THOSE WHO KNOW. KNOW!

For those who know, know is understood as insider hint. Again and again one comes across well done concepts in streetwear, that adopt this theme. For example a store in London, where you ring a regular house bell and all of a sudden a paradise for sneakerfreaks opens, as well as Nigo´s shop in Tokyo or London, where queues of obsessed shoppers are already lining up early in the morning, or be it the new Apartment gallery in Berlin or the arrival of the new Supreme Dunks in the New York Store, where the freaks camp out on the street the night before, in order to get a pair of the hot and hip sneakers.

The demand for exclusive, actually unaffordable, stuff rises constantly. To make oneself rare but wanted seems to be working well on an international basis already, whereas in our areas retailers and consumers seem to be limping a little behind, although creatives do put in a lot of effort. More and more small and fine streetwear brands appear, that are active worldwide, that widen subculture and show the chain stores that they mean business. Streeteducated people. But also notable brands blaze new trails, that will breathe new life into the city centers.

Consumers need information, and this knowledge not to end up again and again at the next H&M Store. Those, who run through the streets with Apestars or Nike hectics, already know. The question is yet, how will the others get to know. Where is the coolest shop? Are there creatives in town? Where are they? The fact that they exist, is obvious. Where so I get my skin beautified painfully? Will I have to go to Mister Cartoon in Los Angeles for that? Where is the best skate spot? Who is Zach Cordner anyway and why should Hip-Hop be dead? What is Shoe Goo, Sumo are those wrestler, right? Can a bumble bee bite? What does an activist do? How old is the brand Stussy? Who is the Gonz, Delta, Jeff Soto, Nicky Guerrero? Isn´t his name Tommy and doesn´t he also make music? What is new and what is old? Can´t you fade out all that junk, that is hanging around in some shops and concentrate on the important things instead? Where do I get all these limited styles of shoes and colour combinations by the way, is there anybody who still has sees that clearly? What is visual kidnapping?

Questions upon questions, that can only be answered by people who are deeply concerned with the streetwear matter, live in it and have internalized it. We have ambitiously planned to close this gap on the magazine print level as a first step. Starting with this issue we will be available at train stations, airports and higher end news stands.

Martin Magielka for streetwear today