This was actually posted on Frank the Butcher's blog at SlamxHype, but it was too damn funny so we are gonna share it with you here. For those who don't know Jimmy Fitz, he's the assistant manager of one of the illest sneaker shops in Boston, although technically Concepts is in Cambridge. You might also catch Jimmy Ridin' his Fixie up and down Mass. Ave sporting a supreme hat or one of the thousand fitteds he owns. Fitz has always been friendly with us, but you best not give him a funny look. Trust me, you don't wanna mess with a Kung Fu master...
As you know, Saturday May 31st was a huge day for Sneakerheads in the Boston Area. With the release of the Concepts Lobster Dunk, Harvard Square was invaded by over 300 passionate people hoping to get their hands on the Nike Dunk that our friend Rob Heppler and Concepts designed a little more than year ago. The "Camp Out" began on Wednesday@10pm when 5 Brooklyn kids parked their foldout chairs outside the store on 37 Brattle Street. By Thursday night, the line had grown around the block making of this an unprecedented event in Boston. When we saw the line that night the chances of getting a pair started to fade faster than Donald trump's hair.
Photo: Hinagiku On Friday afternoon when we finally got a chance to make it to Harvard, we became the 130th person in line. For a couple of minutes we started feeling self-conscious about about being the last on line, but knowing that the person in front of me flew in from Chicago made me realize the wait was gonna be worth it. A couple of hours went by and Catie was kind enough to Bring us Pizza and some cold ones. Throughout the night people stopped by wondering what we were waiting for, but by the end of the night they began to get answers ranging from Jenna Jameson's book signing to tickets for the Sex & the City premiere (which also happened to be down the street). Photo: Dreamsrey I do admit that camping out for sneakers might seem ridiculous to some, but seeing the determination that these kids had, to camp out for days, actually deserves a lot of credit. As one camper said to an older "highly educated" woman questioning our actions: "Lady, At least I'm not smoking crack or stealing your car!" Needless to say, Harvard Square began over analyzing us like an anthropological experiment.
Photo: Tina L. The atmosphere however was friendly, some people brought us Candy, some of the other businesses brought us water and energy drinks. By the end of the night the Corner of Brattle Street and Church Street had become a full-on Block Party. In between cars people threw around footballs and shared stories varying from Basketball Stats to inappropriate Youtube videos. Friendships were formed through this experience and people bonded not only for their love of sneakers but because the last 12 hours were a hell of long time.
Photo: Tina L. When the morning came back on Saturday, euphoria kept everyone going. The lobster truck showed up early giving people a taste of what was to come. Lobster rolls and Clam chowder were served to us while on line by the staff at concepts making this experience even more special. For those of us who were lucky to get a ticket the night before, waiting just became a celebration. For those who decided to sleep on their own beds, he tension grew as the line began moving. By the time the doors at concepts finally opened, 300 people stood in single file awaiting the moment and cheering for the Brooklyn kids when they came out holding the boxes like a heavy weight championship belt.
Photo: Tina L. Our friends at Concepts did an amazing job not only designing the packaging for the shoes, but really making sure this event went smooth and without problems. Special shout out here for all the staff at concepts, but in particular Jimmy, Deon, Cheddah, Frank, Natalie and Chris for making sure everyone was happy with what they got. Like it wasn't enough though, Graffiti Legends and Friends of Concepts, Stash and Futura joined the Celebration signing the limited edition (50 total) Wooden Boxes. A raffle put a nice end to the festivities with 37 limited posters and some Shirts given out to the lucky holders of the tickets. Again, Congratulations to Concepts for the Show they put up and Congratulations to all of those who waited patiently. We all got definitely something to remember here!
ps: with all the commotion going on in the Square, we didn't even open our package till we got home, and i gotta say, it was like Christmas over at Casa Manifest Destitute.
For all sneaker aficionados May 31st is gonna be a Big Day in Boston. As both Concepts (Cambridge) and Bodega plan to release their limited edition sneakers on this day, collectors might be finding themselves camping out for their precious shoes even days in advance. Trust me, you better get there early because this is gonna be an event to remember.
Concepts collaborative Nike SB “Lobster” Dunk is inspired by the seafood heritage of New England and will be available in a limited edition set available ONLY and exclusively at Concepts. The first 200 pairs include a limited packaging equipped with a lobster claw rubber band, a tee shirt, a condiment box (which includes lobster shell cracker, fork, bib, an extra set of laces, and wet nap) and a poster. The items will be all put into a traditional paper bag as used by typical lobster shops. Not only will the packaging and bag be branded with the “Concepts Fishing Company” graphic, but the release at Concepts will also be catered by Legal Seafoods, who will be serving tasty seafood appetizers. The release will be followed by a raffle for some additional exclusive goodies. Although the special pack will be extremely limited to 200 pairs, the first 50 pairs will come in a special limited edition wooden box. In any case, Seafood never looked so good before.
The "Lobster Dunk" hits our shores Sat May 31st!!!
Across the Charles, Bodega's Reebok Omni Pump Lite was inspired by the renegade, borderline illegal, semi-dangerous, insanely cheap, revolutionary, independently run bus lines that link Boston's Chinatown to NYCs Chinatown. Their "Escape pack" includes everything you need to escape to another city for an overnight excursion in the city that never sleeps. The Reebok Omni Pump Lite is the centerpiece of the project featuring a luminous jade and charcoal color-way detailed with a map of the route embossed on the ankle collar. A matching 5-panel cap by "ELM" and tee are also included in the pack (although a pair of boxers could have really sold this one for me). As part of the pack, they boys at bodega threw in mix-tapes, rolling papers, paint markers, and good luck charms to round out the contents of this extremely limited release. Only 100 Escape packs have been produced but here's the catch...within ONE of the packs is a GOLDEN TICKET upgrade. The lucky winner of the upgrade will get airfare to anywhere in the continental US, as well as a suitcase filled with past limited releases from Reebok. An additional 200 pairs "the travel pack" are also being released, but these ones come with a gym sack and not as many goodies as the "escape pack".
So there you have it. If you like sneakers as much as we do here, then start planing ahead. I'm really curious to see if anyone is gonna be able to cop both...who knows maybe there'll be an organized camp-outs. You never know to what lengths sneakerheads will go to, to get their precious...
Roxbury Native and icon of the Boston Hip-Hop scene Edo.G will be tomorrow at Concepts Cambridge for the release of the Com Raid and Concepts Collaboration tee. Breaks Courtesy of Brek.One
Our Friend BREK.ONE's being mad busy lately. Every time he plays a venue, somehow he magically ends being booked for a different event, which means going down to NYC on very short notice. We met a while ago at a crazy loft party but couldn't get him to play since I had a line of untalented House DJ's breathing down my back to be next on the decks. In retrospect, I should have just let him tag with me....turns out the guy is an amazingly versatile DJ. Recently he gave us (EXCLUSIVELY!) a mixtape to share with y'all. Although his background is 100% Hip Hop, his purpletape mix is a mash-up of all things we love here at manifest destitute. Honestly, there's way too many highlights to even start counting. You gotta give it up to BREK.ONE, I never though I'd hear Yazoo and Ray Charles in the same mix. Well people I highly recommend you download this mix and trash the bandwidth because you'd be surprised how good this is. I'm not gonna spoil the surprise, but there's even a moment when Stardust is mashed with Nirvana!!! Enough with the preview though. Go git it and listen to it because "it's easy, easy like Sunday morning"....
ps: Kid Sister is in town again...go get your nails did and Catch her perform at Concepts Cambridge Tomorrow @5pm. She'll also be at the Z-Square Lounge later that night. Beats Courtesy of BREK.ONE & Ms. Thang!!!
I stopped by Harvard Square on Sunday to see what was new, and to talk to our friends over at Concepts. I went to the OG Concepts first, and it's good to see that even with the new store open, the old spot is still holding it down. Lot's of Fresh new stuff from Stussy, Twelve Bar, Futura Labs, and obviously, the Latest from the Jordan Line. What was a real treat was to see the new Piet Parra Colab with Nike. This colab windrunner is part of the Running Man Series and comes in a black/ blue chill/ cherry colorway. Parra also runs the streetwear brand "Rockwell", but he's probably best known as an artist/ typographer for his twisted illustrations on album covers (Pase Rock, Teenage Bad Girl..) and flyers (Stones Throw). An underground sensation in Amsterdam, Parra has also received commercial success with his sold out gallery openings, and features in magazines like Arkitip and WAD. So, if you can't get a hold of his prints then go get yourself the windrunner and gear up for this spring. They might have the sneakers too, just ask Jimmy.
In any case, our friends at Concepts have been real busy this year with the opening of the new spot and it's nice to see how well the store came out. Now Carrying Visvim, Vintage Gucci, and limited edition Levis, the store is bound to become a boutique with international credentials. If you read the streetwear blogs, you probably know about their colabs with Recon, False, The Hundreds, New Balance and Clarks. Well, Expect more to come though...I hear there's some great things lined up for the summer. And don't forget to go to their "pre-launch" party this Friday at Z-square in... yes you guessed it, Harvard Square.
I while ago I did a huge post on Futura 2000. Well...I'll try to keep this one short. Through the magic of ebay, and obscure record stores in Quebec, I managed to get of hold of this piece of music/art treasure. When the Clash went to New York in the 80's, they fell in love with the new culture of Hip-Hop and asked Futura to go on tour with them and paint while they performed. This collaboration didn't end there though. If you listen to "overpowered by funk" on Combat Rock, you will hear Futura doing a freestyle over some funky-ass beats. The favor was later reciprocated when Mick Jones produced what is this "epic" EP titled: The Escapades of Futura 2000. Check the credits and you'll also find Dondi White and Fab 5 Freddy on backup vocals. Insane right! Well... Basquiat produced an album too but that's till next time! Enjoy this for now. Also...I guess it's not a secret that the new Concepts store in Harvard Sq. has a massive Futura Painting... and trust me, we needed 2x4's to make that canvas. It was that big. If you're good maybe uncle Tarek will let you see it.
New York based Acapulco Gold has come out with some sweet stuff just in time for yo momma to put them under the Christmas Tree. (wait what...i meant Santa!!) Go to their website and check out their Fall/Winter Collection. Be sure to check out "The Breaks" Tee, it's far cheaper than getting one of Jeanette's prints. Now available at Concepts and other selected stores around you. Hold on....be sure to download a copy of their Mix CD here and Boogie down like it's 1979!!!
Just in: Concepts Cambridge is now carrying Futura Laboratories! For those who are not familiar with Futura's work, he is one of the most influential graffiti artists. A contemporary of Keith Harring and Basquiat, Futura is one of the few artists from that era that is still with us. In the music scene he has been a sought-after artist and has collaborated with The Clash, while more recently he's provided all the imagery to James Lavelle's UNKLE projects. Today, Futura travels the world spreading his work from gallery to gallery and has been an active figure in Streetwear and Sneaker culture. For those of you hypebeasts, this might just sound silly, but for everyone else, i just wanted to express my admiration for this man's work...no homo.
This past Saturday morning I rushed to Concepts Cambridge to get these beautiful pair of kicks. Featured recently on the cover of "sneaker freaker", these are actually better looking in person. If you live in the Boston area, head over to Concepts (The Tannery) in Cambridge and satisfy your sneaker fetish. You know you want them.
This was actually posted on Frank the Butcher's blog at SlamxHype, but it was too damn funny so we are gonna share it with you here. For those who don't know Jimmy Fitz, he's the assistant manager of one of the illest sneaker shops in Boston, although technically Concepts is in Cambridge. You might also catch Jimmy Ridin' his Fixie up and down Mass. Ave sporting a supreme hat or one of the thousand fitteds he owns. Fitz has always been friendly with us, but you best not give him a funny look. Trust me, you don't wanna mess with a Kung Fu master...
