Kitschy: Pop Kulture Kouture and Vintage Treasures. A giant bag o’ kitsch will cost you $16.00, a small one for $8.00. Also, individual gems like bracelets, rings and classic oh-my-god the sister I never had would have worn these retro-awesome barettes. This stuff is hilarious and amazing. Hat tip to the lovely Greta!

One for my bike obsessed brethren– Brooks Limited Edition Colored Saddles. On sale now!

Birmingham, England – Brooks England, the English purveyor of handmade leather saddles and accessories since 1866, will be releasing Limited Edition Swift saddles in four unique colours and Limited Edition Team Pro saddles in two unique colours. The limited edition colours will be released in July in quantities of 250. The Team Swift saddles are in celebration of one of the fastest growing urban cycling sports: Bike Polo; the Team Pro saddles celebrate Brooks' support of the cycle couriers.

Nice shirts for the summer from my pal Scott Hansen at ISO50! Printed on American Apparel’s new Tri-blend tees, for $23.

The two most important factors in combating a beast such as cancer are courage and hope. Perhaps there’s no better embodiment of those two words than Livestrong founder and seven time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong. While Armstrong may have triumphed over the disease there are still many who need the strength to fight it every day and still those who have not been so fortunate. Still, the message of hope and remembrance of the struggle of others goes a long way towards inspiring those currently engaged in such a battle and the loved ones who face it with them everyday. That’s why Nike and Livestrong have teamed up with Deep Local and StandardRobot to make technology a little more human and spread positive messages about the fight survival during this year’s Tour De France. They’re not doing so by passing out flyers or writing pretty messages in the clouds over the Pyrenees. Instead they’re using the wondrous trailer-sized replica of an inkjet printer known as Chalkbot, to spread personal messages of perseverance and remembrance across the roads of competition of all those who have endured the pain over the long haul on the road of life, regardless of which side they’ve come out on. Check out the Nike site for more info or text LIVESTRONG and your message to 36453 and it will let you know when it has been painted. Wonderful.

Update: It wouldn’t be fair to mention this project without a hat tip to the amazing team at W+K who pushed this project through!  Two W+K folks are in France right now with it!  Fantastic work…

Nestled beneath the Manhattan Bridge overpass in the DUMBO area of Brooklyn is a haven for fans of Japanese art and subculture. It’s called Zakka, and it’s home to an awesome array of art books and more. We’re talking tomes on toys, street art, graphic design, package design and much more stretching across an entire wall of the shop. As for the toys, this is the spot for Kubricks– this is no Kidrobot. Rare figures by Michael Lau and wacky characters from Japanese gameshows fill glass display cases. They’ve even got Mugen’s Pop Pop, which replicates the sensation of popping bubble wrap. Recently Zakka collaborated with New York-based bilingual art magazine, COOL, on a series of in-store events surrounding the decorated eco-bag (”decob”). You could bring your old clothes, and they’ll transform them into decobs. I could spend a whole afternoon here, easily. Thanks to Steve Talkowski for the tour!

     

Dan Ziglam and Elliot Brook are the directors of UK-based design firm, Deadgood, where everything they make is “deadgood”. The young company has already made Elle Decoration's ‘Brit Talent Hot List' and Design Week's '50 People Making a Difference in Design' for their innovative Form chairs, wire table lamps, bookshelves and hangers. We, of course, love great furniture design, but Deadgood really made our radar when they announced an upcoming collaboration with Jon Burgerman. The doodle chair is screen-printed with a resin-impregnated craft core, overlaid with melamine and pressed at high temperature. It recently made a successful debut in New York and is expected to launch in September. Completely awesome.