London – I was in London for a short trip, just in-n-out, but always a pleasure to be in that city!

Didn’t have much time, but of course checked out some stores and had time for a stroll alongside the Thames.

The lovely Denise being my guide for the day… Big thanks for that!

We also went to the TATE Modern to see the Gerhard Richter exhibition which was pretty impressive and is a definite must-see when you’re in town.

In the evening we went to see my friend Royston, who I haven’t seen for years! Met this guy for the first time in Berlin when he was still touring with Estelle and we always kept in touch, but always missed each other. At the moment he’s performing in “Some like it Hip Hop” at the Peacock Theatre in Holborn!

Seatnumber:

It’s been a while since my last visit to a theatre, but I really enjoyed it. The Show was amazing, some crazy dance moves and of course seeing Royston on stage was priceless.

Here a little out-take of the play:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcRtG8NL41Q

After the show:

This was pretty massive: Student demonstration against the student fees. Looked pretty harmless and peaceful right here, but there were about 6 helicopters up in the air and ten thousands of students were on the streets deonstrating. The day after I found out that it turnt into quite some riots.

Strolling through the city:

Santa is coming. Really? Beginning of November already? This is not ok.

Good morning Earl Grey tea with honey and milk. And Goodbye London.

QUBIQUE – Next Generation Tradeshow.

Last weekend the first edition of the Qubique furniture show at historic airport Tempelhof took place for the first time. The founders Matthias Schmid and Ulrich Weingärtner brought together the best of the best of all furniture and product design companies from all around the world to showcase only their highlights and special products of their collections.

Pretty much all important players from the industry including Vitra, Thonet, Established & Sons etc. found their way to Berlin.

Highlights of Qubique definitely included the combination of furniture, entertainment, food and discussion panels with guest speakers like Paola Antonelli (senior curator at the MoMa New York) and designer Konstantin Grcic.

The man from one of our MADE projects: Hermann August Weizenegger.

E15:

My man Gorazd from Slovenia:

The coolest dudes of the show were definitely the kids of Nomess:

Kinda scary:

That’s him aka the Cardboard Boy:

Bisazza:

Genius:

My favourite piece Raw Edges/Shay Alkalay:

MADE: Scratch’n'Cut recap – last Friday the opening exhibition of our latest MADE project called “Scratch’n'Cut” took place. The exhibition was all about the art of remixing and artists Daniel Gonzalez (Argentina), Jonas Liveröd (Sweden), Eclectic Method (UK/US) and special guest and main inspiration Mr. Lee Scratch Perry (Jamaica) flipped around our MADE space and completely turned it into their own world.

See some of the recap photos below or click for all photos right HERE!

Oli:

Conny Ponny:

Daniel’s space dancers:

Curator Lukas Feireiss:

Daniel Gonzalez, Lee Scratch Perry & Jonas Liveröd:

The master himself:

I must say seeing this legend live in front of me was really special. His whole aura was incredible… he seemed so quiet and vulnerable the first night we met him, but he surprised us all at the exhibition night when he was performing in full effect like there’s no tomorrow… with so much energy and spirit… he’s definitely from another world.

Emily, Lee & Lukas:

Lee Scratch Perry in the house!

Our latest MADE project is all about the art of remixing. The opening exhibition is set for tomorrow evening and the following artists made it their task over the past few weeks to flip our MADE space upside-down and turn it through remixing into a true Alice in Wonderland meets Pippi Longstocking’s “Villa Kunterbunt”:
* LEE “SCRATCH” PERRY (Jamaica)
* ECLECTIC METHOD (UK/USA)
* DANIEL GONZALEZ (Italy)
* JONAS LIVERÖD (Sweden)

All curated and supervised by Lukas Feireiss.

It was kinda wild here over the last weeks… loved the vibe. Make sure to come and see the exhibition if you’re in Berlin.

The exhibition trailer:

And a some info about the project:

Save Borneo & support the Eco Warriors!

Our friend Fa made it all the way through to a selected group of young and determined people called the Eco Warriors. They take on the task to travel through the Indonesian island of Borneo to experience the disastrous deforestation that is taking place there with all its consequences.

The main aim is to create awareness of the current situation and spread the word and try to educate people through virtual classrooms, social media and all the other tools that our generation is brought up with.

To learn more about this truly amazing and inspiring project called DeforestACTION please click HERE and watch the video below:

The good guys from 24 Kilates recently launched their ellesse Fab Five collaboration shoe in Barcelona.

To make their story complete the crew is supporting their long-time friend Jorge Madden, who participates in a sailing race across the Atlantic on boats of 6,5 meter length. More than 4200 miles, about 30 days of solo sailing competing against 84 of the best sailors from 16 countries. Madden’s sail number ESP636 and the pendant of 24 Kilates Yacht Squadron decorates 24 Kilates’ ellesse model 117, which is packed in a limited edition kit coming with a 5-panel cap and a T-Shirt.

Check out their video below:

Scott Campbell x Alessandro Simonetti – My homie Ale produced this short video starring artist Scott Campbell talking about his collaboration with with iconic tire company Pirelli, which are probably more famous for the yearly calendars.

When I was in NYC I had the pleasure to meet Scott Campbell as well, visit his studio and be there for some scenes of the video shoot. Scott, who seems to be busy as hell, was super nice showing as around and explaining quite some art pieces to us, telling us why he’s doing what he does and the most interesting were definitely the different stories behind his objects.

I hear a lot of people saying that Scott is way too hyped up and doesn’t have the credibility to make a stance in the “art world”. But who does? And who decides who does? Tattoo artist turned artist. So what?

If you’re open enough to listen to his stories you will see that there is a certain deepness to all his artworks.

The burnt butterfly piece is from his bespoke exhibition in Mexico. Craaazy story. Try to google it!

Bits and pieces of 1 Dollar bills laying around everywhere:

Master:

We all know this one form Scott’s stint at LV:

Check this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HrgMMyt-Tg

I must admit, this encounter has inspired me to make my motorbike license and I’m hooked on bikes. Must be an amazing feeling of freedom. Gimme some time… I’m on it.

Ale and his crew preparing the cameras on the bikes etc.

Here the final video:

http://www.vimeo.com/29754743

And this one if for the ABC crew! (you know who you are)

San Francisco – After LA we hit the road up to San Francisco. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the time to drive alongside the Big Sur Coast which is said to be breathtaking. Really a bummer, but hopefully there will be a next time in Cali.

The drive took us around 6 hours and seeing the changing landscapes and the size of this country was simply beautiful.

Driving into SF was like driving into a ghost city… the city was covered with fog and clouds everywhere.

But the sun was gentle to us. And that’s exactly how I envisioned SF…rows of cute small houses next to each other just a la Full House:

Edward represent:

Definitely a different attitude over there… these took guys took literally 12 minutes (!) to put that shit on my sandwich! Can you believe it? Craaazy. They had all the time in the world… no rush.

But I must say it was pretty good though… I guess that’s what you call slow food.

Honey & Marcelo:

The city is full of records shops:

And sneaker stores:

Those kids were pretty amazing… getting together after school to earn some extra bucks they played songs by Rhianna and Jay-Z. Pretty dope!

Castro – where all the gay movement started and I’m sure most of you have seen the movie MILK with Sean Penn… all happened right there.

You can imagine that it was pretty gay over there… but they definitely had a sense of humor:

Four Barrel Coffee. Super nice.

Meeting Damiano & Co.:

They’re grinding their own coffee in the back:

Damianos barber shop Population:

On the way to the park:

Great selection at Union Made. Especially, the hand-made soaps and stuff.

On my morning run I came across some beautiful spots:

First Black Fleece flagship store I’ve seen. And it was dope!

Of course, we had to go there:

Foggy, but it was ok.

Overall: SF, I think I like you, too.

Los Angeles – Another first-timer this year. Never been to the city of angels. Actually, I’ve never been to the Westcoast at all, so I was pretty psyched when I booked this trip.

Of course, I hear already tons of things about LA… Venice Beach, Santa Monica, Malibu, Hollywood, Beverly Hills etc. and when I finally saw everything in real life for the first time and kind of felt like in a movie. I’ve seen all those things before. On TV. It was slightly different, but it felt the same way.

I really had to get used to all the driving… the city is huge and spending 30 minutes in the car to go from place to the other is just more than normal. Not my cup of tea, I prefer walking, but oh well.

You can’t beat the weather in LA. That makes a huge difference.

Ok, this is how it started… Met my homie Marcelo at the airport in Frankfurt and from there we flew together to LA.

Trying to figure out the car:

Having a car in LA is a must. Getting tickets comes with it. (unless you read the signs and I clearly didn’t understand them!)

First night we got a ticket right in front of the Standard. Yay. Welcome to LA.

In Berlin I usually pay 5,- EUR for wrong parking, but there it’s a little bit a different situation. And this was just the beginning… Second day we got toed away. 262,- Dollars fee. Plus a ticket of 162,- Dollars! Third day again another ticket! You probably can imagine how much I loved driving over there! Haha!

We hit Venice Beach right away. Didn’t like it that much I must say. I found it quite depressing and sad to see all these homeless people, weirdos and freaks running around and trying to sell shit. Seemed like they were all stuck in the 80’s.

Random store check on Fairfax:

Guess why there’s a line:

And then we hit La Brea of course:

Union. Probably my favourite store LA. Love that they sell Tantum and their great selection of Junya.

Yeah, somebody should have told us this before. Bitches.

Cafe Midi:

Had to do this (out of love for Entourage): Urth Cafe. Haha.

Really? Really.

A night out with Devendra Banhart and his lovely girlfriend Ana:

We were staying at Colin and Natalia’s place for the week! Couldn’t have it any better… super lovely and great hosts! Thanks for everything, guys!

Los Feliz and Silverlake were definitely my favourite areas in LA.

Some great stores around there…

Love that one (obviously I had to go inside):

Marcelo! He just can’t take his hands off of people… really? Really.

Marcelo’s private concert on the way to Malibu:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccJmMXDK0bA

Couples retreat:

Matteo, Giorgi & Natalia:

How to do it in America:

The flying Diva:

Out to Los Feliz:

Colin’s brother Ryan:

Raw, organic and healthy. soLA.

Maxfield. I liked.

Givenchy:

Best thing about Maxfield is definitely their selection of Vintage jewelery, watches and antique products. That’s what really sets them apart from other stores in their sefgment.

Loved those ones… a vintage Rolex Airking from 1945:

And one from 1966:

Welcome to LA, Phil-G. 

At Devendra’s place:

Marcelo getting some ink by Devendra (yeah, didn’t know that neither):

Watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfPfSwddQWo

First I thought they were joking, but then Marcelo started to tattoo Devendra!

Proof:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KBRj0UAqIM

BAM! (it says: DE REPENTE btw.):

I ran LA:

I knew it! There must have been something… Look what I found on the way…

No way around meeting this guys when I’m in LA: MAESTRO! First time, I saw Levi in his hometown.

Always hung out with him in Berlin or London. Time to show me his city:

The Hundreds 2.0 in Santa Monica:

First things first: IN’N'OUT Burger!

Then we went of to Manhattan Beach for a romantic sunset. Maestro knows it all! Haha!

At Opening Ceremony:

Beach day at Santa Monica:

Texting each other:

And since Marcelo is getting jealous very easy, Giorgio got the punishment:

Well, they both seemed to enjoy it…

Casey and Natalia:

Big Pete and his lovely daughter:

LA, I think I like you.

Looky Looky Book Release – Tonight the 3 angels Julia, Conny and Luise, who are the driving forces behind Berlin-based T-Shirt label and creative outlet Looky Looky , are releasing their first book.

This review is a time-capsule of the last 5 years with lots of  private snapshots and graphics of the crew, so definitely a must-have.

If you’re in Berlin tonight, make sure to drop by at Civilist and get your signed copy!