VEIL is set to release these Sparrow Feathers and necklace. Made with sterling silver, hand sculpted by Volt in Taipei, these Sparrow Feathers symbolize the brand’s motto of “Never Compromise”, just as sparrows would rather strave themselves to death than to be caged by mankind.  The charm on the necklace is actually a sparrow skull. Alot of VEIL’s accessories relate back to sparrows, and this is just one of a handful of items set to drop this autumn.

VEIL official website: www.veil.hk

Came to Taipei because VEIL participated in an exhibit currated by COOL Magazine. It wasn’t a tradeshow, as it was opened for the public. There were fellow clothing brands, celebrity performaces, Freestyle Sessions with the b-boys, the works. Lots of fanfare. It was fun for me since I got the chance to meet some old friends over the 3 days span. We just all met up at the venue, and then went out for coffee meetings all weekend long. Yup, I had alot of coffee and pizzas between those 3 days.

For VEIL, we put on display the latest items we have developed for Autumn/Winter 2011. Usually, we don’t like previewing products too early before the actual drop, but for this event, it seemed the right thing to do. The folks were happy to see our luggage collection, as well as our accessories section of the catalog. As blogged here before, our collaborative efforts with jewerly-maker VOLT continued, and we showcased some of those new items here.

It was a good environment for media and brands to mingle. A few tv stations came over to investigate how different brands will tackle this ever-changing youth market. VEIL’s Queenie was shot here for a MTV spot. Once stuff like this hits television, … you know what will happen.

Thanks to Taiwan for embracing VEIL, embracing what we are trying to do. And of course, thanks to our fellow brand-builders for supporting an outsider like VEIL in entering their market, lots of mutual respect here.

Indonesian artist, ARKIV, whom we have worked with on a number of occasions, will be opening his solo US exhibition at Toy Art Gallery in LA on Aug 5th. Not only will he be putting up quite alot of new artworks, his new figure made with adFunture, the SUMO, will also be available during this exhibition period. With Gino at Toy Art Gallery, we put together a first release of SUMO in form of a Black/Dark Gray colorway. 100 pieces exclusively made for TAG, and of course, to be sold exclusively by TAG as well. If you are still hunting for the ARKIV INSTANT figures we put out a while back, make sure you don’t let this SUMO slip your fingers this time.

Arkiv’s “Escapist” opens Friday at TAG

Toy Art Gallery is proud to present “Escapist”, a solo show from renowned Indonesian artist Arkiv Vilmansa. The exhibit will feature new painted works, sculptures, limited edition prints and a special preview release and signing of the new figure “The Sumo”.

“Over the past several years, artist Arkiv Vilmansa’s iconic character ‘Arkiv Instant’ has made the artist a household name within the lowbrow art and toy culture scene. Arkiv looks to develop his signature image, while debuting new characters and continuing to explore his unique style of combining the surreal and theatrical with playful and whimsical caricature.”

Opening reception is Friday, Aug 5th 2011 from 7pm-11pm. Arkiv will be in attendance with a live painting session. A signing session will follow on Saturday, Aug. 6th starting at 2pm.

The Show Preview will be available on Thursday, Aug. 4th. The exhibit runs from Aug. 5th to Aug. 26th, 2011.

Toy Art Gallery
737 Seward St. #1
Los Angeles, CA 90038
USA

As previously introduced, adFunture worked with G-Shock on a series of 4 figures this Summer. The series titled “Master of G” has its design concept directly linked to 4 G-Shock iconic watch models; Gulfman, Mudman, Frogman and Riseman. Each character was inspired by the various functions of each G-Shock Master of G watch models. The figures can also serve as a watch holder, designed for those G-Shock collectors who would like to display their watches at home or the office.These figures were designed and produced by adFunture Workshop for G-Shock, and were given to consumers when they buy a watch at selected G-Shock retail stores.

Continuing on with the introduction of adFunture x G-Shock “Master of G” figure series, here is model #003 code-named “DEEP SEA”. The inspiration for DEEP SEA came from G-Shock’s FROGMAN watch model. The diver watch can go as deep as 200m under water, FROGMAN now holds the World Record for its function and ability. On the DEEP SEA character, a new head sculpt was given and a pair of propellors were integrated into its legs.

As a series of 4 figures, the “Master of G” figures series is the third collaboration between adFunture and G-Shock. The first collaboration dated back to G-Shock’s 25th Anniversary back in 2008, that was when adFunture ask given the task of designing the Anniversary Watch Pack for G-Shock China.

adFunture worked together with G-Shock on a series of 4 figures this Summer. The series titled “Master of G” has its design concept directly linked to 4 G-Shock iconic watch models; Gulfman, Mudman, Frogman and Riseman. Here’s the #001 model code-named DEEP SEA based on the Gulfman watch.

VEIL released its VEIL Angry Skull Ring this week. Designed with our friend VOLT out in Taiwan, and handmade by VOLT, this .925 silver ring is only the begining of our long term program with VOLT. Only 25 pieces produced this season, the plan is to only produced that many per season to come. While we hate to use the term “limited edition”, these are still quite limited. Only 50 people can get their hands on the Angry Skull per 12 months.

This item is sold exclusively through VEIL Taipei Store and online store in PRC.
Expect to see more items from this collaboration line soon.

This week in Hong Kong, EastPak company will release a 3-colorway pack of its branded adFunture YOKAs figures. This collaboration was to tie-in EastPak’s new series of its iconic backpacks. Expect to see our YOKAs in EastPak stores if you are in HK. Exclusive to EastPak, we won’t have any to offer to our designer toy boutiques, so if you see them, grab them quickly!

Just random products I like recently.

G-Shock FROGMAN. Professional divers love this model. I just love its shape and color~

Boots by our friend Jose in Taipei. His streetwear brand B-Side works with Bridge Footwear recently on this exclusive model. Pretty cool.


OVERKILL Inc, button-down shirt. Can’t go wrong with a good skull. OVK’s quality is always above par as well.


Speaking of Taipei brands, REMIX TAIPEI worked with NEW ERA again this season on a few designs of 59Fifty. Black on black is always gold, I wear this alot this month, alot~ I’m now waiting for our shipment of New Era, quite excited about getting ours done up.


Nike Dunk Denim Pack. Just simply good looks. I’m a Dunk guy.


BAPE x New Era. I rarely buy BAPE, but I like wearing 59Fifty, and this seems like a classic design, I gave in. There was alot of talk about the new ownership of BAPE. While I’m no expert in terms of finance, I do believe that a publicly traded company won’t buy out a losing company for no good reasons or good planning. We’ll just have to wait and see how I.T plays this hand. Looking forward to it though.


Kick things up a notch, let’s go luxury with this Bottega Venta woven bangle. I’m a sucka for woven-look designs, (Nike Woven Chukka included), I like this bangle alot, the quality is there, so is the price, of course. Like I said, I’m a sucka…..

Continuing on our work with VEIL, we have started releasing items from our S/S 2011 line. We started the season off with a short series of sweatshirts and pull-over hoodies, these are great day-to-day items to have during these overlapping weathers. Titled “Cheerful Tribe”, the graphic pattern will reappear throughout this season.

I personally love the grey fabric we used. The crew wore this colorway the most ever since we got our samples, the material is quite nice. This series will drop in our VEIL Taipei Store tomorrow. Enjoy.