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Yes, another New York hot spot, but this one is backed up not by one, but 2 popular names. I’m sure you, urban art connoisseurs and sneaker heads, heard of Stash and Futura, right? Well, if you haven’t, they are world renowned graffiti/tag/street/graphic artists/designers. They are pretty much contemporary icons of the urban art scene, and together they formed Recon and Nort, a store where you can find both of their solid, provocative works, alongside their fall/winter 2008 capsule collection (for which they worked with Sweden’s WESC brand) of T-shirts, knitwear and denim, all featuring trademark art and graphics by Stash. From the spray paint touched walls to the cargo camo cover draped on the back staircase, this is no ordinary shop.
These 2 artists, Stash and Futura, have spread their art all over the globe. In January 2008 they launched the Colnago track bike frames, in Canada (where they also presented matching T-shirts/jerseys), on march 2008 they opened the “Look Ma No Brakes” art exhibition in Berlin (with special guest performances by Artoo and Clintwood) , in October they were in Zurich for the Bicycle Film Festival 2008, where their exhibition featured their works on legendary Master Pista steel track bike frames (they also had available limited messenger bags, T-shirts, caps, and accessories for exhibit visitors). On local plan, they won New York’s Nike 1 Vote contest, a Nike Air Force 1 must have, and the Recon/Nort Kobe Bryant MVP ’08 T-shirt (which was designed in honor of Kobe Bryant winning his long overdue Most Valuable Player award. This special edition T-shirt has NORT written across the chest in the Lakers colors with Kobe’s logo placed on the “O”).
The duo combines a clean, yet exciting design with quality in everything they create. New to their collection of exclusives is BNYCOnline, the latest collections from Nort/Recon. This collection offers all over print tees, featuring guns and money, in an unbelievable look. They are available in baby blue or red. They also have a cool tee with a fence graphic, in blue, white, and black, or a money crewneck in baby blue and grey, while their hoodies are available in green, baby blue, brown, and grey.
The store set up is sort of different, also. All the shoes in stock are behind a glass wall, allowing you to actually see what they have in the back. You don’t have to ask the employees if they have your size in stock. What you see is what they got. This is the place to go for rare Nikes nobody has, but while they have some of the hippest street wear and sneakers around, the selection for ladies is very, very limited.
Also available in the store are Nort Laces hats by Recon (with embroidery and sewn appliqués on navy New Era fitted hats), one of a kind sunglasses and limited and exclusive kicks, baseball caps and polos. At the checkout they give you a little backpack accessory, which is a nice touch.
After their first collaboration for the fall/winter collection, WESC and Stash are doing it again for spring 2009. Stronger than the first collection, in both quantity and quality, the new line consists of denim, t-shirts, knitwear, hoodies and windbreakers.
The floor to ceiling glass displays and slender white columns, the eclectic collection of general and limited-release Nike sneakers in a wide variety of funky styles, the colorful street wear, make this one of the best sneaker spots in New York city, and a must stop by for you.
Nort/Recon
359 Lafayette St., New York NY.10012
212 777 6102
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