Following on from the success of their SS19 collaboration, adidas Originals & Alife return with the Nizza Hi in two colourways for Summer. Founded in 1999 and far ahead of its time, Alife is a New York City-based multi-faceted, lifestyle driven brand – well known for its curation, branded product, experiential retail, art exhibitions and […]
Following on from the success of their SS19 collaboration, adidas Originals & Alife return with the Nizza Hi in two colourways for Summer. Founded in 1999 and far ahead of its time, Alife is a New York City-based multi-faceted, lifestyle driven brand – well known for its curation, branded product, experiential retail, art exhibitions and top-tier co-branded collaborations. Alife’s mission is to showcase, elevate and develop the downtown culture from which it is born. Originally released in 1975, the vulcanized Nizza canvas shoe is a lasting icon from a time when sporting footwear was more stripped back and all about the courts.
Today in 2020, the Nizza Hi is famed for its minimalist, versatile aesthetic which Alife bring their own character to while maintaining the qualities that have made the shoe grow for so many years. SS20 sees the Alife Nizza updated in two new colourways, yellow and black, with the same Alife logo detail.
The adidas Originals x Alife Nizza Hi will be launching at The Hip Store on 17/07/20 online at 08:00am.
In line with the launch of his signature adidas Originals Superstar this week, we decided to take a dive into the world of Jonah Hill, the newly favored style icon for many. When Jonah Hill first appeared in the noughties classic Superbad, it didn’t seem like he would progress into the Wacko Maria Camp Collar wearing […]
In line with the launch of his signature adidas Originals Superstar this week, we decided to take a dive into the world of Jonah Hill, the newly favored style icon for many. When Jonah Hill first appeared in the noughties classic Superbad, it didn’t seem like he would progress into the Wacko Maria Camp Collar wearing bicoastal menswear icon we know today.
As Jonah flowed from his Superbad and Pineapple Express era of hoodies-and-jeans, he then merged into the next early internet trend of poorly fitting blazers, bad shades and popped collars. Even with this rocky road in mind, the main factor to take away is that the most stylish thing a person can do is never care too much about what they wear and enjoy it. Much like fellow lauded actor Shia LaBeouf, Hill presents himself as someone who takes pleasure in dressing himself and taking risks, as opposed to using a stylist.
One of Hill’s prevalent points of interest has always been skateboarding – many brands and silhouettes all direct back to that classic 90’s skater look. Which is at high peak in fashion now and one of the viable explanations for Hill’s own rise as an unlikely style icon. Trousers and jeans are often wide legged which adds further to his laid back feeling. When pressed in countless interviews, Hill has said many a time he doesn’t really think about what he’s going to wear, but he does like to support brands he feels a connection with which is always the way to go – this attitude has led to a result of savvy mixes of streetwear and high-fashion.
Another factor is being on the go – many city-living celebs in LA are driven to and from where they need to be, in contrast on the east coast, Hill sticks to the NY lifestyle and walks everywhere. This results in the ambition to wear comfortable clothing to look and feel good, think lightweight shorts and camp collar shirts that mix the two needs effortlessly even in the heights of Summer heat. Seeing Jonah on the street in his day to day, rather than a fake LA photoshoot creates a relatable, accessible, and achievable feel to many of his looks.
In his very own way, Jonah Hill is shrugging off the rich, handsome, highly filtered image of Hollywood that’s been turning actors into faces with little personality for decades and taking a new looser individualistic approach to personal style.
One example of the fanfare around each outfit put together by Hill is the Instagram account @jonahfits – which is run by a mysterious Jonah Hill fan, reported to be in his late 20s and works in finance. The account is exactly what it sounds like — a daily visual diary of the actor’s looks. “I honestly figured a Jonah Hill style Instagram would have already existed by the time I searched for it,” stated the creator. “Once I saw there wasn’t I knew there would be an appetite for it so I created it.” When pressed to his reasoning to why Hill resonates with such a large crowd he explains “He’s also a part of skate culture so that’s what so much of his style is based upon. His authenticity is what separates him from so many other celebrities.”
As shown with the Jonah’s Fits account, Hill’s infamous style has attracted a strong following, fashion podcast Throwing Fits has long been idolizing Hill as a symbolic figure in menswear to the point of creating a dedicated ‘Jonah Hill Day’. Hosted by Lawrence Schlossman (Former Complex and Grailed) and James Harris (Former Complex and Def Jam), Throwing Fits is described as a podcast that is “two grown dirtbags just trying to navigate the millennial male zeitgeist” with a typical listener of 20-30 something year old with a keen interest in style and surrounding matters. The podcast delivers episodes on a weekly occurrence to both a free audience and also bonus episodes to their dedicated paid Patreon subscription base. Iconic past episodes include discussions with Jonah himself, Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend and Union LA’s Chris Gibbs.
The first Jonah Hill day in September 2017 took place during NY fashion week at popular bar Kinfolk 90, equally serving as a light hearted meeting point on the day for fans of the podcast. Fast forward to 2018 and Jonah actually showed his face leading to mass fanfare and disbelief to those in attendance, allowing everyday fans and fellow style enthusiasts the ability to meet someone they look to and further hammer home the fact of his regularity and relatability. When asked by The Cut Magazine on the day, Harris summed up the mood of the appreciation well “He’s the ideal we all aspire to be – he’s just doing his shit and dressing well while doing it.”
Though newly added to the adidas Originals family, Hill started on a high note as he expanded his portfolio directing the star-studded Superstar campaign which featured the likes of Blondey McCoy, NIGO, Pharrell – all who have released their own take on the shoe. Now it’s his time to put his own stamp on the iconic shoe – the Jonah Hill Superstar creates an organic connection to Jonah’s own childhood influences, inspirations, and points of reference. Speaking on the design inspiration Jonah explains the creative process and his personal relationship to the silhouette: “I started thinking back to all the experiences I had growing up while wearing them, and tried to make my fantasy version of what I would have wanted when I first wore them.” Directed by Jonah’s upbringing on the West Coast during the 1990s, the collaborative Superstar sneaker honors the creative’s love for the original silhouette while adding his own unique aesthetics to it. Blending sophisticated lines with a homemade punk aesthetic.
The adidas Originals x Jonah Hill Superstar is online now.
This July, adidas Originals has worked with Jonah Hill to create a new take on the Superstar. Throughout its existence, the iconic Superstar has been worn by teams and crews who push culture forward. adidas Originals has collaborated with one of culture’s most game-changing and exciting creative forces, Jonah Hill, to present a striking new take on […]
This July, adidas Originals has worked with Jonah Hill to create a new take on the Superstar. Throughout its existence, the iconic Superstar has been worn by teams and crews who push culture forward. adidas Originals has collaborated with one of culture’s most game-changing and exciting creative forces, Jonah Hill, to present a striking new take on the timeless silhouette.
The Jonah Hill Superstar creates an organic connection to Jonah’s own childhood influences, inspirations, and points of reference. Speaking on the design inspiration Jonah explains the creative process and his personal relationship to the silhouette: “I started thinking back to all the experiences I had growing up while wearing them, and tried to make my fantasy version of what I would have wanted when I first wore them.” Directed by Jonah’s upbringing on the West Coast during the 1990s, the collaborative Superstar sneaker honors the creative’s love for the original silhouette while adding his own unique aesthetics to it. Blending sophisticated lines with a homemade punk aesthetic.
The Superstar is made-up in a core-white full-grain leather upper with an off-white rubber sole. Closer details of the silhouette include an abundance of personal touches, including “JH” and “Superstar” stitching in Jonah’s handwriting, and a lion embroidered on the back of the tongue, which is an ode to one of his tattoos.
The adidas Originals x Jonah Hill Superstar is online now.
This Summer, flamboyant Japanese cult label WACKO MARIA have payed homage to the late and great artist Jean-Michel Basquiat on a capsule collection of officially licensed Hawaiian Shirts in collaboration with the state of Basquiat. This follows a trail of recent cultural collaborations from WACKO MARIA which include L.A based artist Neckface, tattooist Tim Lehi […]
This Summer, flamboyant Japanese cult label WACKO MARIA have payed homage to the late and great artist Jean-Michel Basquiat on a capsule collection of officially licensed Hawaiian Shirts in collaboration with the state of Basquiat. This follows a trail of recent cultural collaborations from WACKO MARIA which include L.A based artist Neckface, tattooist Tim Lehi and legendary rock band Rage Against The Machine. Iconic artworks featured in the 3 piece collection include imagery from Basquiat’s Italian “1983”, Untitled “1984” and Untitled “Three Kings” paintings. Each Hawaiian Shirt arrives in typical high end WACKO MARIA fashion – crafted from smooth lyocell rayon with a laid back boxy fit, notched lapels, camp collar and crisp white buttons.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, on December 22, 1960 to a Haitian-American father and a Puerto Rican mother, Basquiat’s diverse cultural makeup immersed him into a unique open lifestyle and is one of his many sources of inspiration. Growing as a self-taught artist, Basquiat first began drawing at an young age on sheets of paper his father brought home from his job as an accountant. As he gradually immersed into his creative side, his mother positively encouraged him to pursue his creative talents.
As Basquiat’s interest in other subjects lessened and he became more focused on art, his father threw him out of the house when he dropped out of school at the age of 17 – living on the street meant his diet mainly consisted of cheap red wine and 15¢ bags of Cheetos. When Basquiat was only 19, he starred in Downtown 81. The movie is a view on NYC’s art scene where he plays a version of himself. He was homeless at the time of the movie and slept in the production office for most of the shooting process – the paintings in the movie were also done by him and are among his first canvases.
In the late 70s, Jean-Michel gained initial attention for his graffiti work under the name “SAMO” (Same old shit) in New York City. He sold sweatshirts and postcards featuring his artwork on the streets before his painting career took off, this way of selling art was reminiscent of Keith Haring’s merch in his famous “Pop Shop” on Lafayette Street.
In his earlier works, Basquiat became known for using a specfic crown motif, which was his way of celebrating black people as majestic royalty and picturing them as saints. Artist Francesco Clemente once spoke upon the crown saying: “Jean-Michel’s crown has three peaks, for his three royal lineages: the poet, the musician, the great boxing champion. Jean measured his skill against all he deemed strong, without prejudice as to their taste or age.” Alongside the crown another consistent theme was painting the traumas black people in America faced at the time and his focus on black culture helped bring much needed attention to the lack of diversity in the art world. Basquiat once said “I realized that I didn’t see many paintings with black people in them, so the black person is the protagonist in most of my paintings.”
Basquiat gained intense momentum with his first exhibition — the landmark DIY Times Square Show which opened in June of 1980 in an abandoned massage parlor off Seventh Avenue. This pioneering exhibition also included works from a star studded line up of Keith Haring, Kiki Smith, Jenny Holzer and Kenny Scharf. In 1982, at the age of 21, he became the youngest artist to ever exhibit at Documenta in Kassel, Germany, when nearly 60 of his paintings were featured at the renowned exhibition which placed him on a global platform.
Basquiat first met legendary artist Andy Warhol whilst dining at a New York restaurant with curator Henry Geldzahler and ending up selling Warhol a couple of his postcards he kept with him. As the two became friends, many speculated the reasons for their unlikely friendship which represented the current state of the art world at that time – Jean-Michel thought he needed Andy’s fame to grow into a respected artist, and Andy believed he required Jean-Michel’s new blood to stay relevant and cool. Basquiat was initially never embraced fondly by the high-art circuit; with his work being rejected by both the Whitney and MoMA. Finding himself separate from the art-world prestige he seemingly also wanted to be a part of – his artistic collaboration with Warhol was seen as way to elevate himself in that same space.
Following surgery complications, Andy Warhol died on 22 February, 1987 – the event struck Basquiat’s health and state of mind, consequently exposing the apparent extent to which Warhol had been his working partner. As Basquiat rose to the peak of his fame, even more opportunities arose for him outside the art world such as being chosen to walk in the iconic Comme des Garçons Homme Plus Spring/Summer 1987 runway show. Over the years, lead designer of CDG Rei Kawakubo had become known for overthrowing trends of the day with wild casting practices and forward thinking designs which helped pushed the label to cult status.
Basquiat’s heroin use would famously be his downfall, despite attempting to get clean on an escape trip to Hawaii, he died from an overdose when he was only 27 years old, joining the elusive 27 club. Subsequently this further catapulted his art and elusive legacy, creating one of the most sought out collections of art in the world. In 2017 his Untitled 1982 piece sold for $110.5 million, placing it as the sixth most expensive piece of artwork in history. “I’m not a real person. I’m a legend,” Basquiat once claimed. His name and unique personal style have become immortalized in culture and have become frequent reference points globally.
Following on from their recent first drop, West Coast streetwear pioneers Stüssy present the second drop of their Summer ’20 collection. Following in a similar fashion to the first, the collection features a wide variety of wearable Summer staple silhouettes and accessories, covering all bases with minimally branded cut and sew pieces, classic graphic tees, playful accessories […]
Following on from their recent first drop, West Coast streetwear pioneers Stüssy present the second drop of their Summer ’20 collection.
Following in a similar fashion to the first, the collection features a wide variety of wearable Summer staple silhouettes and accessories, covering all bases with minimally branded cut and sew pieces, classic graphic tees, playful accessories and sophisticated homeware objects.
Some of our favourite pieces in the collection include the Floral Print Shirt and the Dice Ceramic Vase which both demonstrate Stüssy’s modern interpretation on classic Summer styles and their ability to use their branding to create contemporary and low-key lifestyle accessories.
With Summer in full swing and most of us still in full work from home mode, a lot of go-to pant styles have been exhausted. One of our favourite cuts we have seen come through in recent seasons is a more “Relaxed straight” style – this cut is perfect for lounging at home and also […]
With Summer in full swing and most of us still in full work from home mode, a lot of go-to pant styles have been exhausted. One of our favourite cuts we have seen come through in recent seasons is a more “Relaxed straight” style – this cut is perfect for lounging at home and also makes for some interesting pairings with all types of footwear. Explore our Hip edit of some of our favourite relaxed pants this SS20 season with all the fit and fabric details you need for finding a pair that works for you.
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