MOST OF THE IMAGES OF REALITY ON WHICH WE BASE
OUR ACTIONS ARE REALLY BASED ON VICARIOUS EXPERIENCE.
The incredible thing about surrounding yourself with great people is that it rubs off on you. One of the greatest things a friend has taught me is to make time for others.
We can all get so focused on our goals, it’s easy to feel that your time is precious and you need to be burning the midnight oil every night. The truth is, you need as much time off doing other things as you do on. Meeting new or old friends, giving advice or gaining it — it’s a silly thing to pass up.
Next thing I know I’m sitting in Tokyo sipping on some ramen and hanging out with some friendly faces. I was in Japan to capture the release of Ronnie Fieg’s Puma Sakura collaboration and the ever evolving city lifestyle of Tokyo. It is fair to say I was in my element, using each hour I could stay awake to experience it all.
The first few nights I set up some time lapses, planned out any thing that needed planning and hung out with some of the Local friends of the crew, they took us to what felt like a very local spot to eat, nothing like I had experienced before, the guys interpreted the food to me, of course most of it sounds strange but after a few not so good bites we got the ball rolling on some great pieces of fish, rice and dumplings.
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As you all know, things don't always go to plan and some bits of the project got called off, meaning I had some serious free time on my hands to wonder Tokyo, I can think of a lot worse things to happen.
PEOPLE WATCHING IN TOKYO IS LIKE NO OTHER.
Seeing first hand the collaboration of two brands from different upbringings share so many similarities in interests, thoughts and creative style is just amazing. The Bond over ideas was as crystal clear as the attention to detail and craft. The Collection Ronnie had worked on was inspired by the blossoming of the 桜 or 櫻; さくら (Cherry blossom).
There were a bundle of people flown out to attend the release, a celebratory dinner, and after party in a hidden away venue, which I can only describe as “if a troll collected chandeliers and hid them away for centuries this was the hiding spot.” It was bananas.
Always a complete pleasure working with Ronnie and his team, seeing such a tight team of creatives working in sync, its great to see, its something I strive to have one day.As if things weren’t already looking good, there was an added bonus of the release being hosted in one of my favorite stores, United Arrows and Sons, creatively directed by the well known Motofumi “Poggy” Kogi. It’s no wonder Poggy has so much success; in addition to his incredible talent, he is genuinely nice and appreciative of everyone, topping off my experience over there.
This place was crazy and the guy running it was magic, what a character.
Stoked on this whole last minute trip, hopefully theres plenty more to come with the Kith guys and girls, also It showed me how much I need to explore Japan more and connect with locals to experience it all. Till then
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