Interview by: Thomas Bradley
Photography by: Tabatha McGurr/MTTM

Tabatha McGurr, more affectionately known as “Tab”, is the young voice of market-leading women’s streetwear brand, Married to the Mob. She has quickly established herself as one of the most vibrantly honest personalities within the community. With a family heritage so heavily laden with creative tendencies, Tabatha ceases to disappoint as she demonstrates her deftness with the written word almost daily on her internet platform, www.marriedtothemobnyc.com. In this interview Tab discusses what its been like growing up in such an artistically rich family, where she figures into the MTTM equation, the current state of N.Y.C. and there’s even mention of her dog, Coco…

> Married to the Mob

Describe what its been like growing up with parents who are as creative and intelligent as the two you’ve got?

Well it’s certainly not the kind of thing you describe like an outfit. I can go ahead and say that its “awesome” and they “opened my eyes to all sorts of cool shit” but that’s boring and obvious. The fact that they are both from very different backgrounds is a really important factor in explaining how I was raised. One half of me is an empowered French woman, and the other is a peculiar and very intelligent New Yorker. They weren’t and aren’t the kind of parents that sugar coat everything. Not like those moms you see in the subway going “You see that man Billy? That’s a homeless person, don’t talk to him.” There’s a video of us in ’94 (I was born in ’90) or something, where a woman is asking me what my favorite movie is, and I can’t remember the title but I named the characters, “Alex, Georgie, Pete, and Dim”.

Complete interview and photos after the jump…

Dave White by Fatsarazzi

Interview by: Thomas Bradley
Photography: Fatsarazzi & Dave White Studio

Twelve months in the making, Dave White will be debuting his new works at this years Fame Collective at Art Basel. Having worked with Nike sneakers as icons in the past, Dave White’s new series of works enter another genre which fit right into the culture we live in. With each new painting standing at least five feet tall and some spanning six, these new portraits of superheros and villains debut today at the FAME Collective during Art Basel Miami. Thomas Bradley interviews Dave on The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.

Make sure to stop by the Fame Collective show if you are at Art Basel this week. See you there!

What is the difference between pop art and fine art? Can one become the other?

Pop Art is a movement which falls under the category of Fine Art. Be it painting, Sculpture or Print. The grey area is what do you define as Fine Art? Using mass produced objects as a source of inspiration and making unique pieces of Art is what makes Pop so distinctive and has always appealed to me.

Complete interview after the jump…

No elaborate introduction is needed for INSA, a graffiti artist from London. Now a days you can see INSA making dope art works and products with international brands. His Graffiti Fetish exhibitions have been nothing but amazing and it was a fantastic opportunity to catch up with INSA to speak about the past, the present and the future. Also the Sneaker Fetish prints have been launched and are up for sale on INSA’s website.

> INSA

How are things in London?
Yeah good, getting cold though.

Most people are aware of what you have been up to lately, can you give us a history lesson on INSA?
Well I am originally known as a graffiti artist, I started tagging when I was like 12 years old. I mainly got into it for bombing and getting my name known. So after years of doing throw-ups, getting busted and painting walls, I started to get noticed around 2000. I got really into doing proper walls, burner pieces and big productions with writers like Astek. I traveled a lot painting walls wherever I could around the globe.

Keep reading after the jump…

The sneaker customising scene has gained popularity with the boom of sneaker culture as a whole, however these days customising is more than just applying paint to sneakers. Lazy shows us how it is done with paint, fabrics and some intiricate hand carvings on his customs. Detailed to perfection and guranteed to snap necks!

> Lazy

Firstly can you drop some knowledge about Lazy, for those who have not been exposed to your work.
I’m known as Lazy, from Singapore. I’m a designer, better known as a sneaker customiser. I design apparel and customise sneakers for people. I have my own streetwear label under a different name/brand. I called myself Lazy to give people an impression that I am lazy so they won’t bother me with their shit. Then I can get down with my own business.

Continue after the jump…

For many years, Robot tees, sweats and hoodies were hard to come by. The very first Robot piece was a sweatshirt with the word “ROBOT” blazoned across the chest and were given to the crew of CNN video. And so it began, slowly Robot apparel made into the hands of people who were down with the Robot crew, the Robot Films crew that is including Fat Joe, Lupe, Pharrell, Common and a number of others. Robot Films CEO and main director and ‘Set Free’ are the founders of Robot is the Future and is launching the brand in their 10th anniversary since their first Robot crew neck back in the Winter of 1997. We caught up with Set Free to chat about the new brand and Robot’s future.

> Robot is the Future

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Interview with Set Free of Robot is the Future
By: Thomas Bradley

Should we consider “Robot Is The Future” to be a dimension of ROBOT Films or an entirely new project?
Yes its all under the ROBOT umbrella but robot is the future is its own thing.

Continue reading the interview below…

In our review of the new NIKEiD Studio at Niketown NY we preview what’s available, here are our favorites for the rest of what’s available. Of course the most exciting new shoe is the Air Classic BW iD, our other favorites include the Air Max 90 and of course the Dunk High.

NIKEiD Studio @ Niketown New York
6 East 57th Street | Map
(Near 5th Avenue)
New York, NY 10022
For appointments visit: NIKEiD.com
Click below for a full review of our favorites….

A new NIKEiD Studio recently opened at Niketown New York after closing its doors at the 255 Elizabeth Street location last month. Located on the 5th floor of NTNY, the new space feels more like a design studio, where the 255 space was more casual and at times a cool place to hang out. Appointments are still required but customers can also purchase pre-iDed designs right off the wall. Most exciting are the new options available to the Studio which includes a brand new palette, new materials and a brand new shoe to iD – Air Classic BW!!

The NIKEiD Studio will have an opening event this coming Saturday from 12pm to 1pm, click here for more info.

NIKEiD Studio @ Niketown New York
6 East 57th Street | Map
(Near 5th Avenue)
New York, NY 10022
For appointments visit: NIKEiD.com

Read the rest of the review below…

Beijing is not only reshaping itself for the upcoming Olympics in 2008, the youth of the capital is also reshaping their own culture, MESS is one example. MESS Black Cube stands out from the crowd on North Dong Si Ave in the Dong Cheng District of Beijing. The store is basically a black cube from the outside, nearly fitted entirely with black marble. The interior is sleek zen black and white with minimal fittings and neatly organized goods. With two levels of goods, check out the latest in streetwear and sneakers at MESS.

MESS [Black Cube] Beijing
484 A. North Dong Si Avenue | Map (Chinese Only)
Dong Cheng District,
Beijing China 100010

> MESS Beijing

Check out the rest of the store below…

Interview with Alex Valdman @ HomeRoom
Interviewed by Tom Bradley
Photos by Alex Valdman
Produced by retrogurl

Who is the creative force behind HOMEROOM and how long has it been since HR first really picked up steam and became a via:ble outlet for its creator’s abilities/tastes etc.?
HomeRoom is a natural progression. It started a year ago, but design has been around me most of my life. My mom designed and my father worked for Adobe, kinda born into this. I started the company with my mom and my friend Niko. We started making custom hoodies via: online orders. Customers where able to pick out fabrics, zippers, ribbing, eyelets, and draw strings that we had or send us their own and we would turn them into garments. After 3 months of doing this with Niko we parted ways. I then brought in Yoshi and Gian Altomari to help out. It worked out so well, that me, Yoshi and Gian working together became a full time endeavor. We compliment each others creativity very well.

More on the interview after the jump…

For the past several years, the names Methamphibian and SBTG (Sabotage) have individually been synonymous with high end custom sneakers, graphics and apparel. Now, they are back at it again with a new joint project labeled “Skulls of Saigon” (SOS). Both SBTG and Meth give an in-depth look into their past and a first-look into what the future holds, with their new Skulls of Saigon project.

> Royalefam

> Methamphibian

Check out the collaboration below and see what each has to say about this project…

They’ve been back and forth across the streets of your city at speeds buses and bugged-out taxis might envy. They’ve got no brakes, none save the heels of their shoes or that unavoidable obstacle which abruptly met with the front tire. Fixed gear riders know nothing beyond that beautiful American notion of unbridled speed. Pedaling, attacking even, the same avenues and streets filled with dragging feet and trudging pedestrians, people whose cheeks have long forgot the kiss of a crisp wind churned on by the legs beneath them. MASH SF is a contingent of fixed gear riders aggressively pursuing that idea of adventure that lead this country out West to San Francisco so long ago. These are some intrepid folks and here is what they’ve got to say for themselves.

Interviewed by Tom Bradley
Photos by MASH SF
Produced by retrogurl

It is described as an aesthetic choice to ride without brake-lines but there’s more there, there has to be a deeper logic to the insanity of voracious pedaling without even the concept of stopping short should something get in the way. Describe it, what its like and why it has to be that way.
I used to tell people that riding a track bike would make you look into the future. You have to look farther down the road, where your line of trajectory is going to take you. Since you can’t stop as fast, you have to plan ahead. The line you would take through traffic on a road bike would be much different than the way you would go on a track bike, because of this. For example, maybe someone steps out in front of you while you are riding down a road doing 25-30 mph. What do you do since you can’t hit the brakes? You just turn. You turn a little, avoid the pedestrian, and keep going. You slowly begin to expect that people on the road are going to do stupid things, they are going to throw open a car door in front of you. They aren’t going to see you most of the time. You just have to be ready for anything.