Urban Outfitters

From Los Angeles

05/31/11 11:30AM

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Drip Bar at Space 15 Twenty

Drip Bar is now at Space 15 Twenty Monday through Saturday. So coffee up!

From London

05/31/11 11:16AM

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Zulekha Lakeca

If there was ever a reason to start scrapbooking with Grandma, it's the beautiful mixed-media illustrations of Zulekha Lakeca.

From New York

05/31/11 10:37AM

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Bande Des Quatres

Designed by Erin Wahed and hand-crafted by jeweler Janis Kerman, Bande Des Quatres' X and O-shaped rings beg the question: Human tic-tac-toe board?

From Auckland

05/31/11 10:35AM

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Stolen Girlfriends Club Wolf Pack Coat

Oh this? No big deal, it's just the sickest fur coat ever from Stolen Girlfriends Club. The colors are perfect together and they sure won my heart by throwing purple in the mix! X - Jen

From Elsewhere

05/31/11 10:29AM

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Silent Sundays

Based on this gorgeous video, we've got a good feeling about the new online shop Silent Sundays.

From Melbourne

05/31/11 10:29AM

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Holey Hole!

On the back of his recent exhibition at Family in LA, Melbourne's Misha Hollenbach is currently solo showing in Melbourne at Utopian Slumps gallery. Holey Hole! is inspired by a real life hole at Winchester Cathedral in England that pilgrims crawled through to be close to the bones of a saint. The hole went nowhere, the pilgrims couldn't see anything, but in they'd go. (Or as Timothy Moore puts it in the exhibition catalogue: "There’s nothing not there, ya dig?") There's real reverence for ritual and mystery in much of Misha's work, which is often realized across a range of mediums. Holey Hole! includes collages, prints and ceramics that are based on something that ain't there. - Nadia

From Philadelphia

05/30/11 01:00AM

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Music Mondays

"Music doesn't lie. If there is something to be changed in this world, then it can only happen through music." -Jimi Hendrix

From Philadelphia

05/28/11 12:03PM

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Urban Outfitters Responds to False Allegations by Necklace Designer

Urban Outfitters unequivocally denies copying independent jewelry maker Stephanie Koerner.

One of Urban Outfitter’s core missions is to provide a platform for emerging talent in design, art and music. You can see this in the products we sell, the people who work in our company, even the music we play. This deep commitment to emerging talent has perhaps found its fullest expression over the last three years in our series of Designed By: collaborations. The main goal of this program is not profit, but giving emerging designers access to our resources and helping them to build their businesses by reaching a wider audience.

We have also been supporting the Etsy community for years, buying wholesale from numerous independent Etsy designers including Yokoo, CelaPiu, Loyalty and Blood, We Dream in Colour, Laura Lombardi, Erica Weiner, Species by the Thousands, and others, giving them much needed exposure on our blog and marketing.

In her recent blog post and on Twitter Koerner claims that Urban Outfitters stole her designs or was inspired in some way by the items in her Etsy shop for our I Heart Destination necklaces. In fact, a quick search on Etsy for ‘state necklace’ reveals several other sellers with similar products (as seen here on Regretsy) who offered their wares as much as a year earlier than Ms. Koerner.

We are not implying that Koerner stole her necklace idea from one of these other designers, we are simply stating the obvious—that the idea is not unique to Koerner and she can in no way claim to be its originator.

Normally we would not respond publicly to Koerner’s allegations, but we believe the media response to her campaign is threatening to impact the dozens of independent designers we work with on a daily basis. For many of them, having their work sold at Urban Outfitters is a very positive turning point in their careers, and we will not allow their hard work and commitment, or ours, to be undermined by these false allegations.

We're going to continue to sell our collection of necklaces, and they'll be back up on the site and in stores tomorrow.

> Urban Outfitters

From Philadelphia

05/27/11 04:30PM

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Shoe Club: Urban Renewal Warehouse

Our Urban Renewal team recently purchased thousands of pairs of vintage shoes from a dead-stock warehouse just in time for summer. Here, Heather and Aaron give us a peek into the One of a Kind Vintage shoe collection and share their favorite finds.

There are so many shoes here! Where did they come from?

Heather: Ten years ago these two guys bought out a dead-stock assortment from Joseph LaRose in Miami, a really popular designer back in the day. A lot of modern designers use him for inspiration. Our old buyer came across them and purchased almost their whole warehouse. Thousands of shoes, probably five to ten thousand pairs. They are all original designs from the ‘50s through the ‘80s, authentic and dead-stock, which means none of them have ever been worn. We basically bought out an old shoe store.

What are some of your favorite styles?

Heather: I’m obsessed with the whole platform clog trend. We had a few with the wooden platforms from the ‘70s and a cool assortment of neon, metallic platforms. We also had a bunch of the original gladiators. We send most of these to the Urban stores and the ones left over we put online.

Aaron: As you can imagine, it’s hard to get large quantities of things. Most of the time, shoes are given away when they already have scuffs and holes. If platforms are in right now, they are harder to find.

Heather: That’s why this huge buy is such a great find– it’s so rare to find a company that is selling all never-worn shoes in full size runs. It’s almost impossible to come across!

Explain the difference between One Of a Kind Vintage and Renewal.

Heather: All of our shoes are One of A Kind vintage except our cowboy boots. This summer we’re taking all of our bulk cowboy boots and cutting off the tops, so hopefully that will do well. Renewal pieces are new designs we make from vintage materials. We try to go out and look for things and in the process we’ll stumble across awesome pieces we can get in bulk.

Is thrifting something you’ve always enjoyed?

Heather: Always! I have five generations of women in my immediate family, so I have clothes passed down to me from my great, great grandmom, which is basically where I get all my inspiration. Last summer the Renewal team went to the World’s Longest Yard Sale, which started in Alabama and went up to Connecticut. We drove the whole way and found a ton of amazing pieces for five bucks.

So when you aren't out searching, what’s a typical day here in the warehouse like?

Aaron: We only come here on Tuesdays. We touch base on where orders are. We try on new samples and talk about how much we need to buy of something. After that we come to the warehouse and pull from our one-of-a-kind vintage racks to make two sets of forty pieces for the website.

Heather: Most of what we make is based on vintage samples, so if we find something we love we keep it here and try to recreate it or keep it for inspiration.

What do you guys listen to when you’re here?

Heather: I like classic rock, but the boys make me listen to screaming music and dance music.

Aaron: I usually have on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Johnny Cash, The Shins.

Heather: You like good music. We like to have fun around here. We take work seriously, but they tease me all the time. All the time! I’m the only girl. We act like brother and sister.

Aaron: Heather has to be our fit model sometimes, so she’ll come out in these little bandeau tops and we’ll be like, “Woo, yeah Heather!” We like to get out of the home office for the day.

What’s the strangest thing that’s come through here so far?

Aaron: I get excited when we get old designer pieces. We have an ‘80s Gucci tracksuit that’s amazing. It’s in great condition and will go online soon.

Heather: Aaron! I know what the craziest thing is. The baby shirt!

Aaron: Yes!

Heather: It’s a tank top that says Junior Gaultier on the front, and it has the belly cut out of it for a pregnant woman, so it shows her belly. It’s kind of gross, it skeeves me out!

Aaron: We keep passing it around to everyone. I’ll put it in the knit girl’s samples so when she’s going through her rack of samples she’ll be like, “What is this doing in here, ew!”

What’s the hardest thing to come by when you’re trying to find vintage shoes to sell? Heather: Larger sizes! I feel like peoples’ feet used to be smaller, honestly! A lot of these are five and half and I’ve seen a three and half. I’m a size eight so it’s hard to find anything over a seven. Even when you do find a larger size, it’s super narrow.

Aaron: Sneakers are even harder to find because those you definitely don’t get rid of until there are holes in them. We thought it’d be cool to get a bunch of old Nike and Adidas styles, old boat shoes and sell them in Men’s, but they are almost impossible to find.

What’s different about vintage shoes and those produced today?

Heather: I’d say the quality. Today everything is made to be disposed of. Nothing lasts anymore. It’s hard to find something new that’s not based off of a vintage design as well.

What are your tips for finding quality vintage shoes?

Heather: Make sure the sole isn't peeling up. I notice on vintage heels that the bottom wears off and there’s a nail that pops out. Make sure that the heel is sturdy and intact, and there’s not a lot of wear and tear on the shoe. We've had to get rid of a lot of shoes because they were moldy and the glue melted out of the shoe.

So what’s the next big shoe trend?

Heather: Just looking at upcoming trends for fall, at some point ladies’ shoes will be popular. In our trend books, a lot of pictures are very proper and lady-like, so it might not happen immediately but I can see it being bigger next fall or winter. A lot of these shoes here came with matching bags! Too bad girls don’t wear that right now.

Shop One of a Kind Vintage

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From Philadelphia

05/27/11 01:00PM

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Flickr Favorites: May 27

"That's the best revenge of all: happiness. Nothing drives people crazier than seeing someone have a good fucking life." -Chuck Palahniuk

UO Flickr Pool

From Melbourne

05/25/11 07:38PM

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Country of Origin: The Wrap-Up

Our friends at ThreeThousand have posted some great street-style shots from the opening and from the after-party. Thanks to Andy, Nadia and TheThousands, Rohan and Misha from Bamboo, Dave P and Sammy Slice, and everyone else who helped make the night a success. And one last thing—if you picked up a discount card at the opening or the party, a computer glitch meant they weren't working over the weekend. Ugh-our bad! Try again, it's fixed now. And again—thanks for coming out!

From New York

05/25/11 07:37PM

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Eddie Borgo Padlocks

I don't know one woman who isn't in love with Eddie Borgo and if I wasn't already, the padlock pieces he made for SS 11 would have sold me in a heartbeat. Reminds me of being a young punk, except like, hyper-chic. X - Jen

From Japan

05/25/11 07:37PM

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Nathalie Daoust "Frozen in Time"

5 Pieces Gallery just announced new releases from Nathalie Daoust's "Frozen in Time" series– a limited edition run of 25 signed prints of each work will be available.

From Los Angeles

05/25/11 07:35PM

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Blank City

Revel in the renegade glory of 1970s New York in Blank City, a new documentary about the history of no wave cinema. The film opens at LA's Landmark NUART Theatre this Friday, May 27th.

From New York

05/25/11 07:35PM

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Terry Richardson Frames

Want to look like photographer Terry Richardson? Sure about that? Ok, then pick up a pair of Terry LE frames in black or grey from Moscot. (Via Refinery 29)

From Sydney

05/25/11 07:34PM

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Christopher Esber

Look at these pants! (We call them "pants" in Australia.) Hopefully Christopher Esber's head-to-toe roses will walk off his recent RAFW runway and onto our legs. - Nadia

From Japan

05/25/11 07:33PM

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Cookie Boy

Spend time as a textile designer and you'll end up as a baker– at least that's the career path of Cookie Boy, who now bakes cookie giraffes, cameras, feathers and mustaches from his studio in Japan.

> Art
> Eat

From Seattle

05/24/11 04:57PM

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Actual Pain Spring 11

Frenzy is the best word I could use to describe how people feel when there's a new Actual Pain collection. No other label has such a cult following and with good reason as everything they do is mind-blowing. You'll especially love the above video for the release. X - Jen