Tonight, as Lee officially opens his NYC space, he won’t be competing with the New York brands but it will instead mark the first time that a lot of rare Japanese product will make it to the Big Apple, as well as the first series of Invisible:Man product created completely in the United States. Read on to learn more about the store you can’t miss when visiting NYC, and also to get Lee’s thoughts on the current status of streetwear…


Interview by Bradley Carbone

Complex: Where is the new Invisible:Man store, what’s the idea, what are you selling, and why now?

Andrew Lee: 436 East 9th Street. 9th street is popping, and I’m stocking Invisible Man, Bounty Hunter, Medicom Toys, Claw Money, T19, Bastard Squad and some Commissary tees. I wanted to create a space selling things I make, as well as some of my friends’ brands.

Complex: Why Now?

Andrew Lee: For the same reasons I started Invisible:Man, I’m just bored with everything.

Complex: What kind of company is I:M? What do you make under the label, and how is the brand evolving?

Andrew Lee: I was making 30+pieces of cut and sew 3x a year. Tees, bikes, fucking everything, then the bottom fell out of streetwear, and I kept quiet for a few years, started the Commissary thing, the Bastard Squad stuff, and waited in the grass till the gayness of streetwear died. I’m doing small runs of tees and accessories, and soon some denim and smaller runs of cut & sew items. Now is NOT the time for full lines of anything. As far as the future? I’m not going anywhere.

Complex: What is your relationship with Bastard Squad, Bounty Hunter, T-19, Medicom and all of these Japanese brands? How is it that you’re the only guy who gets everything? Are you the sole retailer for this product in New York?

Andrew Lee: The Bastard Squad brand is me. The rest are brands I’ve been friends with or have done graphics for through the years. People I have relationships with, that I do business with, collabs, drunken insane nights, whatever, just family I guess. Why am i the only one? I guess I’ve just always been myself, and never faked the funk, and I suppose that is a respectable personality trait.

Complex: Moving back to NY is a return home of sorts for you. What other retail spots do you have ties to in the city?

Andrew Lee: Supreme, DQM, Union. I sell Supreme and DQM in my Commissary stores in California, and have been a customer at Union forever.

Complex: You have been successful in clothing and in retail in one of the shittiest times ever. How?

Andrew Lee: I don’t waste money on dumb shit and always reinvest in myself.

Complex: What is happening to streetwear?

Andrew Lee: Well, the salad days were over years ago. These corny lego brands of today are just tasting the tail end of all the good life. There has always been a “street” consumer, this is nothing new, but the “streetwear” that you’ve seen in the last 5 years has been a fluke. Cats need to prepare for the long cold winters ahead. (hint: get a resume together)

Complex: Did you think that sneakers and T-shirts would become such a big thing?

Andrew Lee: Fuck yeah, but I also knew it would be over just as fast.

Complex: Is paying $60 for a T-shirt going to become cool again?

Andrew Lee: Well, it’s never cool, but if it’s impossible to get, and you really dig it, yeah. It’s like getting a signed copy of a Syd Barret record. Like, I’ll pay whatever, it all depends on the fan, and the item. Like the $400 sneakers you’re wearing as we speak.

Complex: [laughs] What projects should people be on the lookout for, and what stuff should they be buying from you in the new shop?

Andrew Lee: Buy what you really like, not what blogs and whoever tells you to. Bounty Hunter is some pretty sick shit, I suggest if you see it in your size, grab it. The Invisible Man stuff, I only make about 60 of each shirt, so you’re hopefully not going to see yourself coming and going. I try to offer people some new and different stuff, and will continue to until I’ve just had it.

Complex: For people who don’t know you or know who you are, what should we tell them?

Andrew Lee: I’m trying to be honest with myself and what I make. I try to pay homage to all the things I’m interested in. All my phases and trips and interests, if you dig it, sick, if not, move on. I’ve been here for a long time and have always remained consistent to what I stand for. Lead, follow or get the fuck out of my way. And buy the upcoming Slayer record. Period.

Disney does love getting the brand out there, though, and maybe Mr. Scott should have hit them up. There are a lot of other brands who’ve collaborated with the mega-brand in the recent past, and this nod would have gotten the guys excited. Enough to take Walt’s head out of the freezer and show him? Probably not, but you never know. Click through for a rundown on Disney’s greatest recent attempts at being relevant to people over ten…


NEMESIS PROJECT x DISNEY BLOC 28 24″ CRUISER
• What if Mickey rode BMX? Um, cool? These bikes launched in November of last year (2008), so tracking one down might take some leg work. The countdown to Mickey on a fixie, starts…now.

THE HUNDREDS x DISNEY T-SHIRTS AND NEW ERAS
• To be perfectly honest, we didn’t know what was going to happen with the Disney “Lost Boys” stuff from the Hundreds. It was cool, but you know, we weren’t 100% sure if people would like it. Well, the stuff sold out the first day. Insert joke about relevancy of print media style editors here.

BROOKLYN PROJECTS x DISNEY BLOC 28 DECKS
• Brooklyn Dom: *Shrugs* Yeah we can do some decks and some Ts. Cool.
Disney: Awesome!!!
They’re still for sale if you want.

etnies PLUS x DISNEY EVIL LORD UPSETTER AND SLY SNEAKERS
• For it’s Spring collection (dropping April 1), etnies Plus went Disney and took two different themes, channeling Fantasia and the classic cartoon, Plane Crazy. If you’re a fan, these are all you.

WASHBURN GUITARS x DISNEY
• Stairway x Mickey, goin nuts. These drop in ‘09, and if you’re considering rocking a guitar with Mickey on it, we recommend you have a look at the Hannah Montana one as well.

In the digital age, rappers come in various packages. You've got your hood celebrities, your collar popping trendsetters, your so-called genre defying extraterrestrials. But then there's the one who manages to gain stardom by relying solely on talent, not marketing and promotion (word to KRS). That's Blu'Okayplayer's favorite color, and the current topic of interest amongst hip-hop snobs who masturbate to Primo beats (true story).

After turning down an early offer from Suge Knight, Blu went independent and pushed forth three critically acclaimed collaborative albums within 13 months: Below The Heavens (with Exile), C.R.A.C.: The Peace Talks (with Ta’Raach) and Johnson & Jonson (with Mainframe). Check out our interview with the MC to get his take on other young rappers, his past experiences at MAGIC, his future ambitions after music, and his affinity for J*DaVeY…

Interview by Jaeki Cho

Complex: It's not everyday an artist drops three albums in the short amount of time you did. Why three so quickly?

Blu: I just wanted to get it over with quick. We actually had most of the Johnson & Jonson stuff done beforehand, and always planned on dropping all three in one year so we just missed it by a month.

Complex: And they all sound different from each other.

Blu: It opened up my playing field really wide. It's just how everything fell in place, man. It was really like God putting that release there. A lot of those songs from Below the Heavens, I was 21 and 22. But C.R.A.C, all the raps were made in seven days, in 2005. All the experimental songs were like the later songs. We've done a rock album before “Buy Me Lunch” or “Bullet Through Me.” That's kind of what inspired the new twist on C.R.A.C.

Complex: You sang a lot of the hooks on Below the Heavens. Were you comfortable with singing?

Blu: I freaking sing a Paul McCartney song on C.R.A.C. [Laughs]. I was singing since I was six'in the choir and shit, not like serious singing. They don't know how to box me really. They still want to, they still want to hold me to Below the Heavens but they can't.

Complex: Do you have any plans of hustles outside of rap?

Blue: I don't want to be a rapper for a long time. I'm trying to put out as much music in a time span that I have planned. I'm dedicating a certain amount of time to music, the same way I'm going to do with film. After that, I'm planning on writing books or something. When you change as a person, you're trying to let the people know where you're at, but they think you're somewhere else. Because my music is so personal, people think they know you based off of it.

Complex: What's your stance on being open with your Christian background?

Blu: My step-dad he was a pastor in a church. I was raised in a church so I have a strong sense of my spirituality. You can't keep that shit stagnant. That's what got me here to do those three albums before '06. I've done shits since then, but I gave it all. Now it's like time to reload and hone.

Complex: I see where you're coming from.

Blu: I'm soulful. I used to draw.

Complex: What kind of things did you draw?

Blu: Well, I tried to play ball back then. So I used to draw basketball courts and shit. I used to draw like books of Nikes. I'm not trying to roll with Nikes no more but I got some ill shoe designs.

Complex: You ever thought about collaborating with any of these streetwear brands?

Blu: Well, yeah, but it's not my focus right now. I got love for all the streetwear brands, for just a lot of brands. I was going to MAGIC show since I was 18. I had a homie who worked at The Wake Up Show. He was just like, “Go up there because heads be there rapping and shit.” And the other homie was trying to do clothing. It was just us three and we'll go up like every year, the September show. When I started to get involved in the industry I just slacked on it.

Complex: What year was this?

Blu: Probably '02, '03-ish? I remember seeing the Lox, Eve on the Ruff Ryders booth. I remember Russell Simmons walking around with no shoes on. The Rocawear booth was the biggest booth at the time, on the main floor.

Complex: Did you ever holler at them? Like, “Yo I spit.”

Blu: No, I don't even think I was that ill then. I was watching Blaze Battles get down.

Hit “NEXT” to see Blu talk about rumors of him signing to Roc-A-Fella, and to get his thoughts on other young rappers.

But the problem with using an inexpensive a font like Futura to create your brand’s logo is that anyone can rip you off. The new lookbook from ATL-based clothing label The Process just dropped, and its font looks eerily similar to the logo favored by The Hundreds. But Futura’s history in the American streetwear world goes even deeper…


BARBARA KRUGER, 1980s.
As far as art is concerned, no one dominates the font like Barbara Kruger. She brought consumerism to the art world, selling her artwork on canvas but also on matchbooks, chess sets, paper bags, coffee mugs, beach towels, and pretty much anything she could get her hands on. Kruger likely set the stage for product blogs, sneaker fetishes, and logo ripoffs for the next 25 years.

SUPREME, 1994.
Supreme doesn’t hide the fact that they jacked Kruger’s aesthetic, and at the end of the day, the company’s steez falls in perfectly with her whole shit. Think about it. They make a bunch of clothing, pretend that there is a limited quantity, and bang suburban kids at $60 a T shirt. Amazing.

THE HUNDREDS, 2003.
Uh-oh. Here comes the hate. No, we’re not saying that the Hundreds ripped off Supreme. Futura is a classic font, and the Hundreds opted for a non-italicized, thicker stroke version of it. But, it is the same font, and both brands exist in the world of streetwear consumerism. The Hundreds are on the same tip as Supreme and Kruger (and Complex for that matter): buying shit will make you cool. The Hundreds re-worked the font, and now they have it on lock'props due.

THE PROCESS, 2008.
Who knows if these guys are ripping off the Hundreds or not, but it is the EXACT SAME FONT AS THE HUNDREDS. So, up to you to decide whether you’re going to care or not when the line drops next spring.

UPDATE: The Hundo’s cleared it up that they don’t use Futura. We’re not font experts. Hope no one caught tooo many feelings.

UPDATE #2: OK, so the post is kind of whatevs, but just to clarify a couple things.
The Hundreds was inspired by the Raiders, and there are a ton of Sans Serifs fonts out there. Got it.
But, check this out.
The top image is the word “RAIDERS” written in Futura Extra Bold.
The Bottom image is the Raiders logo, who the Hundreds say they got their font inspiration from. The NFL team probably paid someone a grip to thin out the vertical on the D and straighten the legs of the R… other than that, its pretty much Futura straight up. Who knows, there are a million of these fonts, just trying to get some clicks over here.

We’re not retarded, just tired sometimes. No shit talking, this one is over.

Though the Brooklyn native is always opinionated, he prefers to let his bold BMX/skate/heavy metal inspired clothing do the bragging for him. Lee opened his first Tokyo flagship in 2001, and is now based in California with two more stores under his belt'one in San Diego, the other in Orange County (pictured above). In addition to invisible:man, Commissary carries brands like Original Fake, Bounty Hunter, and Acapulco Gold. We caught up with Andrew Lee to talk about his stores and get his take on the the influence of online shopping on today’s retail business. Read the quick interview below.

On what to look for at Commissary…
“I feature the best brands available and now some BMX goodness: Verde bikes, Brooklyn Machine Works, and had a few Sub’s. I’ve been working with Medicom toys and SAG bags and stock absolutely no wack bullshit filler.”

On what distinguishes his projects…
“As always, current events and a cup of go fuck yourself. I slowed i:m down to focus on Commissary stores and a bar and gallery. I’m always working on bettering yet maintaining a original outlook and idea so I’m not one of those brands that makes the same shit, same style, year after year. Which I feel sets me apart from the copycat and snoozer brands that cover the pages of magazines and blogs, I have some self respect'these others apparently do not.”

On launching invisible:man…
“I started invisible:man in 1999 looking for some way to vocalize my opinions and things i thought were interesting. It’s been up and down and huge and shit, it’s all good'the brand has a life all its own. Invisible:man consistently gets emails and offers and such but I don’t want to do the brand 100 mph. Instead I’ll take my time and have fun with it, preserving its longevity. Plus it’s just me doing it solo, and I’m pretty much the laziest person you’ll ever encounter. I’ll make a full 30 piece cut and sew season, then next season make six T-shirts. It depends on my energy level and attention span which are now wrapped up in the new gallery/bar project.”

On the state of the retail market…
“NYC is LOCKED. Supreme, Union, Clientele, EMG, what the hell am I gonna do? I would rather continue to sell at and support Union, that’s where you guys should all be buying your stuff'in the shops. Fuck the online faggotry stores. Why support them? What have they done for you? Nothing but take your damn money,while all these real stores lay the groundwork and educate everyone on what’s good. Buy gear at Union, walk over to Supreme and get the goods, cross the street to Clientele for some damn shoes, then hit Jerry’s for that B.L.T. Support real shops, they are the hard workers and made this shit what it is. Stay off the Webmalls. Get outside, shoot the shit with real live humans, check out some fine ass Puerto Rican girls, drink a beer in a bag…Remember what that was like? Remember leaving your apartment?”

Last night, for the final leg of the tour, super-producer Just Blaze and Complex’s DJ Treats turned the Lower East Side’s Reed Space into a virtual sweat box, pumping out heavy-hitting tunes for a memorable close to an even more memorable collaboration. See more photos of JB (sporting his Megatron Don x LRG tee), The Alchemist, DJ Clark Kent, and LRG rep Jonas Bevaqua after the jump.

Related:

- LRG & Courvoisier’s Spring Time Tour

- Bun B Welcomes L-R-G And Courvoisier To Texas

- Mixing It Up With LRG & Courvoisier

- Just Blaze Is Cleaning Out His Closet

- Prodigy’s Supporting Cast Shows H.N.I.C. 2 Love

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ALIFE TOKYO
3-15-10 Jingumae, Shibuya-Ku, Tokyo
JP 150-0001 – TEL: (03) 5775 0200
Monday – Saturday: 11AM – 7PM
Sunday: 12 NOON – 5PM

Meet Alife’s founders in the April/May issue of Complex on newsstands now.

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Related:

- Mixing It Up With LRG And Courvoisier

- LRG & Courvoisier’s Spring Time Tour

- Bun B’s Release Party Recap

- Bun B’s Complex.com Feature

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In case you’re wondeirng, the Changes consists of the creative force behind Australian clothing line Perks and Mini plus Fergadelic from Tonite UK, and Japan’s revered Skatething from BBC/IceCream. They all snapped photos of odd sightings for a coffee-table style book that should be shared over PBR’s rather than Café Aú Lait. It’s now available for purchase here, but check out a few crazy images from the book after the jump if you aren’t convinced.

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