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In what was once an old, small two-story house next to the elevated train tracks in Tokyo’s Naka-Meguro lives Onibus Coffee. The old house has been renovated. The first floor is where they make the coffee, the second floor is small seating area. It’s a contemporary space that retains remnantsContinue Reading

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So many choices, so many options, so many variations. Who knew there could be so many nut-based crunchy-delicious Japanese snacks? And all crammed into one tiny shop deep in central Tokyo’s Azabu-Juban neighborhood. Mamegen is a storied traditional Japanese snack shop and brand famous for making incredibly yummy and originalContinue Reading

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We briefly swung by Japanese cellphone carrier and telecommunications giant DoCoMo’s current design exhibition in Tokyo that shows how the form factor of their smartphones has evolved. The exhibition, called DoCoMo x Design, breaks down the iterative design process with hundreds of examples of colors and shapes. It also pointContinue Reading

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We’re back in Tokyo for the better part of a couple of weeks. There’s always lots to do and see here, and always lots of people to meet and catch up with. October is an ideal month to be in the Japanese capital. It’s not so cool yet that youContinue Reading

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Artist Urs Fischer is one of a handful of contemporary artists who have collaborated with Louis Vuitton to create a version of the luxury brand’s Capucines bag with a twist. Fischer’s take on involves a banana hanging from the handbag by a string. See more of Fischer’s work on hisContinue Reading

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Another contemporary artist who has collaborated Louis Vuitton on the Capucines Collection handbags is Alex Israel, whose artwork heavily employs cartoon-like depictions of waves and evokes California surf culture. For this handbag, Israel has incorporated resin surfboard fins as part of the bags architecture.

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Sometimes it takes a bold yet cognitively dissonant vision to center our thoughts on what’s really important in life, about who we really are, the meaning of life (or whether there’s a larger meaning), and our place in the universe. In other words, sometimes it takes a visually arresting imageContinue Reading

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The “canvas” in the headline above is actually eight, large square-shaped canvas panels placed together to form a masterwork by artist Michel Majerus. The artwork is titled “MoM-Block II” and is on view at MOCA Los Angeles. The painting reference 1980s video game and pop culture with a black-and-white renderingContinue Reading

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Beats made these Mickey Mouse headphones for fans of the iconic Disney mouse. Beats headphones, worn here by a colleague, are pretty damn good. Personally we think Bose makes better headphones, especially their noise-cancelling over-ear Bluetooth “ear goggles,” as late Beastie Boy Adam Yauch (a.k.a., MCA) might have called them.Continue Reading

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Our friend, and Brazilian fixture of the Los Angeles coffee scene, Mr. Lu recently has been frequently wearing these super lit graphic tees with prints of vintage Japanese movie posters of American films, from “2001: A Space Odyssey” (above) to “Gremlins,” from “Scanners” (below) to “Little Monsters (also below).” TheContinue Reading

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Peter Lindberg, the German fashion photographer whose work ushered in the era of the “super model,” died this past Tuesday. Lindberg’s worked at the pinnacle of the fashion world, his photography regularly appearing in the major fashion magazines – British and American Vogue, Harpers, etc. — and captured a groupContinue Reading

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German auto-manufacturer BMW recently unveiled a car painted in the blackest black hue in the color spectrum. This black is called “Vanta’ or “VantaBlack” and it won’t be on any for-sale production model. Vanta was famously exclusively-licensed by artist Anish Kapoor for use in his art (and, as some wouldContinue Reading