When I stumbled upon Sao Paulo-based store and eponymous clothing label King 55 in the boho, artsy neighborhood of Vila Madalena last year, I kept coming back to check out the awesome goods and hang out with the friendly staff members and owner. The flagship store bills itself as a “custom shop”— an apt description because their designs incorporate the spirit of spontaneity and really push the creative edge. It’s all punk and rock ‘n’ roll in here. King 55 believe the building blocks to an outfit commence with jeans, so you’ll discover in their racks an extensive denim collection with tight fits and quality fabric. From there, they mix experiments in enzyme washes with pop iconography for their tees, tanks and dresses. My favorite purchase from King 55 so far was a skirt made from sweat pants, a one-off piece. Now, after getting to know other shops in this grand metropolis, I believe King 55 have truly got their niche down. There’s nothing like this anywhere else and it’s brands like this that are putting Sao Paulo on the fashion map. I’ve included another (larger) photo of the inside after the jump. Written by Phuong-Cac Nguyen.

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The most appropriate way to kick off the inaugural post from Sao Paulo is to talk about one of the best things it has to offer the rest of the world: music. Sure, bossa nova and the MPB old-time faves will always be dependable, but it’s really the fresher, younger bands that are making producers and collaborators look to South America. Case in point is a party-loving (note that when you’re saying that about Brazilians, you’re being redundant!) group from Curitiba called Bonde Do Role, introduced stateside by Diplo. The trio — a female MC and two male upstarts — push big bass alongside wild lyrics about sex and then mix in samples galore; in fact, they describe their creative process in Rolling Stone as “to be as stupid and cheesy as you can be.” And yea, it works. Bonde Do Role, who just finished touring the U.S. and are now in Canada, will debut their full-length on Domino before the summer. I’ve included here their super-hot and danceable “Solta O Frango” vid. Written by Phuong-Cac Nguyen.

The 1000 Journals Project, an absorbing experiment in creative collaboration that traced 1000 journals throughout their extensive travels, has finally reached some sort of culmination (though the project itself still lives on) in the form of a very good-looking and very amazing book. The self-named book features a selection of the experiment’s resulting entries, and as each journal was passed along to friends and strangers until the last page was filled up, every page is completely different and completely intriguing. What I like most about this project is the anonymous aspect, which plays interestingly with the very personal nature of journaling and the very public aspect of the project. Not many of us get lucky enough to stick our faces into other people’s personal journals, but from the ones I’ve seen I know enough to say that they are complex and beautiful, and it would be pretty incredible to have this many entries right at my fingertips. You can find this book on Amazon, and you can become part of the ongoing project here.

Even though the website of MILLIMETER/MILLIGRAM is in Korean (and is therefore a little tough to navigate), I still think our readers should check out their awesome line of paper products. Like most of the stationary out of this area, their offerings pack a lot of whimsy and cuteness into very small packages, but what’s different about mmmg is their more mature approach. I have a thing for Japanese/Korean school supplies, and while they’re always darling, it’s not uncommon at all to have a sentence like “rainy day happy smile time!” written right across an otherwise perfect notebook. Sometimes that kind of stuff just adds to the item’s quirkiness, but sometimes it’s a little too cutesy for me, which is why I’m really appreciating mmmg’s healthy balance of wit and preciousness. Apparently, they ship to the U.S. and you can order from the site– it’s probably a little tricky with the language barrier situation, but I get the feeling that they could help you out via email.

A friend of mine just got back from what he described to be an “awesome” trip to San Francisco. From a ‘fun to visit’ perspective, I think a lot of us would agree that S.F. is high on the list. He said that his accomodations were great, the food was first class, but more than anything, he was impressed by the experience he had at AB Fits. Being huge denim fans ourselves, we were excited to hear about his experience; after all, it doesn’t hurt to have a go-to denim place (or 2) in every major city. They not only carry a wide range of great denim, but they offer a highly personalized experience– from what he told me, they were experts of the jean. I went to check out their website, and I’d be lying if I said I was impressed. It’d be nice to see them brush up their site a little– maybe update their blog with current news and even a little content. Not that I think a full service, locally situated denim boutique needs a high-tech and beefy website– but you know what I mean. San Franciscans out there… can you back up my friend’s AB Fits experience or what? I can’t wait to see both their Union Square and North Beach stores for myself when I’m in S.F. next.

We’ve all grown to know and love the extensive amount of video footage that’s come along with the YouTube era. YUXT is a neat flash site that allows you to make some sense of all of those great clips you’ve discovered or received from others. It was created by Vitaly Leokumovich as a simple way to watch, bookmark, organize, archive, and share online videos. YUXT is in beta right now, and I’m not sure if there are any major bugs, but from playing around with it for a few minutes, it’s magic seems to come from its simplicity and clean functionality. You just add the YUXT bookmark to your bookmarks bar, and when you see a vid online that you’d like to save, just click the bookmark and it will upload to your YUXT.

Via Ikiniki

I wanted to give a heads up to all of you Southern Californians that there’s going to be quite the group show going on in Hollywood starting next weekend. ‘Coping Mechanisms’ is a 3-person show at the Tinlark Gallery on Sunset. Starting with the launch party this coming Saturday, April 14th, from 4-7 PM, you’ll get to see the brand new work of SC’s Grant Barnhart, Andrew Au, and Nancy Baker Cahill. I’ve included one of Grant’s new pieces here– what can I say besides “GRRRRRRR!?” If you can’t make the opening reception this weekend, the show will be going on until May 12th. I’m going to do my best to make the tail end of the show when I get out to L.A. in May. Full flyer is after the jump for your reference…

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One of my favorite Japanese shops and t-shirt sources, Graniph is coming into NYC for a little two month stint at Reed Space on Orchard. Graniph is a great example of how far ahead Tokyo is in the democratization of good design. The shirts above, Funk You, Horse and Flower and Cabaaa all go for 21,000 Yen, or about $17 US dollars. Pop by the Reed Space to pick up your own or find a Japanese pal to help you read and order from the online store with literally 100’s of great designs to choose from at this price.