The Affliction brand is making big waves in the fashion world as it continues to expand at an exponential rate. What’s most amazing is Affliction has managed to retain its brand integrity despite the obvious temptations. Hats off to Affliction!

Affliction emerged at full speed when it launched in August 2005. Affliction has created not just a buzz, but a sonic boom in the fashion world. Rock bands, celebrities, and fashionistas can’t seem to get enough Affliction. With fans like Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie, Avenged Sevenfold, Pride Fighter Josh Barnett, UFC Fighter’s Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture, and Magician Criss Angel just to name a few, Affliction has already become the new celebrity fashion standard.

Affliction’s vintage fit tees, hoods, polos, and thermals display graphics that speak volumes about the music, culture and lifestyle that inspires them. Expanding on the dark and intricate graphic themes Affliction has also breathed new life into the denim market.

Affliction is a fashion-forward men’s brand set apart by a combination of art and ideology with high quality execution. Featuring in your face, hand drawn graphics, the line embodies the pulse of a generation that thrives on the brink of mayhem. With a hangtag that says, “Live Fast, Die Young,” Affliction stands for living to the fullest and not stopping for anything or anyone.

S.A.S. (Streets All Salute) brothers Mega and Mayhem wear Yoropiko on their new CD cover. The UK Dip movement was directly spearheaded by the two North London brothers and, according to them, was entirely funded from their own pockets as well. And as the North American Diplomat’s home city is engulfed in clouds of controversy, it’s no surprise that the duo have decided to embrace their Eurogang brand and keep things moving smoothly.

Christian Audigier says that the theme of his Spring 2008 collection shown at LA’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week is “La Vie en Rose”. In truth the collection was predictable with over-sized hoodies glammed up with glitz and skulls — yawn, yawn! On a side note, David Hasselhoff, commented to Audigier after the show, “I liked it; the girls looked great!”. We’re note sure whether Dave had his drinking goggles on or not.

WWD NEWS: “Flesh will be the theme at Marc by Marc Jacobs this weekend. The men’s store at 382 Bleecker Street in Manhattan will feature unclothed staffers Andrew Weyer, Kyle Avila, Chico Clark and Owen Marvel signing and selling T-shirts of themselves to benefit the New York University School of Medicine, Interdisciplinary Melanoma Cooperative Group. The four men won’t be totally nude, but are expected to cover their private parts in some way, perhaps with the T-shirts. “They compete with each other about who can sell the most T-shirts,” Marc Jacobs’ business partner, Robert Duffy, said. “So I said, ‘why not autograph them and appear naked on Saturday,’ and they just said, ‘OK.’”

Duffy and Jacobs were inspired to reprint most of the T-shirts from their 2006 initiative after being honored at the NYU Cancer Institute Gala earlier this month. The duo is also adding new ones featuring Heidi Klum, Helena Christensen, Alison Lohman and Joss Stone. Duffy hopes to raise about $500,000 with this new batch of $35 T-shirts, which will also go out to other Marc by Marc Jacobs stores worldwide.

Nudity, of course, is becoming quite a theme with Jacobs, who recently showed much skin in magazines like W, Out and Visionaire.

“This [initiative] started a long time ago, but Marc’s personal nudity is just a recent phenomenon,” Duffy said. “It’s interesting that he didn’t pose [for the T-shirt] this year. I think he’s overexposed.”

Following on from the success of their AW05 collaboration, Paul Smith Jeans and Burton Snowboards have joined forces once again for an exciting new design project. Traditional formal clothing designed by Paul Smith will be seen on the mountains for the first time, using Burton’s innovative fabric technology and construction techniques.

As part of Burton’s Mark XIII collection a limited edition classic single-breasted hacking jacket in traditional English check sits alongside a limited edition, dark grey cavalry twill double-breasted trench coat and skinny-fit trousers. These traditional pieces are functional on the mountain and on the street.

“I have such an admiration for Burton Snowboards that when I was asked to collaborate with them the obvious route was “true sportswear”. For this second project I have taken tailored clothing and given it all the special features expected from me and Burton; unique hidden lining details, individual buttons, and Burton’s cutting edge technology; fully taped heat-welded seams and high performance waterproofing” Paul Smith 2007

Jhung Yuro, luxury lifestyle, mainline shoes are on sale at Togged.com. Togged are offering a massive discount on their complete Jhung Yuro collection. If you want a pair of these super exclusive shoes now is definitely the time to buy.

Stussy Clothing, Hoilday 07, will be hitting in the next couple of weeks. Here’s a preview of the Stussy winter warmers which are bound to get Stussy fans drowling.

This is the new SELEVEN RMC + Yoropiko Gallery Store opened by Martin this weekend in HK. Rumour has a new SELEVEN RMC + Yoropiko Gallery Store will be opening in Europe.

London seems the most likely destination for the European SELEVEN RMC + Yoropiko Gallery Store.

Here’s a preview of the new LA Air Line jeans and hoody collection modelled by england football star Micah Richards.

Hong Kong based rock star Candy Lo is the face of the forth-coming Yoropoiko ladieswear collection which will be launching in Europe very soon.

Before going solo Candy Lo was the lead vocalist in Hong Kong based rock band Black & Blue. Before the band released any material, they used to perform independently of Black & Blue as a band as well.

In 1998 Candy Lo was signed to Sony Music, thus starting her solo career. Her first release under Sony was an EP called Unnecessary To Want..Perfect Can Be Terrible (不需要..完美得可怕). For this record she won a Golden Award[1] in the same year. The style of this release continued on from her rock past with Black & Blue. In winter 1998, Candy released a second record called Miao, the title of which refers to Candy’s love of cats and how “they listen while people sometimes don’t.” The album didn’t sell as much copies as expected. Producer Kubert Leung blamed the public, who “failed to grasp the concept of the album”.

Lo’s 3rd album, Get Close To Candy Lo (貼近盧巧音), released in 1999, set itself apart from the mainstream music that year by adding a philharmonic orchestra to her mix of rock and pop. In 2000 Candy Lo again released 2 records, Colour Release (色放) and Muse. In July 2001 Candy Lo released Fantasy. Fantasy contained the radio hit The Sword And Spear Don’t Enter (刀枪不入) as well as Call (呐喊), the theme song for the movie Final Fantasy. Lo’s 1st compilation album titled Like To Love (喜歡戀愛) was also released in the year.

The release of her 2002 album Appreciate The Taste Of Life (賞味人間) marked Candy’s career with her first smash hit Better To be Apart (好心分手) for which you collaborated with fellow singer Lee Hom Wang. Promotional picture of “Candy’s Airline”On April 26, 2003 Candy’s Airline (糖果航空) is was released. In that same year Candy released a concept album titled Flower Talk (花言.巧語), which combined mellow as well as more upbeat tunes with a classical hint to them. Three months later Candy Lo released True Music 1st Flight Live 2003, a collection of live renditions of songs released between 1998 and 2003 plus a few covers such as Wong Jim’s Forget Him (忘記他), made famous by Teresa Teng. All of these were performed during a concert in Hong Kong.
Promotional picture of “Evolution Theory (天演論)”Evolution Theory (天演論) released in 2005, was the last album she recorded before parting company with Sony.[5] It is less mainstream than her previous two albums.[6] However, like Flower Talk, this album deals with spiritual issues such as the uncertainty of the future in Junk Girl Of Dystopia (敵托邦的拾荒姑娘) and departure in Sutra For Seeing Souls Off (送魂經). On June 11 2007, Candy Lo released her 10th album “Process” after joining her new record company “WOW Music”. Candy Lo is the first artist to release USB flash memory digital album in Asia. Process contained radio hit “Can’t Even Love”(愛到不能). Her mandarin song “Run Slowly” (走慢點) is also available at Candy’s website at http://candylo.hk which has a hit rate of more than 200,000 times.

Stone Island A/W 2007 Press Release:

 ”Stone Island re-elaborates garments coming from the uniforms world, ever-green inspiration source of the brand, focusing on the function of use just like in every collection. Moving within the same environment and with the same curiosity shown by the Mods, youth movement founded in England in the late ‘50s, Stone Island re-interprets Parkas, Field Jackets, Trenches, Bombers and Blousons by using innovative materials treated with special procedures and by updating their volumes and details.Fabrics play an important role and contribute to make the collection contemporary: among the most extreme ones, Reflective and Vinyl.

Shoulderpieces

The Parka: In Reflective military green cotton, cotton batavia covered by thousands of glass microspheres characterised by its reflective quality. A Japanese microfibre treated with a particular finishing able to make the garment thick and comfortable. In cotton/nylon transformed with an all-over camouflage print and internal resining.
The Field Jacket: Produced in reflective cotton, Raso Gommato and rubberised cotton satin, all garment dyed. Also produced in the heavy military duffle with non-slip finishing.
The Military Trench: In rubberised cotton muslin or double-breasted in Raso Gommato, rubberised cotton satin with external PVC-smearing with a vinyl effect.

Knitwear and Sweatshirts

Declined in different weights, from the heavy English-ribbed blouson-knit sweaters in wool, lambswool and chenille doubled in nylon, up to the light wool seamless knit sweaters.

Colours

Grey tones from powder to anthracite, green tones from military to emerald, blue tones from ink to bright blue, neutral colours from white to ecru, and then orange and black.

Stone Island revolutionises those garments through innovative materials and special treatments, up-dating their volumes and details, yet still keeping the same taste of the past.”

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After an incendiary live gig at the Fred Perry Newburgh Street Shop in September 2005 Matt, the lead singer of The Dead 60s, asked if they had ever produced a tartan reversed Harrington. He had been searching for one for ages. Fred Perry did not think at the time it was a good idea, because the Harrington was worn reverse side out in the Punk Era.

They hadn’t and so the project began, with Matt and the band involved for every detail of the final garments. Fred Perry will be releasing 500 of the Red Stuart Tartan and Monochrome Cornish Tartan Harrington worldwide very soon for $115 each. All jackets are individually numbered and feature a The Dead 60s neck label.

Following the explosion in Sports-Fashion collaborations a number of designers are now asking the question will these collaborations with corporate sportswear giants have a long-term detrimental impact on their credability as serious designers. Plainly the designer brings his or her credability to the table and in return the big corporate sports brand brings a lorry load of cash which on the face of it seems a fair trade-off. Then again, if you sell your soul to the devil there’s no buying it back. Perhaps one of the most interesting Sports-Fashion collaborations is the PUMA McQueen. Here’s their blurb:

“Unexpected and unique, Alexander McQueen PUMA defines a new provacative horizon in Sport-Fashion. Founded on the union of tradition and technology, the collection juxtaposes influences, delivering a visually contemporary line that is conceptually sophisticated and intricately crafted. The collections inspiration is derived from human anatomy, specifically the human foot, with specific references to the tendon structures, vien formations and toe print. For Autumn/Winter 2007, the study of anatomy continues through the exploration of body scanning and x-ray techniques.”

Martin Ksohoh catches a Star Trooper with his pants down as he prepares to save the galaxy from the forces of evil! Martin Yat Ming, aka Martin Ksohoh, the designer of the exclusive RMC Martin Ksohoh brand is seen modeling the limited edition yoropiko x headstone x star wars jeans. Only 100 pairs of these super-exclusive jeans will be made available through a select number of Hong Kong stores. These are a must for any denim Jedi! Martin is a big fan and is an active member of the STAR WARS FAN CLUB: www.hk501st.com

The moods of 1980s Hong Kong, British Punk and Chinese Folklore have conspired to inspire the Hugo BOSS Orange collections for this winter: multi-cultural looks with surprising style references and modern interpretations of the theme. Outfits that are ecletic, sassy and rich in detail, in other words typical Boss Orange!

The Onitsuka Tiger x Edwin jeans are based on Edwin’s authentic 503 jeans. While the men’s jeans have a tiger embroidered on the coin pocket, the women’s jeans have a tiger face in the same place. On the back, both men’s and women’s models have an Onitsuka Tiger label on the right pocket.

The leather label at the waist displays the Onitsuka Tiger and Edwin brand names, and the contour of a tiger face as well as the number 503 are embroidered in yellow thread. Both men’s and women’s pairs are available in light and dark indigo.

From September 15, the jeans will be out in 11 Onitsuka Tiger stores in Japan, four Edwin direct stores, as well as the Onitsuka Tiger shop-in-shop at Hankyu Department store INGS in Osaka.

From early December, Onitsuka Tiger stores in Paris, London, Amsterdam, Zurich, Berlin, Sydney and a soon to open Hong Kong store will also be selling the jeans collection. In Japan, the jeans will retail at 19,950 yen (USD 175 or EUR 127).

Denim Design Lab to produce custom jeans for presenters and nominees from the 2007 ESPY Awards.

Denim Design Lab recently participated in the ESPY Style Studio, an exclusive event in association with the 2007 ESPY Awards. The world’s best athletes, along with upcoming actors, actresses and “taste makers” came through the ESPY Style Suites held at the Mondrian Hotel in Los Angeles to partake in one-ofa- kind gifts and services.

Denim Design Lab “LE” books were on offer to the “A-List” talent, but what really got the crowd going was the one time opportunity to have a custom made pair of DDL Denim made to measure and finished to their taste. In a collaboration with Cone Denim of North Carolina, the Blue River Denim laundry and Blue Jade, Inc. from Los Angeles, Denim Design Lab utilized organic selvage denim as the raw canvas to create a truly premium pair of vintage inspired jeans.

Fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood, a lifelong Labour supporter, is considering switching to the dark-side; or the darker-side at least.

Making a statement: Vivienne Westwood’s spring/summer 2008 collection at Paris Fashion Week: “I’ve never voted Conservative in my life,” said the “godmother of punk” before her spring/summer 2008 collection at the Paris prêt-à-porter season. “But I would do anything to get this bad lot out.” Vivienne Westwood, 66, said she was “incensed” by the current Government’s track record on human rights, personal freedom and heritage.The Grandmother of punk issued copies of her latest political manifesto, “Active Resistance to Propaganda”, in which she argues that art and culture are the antidote to propaganda and the secret of civilisation.

Vivienne Westwood clothing has deep and historical roots in the anti-establishment arena, dating all the way back to her time with Malcolm McLaren and the infamous Pistols.

A sneak preview of the eagerly awaited LA Air Line 2008 Collection is due out any time now and is being billed as one of the most outrageous Tops and Tees Collections in recent years. Keep your eyes pilled for this one it is definitely worth a butchers!