The Art of Vintage Leather Jackets

Inspiration 2012; All Aboard the Queen Mary

noreply@blogger.com (David Himel) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:05:00 +0000

Its that special time of year again. Clothing companies head west to Las Vegas for Magic and Project. Gigantic shows where little and big fashion brands alike get to show off their wears. It is also the time of year where I travel to Inspiration one more time to meet up with all the brethren and sistren that make up the crazy world of vintage dealers, vintage designers, fashion brand owners, collaborators and store owners. Where else will you meet designers for Levis, Woolrich, and the biggest brands in the world, hanging out with surfers and photographers.

Inspiration is the brainchild of Rin Tanaka. Rin spent years networking with the best vintage collectors on the planet in England, Canada, Japan and the U.S.A. photographing their wears and publishing some of the finest books on the topic. His genius was to organize Inspiration, a culture jam where designers, vintage dealers, musicians, surfers, shoppers, gurus, and the like can all meet up hang out and exchange ideas. My brand Himel Brothers will be there, so will vintage king Larry Heller, Zip Stevenson of Hollywood Trading Co., my good friend Eric Schrader of Junkyardjeans. As well I will be travelling with Brett Viberg of Viberg Boots, and schmoozing with old and new friends alike. The list goes on and on but the

best way to see who is showing there is to go to Rin's website and look at the ship map. Never mind the ship itself is absolutely beautiful!!!! So come on down and check out the show and jump over to the website at Inspiration 2012 and check out the show. Ultimately if you are interested in buying or seeing some of the most innovative designs or rarest vintage on the planet this is the place to be!!!!! I will post ...post show for those of you who cannot make it down and offer an insiders view! Check out the newest coolest magazine launching at the show.....Clutch Magazine which will feature Himel Brothers amongst other fantastic brands!!!!

FRENCH CANCAN: Brother can you spare a dime (part 2)

noreply@blogger.com (David Himel) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:31:00 +0000

FRENCH CANCAN: Brother can you spare a dime (part 2): Hobo nickels… The altering of coins dates to the 18th century or earlier. Beginning in the 1750s, the most common form of coin alteratio...

Wabi Sabi: Why Vintage is Revered in Japan

noreply@blogger.com (David Himel) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 22:45:00 +0000

As many of my readers know I have recently opened my own leather manufacturing and bespoke jacket business Himel Brothers Leather . I have spent more years buying and selling vintage clothing then I can remember. I am only now starting to piece together the real cumulative knowledge and memories from my years of buying and selling into a cohesive understanding of why my work was important.

Recently a friend attended a conference and course on the Japanese way of Wabi Sabi. Wabi Sabi as stated in the link is a way of understanding aesthetics in the world. Wabi Sabi views objects in the world as imperfect, transient and in a constant state of decay. The real core of the aesthetic is the way in which objects come into the world simply and modestly, and then decay and decompose and their beauty lies in their process of decay.

Now I am not an expert on the study of Wabi Sabi but I have been inadvertently studying it for years. Wabi Sabi looks at the imperfection of creation. Where limitations of materials and design lead to decay and repair and age. The value of the design is also in the decay and transcendence of objects into dust, which often conveys a sense of loss and longing and nostalgia. I never realized this aesthetic ideal is the very crux of why vintage clothing is so revered in Japanese culture. Longing of a lost past, the craftsmanship of solid organic materials and simple human designs that over time show their age and beauty and become art objects of the sublime.

Military Ensigns: Leather and Decoration.......

noreply@blogger.com (David Himel) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 04:44:00 +0000

One of the common modifications applied to vintage leather is decoration with military insignias. Cherished jackets either military issue or civilian made often bare the patches and souvenirs of the owners service in the Army, Air Force or Navy. The history and traditions associated with those symbols are usually strongly associated with A-2s as patch work applied to leather jackets from the American Air Force or Army Air Forces of World War Two. What is often forgotten is that other branches and armed forces of other countries had long and deep traditions of military insignias and mascots.

During a recent trip to St. Johns, Newfoundland, one of my local friends insisted I have a pint at The Crows Nest. Until my arrival I was utterly unaware of these storied walls. The Crows Nest was established in WW 2 to provide a safe place for Naval Officers to unwind during active duty. St. Johns harbour, one of the oldest in North America was a launch point for many of the convoys that supplied troops and materials for the European Campaign. Outside the harbour safety of St. Johns, Nazi U boats lay in wait to hunt down ships and entire convoys. It was a game of hunt and run between the fast U boats and the Corvettes of the Canadian Navy. Spies were everywhere and Officers needed a facility to drink and discuss the war.

As was told by the bartender in the club, naval colours, mascots, female Varga pinups, photos and war souvenirs were both exchanged and donated to the club over the years of active service for the Canadian Royal Navy. There are a million stories here but I will not spoil the tales told within the walls of this club of secrecy. The periscope was from a captured German U boat.

I would point out that many designers today still borrow from the rich and often mystical iconography of the young men risking their lives fighting the Axis in WW 2. From bike gangs to military fashion, the power of these images still resonate!

Himel Brothers Leather: New Designs and Traditions of Mixing Media

noreply@blogger.com (David Himel) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 18:30:00 +0000

I have not posted about my leather jacket project Himel Bros in a while and in fact I've barely posted at all on my blog here. Its not for the lack of love I have for my blogs to be sure. I have simply been so absorbed in the Himel Brothers projects that I have barely had time to come up for air.

I am of course doing everything top to bottom at the shop. I design the jackets, labels, pick fabrics, do branding, blogging, webstuff and on an on and on including putting the button holes on the jackets.

I between jobs I still have to go out and find vintage jackets to buy and sell, post stuff up on my website and communicate with all my customers. We are always looking for customers and given the hard times people are in I am always trying to make everybody feel welcome and have a great experience for their hard earned and kept money!

Lately I've been working on projects in mixed media. One of the great traditions of vintage leather companies was to combine fabrics, leather and textures to create really crazy abominations of leather jackets. These jackets often had so much flare that they made the wearer look extra tough. From blanket jackets to Grizzly jackets I've posted in the past about the aesthetics of these combinations which often created loud displays and statements for the wearer. Recently I made a few versions myself. The buffalo hair on with brown horsehide was one. And the last month I have been experimenting with wool, oilskin and leather. I'm really really proud of the results, especially the plaid wool goat skin Heron model. I think it turned out really snappy with the contrasting chin strap and the deadstock navy style urethane buttons. Super cool!

What is in a Tag: Label Your Brand

noreply@blogger.com (David Himel) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:14:00 +0000

I spend a lot of my time thinking about labels. From a social context Labeling something or someone can often imply a negative. Oh he was labelled a racist, or she was labelled a ....well...you get the point. From a Marxist theoretical standpoint applying the label can imply "dissempowerment". By naming the thing, you take away its power, flux and change. The thing becomes fixed ideologically both in place and time. A side effect of this phenomenon is often the renaming and re-contextualizing of words when new power structures form. After the revolution dictators rename cities, rewrite laws, and new terms emerge to name a societies members like "comrade" or "citizen"

Revolutions lead to whole new ways of naming, and inventions of new systems of time and space. The "Julian" calender, or "year zero" in the Pol Pot Regime. I guess the point I am making is that labelling and branding are pretty powerful moments. They add a value to something otherwise taken more simply. They fix a meaning to those boots and that jacket. They create a meta meaning on top of the thing that both fixes it and either can hinder its existence or add value to it. I spend this time sweating and hemming and hawing over my Himel Brothers Leather Jackets labels hoping to get the design just right for this very reason. I want my brand

to reflect my insane obssession with quality and tradition while at the same time not looking old, repetative, copied, cheap tired or fake. I collect and analyze thousands of images of great brands, some recognizable and some not, in order to embed in my deep subconcious brain the "language" of good brands and great labels. I ask myself what their value propositions are, and how they are reflected in the design and naming of the brand because I want to capture the "esscence" of my own brand and never miss the message. That is the beauty of great designs and gorgeous labels!

Rivet Head: 1930's 1940's Wool & Leather Sporting Jacket

noreply@blogger.com (David Himel) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 15:51:00 +0000

Rivet Head: 1930's 1940's Wool & Leather Sporting Jacket: This one just popped up on eBay! I know the auction's not completed, but what the heck, it's not my size and it's sure to go through the roo...

Amazing Jackets: The Slow Death of Ebay

noreply@blogger.com (David Himel) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 03:24:00 +0000

Every month that goes by and Ebay brings more and more changes to alienate its junk sellers. Junk, dead peoples clothing, these are the terms I endearingly use to describe my years of buying and selling vintage. The best of the best have passed through ebay...and with its eventual demise the concentration of and pooling of the best of vintage will disperse into the web universe!

The wonderment of the primitiveness of early designs never stops to impress me...I have decided that I am a full on jacket addict

Summer Comes in With a Bang: Barber Shops and Rockabilly

noreply@blogger.com (David Himel) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 15:23:00 +0000

Summer arrived with a bang in Kensington Market. Ive been struggling with the fact that I have my feet in two or three ponds at the moment and cant get back onto dry land! One of the bonus' of this new generation of vintage lovers is the arrival of a new appreciation of bad ass old school cars and a new wave of business owners. While barber shops were closing up because the old Italian and Portuguese barbers were retiring...a new trend has been emerging here in Toronto and elsewhere. Gen Y'rs have seen opportunities to take up traditional jobs in the marketplace and rebrand them as cool!

In L.A. right next to CraftWorkWear they have subleased to a cool barbershop, and here in Toronto, my friend Roger has also done the same thing. There is now a dirge of vintage cars and free Rockabilly bands floating around my beautiful neighbourhood! Even my old butchershop Max and Sons, has been bought and rebranded with local meats but more on that later. For now enjoy some snaps of my friends and neighbors!

Some of the Best Jackets This Year: Just Because

noreply@blogger.com (David Himel) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 10:40:00 +0000

I find myself overwhelmed with work and underwhelmed with income. Not very inspiring for doing tonnes of writing online. So here are a few excelent pictures to randomly make myself feel better! They are from all over the internet..and of course I barely had time to sort out where they came from...so this is a collective shout out to all the people who share in webworld and inspire me to recycle their (our) collective culture!

FRENCH CANCAN: Civil A1 jacket… (last part)

noreply@blogger.com (David Himel) — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 11:40:00 +0000

FRENCH CANCAN: Civil A1 jacket… (last part): "HIMEL BRO. A1 jacket received… details, style, leather grain and how to wear a size 36 jacket when you're 590'6' for 165lbs… perfect snug m..."

FRENCH CANCAN: Regretting things (part 8)…

noreply@blogger.com (David Himel) — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 03:46:00 +0000

FRENCH CANCAN: Regretting things (part 8)…: "One of mister French Cancan's best 30's jacket was sent to New York last month… fabulous grey and tan, two tone deerskin 'MID-WESTERN SPOR..."

Summer in Kensington: Not Leather Time

noreply@blogger.com (David Himel) — Mon, 30 May 2011 23:53:00 +0000

I live in one of the most amazing neighborhoods in my city. The cool part about Toronto is the instant and incredible transition of Winter into Summer. This weekend after a long winter of snow and rain...the weather has broken and Summer is here. Kensington market is the best place in the city of Toronto. It is also the engine behind the vintage clothing business here. For years this place was known as the Jewish Market. It serviced the immigrant Jewish communities that filled the warehouses down the street sewing the clothing of North America in the early 20th Century. When the masses of sewers would pour out of their Western red cedar beamed factories, they would head to the synagogues and food markets in the "Jewish Market". Most of my ancestors immigrated to this neighborhood. Over the years when the schmata business migrated northward, and the hippy/yuppies transformed other neighborhoods sucking the soul out of them, Kensington remained a place for the disenfranchised, the young and immigrants. The sewing factories of Spadina transformed from Jewish and Irish, to Italian and eventually Chinese and Vietnamese sewers. Many became computer software and other "chic" downtown business spaces. Kensington has somehow remained moderately democratic and diverse. The Jewish sewing business' transformed themselves into vintage clothing stores and the deli s and the dairies became cheese stores, hipster local food butcher shops and immigrant food supplies for Africans and other communities. The Pearl Harbor Tatoo shop is a classic example of re-appropriation. The Pearl Harbor modeled itself on a 1940s shop, and the owner Bill managed to buy the 100 year old shelves from my neighbor Rotman's Haberdashery when poor David Rotman had to go to the nursing home. Bill used the 100 year old 3 generations patina of Davids hat shop to build a beautiful vintage aesthetic into his tattoo parlour. While some might think it unseemly, I think it is a stunning example of the spirit of the Rotman family living on in a new and beautiful context. I love my hood and all its diversity! It makes finding vintage jackets a joy.

FRENCH CANCAN: Civil A1 jacket… (part 3)

noreply@blogger.com (David Himel) — Mon, 30 May 2011 02:37:00 +0000

FRENCH CANCAN: Civil A1 jacket… (part 3): "I had a dream !!! …and David did it for me !!!! As you could read it on this post , mister FCC hunt for this model for a long time ago… M..."

Things That Bug Me: Other Stuff

noreply@blogger.com (David Himel) — Fri, 27 May 2011 21:00:00 +0000

Things that bug me about bloggin: Ok...nice that Blogger is free and lets anybody pop up a website but really add something to the world, write, find, search...just add something.

Things that bug me about Blogger: Cool new templates...it would be nice if they told me about it...and geeze why do my widgets no longer all work...where are all my followers? You would think a mega corp like google would have the cowboys to make sure that they bits and pieces all mesh.

Things that bug me about posting: I really want to add to the world but I never hear back from the readers popping in and out of my blogs. Leave a comment so that the 300 spammers trying to get links to their "made in Pakistan" leather sites are not the only comments I get to delete!

Things that bug me about bloggers: Why is it that some bloggers who started with me way back when, and then become super successful bloggers with mega millions of readers now take the links off their pages. All those links were good enough to get readers from other dudes like me and my blog at the beginning of their baby empires, eh? Seems like you are only as good as your community...not good karma! (not pointing fingers at anybody).

Things that bug me about some companies: I get contacted by people all the time that want to know the price of something, or where can I get this or that. Or maybe they try and sell me a leather jacket. They always seem to be looking out for number 1...themselves. Hey, if you try to sell your jacket on ebay or craigslist don't email me looking to get some crazed retail price after trying to sell your shit to every Tom, Dick and Harry...I don't want your stinkin jacket. If you call me asking for help and I ask you for an interview after giving you free information for an hour...don't turn me down and stop returning my phone calls you selfish ...mo(*&^* ers.

OK, so my good good friend Phil grew up with a very interesting dad. Phil's pops wasn't the best dad and I will be delicate here. Papa Foubert was not know for his patriarchal skills, but he was quite well known for his cult like status as race car driver, biker and local track junkie. I am going to write more about Larry when Phil coughs up some stories at poker. For now I spent some time scanning Phil's collection of photos of his dearly departed pops and I am going to share a few. It is great guys like my good friend Phil that make my blog fun, and my life interesting. His generosity with his dad's life gives me windows into my own life. I used to buy Revell model stock cars and build them when I was a kid, meanwhile Phil was sitting on the hood of his dad's car right after a races at Pinecrest and Flamboro.

Heller's Cafe - Warehouse Grizzly Jacket ~ Rivet Head

noreply@blogger.com (David Himel) — Wed, 25 May 2011 14:17:00 +0000

Heller's Cafe - Warehouse Grizzly Jacket ~ Rivet Head

Inspiration: Part 3:

noreply@blogger.com (David Himel) — Mon, 09 May 2011 01:02:00 +0000

Well, the best part about the Inspiration show was hanging about for the slow meetings with people I otherwise only had seen on the internet or ebay. After years of emailing people it is rare for all of us to be in the same room together. For example I met Derek Harris of Lewis Leathers years ago via ebay when I was selling original Lightning zippers on ebay. He inquired if I could get more. I emailed him back "why?"and he told me he had taken over Lewis Leathers intent on resurrecting it from the abyss of history. This was our first meeting for real in real existent face to face form. His friend and store

owner Pete Makarski came from England just to see the show. Now there was no shortage of drama...poor Derek's goods did not make it through customs for the first day, and he was deathly ill, but with the help of Pete he got his goods and booth set up the next day. Cool boots and gloves!

The Rising Sun vintage booth was killer, looked like an old mining camp.

If you are interested in Denim, and denim of the old west, there were plenty of jeans on show that were older then a hundred years. Boss of the Road miners jeans had some of the coolest graphics on their tags that I have ever seen. This show was about design not necessarily buying and wearing garments. In fact the rougher the jeans the better because there is no urge to keep them and wear them if the right buyer comes along.

Junkyardjeans made me this bad-ass patch from their traditional chain-stitch machine. I really enjoyed it for the hour I had it before it was stolen. Eric owns a cool 1950s green and white Langlitz jacket in the background for which Dave from Langlitz told me a great story which I will tell in a later post.

One of my favorite moments was when my good friend and co-conspirator John Chapman met face to face with the lads that own Real McCoys. North America's premier genius A-2 maker JC of Goodwear Leather meets the best A-2 makers of Japan....Real McCoys . They chatted about techniques, leather, suppliers and parts. It was an incredible head to head meeting. No one held back, there was no competition, just mutual admiration. Each one wearing one of their own creations. It is just amazing to see the commitments to these micro-brands of vintage inspired collections and vintage.

There is no glory in starting a clothing brand. Of course I had my Himel Brothers Leather jackets at the show. I was very very proud when Atsu Tagaya, Japanese clothing genius and designer purchased one of my jackets and was wearing it while showing his own line of clothing off to some of the most important Japanese collectors and designers in the world. Needless to say there were some fringe benefits as well as the clientel was quite becoming!

Inspiration Part 2 and 3: L.A. and Vintage

noreply@blogger.com (David Himel) — Thu, 05 May 2011 16:58:00 +0000

Inspiration was cool. I forget how much fun working in vintage clothing can be...nevermind the excitement of developing Himel Brothers Leather . I went to LA in the depths of winter and emerged pleasantly happy. I meet the legends and owners of Langlitz leather in Seattle. Dave told me some great stories about a vintage Langlitz piece on displ in my booth.

I hung out with my good friend Robert Medellin. Rob has a new boot project on the go Ace Boots...look em up on Facebook. Here is a picture of Zip Stevenson of Hollywood Trading Co. checking out Roberts boot and giving some good criticism. My good buddy Eric from JunkYardJeans whom I shared my booth with made me an awesome Himel Brothers Patch with his vintage custom chain-stitch machine. Unfortunately a guy stole it at the show (I have his picture but I have chosen to let him live with the karma). Check out the cutie girl mezmorized by the sewing machine. There were designers of every ilk there.

Samurai vintage clothing, Lewis Leather's Derek Harris, his good friend Pete who runs a cool skateboard shop in England, everybody in the vintage and new design business attended the show. Levis and other heritage brands had booths as well. I will post more photos as soon as a finish processing them! Thanks for reading!

Leather Jackets: Authenticity, Heritage and Google

noreply@blogger.com (David Himel) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 03:35:00 +0000

I have not rambled in a while. But lately I have found myself perplexed and confused about vintage, heritage and authenticity. It is of course compounded by the added burden of spending my life savings trying to recreate authentic and perfect leather jackets with my new Himel Brothers brand. I try very hard not to be critical of other clothing designers. I always encourage beautiful clothing but of late there is a disturbing blurring of the lines between vintage brands, heritage brands and crappy knockoff branding cashing in on the craze. Simultaneously, google seems to have been co-opted with its ranking and more and more brands are camping on the vintage leather jacket search while selling really crappy stuff.

I am really confused. Why is Levis producing a Buco jacket? And why does it have the worst thinest material, bad cut and fake zippers mocking the very beauty of an original Buco. Surly nobody who knows what a Buco is wants that? Why are they not focusing on their own heritage? This is layer apon layer of weird. If you google horsehide, vintage leather jacket or Buco 65 percent of the search results are cheap knock offs, junk overseas leather manufacturers and people camping on the words. Google is either not paying attention or does not care. Heck what is heritage or made locally really mean.

Seems like everybody who can buy a Free and Easy magazine is going to work for clothing brands that can add a chin strap to a shirt design and pump one out in China for 2 bucks. It is very sad. I really would like to see designers that focus on what they are good at and respect the past or try something new.

Knocking off the past in China as cheaply as possible isn't helping fashion, and isn't helping style. Im a snob...if I pay 1800 dollars for a jacket it better have cost at least 500 in materials and labour to build and it better be beautiful and indestructible. Why is google raising people in the search rankings that are not what they appear...and why do 90 percent of the comments that come into my blog now contain links to Pakistani leather manufacturers? Really lets get some sense out there before I have a melt down..

Junos, Rockstars and Leather Jackets: Questions of Style

noreply@blogger.com (David Himel) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 18:33:00 +0000

Ok so there is a trend going on in the music world. One might say the world of the rockstar has always been saturated with the leather jacket but the last few years this has not been the trend. Ive given a lot of thought about rockstars and trends since I started my Himel Brothers brand and started making leather jackets. For anyone in fashion the ability to court the stars is a recipe for success. At least twice a week my friends suggest I give away a jacket to this star or that star. Well I have a strong reaction to these ideas. Firstly I have no budget to give away jackets. But secondly and most importantly, I believe that in

order to value something it must be purchased. There must be a desire and a true love for a garment in order to wear it and cherish it!

Now this week was the Canadian music awards otherwise know as the Junos. For most of you out in the world you would be unaware of what a Juno is. We in Canada however are very proud of our little version of the Grammy's. For most of the world Canadian musicians are usually associated with being American. So our artists are typically "undercover".

This years Juno's were hosted by Drake (formerly of Degrassi). If you don't know who he is I can not help you. But if you look at some of the winners you will notice a new emerging trend. Many of the winners are sporting brand new leather jackets. From K'naan to Daniel Lanois, the leather jacket seems to be a hot commodity. Me, I didnt think the ones chosen were ideal. Mostly they looked plastic like and fairly generic. I of course am a snob. Most

artists do not choose their own wardrobes but have them picked by stylists. So while I am not going to criticize the stylists for these artists I will definitely give "ups" to McGraw's stylist for choosing a black and white two tone 1960s Brooks jacket for his country video. That is an excellent choice for rockstar leather!

I am proud of all my Canadian music artists and their jackets. I hope they will come see me soon for their next one!

Spring is Coming: Kensington Market and the Joy of Vintage

noreply@blogger.com (David Himel) — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 00:34:00 +0000

The best part about where I live is the beauty of my neighbourhood. Toronto is a very walkable city, and I live in Chinatown and Kensington Market! I have lived here for almost 20 years in the same apartment. It is in actuality a return to my roots. My Grandmother (Bubby) moved to this hood in the 1920s. In fact all my relatives lived here in the 1920s. The neighbourhood was known as the "Jewish Market"back then and for anyone over the age of 60 it still is. A lot has changed in Toronto in the ensuing 70 years. My hood is a place where immigrants come to settle and open small shops, where Chinese, Vietnamese and other immigrants run restaurants late into the night, and where food stalls and vintage clothing stores abound. Toronto is a city for walking. And my daily job is not just to design leather jackets, and hunt in gigantic rag factories for vintage, but it is to walk in my favourite hood on the planet with my favourite people and go shopping. These pics are from a day of shopping with my beautiful wife Nance and our gal pal Sal! That cool guy in the blue jacket is one of my vintage compadres Roger wearing a gorgeous blue Brimaco jacket I traded him for another

amazing jacket that he had! Roger is a vintage car and motorcycle nut and owns more than 20 of them! If I only had the parking I would try and emulate him. Sal scored 5 pairs of deadstock 1950s and 60s ladies gloves due to her tiny hands and is admiring the awesomeness of her purchase!

Inspiration: Getting Here and Feeling Vintage Love!

noreply@blogger.com (David Himel) — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 22:15:00 +0000

Going to a vintage show like the Rosebowl is exciting. But it does not compare to going to a Rosebowl and going to the second annual Inspiration show organized by master vintage socializer Rin Tanaka. Last year I had the privilege to show my new project Himel Brothers Leather at Rin's first show and this year I came back to show again and to take lots of photos and stories for this blog.

For more stories about Inspiration and Himelbros check out my other new Himel Brothers Blog
Nance and I got up super early for a long day of travel. There is no greater early morning motivator than February winter blues in Toronto. After yet another winter storm and cold snap, the airport and a Tim Hortons coffee are a welcome wake-up.
After a nice long Air Canada flight the magic vista of L.A.s evening urban sprawl was an awesome welcome to L.A.X.

We stayed at a friend's house in Culver City and got up jet-lagged and ready for the day. East coast jet lag is not a great help when navigating the back roads of L.A. but luckily since the highways of Toronto are 100 times worse for traffic and the drivers are terrible and aggressive, the relative laid back traffic of L.A. is like a "vacation"

There was no time to check in at all. I got my passes and it was off with the camera to take pictures of the set-up action! The best part of these kinds of shows is what happens while people are setting up. If it wasn't for my intrepid wife helping me set up my booth I would not have been able to run around and snap photos of all the cool action going on!

Inspiration is in actuality a culture jam. The participants are for the most part the dealer/designers of the vintage scene in L.A. and as well, a big healthy dose of Rin's other love and obsession with surf and biker culture.

All the pillars of the vintage clothing business were busy setting up. I consider all the guys/gals that I met back in the early 90s are not just top dogs with some of the best vintage collections but also now some of the best designer/reproducers of vintage clothing in the world!

I of course intend to try and do an in depth look at some of those people and their brands. The other big components of Inspiration are the designers and labels that show up to interact, socialize and buy inspiration-al design pieces to build on their collections. The tiers of vintage dealers included Rosebowler's and even some of the younger folks prominent on ebay and with virtual stores. Many of the very important local L.A. stylists and store owners were in attendance as well. So the show is really like a design and inspiration college with phd's of clothing and clothing design all present.

I made sure as the set up began to run around and say hello to old friends and go shake the hands of new friends. Many many people were there who I have been communicating with over the internet but had not actually met in person! It still amazes me how valuable the internet has been in establishing my most important business relationships.

A lot of the preshow excitement consists of checking out peoples displays and what incredible vintage pieces they have brought down to show or sell! A lot of the pre-show business occurs between dealers who buy, sell and trade rare collectibles and clothing that they have long been searching for. Some of the people show here are David from Goodbye Heart I don't know much about surfing but I think Shelter makes boards...right here. The guy with the suitcase is vintage genius and designer John Gluckow of Strongarm Clothing & Supply Co, that cool stall

with all the military gear is Bob Chatt from Vintage Productions. The tent is Samurai Denim and The Flat Head was setting up their booth when I took the pic. Larry Heller was Rin's King of Vintage last year and has his own line of clothing detailed here! And that last groovy guy is Brian of "Snappy Gabs". There were soo many more awesome buyers, vendors and designers that is impossible to detail them all. We will try in later blogs!

Inspiration: Rin Tanaka...We Insist and Himel Brothers

noreply@blogger.com (David Himel) — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 18:00:00 +0000

I've been absent again from my blogging! It seems that I'm going through a learning process and am back to the school of marketing. As part of my Junior Year Course work I flew with Nancy to L.A. to attend Inspiration again this year. I was so excited about last years show and this years looked even better being it was hosted on the Queen Mary.

I've been trying to sort through my blogsabsenteeism and have come to the conclusion that writing interesting posts is no easy task. So in typical response to a great challenge I have decided to open a second blog on my new website Himel Brothers Leather. I've only recently finished the majority of the content on this site and am now going to have a new and separate blog describing the trials and travails of trying to build a premier custom jacket brand, and a site that will hopefully not just sell my jackets but other unique vintage inspired design pieces.

The new blog can be found in the NEWS section of my site on its own url Himel Brothers Blog . Included will be my stories from week to week about producing the jackets, finding customers, sourcing materials, design struggles and anything that seems interesting and relevant to trying to build a clothing brand. I will be loading up the new website with both new and vintage leather jackets next week and have over 120 new horsehide and vintage motorcycle jackets for sale!

Ok, so back to INSPIRATION and tales from the show! For those who might not know, a large part of why I became so possessed with leather jackets had to do with a couple of books published by Rin Tanaka. Rin is a professional photographer who has a huge love of vintage clothing and surf culture, and also Americana in its entirety. Rin was the creative force that helped bring out in the Japanese public the private collections of many of the top vintage dealers in America, through publications like Free and Easy and MyFreeDamn books. Through his good nature and talent for photography, Rin propelled otherwise obscure, underground vintage dealers into the star status spotlight. Like all things, the community that Rin celebrates is a broad tapestry of loose connections. Inspiration and MyFreeDamn celebrate all the bits and pieces of that web and through his new show, all the people who contribute to the design and culture of this rebirth of workwear get to attend and show off their best gear.

For me this show is much deeper than just beautiful and rare clothing. This show is a chance for all the different pieces of the vintage clothing culture to get together and have a culture jam! For a Canuck in the midst of a cold bad winter any chance to run to L.A. and get some sun is a plus, but when it involves seeing some of my oldest friends, frenemies, and new friends...I'm in! Intend to write several blogs about all the participants I met while I was there. For the most part I really only know the vintage guys and it was amazing this year to meet soo many cool new people. Nick Clements from Mens File Magazine, Jeff Decker; motorcycle artist and bike enthusiast, Atsu Tagaya from HTC, Bryan Lin from The Thurs., and warm hugs from old pals like Rob Medellin, Bubba Schrader and Nao Akimoto who I have been working beside since 1993 when I was just a kid! It is my hope to introduce you to some of the people who participated in Inspiration and what they do, and why they do it!

Branding: The Love of Old Stuff vs. New

noreply@blogger.com (David Himel) — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 05:49:00 +0000

There are millions of experts on branding. Just ask anybody who as ever worked in the advertising or web business. Its something we all take for granted but few of us can really define. On the other hand their are academics, historians and thinkers constantly writing volumes about brand and its meanings and implications. I think about branding all the time now that I am trying to sell my leather jackets. Mostly I frown on modern products and advertising so this dilemma of brand and meaning tasks me!

So lets just say brand is the sum of all the parts

between the cost to make a product, and the existent product...and its sale price. Lets say the brand is all the parts in the middle, the thoughts, experiences, ideas, concepts built into and around the product or company, the relationship between you and it...so the "brand experience". Now my disdain for advertising comes from the roots of product development. Back in the day if you made a buggy and your neighbour made a buggy there were likely few differences in the product and the price. Branding and advertising generates the gap that justifies a consumer paying more for something...and often that mysterious ether being paid for is just

vapour. I used to say advertising and branding is selling what is not there...and that goes against my grain.

What I love about old brands...branding and logos is the sense of purpose for which they relate the added value. When you look at old brands and vintage brands while they often add esoteric value, and a brand experience that may be a little "over the top" there is a simple truth tobranding that conveys a pride in the quality of the product. While many companies today produce brands that appear far more authentic and interesting then the actual product...in the past the product came first and the branding came after. Look at the simplicity of Golden Fleece and the brand.....a beautiful stunning jacket...well made

lasting over a hundred years, while at the same time imbuing the mythic protective fleece garment of the gods, impenetrable! Maybe the owners were Greek, maybe they just enjoyed the heroic adventures of the great heros, but clearly the jackets were exemplary and the branding compliments the production rather then re inventing the value.

I guess what I am saying is the line between branding and authenticity is very thin...and seems to me crossed constantly in search of high profits from offshore production, and cheaper production techniques.

The CRTC: Canada the Colonial Province and Konrad von Finckenstein and UBB

noreply@blogger.com (David Himel) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 17:40:00 +0000

So this is going to be one of my classic rants that will appear to have little to do with leather jackets but of course it does. Who is this regal sounding Von Finckenstien and the Canadian Radio-Television Telecommunications Commission. VF as he shall be known is a former Judge and Canadian style free tradist. Now before I go off and rant about the CRTC I will say that VF does have something going for him on the plus side. He was the senior civil servant here who investigated and brought charges

against the big AGRO corporations that were price fixing Lysine and amino acid feed additives in animal feed. One of those classic little stories where we the little guy all pay a few bucks out of our pockets to illegally subsidize the globally mega rich who were pretending to compete while in fact (not unlike the gas companies) were gouging all of us for our food supply. Ok big ups VF. (See Russel Crowe and the movie THE INFORMANT)

Now we move onto the bad. What is the CRTC They have a website you can read all about them. They were for the long and short, basically a Canadian content manager set up to keep little tiny Canada protected from big bad ugly USA and their huge telecommunications industry, and protected Canadian consumers from the big bad ugly telecommunications monopoly here in Canada. Why do we little tiny Canadians need protection you ask? Well it goes back a long long way...but again to make things short...A long time ago in England these royal fellows decided to carve up North America and give it to their friends like the Hudsons Bay Company who once owned 15% of North America. One of those little fiefdoms became Canada. So business in Canada runs like a feudal system and Canadians become the Serfs who feed our feudal lords. The CRTC was created to A: remind the feudal lords of BELL and ROGERS (our basically two Cell phone, TV, and Internet/cable providers) that we little Canadians need to eat once and a while, and B: protect all our little Canadian actors and directors like Jim Cameron, Neil Young, Ryan Reynolds, and Arcade Fire from not being swallowed up in a morass of American culture. Well guess what, since 1979, Canadians have somehow taken over a good chunk of US culture both Musically and Theatrically, the Internet is free and open and you cant protect anybody from anything and oh..this is the most important one, the CRTC has let BELL and ROGERS grow fat from the land, resulting in a virtual monopoly of price fixing leading to the worst...and I mean worst cell phone, cable and telecommunications service in the world. Canada ranks near dead last for the high cost of cellular phones...my mother had a 900 dollar cell phone bill last month and this is typical, Canada officially has the worst and most expensive cell phone service in the world. Even worse and this is a quote

Canada is ranked 19th out of 154 countries according to how advanced its use of information and communications technology (ICT) is, a drop of 10 places from ninth in 2002, according to the Geneva-based International Telecommunication Union.

The ranking was based on a number of factors, including the number of citizens per 100 who had fixed line and mobile cellular phones and accessed internet, broadband internet and mobile broadband services. It also considered the amount of bandwidth available per internet user, the proportion of households with computers and internet access, and the literacy and education levels of a country's population.

Sweden ranked first in the 106-page report, followed by South Korea. The remaining countries in the top 10 were all from Western Europe: Denmark, the Netherlands, Iceland, Norway, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Finland and the United Kingdom.

The one area where we excelled and did not behave like a monopoly was the Internet. Here in Canada the Internet is unmetered. Meaning Canadians pay a singular monthly fee for unlimited service. Even though the CRTC has completely failed in protecting us from BELL and ROGERS and their monopoly via the cable and phone, they did protect us from the internet monopoly by forcing our two feudal lords to lease out lines or tunnels to new internet companies who then created limited competition in the market. As a result Canada has had great free and open internet usage and even price competition. Even though BELL and ROGERS have tried to stop competition in the internet market by screwing with these new companies and their tunnels to BELL and ROGERS by throttling the internet or slowing down their competitors service. A nice clean healthy internet has helped spread Canadian culture globally and give unlimited access to the future of knowledge and technology. Of course the natural result was people started turning their backs on the feudal lords and using the internet to watch TV and use it as a phone to avoid the virtual monopoly pricing for these services elsewhere. Well guess what our feudal overlords could not have their fields go untended. The very fundamental foundation of unmetered free market internet has be dismantled by you guessed it......the CRTC! I found this quote right on their mandate page:

The CRTC does not regulate the rates, quality of service or business practices for Internet service providers. So we can’t pursue complaints about these services for you.
For more information, including where to send your comments or complaints, go to Internet

Well....sadly this is not the case. The CRTC first allowed our feudal lords to throttle or slow down internet service from our newly formed competitive internet service providers on the feudal lords already decaying network of service (we have poor infrastructure because our monopolies dont want to spend money upgrading the service when they have little or no competition). And now the CRTC has decided to let our feudal lords of BELL and ROGERS fundamentally change the way Internet is billed for in Canada. No longer unlimited access....OUR FEUDAL LORDS ARE GOING TO METER OUR BILLING. Little Johnny Canuck can no longer upload his opus, or homemade 1080 p Starwars movie to Youtube, nor can we cruise blogs and Facebook, or disseminate our Canadian content without paying off our feudal overlords. By metering the web these morons are changing the fundamentals and well being of the free flow of ideas, knowledge and culture and if our cell phone experience is any indicator...Canada is returning to the feudal or perhaps stone age. It is time to get rid of the CRTC which has lost sight of its mandate to protect Canadian culture and consumers from monopolies. It is also time to write your Member of Parliament and Provincial MPP and make this an upcoming election issue. It will fundamentally change everyone's life here in Canada. Also if we can kindly ask Von F. to retire that wouldn't be so bad either because sadly these old grey haired fellows sometimes don't understand the vast cultural implications of their poor decision making. Remember to sign the petition as 250 thousand people have already as well

Once again please DO NOT FORGET TO SIGN the Stop The Meter petition at:

http://stopthemeter.ca/

Sorry to all the non Canadian Leather Nuts...I just want to be able to keep on bloggin and Interneting without taking on a night job to pay for internet access!

The Art of Vintage Leather Jackets

Inspiration 2012; All Aboard the Queen Mary

FRENCH CANCAN: Brother can you spare a dime (part 2)

Wabi Sabi: Why Vintage is Revered in Japan

Military Ensigns: Leather and Decoration.......

Himel Brothers Leather: New Designs and Traditions of Mixing Media

What is in a Tag: Label Your Brand

Rivet Head: 1930's 1940's Wool & Leather Sporting Jacket

Amazing Jackets: The Slow Death of Ebay

Summer Comes in With a Bang: Barber Shops and Rockabilly

Some of the Best Jackets This Year: Just Because

FRENCH CANCAN: Civil A1 jacket… (last part)

FRENCH CANCAN: Regretting things (part 8)…

Summer in Kensington: Not Leather Time

FRENCH CANCAN: Civil A1 jacket… (part 3)

Things That Bug Me: Other Stuff

Heller's Cafe - Warehouse Grizzly Jacket ~ Rivet Head

Inspiration: Part 3:

Inspiration Part 2 and 3: L.A. and Vintage

Leather Jackets: Authenticity, Heritage and Google

Junos, Rockstars and Leather Jackets: Questions of Style

Spring is Coming: Kensington Market and the Joy of Vintage

Inspiration: Getting Here and Feeling Vintage Love!

Inspiration: Rin Tanaka...We Insist and Himel Brothers

Branding: The Love of Old Stuff vs. New

The CRTC: Canada the Colonial Province and Konrad von Finckenstein and UBB

The CRTC does not regulate the rates, quality of service or business practices for Internet service providers. So we can’t pursue complaints about these services for you. For more information, including where to send your comments or complaints, go to Internet

The CRTC does not regulate the rates, quality of service or business practices for Internet service providers. So we can’t pursue complaints about these services for you.
For more information, including where to send your comments or complaints, go to Internet