April 11th marked an impressive debut for the brand new Joshua Liner Gallery in New York City. While the private party drew a host of recognizable artists, including Futura, Kaws, Stash, Mark Dean Veca, and Ron English, a pinstripe laden Mr. Liner stood out as the true star of the evening. The aptly titled inaugural exhibit, Locked and Loaded, proves that Liner, (former co-owner of Philadelphia’s Lineage Gallery) has his sights set and aims to be a contender in the the NYC art scene . Indeed the show drew upon an array of heavy ammunition with English, Veca, Futura, Stash, Aiko Nakagawa, Tomokazu Matsuyama, Josh Keyes, Greg Simkins , Damon Soule, Oliver Vernon, and Kris Kuksi all taking part - many displaying large-scale works. With several of the 27 participating artists scheduled for solo shows in the coming months, Liner’s target doesn’t seem to far off. See the full exhibition at the gallery web site, (Guillotine)
Joshua Liner Gallery 548 W. 28th Street Suite 334, NYC
Hotness! Oki-ni is offering a collection of limited edition sneakers available only by pre-order for the site’s subscribers. Designed by rising star Julia Hederus, this new limited footwear collection is inspired by the style of K-Swiss wearing badass youths from London’s rough and tumble Hackey neighborhood. Hederus’s work has already drawn favorable comparisons with the ‘clean and clever’ approach of Belgian menswear futurists, while her minimal yet subtly playful approach also carries distinct echoes of the Japanese school. Shop the site here. 
The annual Milan Furniture Fair started today and for the next week the city will be abuzz with furniture exhibitions, impromptu cocktail parties, chic soirees and get togethers celebrating contemporary design. Furniture designers, artists and the people who are re-thinking how our interiors should look are all debuting their latest ideas. Highlights will include Established & Sons' newfangled library (pictured here).
Ever wonder what goes into the creation of a pair of jeans? Our friends at Selectism have tipped us off to a startling photo essay in Time magazine online. From the sweatshops of China to the fashion runways, these photos tell a story of the many disparities in the world of designer denim. 
Streetwear label 
We quite like this denim jacket, created as part of a collabo we know fashion purists will be jonesing for. 
This Friday and Saturday, LES boutique Bblessing will be holding an off-site sale. Now's your chance to score some goodies at reduced prices from the world's coolest brands: SNS, Raf Simons, Opening Ceremony, Patrik Ervell and a whole lot more! 
Marc Jacobs has tapped back into the military theme that inspired some of Marc by Marc's S/S collection last year, with a new range of recycled military goods. Previews of the 'Marc Jacobs Surplus' line include this M-65 and German Mountain duffel bag. The duffel looks great, but might be hard to pull off without looking like you've just come back from tour of duty. Reasonably priced, as you come to expect from M. by M., the jacket is $79 and the bag is $65. 
The streetwear world is all a twitter today because a new BAPE store opened in Harajuku. The store, designed by WonderWall is a glass enclosed marvel and the interior is riot of color and pattern. A quote from the WonderWall web site describes the space: " For the Bape store, after discussions with Nigo, we decided to create a store that felt like a town within a building with an American diner flair. However, for the top floor, a sense of playfulness was added with a colonial style resort inspired space." We've got some pics of the space courtesy of Wonder-wall after the jump. 
Levi Strauss & Co. may have built its brands with bottoms—the company is synonymous with 501 jeans and Dockers khakis—but CEO and president John Anderson is aiming to leverage that heritage into complete lifestyle collections that garner a much larger percentage of sales from tops, accessories, footwear, outerwear and other categories. The strategy is aimed at jump-starting the company’s $4.27 billion in sales—which have been basically flat since 2003—and diversifying the company beyond its iconic bottoms businesses, which currently account for about 87 percent of total sales. “I think the mix should be 50/50,” said Anderson in an interview last week in Levi Strauss’s New York showroom. “The real opportunity for us is in tops and other categories—we need to drive those businesses even harder. In our own stores we’ve already hit that ratio. We need the opportunity to put those tops in front of more consumers.” Read the full story 
Jason Cheech Hall, owner of Format, one of the coolest boutiques in Queens stopped by the showroom the other day and we got to chatting. If you haven’t been shopping in the outer boroughs lately, Format offers locals a little taste of the Manhattan experience: with a brand roster that includes The Hundreds, MHI, Nudie, Pegleg, and Accomplice. 
While to many fashiony guys these days, custom tailoring is something you do to a pair of overpriced denim, there is a certain element of guy who still opts for a custom made suit, or shirt. The personalized attention and impeccable fit you get is like nothing else. And while London's Savile Row and more recently, NYC's NoLIta features bespoke tailoring, real traditionalists opt to go to Rocco Cicciarelli Custom Tailoring, a men's suit factory in Queens. A Continuous Lean's Michael Williams visited and took tons of great photos. Read all about it 
