ON & BEYOND

Kiyomizu-dera Temple (清水寺)

Kinkaku-ji (金閣寺, Temple of the Golden Pavilion)

Living the ninja life with my brother

I will also post my retail checkpoints as much as possible. Starting off strong: 45rpm.

Namiki Bldg. 1F, 7-1 Hukuromachi,
Naka-ku, Hiroshima-shi,
HIROSHIMA 730-0036
Tel : 082-541-0045

I landed in Tokyo yesterday and got to roam around the city. I’ve been trying to come out to Japan for a while and it was the perfect time to do it as to round up an awesome year. My brother, sister and I took the bullet train out to Hiroshima the next morning to visit the ancient Island of Miyajima in Hiroshima…When getting off the ferry, one really feels as if exiting a time capsule straight into the 6th century…

I will try to keep my blog updated as I explore the country for the next few weeks. Here are some shots of the Itsukushi Jinja (temple) for your viewing pleasure.

Just got these Iron Heart IH-9634 a few days ago from Giles at www.ironheart.co.uk and I’ve been wearing them non-stop ever since. Based in Tokyo, Iron Heart’s goal is to “create clothing in classic, timeless styles that are constructed out of the finest materials to the highest standards”. Haraki-san and co. aren’t joking: be it heavy-duty jeans and denim jackets or super thick flannel and chambray button up shirts, Iron Heart’s materials, quality and workmanship are truly second to none.

These burly jeans feature IH’s signature straight cut, which is undoubtedly the best cut I have owned: flattering yet a tad relaxed. This deadstock model sports a few slight differences from Iron Heart’s current superblack denim offering, the IH-9634Z: it features a button-fly rather than a zipper and a post loom finishing process which makes the denim stiffer than the modern version.

The super heavy 21oz black denim, while not destined to fade, is bound to age beautifully with wear. I’m definitely looking forward to braving the cold Quebec winter armed with my trusty black armor pants!

Visvim Wampum Beads T-shirt & Visvim Striped Border Crew L/S (Luxsic)

Porter’s motto : “Heart & Soul into  every stitch” is nothing short of the truth. In fact, the Yoshida Co has been producing hand made utilitarian bags since the early 30′s. They boast an impressive reputation by bringing a simple & stylish design approach yet putting a complete devotion to functionality, materials and fabrication.

I’ve owned this case for a  year now. It belongs to the Freestyle  collection. The leather-like effect is obtained by rubbing by hand the polyurethane-coated canvas making it fully weather & tear resistant. So far, after a year of living in my back pocket, the wallet is in MINT condition. Not a scratch or a tear in sight.

The leather laces snapped on my pair of Mowat’s so I wrote an email to VISVIM; to my surprise, 15 minutes later, I had a reply sitting in my inbox inquiring my address so they can resolve the issue Asap. No questions asked, not even asking for a photo of the defect, just my address. Two days later, a UPS man drops off a neat package from Cubism inc; inside, my laces, with the FW09 Dissertation. Customer service at its BEST. Another reason why this brand gets my FULL support.

It’s called a dissertation, because it isn’t simply a catalog, there’s always a prologue in which Hiroki will explain from A-Z his inspiration for the season. Included are photos from his resourceful travels, allowing the consumer to see the full idea that lead to the garment. In this particular one, Hiroki talks about his visit to Padova Italy, where he studied the hand-sewn Goodyear welt technique used in his FOLK line.

Since I already have this one in my Library. I’m gonna give it away to you guys, My Readers! All you have to do is follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/onandbeyond and Tweet : Follow @onandbeyond and RT to win Visvim’s FW09 Dissertation!

My last pair of black jokhang’s were traded away for a pair of mowatt’s, so when I saw a pair of sand versions floating in an auction, I had to act quick. The guys over at Sutocorp made the transaction fast and easy. Honestly, they are the most professional proxy service out there, with order status updates every few days, I knew exactly where my package was and when it would arrive. The whole process was a pleasure to deal with. I paid a total of 80$ for these denim stained FBT’s, pretty stoke about that…