JOYENGINE: cause sharing is cool

For a mere $106 you too can look like a complete asshole. Who buys this stuff? Don’t hit me.

Mike HYP has been working on some new shit!  He just dropped off some super fresh lacelocks that are lazer etched HYP style.  They’ll be available for purchase at his Berlin opening at Intoxicated Demons May 9th.

I’m all for collaboration and I’m 100% down with minimalism. That being said, if this post from High Snobiety is correct, this “collaboration” is bullshit. The post reads as follows:

“After previously working with Nike on some sneakers, French brand A.P.C. has not gotten together with Vans. They chose the Sk8 Hi and kept it very simple. It comes in all white cotton with white sole and leather logo stripes on the side panels.

The A.P.C. x Vans Sk8 Hi is now available in the A.P.C. online store and goes for 70 Euros. “

First off, I’m going to go ahead and assume “not gotten together” is a typo and they really meant “now gotten together.” Secondly, if I’m not mistaken these A.P.C. collabs appear to be pretty damn identical to the “Core Classic” all white color way that you can find on Zappos for $69.99. I’m not trying to bash A.P.C. or anybody else here, but I know plenty of super talented folks who would love to collaborate with Vans and not just spec white cotton…

Above: A.P.C. Vans SK8 Hi Collaboration / Below: Vans “Core Classic” SK8 Hi on Zappos

April 3rd through the 6th Satellite will be having their massive spring blowout sale. On the 5th they will be premiering Satellite’s “Ride With Us” movie as well as Lakai “Fully Flared.” Be sure to check it out if you want to snag some serious dealios.

INDY from the United Kingdom popped into the shop this week after a sneaker & streetwear hunting trip to NYC. He happened to see some of our custom kicks lyin’ around and decided he needed a pair. He ran out and picked up some white on white adidas Superstars. TEEBEE got after it last night and threw down a super fresh firey 3-stripe fade. Hope homey like’s ‘em.

Big”Ant” Hull, host of Mania TV’s Rapper’s Delight and The Hit List dropped a pair of Blazers by for some customization, albeit minimal. It was dope to get up on some kix for Anthony. Ant’s been busy holdin’ down some serious interviews with the likes of Aesop Rock, Guru, and the Grammy award winning MC, Chamillionaire. Over the course of Anthony’s young and burgeoning career he’s interviewed a seriously heavy cast of characters. You can check out most of Mr. Hull’s interviews here. Homey is a busy man and makin’ moves. Looks like it’s time for us to tackle the 2 pairs of Alifes he plopped on us last week.

I’m sure the majority of you don’t know that Josh Wills (of The Fabric Lab and The Shoppe) and I play ping pong almost weekly. With that thought in mind I was having a little doodle session a few nights ago and came up with a little shirt concept. I passed off the final file yesterday to Mr. Wills. He has free reign, so we’ll see what comes out of it! But be sure to watch out for some JoyEngine + Fabric Lab clothing on the horizon… JoyLab???

I met Grant Gilliland in college, and his work continues to get better every time I see it! He moved to California after graduating, and has since fallen head first into the local art scene. He’s got a great highly animated drawing style, with techniques ranging from editorial-style vector illustration to custom painted shoes and sculpture. I highly recommend browsing his art blog, THE GROSS UNCLE, to learn about Grant and his body of work for yourself. That’s where I learned that he has a magic pair of shiny purple pants that gives him super art powers. I’d like to go find a pair for myself, but I’m guessing the pants have to find you… otherwise anyone could be awesome right?

Hopefully we’ll get to see some of Grant’s work at Joyengine in the very near future! Keep your fingers crossed.

 The Satellite/Installation krew is up to all sorts of wicked cool shit.  How about a Dekline sneaker collab???  These puppies will be droppin’ soon on the Satellite side of things.  On the Installation side… it’s party time this Friday night.  Jon Strieby has finished his installation… at Installation and his opening begins at 7pm tomorrow night followed by an after party at Bacaro.  Check it out, Strieby killed it, could be the best installation yet!!!

The 400 will be hosting a super rad release party for the New Balance Super Team 33 collection on Saturday, March 1st. You might be thinking, “What is Super Team 33? Well, here’s the deal… Out of the 6 New Balance factories in the USA, one of the best is located in Skowhegan, Maine - a district famous for its shoe manufacturing. From the engineers in the factory, a special production line was built, made up of the best 28 workers and 5 craftsmen (longest career 25 years, total career of 33 workers: 265.5 years). The collection made from these talented workers was named “Super Team 33″, because of its production line #33, and because of the total number of workers on the team. They value “high quality” and “aggressiveness”, and create the best quality shoes in New Balance.

There only 33 stores on planet earth that carry this product. The 400 is one of 8 in the US!

Last week I headed to Vegas for the 2008 Magic Apparel Convention and Pool Convention for a little industry research. I met some great people and saw some really jaw dropping art and design work. Most vendors at the shows (especially Pool) are super protective of their unreleased goods, so documenting most things was impossible. But I managed to get a lot of pics anyway, and here’s the best of them.

HIGHLIGHTS: Pieces from the “Mickey Unbound” show (Greg Simkins+), artist series Mountain Dew’s massive DJ booth (good move for them, I know plenty of artists addicted to their product), meeting Mr. Cartoon and childhood hero Mark “The Hammer” Coleman, computer animated Tokidoki characters and general design overload awesomeness!!!

We’d like to take a moment and introduce “Bruce“, Seth Bruce to be precise. Bruce rolls and controls over at Installation Shoe Gallery. He knows his kicks and… the robot. Seth is gonna be reppin’ Installation on the JE site and bringin’ you his “Top 11″ in the form of super fresh sneaks and other totally hype new gear. Odds are good he’ll be providing other hilariously delicious treats to the site as well… Bruce… everybody… everybody… Bruce.