Why mess with a winning formula? What’s good for ‘08 is a good bet for ‘09. Onitsuka Tiger has once again teamed up with the Japanese inspired, but Italian created brand Tokidoki in a sneaker collaboration. This time, two low-top kicks were created (in white and gray colorways). The shoes have classic Tiger styling with bright accents you’d expect from Simone Legno. A lace charm and a full bottom gumsole depicting the characters adored by junior high girls and collectors everywhere round out the creation.
A few months ago a film crew, photographer, assistants of all types and literally dozens of people with color meters, cameras and lights descended on my NYC office and later at my home to shoot a spot and interview for the Yahoo! Start Wearing Purple campaign. A unique experience to say the least, and one of the most exhausting days of my life. Lights, camera, action. Not my world, but interesting to be a part of for a day.
The interview and photos turned out pretty well I think– but it’s always weird seeing yourself on screen and wondering what was going through your head, and how they chopped and edited you together in that way. For people that don’t know me very well, it might offer some better insight into where I work and what I do all day.
The campaign is what they refer to as a “call-to-action’ by Yahoo! for people to live life as an individual, and with an exclamation point. The campaign emphasizes (despite any economic situation) their roots through the color and spirit of purple — it means individuality, imagination and innovation.
The program features four main components. Technology (a set of pretty amazing bikes that take photos every 45 seconds around the world and stream them direct to Flickr), personalities (the pioneers of purple), some products, and the improvisation work done by Charlie Todd of Improv everywhere. There’s a ton of content over there so I encourage you to check it out– but be nice.
Tokidoki, the Italian lifestyle brand with the Japanese name, has just ventured into laptops. Simone Legno’s Cactus Friends and Moofia characters are easily recognizable gracing the top of Fujitsu’s new LOOX U series ultra-mobile PC. Let’s face it, anyone who is shopping for this ¥123,800 (about $1100 USD) Japan-exclusive UMPC are doing so for the tokidoki branding. To that end, people who purchase the laptop will be rewarded with a 1GB tokidoki USB drive, stickers and an original T-shirt. Check out the product page (in Japanese) here.
Karmaloop TV continually points its cameras in the direction some of the most influential design minds in the world. This week is no different as they sit down with Tokidoki’s founder and creative director Simone Legno. In the exclusive one on one interview, Legno offers a glimpse at the brand’s history and explains the influences behind his creations. Viewers will also get a sneak peek at some of the upcoming characters and products slated to make an appearance rather soon. Check out the interview and see what all of the fuss is about.
I was browsing around the site reflecting on how far we’ve come and couldn’t help but notice the wealth of inspiration and content we’ve got in the SpearTalks archives. So, I figured I’d round them all up for easy consumption. Whether you like fashion, technology, art, or just about anything else– with nearly 40 incredible interviews, there’s something for everyone thanks to our very own Carmel Hagen. Go, dive in, it’s just a click away.
Ah, Mimobots. Nerdy enough to help us appear left-brained, arty enough to help us appear right-brained, and tiny enough to keep our top secret files close to our hearts at all times.
If you’ve yet to experience the flashiness of one of these flash drives, today is your lucky day, as our good pals at Mimoco have graciously unloaded some of their new tokidoki ‘bots into our wide open arms. These latest tech wonders are smothered in the classically kawaii artistry of Italian designer Simone Legno (who we interviewed not too far back), and combine cute and creepy to create some of the most hyped Mimobots to date. We know you want some, so here are your choices for retrieval: A) Battle off hoards of rabid tokidoki fans/throw down some significant dollar; or B) Get arty/nerdy with us.
Game plan: Study up here. Consider what those little ‘bots are up to (Satan pasta and pineapple bombs, oh my!). Write us a little creative short story explaining your theory (or haiku, or song, or algorithm — we don’t care, whatever). Cut and paste to the comment section. Cross your fingers and wait.
May 5th we’ll announce our first and second place winners — who will receive flashy prizes on an only slightly descending scale — and publish their entries. Okay….GO!
Not so many years ago, an Italian by the name of Simone Legno created a site from which he could display his artwork. A successful Rome-based illustrator, Legno had formed a love of Japanese culture in his early childhood, and his artwork reflected as much. Dark eyed women, equally shy and strong, gave the term “cute' new meaning — a meaning as dangerous as it was endearing, and as forceful as it was adorable.
The site was tokidoki, and before long, Legno's cute-oozing, Japan-blasted caricatures had attracted the attention of Hard Candy Cosmetic's co-founder Pooneh Mohajer and her husband, Ivan Arnold. In 2003, the pair flew the artist to Los Angeles, where talks were soon underway to turn Legno's tokidoki into a brand of it's own — a brand that would soon be bigger than what any of them expected.
Now, only a few years after that first meeting, the world of tokidoki covers everything from shoes, snowboards, and skate decks, to bags, walls, and tour busses. Legno's trademark mix of innocence and allure has won fans the world over — a side effect that seems to strike regardless of age, sex, race, or gender. We chatted with Legno about his inspiration, his long list of collaborations, and his plans for the future.
Joshspear.com: A lot has changed since you first came to L.A. in 2003 — did you ever dream that tokidoki would become what it is today?
Simone Legno: Yes; I dreamed so, I believed in it, and it happened. I was lucky, but I've worked very hard for it, day and night — weekends included. READ MORE…
Jeremy Andrew, a.k.a. Jeremyville, covers a bit more ground than your typical designer-slash-artist. Perhaps we should rephrase that, for while it is correct to refer to what Jeremy covers as “ground†(being that he darts around the world with a fearsome frequency), the bare truth is that what Jeremy really covers is stuff. A ton of it. Television screens, snowboards, books, bags, hundreds upon hundreds of t-shirts; Jeremyville is, in many ways, the king of self-branding. An affinity for creation, done at a somewhat obsessive frequency, has allowed him the opportunity to pair with hundreds of entities.
From Rossignol to MTV, Jeremy's ongoing series of collaborations has resulted in a lineup that would make even the editors of Hypebeast blush. Read on to find out what it is that keeps Jeremyville humming along so steadily.
Joshspear.com: You went to school to become an architect, became a cartoonist rather inadvertently, and then continued on to become “Jeremyville.†Was this series of events a result of following your dreams, or something more fate-driven?
Jeremyville: I’d say Jeremyville is the result of a million considered decisions, some erroneous in hindsight, some okay!
Jeremyville has evolved quite a bit; it's now best described as a project-based concept. Any idea or project that interests or excites me, I bring in to the Jeremyville story. A book. A collab. An animation. A t-shirt. A toy. A new character. Anything that adds something to the overall Jeremyville landscape, and that intrigues the viewer.
I mostly call myself Jeremyville these days, as I'm the sum of these parts – these projects are my babies and have so much of me invested in them. I'm proud to be really personal in my work, and universal at the same time. I'm striving for some sort of ‘universal intimacy', by which I mean I want both a kid in Paris and a 60 year old in The Midwest US to get something from my work, like from one of my comic stories. This might sound a bit esoteric, but I really do think about such things daily! And no, I don't read self help books!
Next May, the beginning of a lengthy collaboration between tokidoki and Onitsuka Tiger will give fans of both companies something to blog about. A blend of Italian artist Simone Legno’s modern characters and Onitsuka Tiger’s popular footwear, the two year-long collaboration will result in a steady stream of tokidoki love (that’s already been flying around like the herp, but we’re not gonna stop it) and will help both companies further spread the gospel of modern Japanese art. As far as I can tell, this will be the first athletic shoe collab for tokidoki (though they did some good work with Italy’s Fornarina earlier this year), so high fives to both companies for locking down something so rockin’. News of this pairing should be flying all over the internets in no time at all, but we recommend keeping your eyes here for the most up to date info.
STRANGEco and Tokidoki just announced new additions to their collaborative collection of “The Cactus Friends” designed by Italian designer/Tokidoki co-creator Simone Legno. The Cactus Cats and Pups, (who, like their predecessors SANDy and Sabochan, wear suits of cactus thorns, to keep the meanies at bay) are three inches and one inch tall respectively, and will both become available in time for Christmas. While the two Cats will be individually sold in window boxes, collectors of the Pups will have to count on the luck of the draw, as all seven of the toys will be mystery-boxed. The Pups also come equipped with tiny doggy accessories, like dog bowls, sausages, and, um- stuff they dig up in the backyard… like skulls. Check out the entire STRANGEco/Tokidoki line here.
What happens when you create a collaboration among three of the hottest names in designer toys? You get this. Tokidoki has teamed up with STRANGEco and NYC’s YoyaMart to create tokidoki-land this Saturday, the 13th. The entire YoyaMart store will be transformed, featuring tokidoki’s entire catalog of goodies. Designer Simone Legno will be on hand to hawk his newest wares.
The words “customized” and “drinks” have also been thrown around, so you know this party will be raging. To top it off, a rare, limited-edition Adios and ciao ciao set will be given away sometime during the party. So get ready to brave the cobbles and dodge Ferraris; the party goes down Saturday at the YoyaMart store in the Meatpacking District.
Adios and Ciao Ciao, the two newest tokidoki/StrangeCo toys, are set for official release Thursday, June 21, at L.A.’s Munky King Melrose. The two figurines will be available separately, but, as the story goes, Adios has already been kicked out of both hell and heaven and condemned to live in a modern grave-loft with his girlfriend Ciao Ciao for eternity, so it could be a little insensitive to split them up. Tokidoki artist Simone Legno will be on hand to sign the newbies at the free, all-ages event, and the party is entirely open to the public. Doors will be open from 7-11 pm, and due to the throngs of tokidoki followers likely to show at the event, early arrival is highly recommended. Full flyer after the jump…
Released for Spring / Summer 2006 comes the tokidoki collection for Le Sportsac. tokidoki, or “sometimes†in Japanese, is the brand started by Italian artist Simone Legno and his partners, Pooneh Mohajer Arnold and Ivan Arnold, and is representative of some of the most authentic looking manga and anime prints ever created outside of Japan. The line of hand bags, totes, and travel bags created for Le Sportsac are bright, colorful and full of characters that include laughing flowers, winking stars, and coy babies. Each item comes in three variations, natural, olive camo, and black camo, of the Playground print, plus each one comes with a limited edition tokidoki qee, the loveable cat, dog, and bear figurines courtesy of Toy2R. The tokidoki for Le Sportsac collection is available at the Le Sportsac flagship store located at 1065 Madison Ave and at Soho located at 176 Spring Street in NY or online at LeSportsac’s website.
Tokidoki
What happens when you create a collaboration among three of the hottest names in designer toys? You get 
Adios and Ciao Ciao, the two newest 
