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Windsor, Ontario: it's a Tuesday... and I can't help but day dream of my summers in Italy with my family. No, not in Tuscany.... or Rome... or the Amalfi Coast.... in a small village up on a mountain in the south of Italy, named, Maione. I couldn't tell you the population.... maybe 500 people? a lot less? probably...
While i was born in Canada, my blood is all old world roots. The food, the air, the scenery, it just hits different.
Look around you.... they've tricked you into thinking modern, clean, minimalist esthetic is luxury.
Every new construction build has gray exteriors, gray fake wood flooring, white kitchens and a cookie-cutter lay out that has you thinking you're living in an insane asylum. I mean, you kinda have to be insane if you think spending $1,000,000 on a shit built condo is worth it.
look around you....
everyone is dressed the same, consuming the same content, drinking matcha lattes, doing pilates in their basic, boring brown-colored one piece sets...
streetwear used to mean something.... it was the underground.... it was the push against the status quo....
Today, streetwear means wearing the same esthetic so that you can post it on social media, to become an influencer.
no styles, no tastes... just mainstream streetwear. WTF. that's like an oxymoron.
Look at the state of social media....
most content creators are a copy cat of a copy cat of a copy cat...
we now use the word "trending" as if it has importance...but in my opinion, it just shows you where the sheep are. same audio, same transitions, same cringe content with no meaning. all in the name of vanity. all in the name of more views.
you're all part of the problem. including me. I'm here to change that.
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😃I love this GQ article about JJJJound from a year ago highlighting Justin Saunders' influence on internet taste & moodboards. He's been in the background of a lot of really influential projects over the last decade, all while building up his own brand that was really kickstarted off a primitive version of what we'd call a moodboard (a version of this still exists here).
What's been so interesting to me is watching the rise and now slow decline of JJJJound as a tastemaker. I guess for us (my millennial generation) the internet really was a clear defining aspect of where we'd discover new things. We learned what was cool from Complex and Hypebeast NikeTalk and StyleForum and a plethora of other sites that either don't exist any longer or have been since bought out and bastardized into another machine that pumps out sponsored posts. Justin thrived in this era. I remember his first few drops, specifically the Vans from 2017 come to mind. People were losing their minds over them. Same for his first few New Balance collabs - absolutely chaos. I personally never found them appealing, but I understand why they created the buzz that they did.
...and yet...
When I talk to any younger guys that are into fashion and menswear and I ask what they think about some of these 'legacy' brands I usually get hit with a 'uh who?' or worse, 'they're cooked.' In a shocking twist of fate, the menswear heroes I grew up admiring are becoming irrelevant with the next generation. And although there isn't anything wrong with that, it does remind me how fleeting relevancy and taste are within the creative space. There's something impressive about being someone who lasts through the shifting trends and fads. And with Gen Z seemingly taking this anti-internet / anti-tech approach (have you looked at how many teenagers are giving up their iPhones for flip phones???) I do wonder what will happen to these guys that formed their following off of forums and message boards once those go away entirely.
What's been so interesting to me is watching the rise and now slow decline of JJJJound as a tastemaker. I guess for us (my millennial generation) the internet really was a clear defining aspect of where we'd discover new things. We learned what was cool from Complex and Hypebeast NikeTalk and StyleForum and a plethora of other sites that either don't exist any longer or have been since bought out and bastardized into another machine that pumps out sponsored posts. Justin thrived in this era. I remember his first few drops, specifically the Vans from 2017 come to mind. People were losing their minds over them. Same for his first few New Balance collabs - absolutely chaos. I personally never found them appealing, but I understand why they created the buzz that they did.
...and yet...
When I talk to any younger guys that are into fashion and menswear and I ask what they think about some of these 'legacy' brands I usually get hit with a 'uh who?' or worse, 'they're cooked.' In a shocking twist of fate, the menswear heroes I grew up admiring are becoming irrelevant with the next generation. And although there isn't anything wrong with that, it does remind me how fleeting relevancy and taste are within the creative space. There's something impressive about being someone who lasts through the shifting trends and fads. And with Gen Z seemingly taking this anti-internet / anti-tech approach (have you looked at how many teenagers are giving up their iPhones for flip phones???) I do wonder what will happen to these guys that formed their following off of forums and message boards once those go away entirely.
Apr 25, 2024
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🛹the social internet (and rapid, inescapable commercialization thereof) makes it so that you are what you consume, not what you do, not where you go, not who you spend your time with. before if you bought the clothes or the gear without doing it or without being in community, you were a poser. if you monetized or commercialized that interest and put those incentives over expression and connection, you were a sellout. but that doesn’t exist anymore — democratization and anti-gatekeeping as both ideas and ends of an algorithm to maximize surface area for consumption have made it so that there isn’t a distinct authority on what you can attach to your identity or how you express yourself
but if the extent of our agency in a democratized landscape is to only to consume more instead of producing or connecting, or to produce only to commodify ourselves for money or internet points, then maybe it’s a different kind of “being influenced by social trends rather than authentic interest” than going to a skate park, or an open mic, or a restaurant, or whatever because we heard about it somewhere and wanted to check it out, and de-centering the internet from what we see on it and how we engage with it is a way to make that healthier or more generative for ourselves, and can create beauty without immediately thinking about how to fit into a box along lines drawn by advertisers
but if the extent of our agency in a democratized landscape is to only to consume more instead of producing or connecting, or to produce only to commodify ourselves for money or internet points, then maybe it’s a different kind of “being influenced by social trends rather than authentic interest” than going to a skate park, or an open mic, or a restaurant, or whatever because we heard about it somewhere and wanted to check it out, and de-centering the internet from what we see on it and how we engage with it is a way to make that healthier or more generative for ourselves, and can create beauty without immediately thinking about how to fit into a box along lines drawn by advertisers
Jan 15, 2025
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🕰by @artifaxing on instagram.
“ It’s 2025 as I write this, and I’m holding what would’ve been seen as a supercomputer just 50 years ago in the palm of my hand. I can Google any image, take a photo, post it online, and reach millions in seconds. But still… I find myself missing the past. The “good days.” And maybe you do too. For years now, I’ve noticed something. When I scroll, I see grainy VHS clips, blurry digital photos, old games on outdated consoles. And I always ask why. But I know the answer. Everything today feels polished. We’ve got 8K, 160fps, ultra-HD in our pockets. Even the cheapest cameras capture insane quality. But is that a true reflection of us? I don’t think so. We’re drawn to what’s imperfect because we’re imperfect. That raw, nostalgic look feels more real. And especially in moments of uncertainty, people turn to it for comfort. It’s familiar. It feels safe. According to fMRI studies, nostalgia even lights up reward centers in our brain, particularly the medial prefrontal cortex. That’s why you see it everywhere now. People are buying old iPhones just to get the early 2010s look in photos. Brands are tapping into that too. Nostalgia marketing has seen a 20 to 30 percent rise recently. It’s not just media. It’s clothes, logos, design. Minimalism and modernism made everything clean, but in doing so, kind of erased the personality. People want character again. They want imperfection. They want bold, messy, loud. They want to feel something. “
“ It’s 2025 as I write this, and I’m holding what would’ve been seen as a supercomputer just 50 years ago in the palm of my hand. I can Google any image, take a photo, post it online, and reach millions in seconds. But still… I find myself missing the past. The “good days.” And maybe you do too. For years now, I’ve noticed something. When I scroll, I see grainy VHS clips, blurry digital photos, old games on outdated consoles. And I always ask why. But I know the answer. Everything today feels polished. We’ve got 8K, 160fps, ultra-HD in our pockets. Even the cheapest cameras capture insane quality. But is that a true reflection of us? I don’t think so. We’re drawn to what’s imperfect because we’re imperfect. That raw, nostalgic look feels more real. And especially in moments of uncertainty, people turn to it for comfort. It’s familiar. It feels safe. According to fMRI studies, nostalgia even lights up reward centers in our brain, particularly the medial prefrontal cortex. That’s why you see it everywhere now. People are buying old iPhones just to get the early 2010s look in photos. Brands are tapping into that too. Nostalgia marketing has seen a 20 to 30 percent rise recently. It’s not just media. It’s clothes, logos, design. Minimalism and modernism made everything clean, but in doing so, kind of erased the personality. People want character again. They want imperfection. They want bold, messy, loud. They want to feel something. “
Jul 3, 2025
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in the works:
3 part short film
capsule collection samples
zine
campaign strategy & mood board
campaign strategy & mood board
4d ago