It's Always Nice To Dream

Work has been busy, as usual. New stock for Autumn / Winter 2011 has been coming up to the office for photoshoots everyday, and things are getting pretty hectic! I have been helping Michael out with the photoshoots - doing all the time consuming stuff like steaming and taking tags off the garments - which means that we can get through the product quicker. Alongside this, I have been maintaining the general upkeep of the site, and in particular, looking at Google Analytics and doing some serious number crunching! For those of you who have never used Google Analytics before - it is fascinating. It tells you pretty much everything you can imagine about how consumers behave on your website. EVERYTHING.

On Friday, we published a new Norse Projects newsletter, which I wrote!

Please check it out HERE.

In addition to this, today I started a new series for the Norse Store Blog, titled "Dress Yourself". I'm going to ask people in the office to pick out some gear from Norse Store, make an outfit and say why you chose each piece.

Here is the first post... and it's my picks! Check out the post HERE.

It's always nice to dream.

Photoshoot #2 // STRØM.

That's right, I was drafted in as a 'model' again this morning. (After the success of the Comme des Garcons shoot... the brogues have been flying!) We have been photographing the new Norse Projects AW11 collection in the office, and the wool shirts are a really strong style so we thought we'd give it a bit of promotion on the web!

If you go to Norse Store right now, you can see me sporting one of the new wool shirts. (You can also get a matching tie!).

In other news, last night me and Michael went to check out STRØM, which is a free electronic music festival running all this week. Last night there was a party on one of the Metro trains going around the city - live DJs and everything! We couldn't find the train so instead we went to Culture Box (a small live music venue) and then hooked up with some people and went to another bar in the city. We played table football against some Danish girls then went home! (I lost).


We have been super busy in the office for the past few days, and it's going to be similar for the next month or so as new product arrives everyday. It's partly my job to make sure we get it up on the internet as quickly as possible. Despite this, tomorrow evening is a staff party / get together, so we're going to have pizza, beer and skateboarding in the park. I guess it is time to learn how to skateboard... finally.


I have been taking pictures on my fisheye and have finished a film, so I will hopefully get those pictures developed and will have some on here by next week!

Tom des Garçons

If you take a look at the Norse Store website (www.norsestore.com) right now, you will see me sporting some of the new Comme des Garçons collection: Junya Watanabe MAN and Comme des Garçons SHIRT. The jacket I'm wearing in the top banner is around £1400! All of it is incredibly well-made and the attention to detail is unreal. Yet, to me, it's just a bit mental.

[Image source: www.norsestore.com]

The Showroom

For those of you who don't know, I'm living in an apartment in the city. I am in the apartment with three other guys: one works for Streetmachine (Deano), one works as the photographer for Norse and Streetmachine (Michael), and the third is a rep for Insight - an Australian surf/skate/lifestyle brand. He also sells Etnies footwear and a bunch of other stuff (Bjorn). 

We live in a showroom. As we are currently in the SS12 selling season, Bjorn has all his latest collections in the apartment. Buyers come by everyday to check it out and make selections for their shops. Here are some photos!

Gallery

On Monday I was asked if I would like to help out at the Copenhagen based tradeshow Gallery. As I had been to a couple of tradeshows before and really enjoy meeting new people and selling, I agreed.

Gallery is the place where a large amount of apparel and footwear brands showcase their latest collections (This time it was Spring/Summer 2012). The tradeshow is primarily for existing Scandinavian account holders and stores that want to become account holders. However, over the three days, I met buyers from the UK from the likes of ASOS, Oi Polloi, Hip and Oki-ni.

The show had a great vibe to it. Norse Projects had a fairly large stand, so it was nice to be in a spacious environment. Plus, it was cool because the California Sports family were next to us. (California Sports is the showroom that is below the Norse office. Brands that are represented include Norse Projects, Penfield, Obey, Armor Lux, DC Shoes, Nixon watches, Alife, Herschel rucksacks, HUF and a bunch of others.) So, we were pitched next to Penfield, Armor Lux and Obey, which was fun!

I took a quick walk around when the stand was quiet and saw what other brands were doing. Nothing much stood out to be honest. The highlights were Mark McNairy, because his stuff is pretty directional and just a little bit different, and Grenson shoes, who showed their classic high quality footwear.      

In Copenhagen, Fashion Week is basically a massive excuse to party. Thursday night there was an Adidas party, but we didn't end up going. Instead, we went to the meat-packing district (which is 5 minutes walk away from our flat), and met up with the European reps for Vans. We went to a couple of bars then I went home, because I knew I still had two days left at the show. 

On Saturday night, Streetmachine (the skate / streetwear shop owned by Norse) threw a street party outside their shop to celebrate their collaboration with Obey. Check it out here. They covered the street in grass and everyone sat down in the road just hanging out! After that, Obey threw a party to celebrate the opening of Shepard's art gallery in the meat-packing district. We had a quick look around and saw a lot of his paintings and prints, which were pretty cool! Then we went to the party, which was pretty fun. There were DJs and Danish punk bands playing throughout the night… and free beer courtesy of Tuborg! 

Saturday was the final day at the show. It was pretty quiet, but I am stoked to say that I completed an order practically by myself! It was for a shop in Sweden called 'YO GALLERY', which is opening in a few weeks time.

Norse Store threw a party on Saturday night, but I was way too tired to attend. The last day at Gallery really took it out of me, so I was exhausted and went straight to bed when I got home!

Overall, the experience I have gained over the past three days has been amazing. Now, a day of rest before getting back to the office on Monday morning!

Shepard Fairey is in Town

[Image Source: http://themeat.dk/2011/08/shepard-fairey-kobenhavn-jagtvej-69-mural/]

Shepard Fairey, the infamous artist for streetwear brand 'OBEY' has been rushing round the streets of Copenhagen. A few weeks ago, this mural project started - two days ago it was finished. This thing is MASSIVE.

Today, the second mural was completed:

[Image Source: http://tinyurl.com/43vzksd]

Shepard, who was born in South Carolina, is famous for his creativity and numerous work for 'OBEY'.

With Copenhagen Fashion Week starting tomorrow, this has been one project which has certainly been creating a buzz in the city.

Streetmachine have been working on an exclusive collab with OBEY, but I can't say anything else until it has all been released - sorry! However, I can assure you, it is looking good.

I will leave you with a quick video:

Rad!