We had an amazing time at the Pool Tradeshow in Las Vegas. A ’67 VW Bus, fake plants, great music on vinyl, frisbee, tye die, the list goes on and on. But I couldn’t have done it without my two trusty amigos.  Thanks for making so many sacrifices to help HOMAGE get out there!
Inspiration for this year’s theme came from Woodstock. Artie Kornfeld and Michael Lang responded to an ad placed in the Wall St. Journal by John Roberts and Joel Rosenman that read, “Young men with unlimited capital looking for interesting, legitimate investment opportunities and business propositions.” The four would go on to organize one of the most amazing festivals in history.
i mentioned in a previous post that i almost met the one and only Todd Smith, AKA LL COOL J. An employee from Todd Smith (LL’s new streetwear brand) just sent me a few photos from the magic trade show. While I didn’t get to meet LL personally, standing in front of a life size photo of him is kind of cool, too. word.
konichiwa from las vegas. it has been, without a doubt, a crazy week at the pool tradeshow. after trying to hustle for three days, meeting new peeps, and being always on the go, i’m exhausted. before i forget, a big shout out to meagan and joe for coming along for the ride.
i finally got a chance to connect the old camera and upload a picture of the booth. we went simple and old school, toting a 90s lasonic ghettoblaster, some new kids on the block trading cards, a couple of NES powerpads, and a few sports posters. the original 8 bit nintendo system was also clutch. we rocked out some classics like zelda, mike tyson’s punch out, super mario bros, rc pro am, contra, and pac man. joe’s zelda skills are legendary.
i got a minute to browse the streetwear section of magic. pretty wild! i was a few hours away from meeting the one and only LL COOL J. unfortunately for me, he had stepped out. and i had even brought my A-game, decked out in an OG 1980s troop suit. (with matching troop shoes and cazal glasses).
i did get to meet one rock star though. totally immersed in a game of tetris, my ears suddenly recognize a familiar voice. i turn around to catch sight of the dude’s name badge. it belonged to none other than the educated jewish hustler himself–mister dov charney, founder of american apparel. he says to me, “so how can we make more money?” and i told him. hopefully i can get ahold of someone at aa next week to bring my suggestion to fruition. that would be pretty rad.
back home to fill orders tomorrow. on a final note: to all the shops who placed orders with me today, thank you so much. i know that sometimes these transactions tend to involve an “all business all the time” mentality. but for me, since i put my heart into making stuff that people will really love to wear, it involves far more. and i thank particular buyers for recognizing my hard work with the ultimate complement–putting homage into their shops.
