denim demon | sneakererik

Tradeshow season is here, and it was time to head down to Berlin. Me and Tuan flew in from Copenhagen as my family stayed with the in-laws in Malmö. That could have started better I guess… my danish is a bit rusty at 7 in the morning. And well in Berlin it turns out that my bag was missing. Not sure how they even managed. They should have had about 15 bags, but only about 10 bags made it… And Charlotte, who flew in from Stockholm with Peter, Johan, Erik J and Thomas, also had her bag lost by Air Berlin…

So after filing the bags missing to the very German woman at that desk, we came into our hotel a bit later than expected. But after a steady breakfast at Oliv, things felt a little better. And then one Supra shuttle service (good service) to go to hell on earth… aka Bread & Butter. That tradeshow is the oposite of inspiration… Still, a lot of good people we know are there, so we kind of have to go. Besides, we had a few meetings booked.

First of was Asics, who told us that there would be no Asics for 2013… I mean, not for lifestyle anyway. All lifestyle products will be branded with Onitsuka Tiger. But the door was not completely shut for still releasing some LE’s from the GEL series. After that we bumped into big surf dude Magnus Wedhammar who is now at Converse in Boston. Magnus was our first apparel sales rep for Nike back in the days so we go way back and it was good to see him of course.

Then grabbed some invites for the party that we had with WeSC and Vice on the thursday and had a nice chit chat with the good people from Stockholms finest Skatewear brand. Danne Schön was still awake at this hour.

Well, showing face and chit chatting is very tiring, so we all decided to have lunch in the sun. And then on to the ”new” section. It was called fire department or something. Said hi to CP-Johan (Carhartt-Pointer) on the way, and then had some dried reindeer meat at Denim Demon who had showed up at BBB for the first time.

The main objective with Wednesday evening though, was to eat burgers at The Bird on Pontus’s expense. Not that it has to be on his expense, but it just is. And the best thing about going to The Bird, besides the killer burgers, is the fact that most of the good friends – and the reasons why you go to Berlin – are there too.

Oh snap – I forgot. We found David C Wilson somewhere between the Asics booth and meeting Wedhammar. He snuck me a ice cold Small Sake and I kept it in my pocket for 30 minutes. Small Sake is best enjoyed ice cold. But still. David C Wilson!

To sum up Day 1, we ended up at a Our Legacy/Rollerboys party somewhere… that was also fun. And for the record Viktor Tell could use a haircut. And you will find Our Legacy at Sneakersnstuff any day now.

: This is actually the day before day 1. (Day zero, as Nike would call it). I just wanted to show you guys Charlies t-shirt…

: Really dirty window on the train. But this was me leaving Malmö for Copenhagen and Berlin

: Got it, No Phones, No Radios and only straight arrows

: Talk about limited. I flew from Copenhagen, it took 45 minutes. There should have been about 15 bags on the plane. Only 10 of them made it. Mine did not…

: Sorry for not making it Woody, my bag got lost so I had to sort that itch out. Catch you soon, and happy birthday!

: Thank you for the lift Supra. This is one of the better and probably easiest way to make your customers feel spoiled

: Viktor was happy for his Donersnstuff tee. Who shouldn’t be? And also a great idea to take this picture against the sun

: Good to see Magnus Wedhammar from Converse. He was our first Nike apparel sales rep when we started. And also good to see Johan – ceo of Asics/Onitsuka Tiger in scandinavia

: Johan looking very happy, and Peter representing Small Sake.

: I had to take a picture of a happy J-bawls as well… so you don’t think he walkes around with a frown all the time

: World record holder in peaking early – Danne Schön of WeSC.

: What? You didn’t think Jesus cared about streetwear?

: Personally, I like my sake ice cold. Luke warm sake that has been in my pocked for 45 minutes is not as tasty. Still – look for small sake to hit a Systembolag near you very soon.

: Danne, Danielle and Hanna repping the Donersnstuff tee. I wonder if Danielle still reads my posts…

: I good photographer would have had focus on the Footish guys looking for Jesus. A genius would focus on the SC in the WeSC logo in the back….

: You might think it’s a Yeezy line, but no. They are serving Curry Wurst…

: J-bawls and Erik J was doing a great job of taking pictures all over. They have already posted most of them on the sneakersnstuff blog

: The legendary David Charles Wilson! I shared room with him and Thomas. David always looks angry at photos, and does not like white sauce on his doner kebab

: Oskar and Anton of Denim Demon drove down from Stockholm. On their way down, Oskar instagramed a picture of this reindeer on the side of the road and called it a Vägren. He later questioned my judgement for not commenting on that picture, but only liking it… I did like the pic Oskar

: Not sure if you all got the joke Vägren though. Reindeer in Swedish is ren. And road is väg. And the side of the road is vägren. So it is a classic Gothenburg joke… Leif Loket style. Shout out to Denim Devils

: Even though I must say that my photographic skills has gotten way better since the last trade show – the trade show itself is still 99% crap. I think that is why people tend to drink a lot at these shows…

: So, I had to try to make the most out if it by ordering Tuan to make the same face as the girl on the picture

: And I also made him stand like the model on the pics… thanks for being such a good sport Tuan. #Beefcake3000

: Supreme – superdry… what’s the difference?

: Not sure why adidas still have their booth at BBB, or what they are trying to acheive by having it.. But it is always good to meet the guys from adi

: Those Poodle shoes comes with a pair of sunglasses… on the actual poodle. Of course…

: Started to miss my kids… had to merge two pictures of them to have as background on my phone

: Mikkel of Converse and Micael from Vice are taking their Amish look very serious.

: I was only allowed to post this picture of Matt Sleep if I referred to him by his MC-name: Young Adonis.

: The back of Johan Stringberg and the front of Johan Unden. And Magnus Senke in the back. Maybe not an epic picture, but hey – there is more to life than just epic

: Thank you Happy Rabbit for doing the Bird!! So glad I made it this time. Still not sure what happened to Pontus gold fronts…

: I asked Stringberg to take a pic of me and David. Look how happy I look! Even David looks a bit happy in this pic. Possibly the happiest I’ve seen him #nowhitesauce

: Stringberg also took this stunning picture of me… You can tell I am in the shape of my life…

: I SAID: DO YOU KNOW IF THERE IS A GOOD BARBER ANYWHERE IN BERLIN?

: Shotsbricka – alla måste dricka! Mikkel and FWD maxin and relaxin

As I am falling a bit behind schedule on my posts from Berlin, I wanted to make Day 2 as one post only. But looking at the pictures, and thinking back on all the fun moments on Day 2 – I have to split it up. So, welcome to the 19th of January.

It is Thursday today. Last night we went to the Vans OTW party (among other things) but did not go crazy, so we are feeling pretty good. Weather is more like expected as well. That sunlight yesterday threw me off. Last summers adidas Consortium breakfast offered weird sausages and other strange things, so in the spirit of better safe than sorry, we (well, some of us) enjoyed the breakfast buffet at the hotel.
It is amazing how many run down buildings that would make really nice apartments that is just laying about in Berlin. The adidas Consortium Breakfast was in one of those buildings. And this year they certainly stepped up their breakfast. And since I already had breakfast at the hotel I just went for Chocolate cake. As usual, this was no health trip. As for the actual products – it looked good. Remember the adidas Consortium Tabula Rasa project with the all white styles that dropped in November? It is now time to fill those white canvases. And no, I am not talking about adicolor. The drops are scheduled for May and June.

So – on to Seek. They had moved. Just 100 meters, but still… This tradeshow was one step up from Bread&Butter. Actually it was a few steps up. But, most brands in there all looked the same. And speaking of Same (what’s up Gothenburg) Denim Demon had their booth at Seek. Of course we stopped by and had some dried reindeer hart, and a snaps. Some of the Denim Demon spring collection just got delivered, and the fall 2012 collection looked really good. New labeling and stuff as well. Labeling and hang tags are very important – in a time of ”everything-looks-the-same” details like that will make the difference (do you hear me Aaron). And speaking of everything-looks-the-same… I circled around the two floors of Seek. And I am sure there were good brands there. But they all sort of looked the same. And no brand gave me a reason to even enter their booth.

The lack of excitement was obvious. So, we decided to go for lunch with Josefin and Otto from adidas in Mitte instead. We had a secret project to talk about, so it was business and pleasure mixed together as usual. Quick pitstop back at the hotel, and then a sit down with Supra. Yes, I know you know I am not a skate dude. But last summers BBB, Supra was about the only brand that inspired me. So, I was happy to be back up there to talk about the fruit of that inspiration. Besides, they had a really good dessert. Supra crew were as nice as always, and we had more secret-project-talks, so all was good. After Supra we walked back to the hotel. We had the impossible task of being at two dinners at the same time ahead of us. And of course that evening got a bit out of hand… Stay tuned for Day 2 Pt. 2 soon.

: This guy

: As I was not allowed to take pictures of the products, adidas had placed a porcelain dog there for me to shoot.

: What? You didn’t get the memo? We are all wearing grey sweatshirts to the adidas consortium breakfast

: You know when you are not allowed to post pictures of something, and then find pictures in a printed magazine in Germany? The moose is loose

: I like this pic. It feels a bit Roy Andersson to me

: Olympics are coming up this year…

: Denim Demon Oskar was happy. Way more happy than when I left him the evening before.

: The new Denim Demon Labels looked good

: Look for this Jacket on Daniels Modeblog later in this fall. It’s a must have

: Glad that some brands had something else to offer than a heather orange knitted sweater

: I took this picture to show you how exciting Seek was….

: And if you liked 1st floor. Hold on to your panties, here is a look from the 2nd floor!

: Had some of this to drink for lunch. Das Original. Glad I didn’t pick up ”Das Copy” by accident.

: Looking good Billy Ray

: Time to show of my photographic skills again. My timing in this picture is impeccable

: If I do decide to go into the photograph business I think my catch frase will be ”where the action is”

: Even managed to take a picture of myself. This is me in Berlin, waiting for lunch

: Adidas had a launch party. We weren’t invited, so I took a picture of Jo’s invitation in case we needed to crash it

: I could tell you what’s behind this mess – but then I would have to kill you

: This is more to give you a hint of what’s to come

: Supra is really good at sourcing leather. I have a good feeling about this.

: The weather was a bit more like expected this morning

Back in Berlin – Day 1 – Still back tracking…

Berlin Bread&Butter Day 2 Pt 1

Yes, I am on Twitter

Previous posts

What’s happening