"The landscape in Vietnam has been beautiful, and the traffic has been terrifying and annoying. Misty mountains, rice fields, and water buffalo along with non-stop honking and oncoming buses entering your lane to pass out traffic in front of them. As a cyclist, you can’t take your eyes off the road without risking your life.
It seems that in Vietnam there’s one rule of the road: you always have the right of way. You have to be aggressive. People don’t use their brakes, they use their horns; they don’t slow down, they just make a lot of noise until someone moves. Cars, scooters, cyclists and pedestrians who are joining traffic don’t look to see what’s coming before they move in, they just move in and figure if they’re in the way, it’s someone else’s problem.
What I really like is how much the Vietnamese make use of limited space on a vehicle. Seeing a whole family (mom, dad, grandma and maybe a lil' one) on a scooter is so common that I’m not even taking photos of it. In the U.S., it’s pretty uncool for two guys to be on the same motorcycle, but in Vietnam, two or three guys on a scooter is very cool.
I’m surprised by how many people I’ve seen sitting on the rear rack of a bicycle. Sometimes they help pedal, or do all the pedaling while the other steers, or if it’s grandma, she just sits there and enjoys the show."-Eoin
"I’ve been eating Pho exclusively for the past few days. It’s everywhere and it’s hard to find anything else up here in Northern Vietnam. Signs for Cam Pho line the streets and it seems it’s just a family that decided to open up shop to serve Pho and tea and sometimes beer for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
I recorded some of my ride as I cycled out of Hanoi. There’s a lot of honking here, and scooters.
I’m going to be the first one to admit it, there’s a lot of interest in me in Vietnam. I get lots of hellos and spooked looks from strangers as I’m riding by. This is so common for me now after only a few days of being here that I’ve gotten jaded, and I’m picky about who I respond to with a hello or a wave. I’m just so damn popular.
On my first day riding in Vietnam, I stopped at a bridge for a drink of water. Two girls came running up to me. They couldn’t believe I was here. One of the girls handed her phone to her friend, got next to me, and gave a peace sign. Then all her friends showed up. Trend Alert: worn-out thighs on jeans.
After cycling for 4 days through Northern Vietnam, I haven’t seen any other foreigners. And I’ve only encountered two people who speak English with some fluency—beyond “Hello,” and “Happy New Year.” I suppose these girls are so excited to see me because I’m so rare. And because of my beautiful, rare brown eyes. And because I’m crazy cute. Anyway, it’s fun having moments like these, and I appreciate their enthusiasm for me."-Eoin
"I’m feeling a few lifestyle changes now that I’m away from home and starting this bike tour.
I have one outfit. Besides my cycling clothes, I only have one button-down shirt and some navy pants. The pants are too tight actually—the button is strained at the waist revealing the top of the zipper and the pockets are riding out on the sides. I figure these pants are going to get really loose from all the wear, especially at the knees—flopping like your comfy socks on Christmas morning. If not, I guess they’ll be my goal pants—I’ll be losing a lot of weight, why not set a goal.
Hand-washing laundry sucks. I’ve got two pairs of underwear and three pairs of socks. Every night I’ll have to be dunking some clothes in the sink, washing the brown-grey out, and then hanging them overnight to dry.
I didn’t bring deodorant; I brought a crystal. I’m very loyal to Old Spice Pure Sport but the stick is too big. I saw a magical deodorizing crystal on Amazon, so I got it for its small size and magic.
Not knowing the language makes you an outsider. I’m just going to have to deal with being an outsider for a few months. At least when I was in Central America I picked up on some Spanish and could make sense of it, but I really have no chance with Vietnamese. I’m going to learn the basic basics to give greetings and say thank you but there’s no way I’m going to have a conversation.
I’ve been growing a rat-tail for a few months now in preparation for this trip to Southeast Asia. If I want to be all Zen and free-flowing over here I need a Zen Haircut. And Buddhist-Monk-haircuts are totally trending right now. Namaste y’all!"-Eoin
EN POINTE! takes a look into the lives of a couple ballerinas from The Australian Ballet, focusing on their most overworked body part: their feet! The girls give us a peek at the techniques they use to make their shoes more comfortable and talk about their love of pointe shoes.
It's Featured Label time! This month we're checking in with Keith and Jess of Mexican Summer, a Brooklyn based label that just celebrated their 100th release.
Tell me a little about the history of Mexican Summer. Keith: We started the label in late 2008 but, for some background, I’ve been working on the label Kemado, which is sort of like our parent label, since 2002. So, we’ve been putting out various records on that label. Then we just kind of decided that we wanted another outlet for one-off releases, singles, and 12”. Kemado felt a little bit limited when it came to that kind of stuff; we were doing releases in a more traditional way. We looked at it as a really good opportunity to do stuff like that because we’re all really passionate about vinyl labels. There were a lot of bands we wanted to work with but we didn’t feel we could offer them the opportunity under the Kemado name. So we decided to start an imprint and then Mexican Summer was born.
What is the best part about owning an independent record label? Keith: Well Kemado is Mexican Summer and vice-versa. There’s no separate staff at Kemado so it’s a very tight knit group of people working in the small offices who love music and that’s just the best part of it, really. It’s about putting out records that we love and working with eachother to do it.
Jess: It’s nice to have the ability to use each label as its own. Each one sort of has their own energy and focus. And it’s certainly nice to shift gears between both of them and to make sure they’re represented the right way.
Who are your favorite bands on your roster? Jess: Well I’m really excited about Peaking Lights who are recording right now in the studio, in our building. I think that they are a really exciting band and I’m looking forward to what they’re going to come up with. Obviously the new Best Coast is going to be a great one as well.
Keith: I would chime in on the same ones, for sure, but I feel like I should spread the love a little bit. That’s hard, it’s like choosing your children, you know what I mean? But we have a lot of really awesome records coming out next year. There’s a new Tamaryn record, there’s a new The Fresh & Onlys record, anad there’s the Oneohtrix Point Never project that just came out, which is amazing. We’re really lucky, we’ve worked a lot of amazing people and artists. It’s a great environment to be in.
What do you guys look for in a band when you sign them? Keith: I think there are two pretty crucial elements for me when it comes to working with a band: good songs and a good attitude. Songwriting is fundamentally what’s most important in terms of what speaks to us. We definitely have our fans of certain styles of music; each of us has our own preference. And just working with people that have really good attitudes, that we get along with them as people. Putting out records is our business and you want to work hard for people that appreciate it.
If you could sign one band or artist from music history, who would it be and why? Jess: I still want to re-issue the Anonymous record Inside the Shadows from 1976. Who knows, maybe that horizon could happen sometimes soon.
Keith: I don’t know, that’s really hard. If I could put out a release it would probably be the unreleased Keith Richards piano sessions from ’77 in Toronto. I would love to release that stuff on vinyl.
So I hear that you recently issued your 100th release! How does it feel to have reached that mark? Keith: It feels great, it’s such an amazing accomplishment. It’s a record that we really built from the ground up, because we have a studio in the building here and we recorded it here with Joel Ford and Dan Lopatin, who actually have an imprint label under Mexican Summer called Software. They produced the single, which is a collaboration with Tamaryn and Shannon Funchess. Jess set up a really awesome photoshoot with this amazing photographer David Black so we basically created the covers from those photos. We did the layout in-house and came up with a really cool concept for how the record was cut. And, we designed a poster insert. It’s a really special and memorable piece for us.
Jess: Yeah we’ve been getting a little bit reflective here. It’s like, every album cover represents a moment in the past couple of years so it’s nice to have it all together. It’s cool.
Where do you see Mexican Summer in the next 5 years? Jess: Well, hopefully if we keep going the way we’re going, it seems like it’s got a pretty lasting vibe. If we’re not getting too big or getting too small, I think we’ll be okay!
Keith: Hopefully we’re in business. I guess that’s the best hope. The music business landscape is constantly shifting and changing so I just hope that we’ll be able to keep putting records out that people dig and want to buy. I hope we all have jobs.
Jess: If not, Keith and I will start a lounge act.
Keith: Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.
You guys should just start that right now and add that to the label.
Movember has come to an end and staches everywhere are disappearing. We hope everyone is enjoying their Mo-parties in celebration of all of their efforts to change the face of men's health. Special thanks to our own UO Mo Bros, as seen above. (From left to right: Jason Escobara, a freshly shaved Jason Bowser, and Ryan Wood)
Bicycle tools are funny objects. Most are for extremely specific applications that can't exactly be used around the house to do other tasks, but they do the job they're meant for quite well. Check out this series of illustrations of 12 essential tools and why they're important over at Headset Press. -Bob
We're excited to see EAMES: The Architect and The Painter, a documentary about the design legends Charles and Ray Eames. The film is narrated by James Franco, of course (is there anything that guy can't do?), and comes out on November 18. See if your city is playing it here.
It's 14 days into Movember and the guys around here are starting to look a little hairy. Take a look at some of our Mo Bros around the office from the past two weeks, along with little Albert who is showing his support for the team!
It's moustache season! Movember officially starts on Tuesday and we are so excited. Movember is a month long awareness campaign for cancers that affect men around the world. Funds raised in the U.S. will go to the Prostate Cancer Foundation and make a cure a reality.
Getting involved is easy. Register now at Movember.com, shave that upper lip on November 1, let your crumb-catcher grow all month long, and then get your family and friends to donate in support of your efforts. Mo Sistas, support your Mo Bros by recruiting a team or sponsoring a friend.
As the month goes on, we will be tracking the progress of our own Mo Bros and cheering them on along the way. So, go show your Mos grow, yo!
It's so hard to keep up with all of the look books of the amazing new designers out there in cyberspace, but Lookk has you covered! You can discover upcoming designers, vote for your favorite collections, and even shop some of the pieces, all in one place.
Maristella Gonzalez's booklet Drugs of Abuse is both informative and fun to flip through, but the guy photographed should probably get some help. We're here for you, man.
Meet Meaghan Creamer, the go-to girl at the Store on Tour! She's fun, out-going, and if we hear she knows where the secret stash of free cameras are.
Introduce yourself.
My name is Meaghan Creamer and I'm the Assistant Manager at Store 3 in Center City Philadelphia, and that is where I live.
How did you end up on our Store on Tour?
There were candidates nominated from each region and I was the lucky one that got picked!
What do you do on a typical day?
We set up the shop each morning, and close the container down each night. We're here representing the Urban Outfitters brand and giving the best customer service we can.
Have you ever traveled across the United States?
I've never traveled across the country but I have lived in Maine, Massachusetts, California, and Texas. I did travel to Italy last year for two weeks by myself. It was pretty crazy!
Where is one place you want to travel before you die?
India. I just love the culture. It's a beautiful country.
What are five things you need on the road?
Music, company, whiskey, my iPhone, and my Tortoise & Blonde sunglasses.
What is your biggest travel fear?
My biggest fear would be to travel somewhere in a foreign country and run out of money. That would be pretty scary.
Follow along with Meaghan and the rest of the crew @UOTour!
Alex Brown and Evan George, the bloggers behind Hot Knives, have put out a killer vegetarian cookbook called Salad Daze. If you follow the blog, you'll know that this book will be both entertaining and full of good recipes. Not to mention we really want to try their Banana Beer Bread.
Meet Roland Hjort, the Creative Director and founder of Whyred.
Tell us a little bit about yourself!
I like eating out with friends and discovering new music, traveling and finding inspiration in books, and architecture and art.
Where do you live? Södermalm in Stockholm.
If we were visiting Södermalm, what would you recommend we do? I would recommend you to do some shopping around Biblioteksgatan and of course visit the Whyred flagship store. The area around Götgatsbacken and Nytorget in Södermalm has lots of nice boutiques and cafés. Have lunch at Urban Deli just next to Nytorget and take a drink at Riche Lilla Baren downtown or Babylon in the south. Eat your dinner at Matbaren, Djuret, Pubologi, Teatergrillen, PA & Co or KB. The day after I would visit Rosendals Trädgård at Djurgården for a brunch in the central flower market garden.
How did the idea to start Whyred come about? Jonas Clason, Lena Patriksson, and I all have a long experience in the fashion and PR business. We longed for a brand of our own which took good tailoring, contemporary music, and the art world as its point of departure. The Whyred essence is simple. We were inspired by beatniks, the mod culture’s street-smart elegance, and we quoted Peter Meaden’s famous phrase, ”Clean living under difficult circumstances.” The Whyred look is an identity, though individual from person to person. The interest in details and the love for art and music brings these different customers together.
Who are the people you design for? The man is music interested, between 25-45, has an urban lifestyle, likes the environment around bars and nightclubs, and often works with something creative. He likes to be well dressed but never over dressed. With Whyred, we can look smart but still a bit casual. The woman is more an uptown girl with an offhand kind of luxe but with a darker twist to her. She is picky about her details and materials and likes the exclusive feeling. She wants to feel comfortable yet fierce.
How does living in Södermalm inspire you? The people around me from the music and art scene are the ones who inspire me with their lifestyles. To connect with them more officially, Whyred has made collaborations together with a lot of our friends. The artist Jockum Nordström made a pattern for us, Roger Anderson made embossed leather bags, the director Igor Zimmermann made a film inspired by a certain collection, and the design duo Folkform made a candleholder, lamps, and a cabinet among many other art projects. We also work closely with our favorite musicians (Kriget, Forest, Taxi Taxi, Victoria Bergsman and Markus Krunegård) who have played live at our events and created custom made music for our shows. We have also custom made clothes for artist like The Hives and Sahara Hotnights when playing live. It is all like a symbiosis.
What was the inspiration behind the S/S 2012 Collection? The Russian constructivist propaganda painter Alexander Rodchenko reduced painting to its logical conclusion (according to him) and exhibited three canvases in red, blue, and yellow. This was the inspiration for our monochrome color scheme in the collection. We also found great inspiration in the architectural style extremes of Russian “cosmo” communistic architecture, which meets old traditions of Dacha houses, which were the Tsar’s country estate gift to loyal vassals. By combining the two extremes of something very old, dirty, and picturesque with the futuristic and minimalistic silhouette, you get the picture of the Whyred S/S 2012 collection. What are your favorite pieces from the collection? I love the colorful chaos print in the women’s collection and the maxi pantsuit. In the men’s collection I’m proud of our jackets, which we always are very good at.
What do you think makes something a classic? We have a conceptual capsule collection called Heroes where we put all styles we think are Whyred classics into—the parka, the dessert boot, the chino. The military knit, for example, has the original purpose to serve in the military but has been worn to define the mod culture, the skins, and the indie scene. Musicians like Paul Weller, Ian Curtis, and Morrissey have imbued the garments with meaning and sexiness, and defined them as timeless and classic because they are. A classic item has the ability to be desirable because you know who you become when you wear it. You have to have an interest of knowing what you mean by wearing a classical item. What are you expressing? The garment is empty if you don’t understand how to express the garment and how to give it a look.
