forward to the day when I see a posse of people rolling down the street in Optimus Prime helmets.

http://www.hasbro.com/default.cfm?page=browse&product_id=19455

Facebook vs MySpace - The Social Networking Showdown

I’m probably overstating this, but personal experience, compounded by a recent adweek article has me asking, is MySpace going to go the way of friendster? While I’m still a members of all 3 sites and MySpace is the site I and most others are primarily using, it seems as if some of the features which made MySpace so much friendlier and more desirable than friendster, and which basically led to a mass exodus from friendster are falling victim to the corporate behemoth of NewsCorp. Facebook’s clean, uncluttered interface seems to exude the exact opposite of NewsCorp’s ringtone offering, adpacked MySpace pages.

In an age where the user has over and over shown himself to be king MySpace’s moves like the blocking of the popular Photobucket application, which they later bought, are protectionist and profit centric. While MySpace delivers a purely pay to play stance, Facebook is keeping both advertisers and users happy through being more open to and actually inviting developers and advertisers to build applications relevant and useful to their users. This open environment full of non-invasive, seamlessly integrated, user appropriate content ensures not only viral spreading of such applications, but constant innovation in them, and by that constant relevance.

www.facebook.com
www.myspace.com
http://www.adweek.com/aw/magazine/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003593201

Transformers Marketing - Optimash Prime

Alright, besides obviously getting the idea from the picture, you can see why this is a must have. All I can say is how masterfully exploitative of Hasbro, combining 2 of our most loved childhood memories into an explosive nostalgia fest. They don’t stop there either, tugging on my camp sensitive heartstrings with the following amazing copy…

The wacky potato is up to his usual antics, this time disguised as the fearless AUTOBOTS leader! He and his faction of taters are battling the evil DECEPTICONS. Starchy situations call for a quick change – from truck to robot! No ordinary fries, these are POTATOES IN DISGUISE!

Mix and match all the pieces to create all sorts of wacky looks! Potato body comes with mix and match OPTIMASH PRIME and potato parts.

Remember, you don’t have to play with it. There is no reason anyone has to catch you sitting on the floor surrounded by Potato Head parts and PlayDoh sobbing about how you didn’t have toys to play with when you were little. On the other hand, there is no reason to keep it in a pristinely preserved box high up on a shelf a la The 40 Year Old Virgin. While I’m still trying to figure out the happy medium for its place in my life run out and get one and maybe you can give me a bit of advice about how it might best work for me.

Optimash Prime
http://www.hasbro.com/default.cfm?page=ps_results&product_id=19670

Peter Cullen IS Optimus Prime

The power of the consumer or maybe this time the fanboy once again shows itself in casting choices for the new Transformers movie. No, I’m not talking legions of Holes fans rooting for Shia LeBouf or a grassroots college movement pushing for a leading role for FHM’s 100 Sexiest Women in the World hottie, Megan Fox, but a whole different sort of casting…that of the voice of Optimus Prime. While Megatron’s voice acting comes courtesy of all around Hollywood big-time bad guy Hugo Weaving of Matrix fame, Transformers cartoon fans wouldn’t stand for Michael Bay’s likely Hollywoodization of Optimus Prime.

In what I think is a pretty amazing move, and a testament to fan power, legions of Transformers fans rallied for Peter Cullen, the original voice of Optimus Prime, since Transformers was only a twinkle in Michael Bay and Spielberg’s eyes. This legendary voice actor has touched all of us 80s kids, voicing K.A.R.R. in Knight Rider, as well as several G.I. Joe characters. In addition, Cullen also served as narrator for Voltron and voiced several characters in GoBots a series I remember little about except for the fact that the one toy I had from the series was a crappy robot named Nugget who could turn into a gold nugget. While I suppose that’s what you get when your mom shops for toys at Odd Job that’s a whole different story. Anyhow, kudos to fanpower, Peter Cullen, a legend in my book, and the power of nostalgia in general. Look for Transformers in theatres everywhere July 3rd.

www.transformersmovie.com

Coat of Arms

Brian Procell and Naghman Chaudry’s Coat of Arms, which opened May 4th, and aims to be the premier location for high end fitted caps in New York is looking pretty damn good. The 400 square foot retail space is brought to life by 70’s vintage flocked demask wallpaper, Ralph Lauren Studio Purple paint and mahogany shelving with brass accents. Stepping into the finished store after watching it literally being built from the ground up was nothing short of amazing. What originally was literally a dusty ass, raw all white space has become nothing short of a template for a high-end end urban menswear boutique.

The store plans to carry its own brand of custom fitted caps as well as a mix of street wear and fashion brands such as WESC, Eriffs, Secret Destiny, Evisu, Freemont and Subscript. In addition they will stock 80’s deadstock Starter, The North Face, and Obermeyer jackets and a selection of collectible toys. As well, they will also soon be acquiring some extensive vintage collections of Polo Sport USA. If you haven’t checked this store out yet, put it on your to do list and go holler at Brian or Naghman next time you’re stomping around the LES.

COAT OF ARMS
43 Clinton St (Between Stanton & Rivington)
New York, NY
Hours: 11am - 8pm, 7 days a week

More information can be found at
www.coatofarms.com

Coat of Arms Opening

This past Friday my boy, Brian Procell, feted the opening of his and partner Naghman Chaudry, Subscript founder and Triple Five Soul designer’s new store, Coat of Arms.

It started off with a champagne reception for press and industry from 7-9pm at the store then the afterparty kicked off down the block at 9pm at BARAMUNDI. The event was sponsored by WORSHIP WORTHY, KID ROBOT, TOKION, SINGHA BEER, KANGOL, KETEL ONE VODKA and STRICTLY FITTEDS and if this doesn’t give you any idea let me tell you, it was super hot. Unfortunately this extended to the temperature at the afterparty and I had to bounce after a while due to loss of a dangerous amount of body fluids.