Photos by Tom Wallace. There’s a growing number of cartoon or kid-show related licensing deals filtering throughout streetwear and street art these days, from brands creating collaborative apparel and accessories, to street artists creating new works based on cartoon, super hero, or in the case of this Sesame Street collab, old-school children’s entertainment. Last weekend, […]
Fashion art have always maintained an intertwined relationship, particularly when it comes to street fashion and graffiti art. On March 15th during the wrap-up of a busy LA Fashion Week, Label Networks debuted its first LABELLAB EXHIBITION at Crewest Gallery in downtown Los Angeles featuring live fashion art installations created by THELABELLAB members’ Cardboard Robot, Andrew Hanson, Miss Wax, and Original Hip-Hop Chocolate. The Exhibition marked the first live incarnation for emerging street fashion brands to depict their independent style through artistic installations in a unique gallery in downtown Los Angeles.
Smack in the middle of an economic landscape that has torn retailers apart and sunk galleries into oblivion, up pops Swiv Tackle Circus in Oceanside, CA, a gritty little beach community on the northern edge of San Diego and an outpost for skaters, surfers, and artists. As original as its name, Swiv Tackle Circus has redefined what it means to be a retail store, gallery, and community gathering space. Known as a “gallertique” as in part boutique and part gallery, the 3,500 square-foot space owned by Shaney Jo Darden and Jeff Black, and managed with partners Desiree Dawn Kuhn and Kirsten Kuhn, gives new meaning and hope to the concept of having a business and artistic gathering space that pushes forward creativity and new ideas, rather than constricts life based on outside forces of bad economics. The concept is the epitome of DIY in that it’s so CYOO (create your own oasis).
In what’s becoming a growing movement in street fashion and art collaborations, on May 17, 2008, the 2nd LABELLAB Exhibition took place at Crewest Gallery in downtown Los Angeles featuring live fashion art creations and installations by LABELLAB members’ Drifter, David and David, and Pretti Vacant Accessories, with a special screening of “Bomb It” -The Graffiti Documentary by Jon Reiss. The Exhibition was an exciting opportunity for emerging street fashion brands to depict their independent style through artistic interpretations in a unique gallery in downtown Los Angeles.