If you’ve been following up with From The Thread, you’ll notice that Hugh from Pestle and Mortar talked about some heat in between him and a very active commenter, Sheldon Nugger.
The boys have brought him on the show to clarify on his beef with Pestle and Mortar, what he thinks of the state of KL Fashion Week, and blatant copies by local brands.
Fear Of God seems to have taken the mantle for most hyped brand from Off-White, and with great success comes another sequel for more FOG X Nike goodness. This time round, the collaboration will be for the Spring/Summer 19 campaign, focusing more heavily on two new silhouettes that have been in circulation for some time, the Nike Air Fear Of God Raid and Nike Fear Of God Moc. Let’s get into the details of the Raid first.
Largely inspired by the Nike Air Raid, Jerry Lorenzo had an immediate emotional response to the shoe. “When the kid walked in the classroom with the Air Raid, no one told me that I was supposed to like the Air Raid. I was just drawn to it, the design, the colors. It was like, oh my God, what is that?” Lorenzo recalls. “It became interconnected with all these other real emotional things that were happening at the time of the shoe.”
The Fear Of God iteration largely takes the shape and straps of the original Air Raid, but is then reimagined in the image of Fear Of God, meaning that while the shoe retains its shape, the materials and construction resemble the FOG 1s instead. The Air Fear Of God Moc is included in the collection as well, having been constructed with a Ripstop upper, midfoot strap, and heel drawstring.
A plethora of apparel options are also available, this time bearing references to basketball, including a double-hooded sweatshirt, a T-shirt, and several iterations of the shorts and pants, all emblazoned with the NBA logo on the sides.
The collection will drop on NikeLab Malaysia on Friday with prices ranging from RM 609 to RM 1135.
For more Nike releases, Yoon Ahn from AMBUSH is dropping her iteration of the Air Max 180.
Local streetwear brand Unknown Lab just launched their first full SS19 collection dubbed the Military Lab, which sees military silhouettes converted into full streetwear style.
The collection comes with a full suite of single-layer options from the likes of Utility Cargo Shorts, Flight Jacket, Hoodie and Vest. As a whole, the military portion takes part in its surface level utility aspect, while the style is still predominantly streetwear.
Key highlights of the collection include the long drawstring cargo pants a la Rick Owens, whilst the orange vest adds a little hit to the overall outfit.
The entire collection is available now at Unknown Lab’s Facebook and IG.
Heritage and uniqueness come together, as ASICS and Vivienne Westwood come together to create a capsule collection that is decidedly very different from what ASICS’ usual line is. It is, in other words, marrying both technological expertise with high fashion taste to elevate several ASICS models into designer’s domain.
5 models are chosen for this capsule, but only 2 will be released globally as of now, from the likes of the GEL-MAI™ Knit MT and GEL KAYANO™ 5 OG. Let’s start with the GEL-MAI first.
The silhouette has often been a unique looking one, mainly noting the asymmetric trail lacing mechanism and an off-set ASICS logo on the heel portion of the shoe. Now, the GEL-MAI has been given a little bit of an upgrade with the use of the MT silhouette (read: knitted, mid-sock cut) and adopting the archive Squiggle print, first used in the Pirate Autumn-Winter 1981 debut catwalk collection. The purpose of employing such contrasting colours is to accentuate the technical design features of the shoe, of which there are aplenty, and the brand has successfully pulled it off without muddling the print nor overshadowing the silhouette. No structural changes have been made to the shoe, with the exception of the knit sock as the squiggle pattern is directly integrated during sewing, instead of getting painted on for a more long-lasting effect. Vivienne Westwood’s orb logo is also embroidered on the back of the shoe.
The GEL-KAYANO™ 5 OG goes down the same path roughly, however only applying the colour schemes informed by one of the original colourways of the Vivienne Westwood archive Squiggle print. Red and orange take centre stage, donning the entirety of the upper and the midsole, popped even more with hits of blue throughout the shoe. Vivienne Westwood’s logo is also present on the back of the shoe.
On asking about why the brand chose ASICS to work together with, Andreas Kronthaler, Vivienne Westwood’s Creative Director had this to say, “ASICS are brilliant technicians – known for their expertise, they are the best in their field.
We love the look of their trainers because they are form following function – which attracted us to this collaboration. We wanted to create something real. They are not just decoration or a fashion statement- they are functional. With this collaboration we wanted to bring together both.”
The GEL-MAI™ Knit MT and GEL KAYANO™ 5 OG retail for RM 829 and RM 729 respectively and will release on the 27th of April 2019 at vivienewestwood.com, ASICS website, or at Pavilion KL exclusively.
Tarik is staying true to its motto, and with the release of its essentials, or ‘ASAS’ pack, it’s upholding its word that this is truly great quality denim for the masses. But enough talk, let’s see about its contents.
2 kinds of cuts are available, slim and straight while inspiration is drawn from its own sold-out premium denim released 2 years back in 2017, but taken back to the drawing board and to stripped to feature new elements such as the paper patch, silk-screen T (for Tarik) trademark archuate which gives a beautiful fade over time, and washed sustainably (read: no harsh chemicals) for an authentic raw colour. The results then, speak for themselves; minimalistic, yet retaining the same level of quality that Tarik is known for, with the added peace of mind that it is being made with the environment’s health in mind.
The jeans are constructed from 12.5oz raw denim, with less than 2% of elasticity stretch material, and tied off with an interlocked inseam stitching on the outseam. The Tapir presents itself on the silver button, while the jeans’ one-way
sewing with single needle stitch will also enforce the lower chain stitch of the waist. What this all means, is that the ‘ASAS’ pack ticks off all of the high-end construction without the price tag, and that’s a fact I think we can all appreciate.
The ‘ASAS’ pack costs at RM 199, as a gift to all Malaysians, that can definitely compete with some of the best that international brands have to offer. Check out the new pack at Tarik’s website.
Digital is now replacing analog, and it has been that way for a very long time as the effects become more and more apparent. Brick and mortar stores are closing, as information regarding fitting and styling all can be seen online with one Google search away without having to lift your foot outside to go and see. Everything from step 1 all the way to step 5 can be done from the comfort of your own home, and PUMA has followed this route in cater to the ever growing demands of the online market.
“The online site will function as the one-stop destination for all things PUMA as we aim to provide an interactive online shopping experience for our loyal customer base, allowing them to view and understand PUMA products better through descriptive details such as materials
and product care,” said Jerome Rouch, Senior Retail Head of PUMA Southeast Asia. “Following the launch of our e-commerce site, we look forward to appealing to different customer segments by continuously seeking opportunities to introduce exciting concepts and offerings across our online and in-store environments.”
As an incentive to shop online, customers attain free shipping if they spend over RM200 in a single purchase, and an introductory 10% discount off regular-priced items will be available as a means to encourage users to come on the site and have a look. The e-commerce platform will also feature some exclusive seasonal drops from the likes of high profile collabs and collections, so you don’t have to go to the PUMA Select stores to see what’s there.
Looking to purchase any new PUMA product? head on to PUMA.com to see more.
In the meantime, Bell & Ross have also launched their own e-commerce site.
The AMBUSH X Nike collection is one of the Swoosh’s more eccentric collections, with Yoon having strived to its maximum extend to create the perfect athleisure fit that’s actually stylish without sacrificing its performance benefits, and one of them, happens to be Yoon’s own take of the Air Max 180.
There was a particular reason why Yoon loves the silhouette so much. “The Air Max 180 is the first pair of sneakers I ever bought with my own money,” Ahn said. “I wanted it so badly, having seen it in the pages of a magazine. I actually saved up money to buy those pairs. So I just wanted to make my own version.”
Fast forward from then till now, the famed jewellery designer has had a chance to create her own Air Max 180 shoe to be included into her own capsule collection, and at first glance, doesn’t look like anything else in the market. Specifically a combination of a very sleek upper that features one zip off set slightly toward the medial side, it’s athleisure at its best. It’s practically a combination of 2 shoes into one, the Air Max 180, and an unlikely choice, the Air Zoom Flight. “When I visited the Nike archive, I saw the Glove. It looks so cozy, so comfortable from afar. I wanted to capture that feeling and fully wrap the foot,” Yoon recalls.
A simple, no nonsense design that’s both comfort proven, yet stylish at the same time.
The AMBUSH X Nike Air Max 180 High drops this Friday, 26th April for an approximate price of RM 830.
Conceptual albums like Bombay Bicycle Club’s So Long See You Tomorrow and Spooky Wet Dreams’ Koleksi Dendangan Untuk Masa Hadapan that incorporate a form of consistency from the visuals, the tracks and the execution of the campaign as a whole are diamonds buried deep in the sand in our local music scene. But as analogous is it seems, it is possible to find a diamond after digging through piles and piles of earth, often coming out with music that’s not only-driven by a rock solid concept, but also extremely articulate, critical, and polished to a gleaming shine. LUST’s full-length album, ‘Tekesima’ was released 2 weeks ago, and it is nothing short of a gripping work of art.
Basically an elaborate introspection of one’s denial towards the end of one’s youth period, ‘Tekesima’ finds itself revolving around the era of globalisation – a world in which the usage of social media has become so integral to our lives, so much so that life is really starting to viscerally emulate that one Black Mirror episode (Nosedive, if you remember).
But most importantly, who are the guys behind LUST? And how come they were able to come up with something so nonchalantly compelling?
An experimental pop group from Kuala Lumpur is no stranger to the scene – in fact far from it. Azfar Abu Bakar, Faris Khairi and Anaqi Jamalludin have been around for awhile even before LUST was formed back in 2013, considering their involvement with other bands previously and concurrently. “I was the stranger in the band. Faris, Anaqi and our ex-drummer Nazrin – they all knew each other and we were all from different bands and at that point we were unsatisfied with our bands’ output so that’s why we formed LUST – out of our frustrations. So we came together with the goal to make music that we all love together.” Azfar said.
“We didn’t really play that many covers, we kinda knew that we wanted to make our own music. After the first session we straight away went to songwriting. We hung out at Azfar’s house, we call it ‘the sanctuary’. Faris said. “We just wanted to make LUST music right away”. Given that fact then, it’s no surprise that other than their debut album ‘Tekesima’, their EP, ‘chingichanga’ that was out in 2016 is very much refined, despite being extremely underrated, for a debut release.
LUST as a whole, and subsequently ‘chingichanga’ and ‘Tekesima’, were therefore born out of a shared vision, pent-up frustrations, and a common goal. The merge of personalities and differing influences are probably the reason why LUST was never meant to exist in passing.
The sound they bring is a lovechild between Animal Collective, Vampire Weekend’s debut era, and Matt & Kim without synthesisers. “The Strokes connected us. We almost always referenced The Strokes, and even more so with ‘Tekesima’. But I think moving forward with ‘Tekesima’, our taste expanded. I remembered Faris was listening to a lot of Animal Collective and Panda Bear, so when he was into it he brought a whole new style of sound to the band, I think that was another common ground when it comes to making ‘Tekesima’.” With an emphasis on layers in it’s song composition and vocal dynamics, they are also a reminiscent of Arcade Fire but with more touch of the DIY element.
Considering the fact that they are individually skillful and talented, also with Azfar having his own project ‘Orang’ and Faris with ‘krooketroupe’, it is a wonder on how the band dynamics work and how they handle differences. “I don’t remember having such a harsh moment or macam gaduh. There are of course critical fixes but we always find a way to reach a common ground that pleases everyone. For the most part, we do have a lot of overlaps in terms of how we write songs, which I think, if you don’t have that you wouldn’t be like a band anymore.” Having differences isn’t inherently a bad thing, because the merging of differences in itself becomes a fresh touch to the identity of the band.
When asked about the process of creating ‘Tekesima’, it was never about rushing to have new stuff out – instead it was more about having the drive to craft new materials which stemmed from the fatigue of touring and playing the same songs over and over again. “Some of the songs in the new album – we wrote them during our tour in 2016 after we released the EP, like He Said She Said, Like The Back of A Spoon, it was kinda drafty already. But then after we finished our tour and we got kinda tired after playing a lot of shows, so we started to write more songs and I feel like the album came together during that period – like around 2017.” Faris explained.
‘Tekesima’ holds a central voice that falls in between introspection and criticism. It is an ode to the end of one’s youthful days filled with hope, recklessness, and wasted time. It’s a white flag raised to the age of modernity and mundanity. It feels like a sudden realisation of the need to self-analyse and change your ways but also be critical about how the world works in ways that is out of our control. ‘Tekesima,’ which in BM means extremely amazed or stunned to the point of losing one’s mind is also self-explanatory in the sense that the album title depicts some sort of element of surprise that has become a vital thing when it comes to everything these days to compensate for the erosion of passion and the prevalence of distractions. But on the other hand, it is also a commentary on how there is a lot of shock value within the digital entertainment – and how we are slowly becoming desensitized consumers.
However, the writing wasn’t wholly intentional in staying true to the theme. “I don’t think we all wrote the songs like ‘oh aku nak buat lagu ni pasal Tekesima’. At the end of the day it’s more like a nice coincidence, like when we look back at our songs and our content, it all relates back to this central theme of us being in our late 20s just being kinda like ‘wei shit we can’t act like fucking teenagers anymore’. I can imagine parents go ‘apa ni main gig malam malam’. So all of that, you know, the songs relate to that, it all goes back to the central theme.” Azfar said when asked about the central theme of the album. “Reaching 30, still playing in a band, I’m not sure if my mom is proud of me, I think I should be working at an office.” Faris added.
The lyrics in this album are cryptic at most, but that only means it could be interpreted in whatever way the listener likes. It sort of allows the listener to insert in whatever context they feel is relevant to the songs. It also feels like having multiple voices of reason within a single narrative, and throughout the album they managed to maintain that particular coherence within the writing. Even though the tracks may be unconventionally styled in the sense that they don’t really follow the normal pop song-arrangement, they are no less enthralling and catchy.
The prelude ‘For U I Will’ includes a short conversation in the beginning, which sounds very much like a first date-kind of exchange – a rather simple replacement of the typical voicemail recordings. Seamlessly followed by ‘He Said She Said’, one of the earlier tracks of ‘Tekesima’ ever written. Keeping up the momentum from the prelude, it is more like an anthem filled with pent-up rage — ‘Down to the pit we go, no!’. ‘Desire’ feels very much like a paradox, in the sense that LUST by definition is heavily tied to wanting to follow your own desire. So the line ‘throw another brick at your desire’ gives off that self-deprecation energy, blaming our own self for easily being sucked into the whirlpool of diversions that lure is away from what we’re meant to focus on.
‘U I Adore’ features Malaysian indie sweethearts Shuhusna of Shuuna and singer-songwriter Sasha Ningkan, which undeniably adds grace onto the track. The song also feels like a change in sound for LUST as it’s more laid back and it’s a more story-like song with less conflicting lines of thought. You could also hear a reminiscent of Faris’ solo project, krooketroupe in the song. ‘21st Century Spy’ channels strong ‘You Only Live Once’ by The Strokes vibes; calmly rebellious and unapologetic while at it. ‘Good To Know’ just feels like the peak of the consistency they carry throughout the album, it is easily that one song that’s the most apt in describing the album as a whole.
Azfar’s personal favourite is the 11th track of the album, Introspektiv. “I like the bounciness of the song. If people listened to ‘chingichanga’ I don’t think they would expect anything like Introspektiv from us.” Faris on the other hand, favours Tekesima the most. “Mine is Tekesima, because I feel like it’s something that is way beyond what we normally do as a band. I had that idea from Cocteau Twins actually, I wanted it to be atmospheric with one swing guitar rather than make it sound like a rock band kinda thing, so it’s more of the concept of layers.”
What is extremely intriguing about this record and LUST in essence, is the element of anonymity it possesses. If listeners never looked deeper into the band, LUST would remain as a modern mystery to them. Even after about 6 years of being around, their social media presence hasn’t been anything vigorous – no pictures of band members or band performances, aside from their recent ‘Tekesima’ campaign. But despite that, they have managed to maintain a certain following. “For me I kinda like being anonymous, like I prefer the entity of the band to shine rather than the people behind it. I feel like we’re very introverted, we can’t be like full-on rockstars, have a photoshoot and wear all black.” Faris explained when asked if the sense of anonymity was ever intentional. “But also I think, naturally us as people, us as social media users, we’re not very out there. It’s not intentional as in like ‘oh let’s make it all mysterious’. It’s jus like, that’s how we are as people.” Azfar added.
LUST has set a high standard for the local independent scene with the thorough execution of ‘Tekesima’. They have struck a great balance between fleshing out the concept they had in mind to the fullest and also ensuring the quality in production of the tracks. The mature lyricism, the unconventionality in the songwriting, and the consistency of the album have also managed to strengthen the character of the album.
anthony fantano listens to LUST?! pic.twitter.com/Lbhw3N4OIZ
— cool_carrot123 (@cool_carrot123) April 4, 2019
Maybe with ‘Tekesima’, it is a stepping stone towards the acceptance and the celebration of obscurity. But all in all and most importantly, it serves as a reminder of what the local industry is capable of. The fact that LUST was recognised by Anthony Fantano of The Needle Drop, it is no surprise that they are polished and ready for the international market — and we are here to proudly witness it.
Many may or may not know this, but Converse’s All-Star silhouettes are actually rooted very, very deeply into basketball, possibly being the only silhouette that has not had any significant changes to its design for a better part of a 100 years. Of course, as time passes us by, more and more newer, more technologically advanced models quickly surpassed it, from the likes of the Nike Adapt BB, LeBron 16s, PG3s, KD5s, Under Armour Steph Curry 6s, even the Air Jordan 1, but the All-Star laid the humble foundation to what a basketball shoe looks like, and as such, has persevered to this day as a global icon amongst all other shoes.
But times have changed, and in the increasingly stiff nature of the game, it’s about time that some new tech gets updated, and it has brought us to this, the Converse All-Star Pro BB, a silhouette that mixes the brand’s rich history with Nike’s treasure trove of tech innovations into a beautifully sweet brownie mix of heritage and future.
Eric Avar is largely responsible for the All-Star Pro BB’s design, having had a major hand at designing Kobe Bryant’s signature line of footwear, which brings some serious technical know how into the All-Star Pro. Headliners include a Quadfit mesh upper taken directly from Nike’s football division, paired to a React midsole for soft, responsive cushioning that’s durable. Of course, during intense battles on the hardwood, the React sole will wear out, so it’s been given a low-slung cupsole that increases traction while protecting the form of the React foam. A Converse chevron logo makes an appearance on the lateral side of the shoe while a tonal Chuck Taylor All-Star patch is present on the medial side.
The Converse All-Star Pro BB retails at around USD 140, or around RM 585 for a pair. It also looks most likely to be a GR release, so there won’t be a case of wanting for resell. For the serious fan, this is a sure try out. Take a look at the pictures in-depth and tell us what you think in the comments below.
20 years in the industry, slowly charting his course as a young fledgling rapper all the way to one of the all-time Malaysian greats.
We take it all the way back to how Ahmad bin Abdul Rahman was enamoured with East Coast rapping, the origin of the name Altimet, and his own personal ethos when it comes to approaching challenges, following to his biggest mic drop yet, why he’s done entertaining the crowd, and not a single song more.