Check out your local A Bathing Ape store for a free copy of Philosophy ‘Zine Issue 1.  It’s an interesting broad-brush culture magazine from Japan that spans ‘kulture’, installations, visuals, music, books, interviews etc. with handy English translations for those a little rusty on Japanese …

Prices are reasonable (around £12 for 2 spirits and mixers), especially given the quality of the overall setup, and the staff approachable and polite – if lacking a little polish 

I’ve checked out a few unofficial reviews (this is 100% official after all) and some of them have given it a hard time for its bold blend of different design genres, but I think this is a bit short-sighted.  After years of unoriginal minimalism, it’s about time the bricolage brigade burst back onto the scene.  It fully embraces multidimensionality, complexity, nuance, and most importantly, gives you some interesting things to look at when your friend’s ranting on about a work-crush-that’s-just-not-fair-because-she’s-thirty-one-years-older!       

When it comes to brand extensions (especially absurd brand extensions!) I don’t think there’s many industries that can topple the fashion industry.  DKNY coffee, FCUK Alcopops, Armani hotels … yes the’ve come … and often gone.  Gucci was even selling sledges, skipping ropes and diving flippers a few years back … I kid you not  

One brand that fascinates me is Ralph Lauren.  Born Ralph Lipschitz to Jewish immigrants in the US; changed his name to Ralph Lauren (okay we can’t blame the guy for this …); then, somewhat amazingly, branded and packaged the aristocratic English lifestyle and then succeeded in errr … selling it back to the English!  Blimey.  Genius.  And I’m sure the snaps of William, Harry and the rest of the merry royal band with ‘Polo’s a blazing’ arent exactly giving Mr Lauren a heart attack!  

Well, anyway, on to the point I meant to address two paragraphs a go.  I came across this little number the other day …  

… and wasn’t sure.  It clearly links in with the whole ‘elitist sporting thing’, but of course we know there’s no Ralph Lauren branded golf factory out in Lipschiitzville breaking at the seams.  The irony of having a Polo player on a golf ball also takes some beating!  I can’t say I’m thoroughly certified within the whole golf micro-cultural movement right now … but is this really appealing?  Is it really going to make your pony deprived Top Flite XL rival want to bury himself in a bunker? … throw the game jumping into a lake? Perhaps they could enable Tiger Woods to get a minus handicap?  Or maybe they’re just meant for pretentious home curators with empty shelving space? Does anyone really care? (C’mon someone give me my “first comment” … I’ll run a £/$100 debit straight through PayPal for ya!) 

Right my (non-existent) bloggership, here goes my first post. Well, it’s more accurately a rehash of someone elses post, but I guess there’s nothing wrong with a bit of ‘tried and tested’ to kick things off 

A short while back the very interesting chap over at This Blog Sits at the (Grant McCracken) responded to a classic question posed by Tom Asacker on whether advertising should still be regarded as the pre-eminent meaning maker?  I’ve been pondering on this question for some time now, especially given the rise of blogging, viral marketing etc, so I figured it’s about time that I offered my two cents … 

Advertising is not the force it once was with regard to creating meaning and shaping and influencing the consumer (I don’t think many would dispute this), but, neither are we witnessing a complete cannibalisation of consumer ideas or a grand scale consumer DIY free-for-all.  Lets use fashion as an example for the sake of simplicity.   I decide to revolt against the latest sets of fashion codes (reinforced though advertising) by sporting an luminous green suit with a yellow tie (this is hypothetical!) for my stroll in Covent Garden.  I happen to bypass Paul Smith (who funny enough, I do see from time-to-time on my lunch breaks) who takes to my vibrant style and robs the idea for his next collection and advertising campaign.  A typical case of the individual feeding advertising and constituting culture?  Not necessarily.  The point being that my temporary moment of consumer emancipation (or freedom) only exists because it’s in opposition to the ‘dominant’ ideology of the latest fashion norms.  Therefore, the meanings of fashion advertising are still being used – whether directly or indirectly – in the construction of individual identity projects.  So, by the very fact that advertising exists and is so ubiquitous, it is constantly (re)creating meaning, be it directly or indirectly.