This is the third video of the alkr® work sessions series; this time, we visited Elephino in East London.

Eliphino is an East London based producer and DJ specialising in the post-dubstep sound that is shaking the UK music underground. Cutting edge and contemporary, ‘Taking the DNA of jungle, soul and jazz, Eliphino has a timeless production style that balances emotional electronica with an innovative approach to production.’

Eliphino makes music “for your mind, your body and your soul” and we simply can’t get enough of it.

More about Eliphino:
alkr.com

soundcloud.com

myspace.com

In the alkr® work session series, we feature remarkable and passionate people who tell us about their work and what they love to do. In this video, we talked to Shawn McKinney in LA.

Shawn McKinney is a street artist living in Los Angeles, California. He specializes in fabrication and sign painting, but also rebuilds motorcycles and works as an art director. Currently, he is an artist in residence at the Nomad Collective Art Compound.

The Nomad Collective Art Compound is a 6,000 square foot art lab in Los Angeles. Shawn shows us the Nomad Art Compound and talks about his work and his art. Take a look at the video!

More about Shawn and the Nomad Art Compound:
alkr.com

shawn-mckinney.com

nomadlosangeles.com

For alkr®, I worked with UK-based artist Nic Tual, who painted 30 iPhone cases for us to give away through fusshop, a UK-based retailer, on Facebook.

We drove a lot of traffic to alkr.com, and also to fusshop.co.uk, by placing it on hypebeast and other blogs:
hypbeast.com

This is the first issue of the alkr® work sessions series, which features remarkable, passionate people who tell us about their work and what they love to do. The first interview is with Andy Ellis of Fixed Gear London, a group of riders who are enthusiastic about their bikes and the way they ride them.

Andy Ellis is one of the original founders of the Fixed Gear London collective, and he is also the editor of Fixed Magazine.

When Andy isn’t riding the streets of London, taking photographs or writing and editing Fixed Magazine, you can find him designing and developing interesting new products.

We asked him how it all started, what he’s doing now, and what he’s passionate about. Check out the video!
More about Fixed Gear London here:

alkr.com

fixedgearlondon.com

On a visit to San Francisco in April of 2010 I had the chance to work with Joshy and Mike from Rebel8; we had met each other for the first time more than two years earlier in Los Angeles.

In 2009 they visited me in Hamburg, and now it was my turn to travel again. We discussed the final details on the Rebel8 X Dickies project, which came out in 2010 and was available in just a handful stores globally.

Here are some pictures of the Rebel8 HQ and the great evening we had together; if you ever make it to SF, check out Weird Fish! The food and the people were great and, guys, thanks for the amazing experience.

Starter is one of the brands that I adored most growing up; I had several jackets (LA Raiders, Milwaukee Bucks, SF Giants, etc.) and a lot of their caps.

In 2010 I had the chance to be one of the few to work with them, and I designed this simple cap for alkr®, which was produced by starter. The fit is as great as I remember!

In early 2008 I meet Michael Kopelman for the first time to discuss a possible Dickies X Stussy collaboration. Stussy utilizes work wear apparel references, so it was a natural fit for them to work with one of the biggest work wear companies in the world.

The result, after almost three years in development, is a line of shirts, a pant and a hoodie. There was an incredible amount of dedication invested to get this right, and the launch was highly anticipated by blogs and retailers all over the world.

For the launch of the Dickies X Hideout line, I asked hypebeast.com to do an interview with the two guys behind the project, Michael Kopelman and Andrew Bunney. The full interview can be read here.

Interview by Edward Chiu:
Without any conscious effort, Dickies has made itself a mainstay of streetwear for many generations. Given its rugged construction and timeless aesthetics, its popularity doesn’t come as much of a surprise. However, without a directed effort until recently, the Dickies brand has seen itself ripe for a new angle from a contemporary fashion standpoint. Two of Britain’s most formidable members of the so-called streetwear community, The Hideout’s Michael Kopelman and current Dr. Martens creative director Andrew Bunney undertook the task of creating a new capsule for Dickies with the goal of re-inventing classic Dickies-wear from a modern angle while maintaining the essence of Dickies. We took the opportunity to delve deeper and touch upon what exactly has become of the collaboration, what The Hideout for Dickies collection entails and the importance of Dickies’ Americana roots.

Hello Michael and Andrew, nice meeting you guys. First off, how did you end up in your respective professions and how long have you been in this industry?

Michael: Before The Hideout, I was really into DJing with a fond love for Stussy. Eventually through Shawn Stussy I got involved in the industry. It was amazing when I met Andrew because I would see him in different cities around the world… Tokyo and in New York just by coincidence. Also, the staff at my shop would groan about him as he would ask about products that weren’t out and had more knowledge regarding them as well. So that’s when I asked Andrew to consider working for me. I couldn’t believe that someone could be so well informed without working in the industry.

Andrew: I started as a buyer for skateboard shops, which is how I met Michael. Then I moved into vintage clothing and went on to study fashion and production. After that, I started working with Michael again and that’s how it got started.

How did this project come about?

Andrew: Many years ago we were doing some projects with Stussy and very few people in the market were doing collaborations. If you were to ask companies out of the blue on collaborative projects, they would be very confused, at that time companies weren’t set up for that method of thinking. Obviously now is a very different situation and quite the opposite. We spoke with Dickies a long time ago, but nothing really happened. Until recently, we felt there was a gap in the market and we could fulfill it at an appropriate price point.

There are many cynical ways of why it’s much easier to approach brands now for collaborations. For a marketing perspective, it can generate sales very quickly. Also, I suppose back then, it was the time when the blog boom started, so companies could really see how many people had lined up to buy their sneakers.

Michael: The companies we approached back then were Dickies, Alpha Industries and Levi’s, as both of us were into utility products. You can put these together and wear it so effortlessly and it’s very accessible. The collection’s goal is to explore a different side to Americana. Both of us love the ivy and work wear looks that have been popular over the past few years. And a lot of my heroes and movies that I like, such as Animal House, The Outsiders, Rumble Fish, those kind of movies have all these references in it. I was born in the 60s, so I love that era/style. While we liked the way many Dickies’ products were currently designed, there were certain aspects of the clothing, which would be better and more accessible with correct adjustments. I always read blogs, and people are always complaining when something is changed for a collaboration and it doubles in price. Therefore, I wanted to do something where you make some really basic changes, such as the fits and stay more or less true to the original specs and price.

Read the rest of the interview here:
hypebeast.com

The first true collaboration I did for Dickies was with the guys behind Alife, who have been Dickies fans for years. The “Alife Workwear by Dickies Collection” features very clean and simple takes on the classic Eisenhower jacket, short sleeved work shirt, work shorts and of course, the 874 work pant.

The collection was released in early 2009 and sold in selected Alife stores in New York, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Tokyo, Colette in Paris and at Dover Street Market in London.

In 2009 we shot at Mark Mahoney’s’ Tattoo studio on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.

Mark Mahoney is one of the leading tattoo artists of our time. He is currently the proprietor and premier artist of Shamrock Social Club located in the heart of Hollywood on Sunset Boulevard. His career spans over three decades and with each wave of influence that tattoo culture has had on mainstream America, Mark has been there.

From the underground punk scene of the 1970′s to the black and grey movement of East L.A. in the 1980′s to the mainstream popularity of tattoo art in the Hollywood scene of the present. Mark has been a pivotal influence. The theme of Mark’s shop has always been “where the elite and the underground meet.”

I worked with Heath & Dave of Lowbrowfilms and they spent an evening at the Shamrock Social Club with Mark Mahoney and his infamous friends. Mark reveals fascinating stories from his past when tattooing was actually banned in some states, participating in a shootout against rival tattoo artists and times spent with Sid & Nancy.

This is a rare document from one of the most talked about and respected tattoo parlors to date. Period.

In 2008 I met Dr. Revolt, a graffiti legend, and well-known photographer Ricky Powell, who helped me with my first small collaboration for Dickies, called “NY Legends”. Ricky, known around the world as “the fourth Beastie Boy”, has photographed some of the most well-known rap and hip-hop artists of all time. I was pleased to work with Ricky and three other living legends from New York on four t-shirt designs.

The four prints are based on pictures by Ricky and three are reworked by New York’s famous graffiti artists QUIK, DR. REVOLT and ZEPHYR.

DR. REVOLT was born and raised in New York and is an original member of the historic New York City graffiti crew The Rolling Thunder Writers (RTW). REVOLT is known for tags, elaborate pieces on the 1 line with psychedelic colors and comic art-influenced stylings,and later for taking it “all-city” with his contributions to the seminal hip hop films Wild Style and Style Wars, various music videos, and album covers. He created the classic “YO! MTV Raps” logo and did a tour of duty in Baltimore where he, like a “messenger of style”, single handedly kick-started a graff-scene that still feels his influence today. His place in the history of “graff-dom” is secure. His work has been, and continues to be seen in various publications and art galleries globally. DR. REVOLT lives in New York.

ZEPHYR was one of the pioneers of the New York subway graffiti movement from the late 70′s to the early 80′s. Today he has made a comeback to the scene, and proves himself, once again, a true graffiti legend.

QUIK was unable to play baseball as a child due to a troublesome arm injury. Instead, he went on frequent subway trips to see the games played. During these trips, Lin Felton (aka QUIK) became fascinated with the graffiti that covered the trains and stations. By the time he was ten years old, Lin was skipping choir practice to tag anywhere he could, quickly becoming the uncrowned “King of the Tag” in Hollis, Queens, where he grew up. QUIK’s work, which includes graffiti art and paintings and focuses on social injustice and racial discrimination, became recognized by the art world in the 1980s. He has exhibited in art galleries and museums in the United States and internationally. QUIK has also worked in the Netherlands, where he lived during the 1990s, as a director’s assistant, production coordinator, set designer, and actor in avant-garde theater. QUIK is currently working with the New York City Department of Education/Special Education division and actively continues his creative output along SEEN at SEEN Studios in the Bronx. He writes a monthly column the German hip hop magazine Backspin and has contributed text to many upcoming international publications regarding urban cultures and their artists. QUIK lives in New York.

On a visit to Los Angeles in May 2008, I realized that the staff in the Alife Store on Fairfax was wearing Dickies shorts. I started a chat with them and the idea for the ALIFE X DICKIES collaboration was born.

When I was back home, I contacted the guys at Alife HQ in New York, and they liked the idea of doing something nice together. So we met in the September 2008 in their office. Check out some impressions of the office.

At that meeting, we discussed how the products should look and, a year later, we launched a set of shorts, pants, jackets, and shirts. This line of special products launched a year later in august 2009. You can see the actual products in this post.