Travis Gumbs: Last year we were fortunate enough to bring you guys footage from our travels to Brazil and Angola. This year, in collaboration with Creative Council we are happy to announce that the next of our Travel Etiquette series will be in Asia. This would mark our first time in Asia. The only question left is, in what country should we make this magic happen. After much contemplating, we have narrowed it down to 7 cities/countries and have decided to leave you guys with the arduous task of deciding for us.

Travel Etiquette is a travel focused initiative created to inspire conversation amongst people of all ages, ethnic backgrounds and genders to discuss travel and what you discover through your own personal lens. When we started Travel Etiquette, the idea was to open ourselves to the outside world and gain new experiences and inspiration that would hopefully inspire others to do the same. Brazil and Africa went well but this time  around we have a lot more insight and know how to make this feat that much greater. For this trip, the plan is to head out to one or possibly two of the places listed on a 2week trip,  have a ton of fun, eat plenty of food and meet some cool people, all while simeoustanelously staying in and out of trouble and grabbing as much footage as possible.

We chose these places for a number of reasons, they are on our combined bucket-list, they are for the most part economically friendly and they all seem like great places to capture wonderful, unique content.

So please help us out and give us your opinion on where we should continue  our Travel Etiquette series, it would be greatly appreciated.

Also, if you know of any good people in the places listed who would be willing to help us out as we navigate through unfamiliar lands, please let us know.  Shoot an email to info@streetetiquette, with Travel Etiquette as the subject.

-Thanks

This post is a collaboration with the Creative Council by UGG Australia.

More about the project here

Joshua Kissi : With spring right around the corner our latest post is giving you a bit more to add to your options this coming season. We first caught wind  of the brand Palladium back in 2011, when they partnered up with Pharrell for their ‘Tokyo Rising’ campaign which included a great documentary on the socio-cutural landscape in Tokyo, Japan. Contrary to what many people may know, (including ourselves at first) the brand has been around since 1920, but with such history  comes with the responsibility of reinventing your image/brand.

Palladium presents the Monochrome collection which features a selection of double dyed canvas boots for the upcoming season. As many may know we’re no strangers when it comes to incorporating color into our outfits, especially the right hue/color of pop. We were asked to interpret the boots from our perspective and how we would wear them normally. We decided to take direction back to Street Etiquette ala 2009, hit the pavement with a few familiar faces and let everyone stylistically interpret the boot on their own.

Details – One of the details I really like about the collection is the color, while you still get the construction of a boot, the light weight and hue gives it a different feel stylistically.

We connected with fellow Bronx compadres Kadeem Johnson, stylist Keino Benjamin and made our way towards the Bed-Stuy area of Brooklyn. We were inspired by the various color blocking from the brownstones, while it  also provided a great backdrop to the color of the monochrome boots. Photographer Joshua Woods took the role of providing the visuals for the imagery in this post, as always it’s a pleasure working with him.

You can pick up product from the monochrome collection on their webstore or at retailers going for the price of  $60.00

Travis Gumbs: Many of you may have caught glimpse of our Fashion Week coverage via Nordstroms Men Shop’s Blog. This year we had the great opportunity to cover the daily NYFW hustle for the fine folks at Nordstrom. What you see here is basically a composite of the entire week. Its been a year since we brought you guys NY Fashion Week coverage, and we hope this was well worth it.

It was a hectic week to say the least, between all the shows and the after hour festivities it’s all a blur. Fashion Week in New York this time of year is always brutal because of the cold weather. We pretty much saw and felt it all this year, even a snow storm didn’t stop the shows from happening. Some of this years’ highlights include Monclear, Billy Reid, Ian verladi and William Okpo.

This time around we have a short video above that captures the mood and feeling of the eventful week. We had a lot of fun running around and shooting and we hope you guys share some of that enjoyment. We hope to bring you guys some more unique Fashion Week content in the future, hopefully in other cities as well.

Joshua Kissi : Despite what can occur during fashion week, this New York Fashion Week experience was one of the more enjoyable ones for us, specifically partnering up with Nordstrom’s Men Shop –  a burgeoning digital space for men’s style online. We took to their Instagram account, while also documenting our daily run-ins on their blog. We also teamed up with photographer Joshua Woods , a fellow uptowner who assisted on lending his sharp visuals to bring this article to life. You can expect more collaborations between all of us releasing soon.

[During NYFW] – I’m going to be perfectly honest here and say it’s no easy feat to attend various shows, snap photos, meet/greet the usual crowd, have your occasional verbal dispute with PR, attend a few after parties all while still waking up the next morning to view a 9:00 am show. If anything else everyone is working off of the energy and excitement being displayed day by day, making up for all of the sleepless nights and any other casualties experienced.

I somehow managed to lug around my canon 7d  to capture video while we on the ground during the week. I thought it would be pretty cool to give a different perspective from being at the shows, in transit, eating at our favorite places, and just overall the city at its finest.

You have to love it though !

A special thanks to Josh Woods, the folks at Nordstrom and last but not least thank you guys for always supporting, while giving us the opportunity to display things from our perspective.

Joshua Kissi : We introduce you  guys to our good friend Armando Cabral. We were introduced to Armando through each-other’s mutual respect for what we all do. Although many of you may know him for stomping down fashion runways around the globe and your favorite J.CREW catalogue, he also designs a pretty killer shoe brand with all of his shoes being produced in Italy. We caught wind of his footwear brand two years ago while visiting London Fashion Week and followed the progress ever since.

We thought it would be great to combine what we all do best with Armando providing the footwear, Travis and I on the style end, and Rog Walker heading photography – altogether producing some cool visuals. Lets face reality here, when it boils to features sit down interviews can be dreadful, so we took on the city, grabbed a bite to eat and let the visuals do the talking.

We discussed everything from life to the industry we all work in and the future progress of it. As your network begins to expand more it’s always great to find  genuine people in the same field of work as yourself. Armando pointed out while heading a successful modeling career and still doing so, he had the urge to create something tangible outside of it. He created his shoe line back in 2009 and hasn’t looked back from then with his shoes being stocked in 13 different countries across the world – major props. You can now purchase some of his spring / summer selects early over at MR PORTER

Photography – All of the visuals in the post are provided by Photographer Rog Walker, it was great to collaborate with him as he brought the city to life through his images. For the past few weeks we have been working with Rog on several exciting projects which should be coming to light very soon.

Music – nowlistening to Da Lata – “Places We Go”

This funky awesome number from the British band  ”Places We Go” starts off mellow then picks up into this splash of afro beat goodness. I’ll be honest I’m happy we’re posting again so I can flex some of the music I have found via digital crate digging on the web. (ha)

Locations : Lower East Side, TriBeca, Chinatown.

Thank you guys as always.

Joshua Kissi : Further adding to not only what it means to be an American, but as a global citizen across the world embodying  integrity and ethics, we are proud to present the Be Bold, Be True project presented  by Nike. A few months ago we were approached to be involved in this project concerning Black History Month (#bhm) project alongside some familiar faces from our very own Black Ivy team to our good friends over at MadburyClub. We connected with the  general theme of  ”Be Bold,  Be True” and felt it resonated with what we’re currently doing at Street Etiquette, also what we hope to continue to push in the future.

Spanning over a three day shoot lead and produced by Sam & Chad of We Are Not Pilgrims , this is one of the more exciting projects we have been involved in with our duty of providing styling visuals for each of the subjects. It’s one thing for a project to feel like “work”, it’s another thing to feel like you’re just creating and having fun with individuals you respect and admire.

The video piece was woven with Joekenneth Museau’s wizardry words, who has been involved in all of our biggest editorials, literally  becoming the mouthpiece of projects such as The Black Ivy and Sewn From the Soul – which was one of our first editorials indented to Black History Month  back in 2010.

His words :

“What are rules to the rebel youth who grow with a gusto for adventure?
They’re imaginary…
Like boundaries in infinite space.
The building begins from within.
Then out of skin.
Onto pavements.
Where you pave the way.
From corner store conversations to revolutionary contemplating.
It takes training.
It requires heart to acquire an absence of fear.
This ain’t no hocus pocus.
You can become potent when potential is embraced.
And your focus causes you to become colorblind to color lines; seeing that there is no mold.
The model for the future is for you to make new.
So spark the rebellion!
Do it with cause.
The power to change your surroundings is right there in your palms.
Go out and pound the pavement.
Pulverize any paradigms and leave no standards standing.
For success isn’t intended to be the possession of a select few.
Don’t ever let them see you sweat.
Just be bold.
Be true” – Joekenneth Museau

Story line : Kilo Kish, Phil Annand and Brandon were the subjects used to represent the overarching theme of showing perseverance to accomplish their goals. The artist FUSE GREEN joined in on the collaboration as his designs/artwork were featured on the BHM product, and also plastered a sick mural dedicated to the campaign.

Nike chose Kevin Durant , Serena Williams and Dider Drogba to represent the theme of athletes being fearless with a purpose  in their respected sport and lives. As we are fans of these athletes individually not only for their great efforts on the  field, but also off of the playing field.

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Returning to the ‘blogosphere’ in 2013 in an active way has been one of our focus points for the new year, and we’re stoked that we could start it off with a project like this — you can definitely expect to see more soon. Thanks to everyone who was involved in the project from production crew, food catering, Nike,  and basically to everyone withstanding the blistering cold for those three days to create an awesome project for people to view.

And of course thank you guys for checking this project out and continuing to support our endeavors.

Images by Nick Oken

Behind the scene Images by Joshua Woods

Travis Gumbs: As many of you know by now, we were lucky enough to travel to Africa twice this past summer. The first trip being the eclectic, culture filled city of Angola called Luanda. This trip was very important to me for various reasons, specifically because it marked my first time touching down on the continent of Africa.There’s so much to be said about this place, many stories to be told and many people that will always be remembered.

On behalf of OS Kuduristas, we got this amazing opportunity to travel to Angola and experience the everyday life and culture of the locals. One word that sums up the culture of Luanda is Kuduro. Kuduro is to Angola what HipHop is to NYC or what dancehall is to Jamaica. It is a form of music, style and dance that speaks to everything around it. While being there everything, even the mundane, seemed to spew a sense of Kuduro.

What I took back  from this trip was how similar we all are across the globe. Though things may have at times looked foreign, the energy emitted was not at all unfamiliar. The story of taking struggle and hardship and using it as inspiration to create is something that holds a common thread all over the world.

This time around, we were lucky enough to shoot a ton of footage that enabled us to bring you guys the series of short videos above that shows what an amazing trip we had.

Market Life- Believe it or not this footage was shot on our first day in Luanda. To start the trip on this note set the momentum for the rest of the trip. This market was not quite like everywhere else in Luanda. Being on the more rural side of things, it felt like a detached city buzzing with pride, culture and passion. At its core it was simply just a market where locals buy and sell everyday goods but it gave a feeling of so much more.

Barbershop- Josh decided early on that inorder to really experience all that Luanda had to offer, he had to get a his haircut by a real, Angolan barber. It is easy say why barbers make up a big part of the culture they operate in. There is something about getting your hair cut in a foreign place that tells a story about so much more than the haircut. While only using a comb and a double sided razor, this barber was able to do a taper and shapeup with pristine precision.

School Day- The day we visited the school was exuberating to say the least. As stated in the video, the kids were a pleasure to be around. One obvious thing that stands out is where the school was located. The school was centered in the middle of a beautiful color-coded condimium complex. Being at the school was a definite highlight of the trip, we enjoyed beating the kids at basketball and losing to them at soccer. Looking back, talking to the kids was some of the most fun we had. The kids were nothing short of fascinated to hear our story as a muse to practice their English on, in turn we got to practice our portuguese.

Nightlife: I always say that you can never fully experience a city until you experience what it’s like when the sun goes down and the lights go out. Man, Angolans can party! In the video above, we started the night at Kasta Lounge which is a pretty westernized nightclub, great music, superb dancing, beautiful women, all the proper essentials. We ended the night at a Quintal which is pretty much a nighttime BBQ on steroids. Food, music and the night sky above. Parties don’t stop here, needless to say, these people know how to enjoy life. In order to keep this post PG, I will refrain from commenting on women of Angola but you catch my drift.

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Joshua Kissi : Our Travel Etiquette series was started on the notion of “How do you live in your clothing/style?” rather than the clothing itself.  I’m quite ecstatic that our Travel Etiquette series ended up taking place on the continent of Africa, with so much to dispel and add on, it was a great opportunity to touch down in Angola. Being from Ghana, West Africa it was a very similar cultural experience but obviously a different language barrier. We saw, heard, smelled and felt familiar things in a distant place and that’s a big part of Travel Etiquette. We hope this is just the very beginning of an continuous awesome project series where we will travel the seven seas via the interwebs to bring you guys great culturally diverse content and hopefully you will have the opportunity can do the same.

Travis Gumbs: Just over two years ago we released our Black Ivy editorial. Black Ivy quickly became a term synomous with Street Etiquette and many other people within our network. Black Ivy is the collection of many different styles and creative outlooks that all come together under the same cultural bond.

We have been working with our brothers over at The Brooklyn Circus to bring you guys some fun, memorable pieces. We have some surprises lined up. To start, are these simple, clean logo T-shirts of very limited run. They fit great and make for the perfect socking stuffer.

This also marks the debut of our online store! We have suffered at the receiving end with questions about when it will be open. Well, here it is. Stay tuned for more product releases in the near future!

Black Ivy logo T-shirts are available HERE and at The Brooklyn Circus’ new “POP SHOP” 258 Bergen St. Brooklyn, NY 11217

Much thanks to: Ouigi Theodore, Jokenneth Museau, Rinaldy Laguerre, Cleon Grey, Chris Buford, Jerry St. Aubin and Kadeem Johnson for bringing the shirts to life with their style shots.

Joshua Kissi : During this past summer we received the great opportunity of traveling outside of the country, in particular to Africa. Our trip to Luanda, Angola was an inspiration filled trip in every sense of the term. The one word that comes to mind and sticks out is “Energy”, from the people to the Kuduro music what we experienced was the vibrancy of Angolan culture at its finest.

Thank you guys for supporting us once again and our Travel Etiquette series which we are very passionate about because it’s more about the notion of collecting moments in life, rather than physical possessions.  Get those worn in chucks out, a small duffle bag, (oh yeah) your passport, go see the world, and here’s a bit why Luanda, Angola should be a first stop.

The video above is a teaser/preview of our time in Luanda, you can expect a number of video episodes from our experience in Angola accompanied with beautiful imagery VERY soon to be launched on our website.

Check out more at Os Kuduristas

And Imagery on our Inspiration page

Joshua Kissi : In the digital age there is a tendency no matter how grand, or minuscule for information to get lost in the cracks of the World Wide Web. The B.I Doc series were inspired by the simple conversations we have from day to day with people who we are inspired by and encapsulating this feeling, texture, tone in it’s raw format.  Thank you to those of you who viewed/supported the first doc series featuring designer, and style connoisseur Kevin Stewart.

We’re excited to present our second installment of our Black Ivy Docs series featuring Ali of A Noble Savage. You may have already followed his notable blog, which gives a plethora of artistic expressions through a stylistic eye. Ali, a frequent collaborator, colleague, and mentor his studio has made appearances from the home aerial shot for Jesse Boykins III’s “Light to Dark” video, to more recently the layout installment for our recent Del Toro shoe collaboration.

During our early blogging years Street Etiquette was based on combining clothing and the historical context behind each piece. Well, Ali’s ever-evolving studio is a time machine within itself, with vintage 1950s LEVIS jeans randomly placed accompanied by antique ceremonial wear from 1920s Ghana; his studio never mirrors the same layout you happen to see it that particular day. Ali contains a wealthy knowledge of the past; while he pursues the future with his very own personal installations he builds from scratch.

Black Ivy Doc:  Story – This all started out as a stem from the Black Ivy editorial, which we premiered over a year ago. Black Ivy featured 25 or so friends, creating an experience that we may have underestimated ourselves. Ideally based on a documentary format solely using images, voice and ambiance, we wanted to tell stories visually through people we’re inspired by. We thought that conversations and stories have been told since the genesis of time – then, stories of hunting on cave walls, and now, descriptions of going to the grocery store told in under 140 characters. Same sentiments..

Ending note: We would like to thank Cleon Grey of Layonbone who provided the visuals for this project, Ali for inviting us to his private studio, and you guys for continuing to support our endeavors.  There is more to come!

Joshua Kissi :  Working on the shoes for a little over a year now, our relationship with Soludos was birthed out of a organic post Travis did on Espadrilles [ Summer Etiquette : Espadrilles ] about two years ago, which seems like forever in the Internet age. We started to build a relationship with the great team behind Soludos, which started out based on our respect for each other’s craft.

Now fast forward many months later we have great product to show for it and the opportunity to grow a budding relationship. Each time we have the opportunity to work on product in collaboration with a company, we  do not only value the end result, but the process and preparation it takes to get to the final stage.

Inspiration : What’s a summer without espadrilles? We decided to take inspiration from West Indian/Caribbean culture for the material/fabric we used on the espadrilles. It was as simple as it appears we thought it would be great to see that type of texture on a shoe and fortunate for us they came out pretty good. Released in 3 different colors consisting of varsity red,  royal blue and olive green these shades seem like the perfect colors for footwear during the warmer months. If anything else here’s a dosage of our summer style while keeping cool in the city.

People : Featuring our good friend/colleague and fellow Bronxite stylist Keino Benjamin joining in on this one. You may have seen him around the ‘interwebs’  taken by many of our favorite street style photographers and has the job of styling a lot of industry clients. You can look out for Keino for his personal work and  as we prepare to work on future projects together.

As always we want to thank you guys, the readers who support us on each collaboration and endeavor we take on. Here’s our first installment/package with Soludos (Mesh Net) that we designed to purchase now for $45.00 in order to complete your summer.

BUY HERE

Location : Lower East Side, NYC

Images by Kadeem Johnson