Keith Richards x Vuitton (updated)

It's not denim, but I saw this ad in the local newspaper magazine and thought it was worth posting. Keith Richards modelling for Louis Vuitton! Last year it was Mikhail Gorbachev... now we have Keith. I'm glad LV have done something other than the rapper hip-hop r&b scene. Next year we might get Iggy Pop!

The image has some interesting aspects:

• Is that an LV Guitar Case for his Gibson? I doubt it's a standard product, but LV still have their made-to-order service. LV monogram hard luggage ages beautifully.
• He has a cup of tea on the case.
• There's also a novel with a big magnifying glass... for his poor eye-sight?

Update: There's a big clear image on the LV site - not sure how long it will remain there.

Update 2: Designboom has a decent article about the photo:

'I told them, I'll only do it if you make me a guitar case with the logo on
it, and they've done it. I'm very proud of it. I'll probably never travel with
it, because it's just too beautiful.' the rocker declined payment for his
participation, and instead a donation went to the climate project pioneered
by al gore richards says he's rich enough, thank you.

Evisu 2000 No.2 first wash

Trademark

I was just reading a this post on the Boing Boing site, and it had a sentence that I found interesting for the Levi Strauss trademark drama.

"Trademark does not protect owners from others profiting on their marks --
trademark's purpose is to prevent vendors from misleading the public about the
origin of goods and services. If you use someone else's trademark ... you're totally in the clear, provided that the purchaser doesn't get confused about whose product he's buying."

IANAL but from that, it sounds like many of our favourite jeans could have arcuates and tabs?

Home Cobbler Action

I didn't like how my Allen-Edmonds have the edge of the sole and heel painted black. It is a thick black colour that looked plastic, and aesthetically the colour didn't fit with the cordovan of the shoe (see my previous pictures). So I sanded the black colour off to reveal the shades of layered leather.

I'm not actually sure what the top layer-edging material is. It's black, but I'm unsure if it's plastic.

The sanded leather was very pale, so I rubbed in some sno-seal which has created some darker-richer shades. It's not perfect, and my sanding is inconsistent, but it's a huge improvement on the black.

Free & Easy Rugged Museum

http://rugged.jp/

I visited the Free & Easy Rugged Museum in Tokyo.  It's in the Ayoyama/Harajuku area, up past Pure Blue Japan, opposite the Soccer Stadium.

The museum is very cool.  It's full of some amazing vintage clothing, and new vintage style.  Much of the clothing is for sale.  The RRL pieces were beautiful, but prices were in the clouds.

No pictures are allowed inside, but there are pics if you follow the link above.

Blue Jean Confidential CBC Documentary

If you haven't seen this documentary you can watch it online here:

http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/confidential/bluejean_video.html

It's quite good. It includes interviews with Adriano Goldschmied, Lynn Downey and James Sullivan.

And the makers even travelled to Kojima japan to check out the Rampuya and interview some hardcore collectors.