Philippe Starck and MC Yan to design Volar Shanghai

Just came across this on Urbanlook.com via Hypebeast. French design guru Philippe Starck and Hong Kong graffiti artist/designer/rapper MC Yan will work together to design the new Volar Club opening in Shanghai. I believe that it will be located Fuxing Park, in the same vicinity as Park 97 and Guandi. Like the Volar of Hong Kong, the club will attract Shanghai’s most prominent clientele as it will require membership.

-phil

Elite Bar – Shanghai

While in Shanghai over the summer, I came across a new bar that was to open in the New Factories area called Elite Bar. The New Factories district is a new and upcoming development where trendy bars and restaurants will be built. The establishment of Elite Bar has been commissioned by none other than the renouned Elite Model Management, which has helped build the names of icons such as Cindy Crawford, Heidi Klum and Tyra Banks.

Sneaker Pimps Toronto 2006

Mos Def, Talib Kweli, and A Tribe Called Quest blasted in the background while a huge crowd of people gathered around the artists for a live painting. For many, one eye was focused on the artists as they skillfully painted, while another eye suspiciously and discreetly checking out everyone else’s shoes. With hundreds upon hundreds of customized Dunks, Air Force Ones, Chuck Taylors, and Superstars, a cold and shitty October Friday night in Toronto seemed like Christmas for any avid sneakerhead in the city.

Withdrawn on a very quiet street, 99 Sudbury was the perfect venue for Sneaker Pimps, the largest worldwide Sneaker tour. It was a vast improvement from the much smaller location last year at the Spin Gallery on Queen West. Although the legendary Pete Rock cancelled last minute, I must say it was a huge success and the huge crowd signified the large streetwear/sneaker fan base Toronto has. Dave White and Jordan English impressed the crowd with their live art installations. Apparently even Samuel L Jackson (yes, Samuel L. “Royale-With-Cheese”, “Get these motherfuckin’ snakes off the motherfuckin’ plane” Jackson) came to take a look at the exhibition.

And then there was the shoes. Well… I won’t explain any of them. I’ll let the pictures I took describe them.

Here are some of the pics I took at Sneaker Pimps:

Circa Nightclub – One of a Kind…

Aug -11 2007 : New Updated Information on CiRCA. (CLICK HERE)
Here’s a sneak peek of the much anticipated CiRCA. Check out the updated pictures and video of the inside.

The hype over this venue has been ridculious and there is a certain amount of buzz over a new nightclub that hasn’t existed in the city of Toronto. The nightclubs located around “Richmond (St.)”, or otherwise known as “clubland”, have been very generic and boring. The spoiled suburban kids who exile to this clubbing district every weekend don’t seem to mind. But nightclub pioneer Peter Gatien (who owned several hip nightclubs in New York City such as Tunnel, The Limelight and the Palladium, only to be deported back to his native land due to a tax felony) looks to change the face of Toronto clubbing by opening a very unique venue called Circa. Gatien is planing to convert a 53,000- square-foot, four-floor mega-complex in the heart of Toronto’s Entertainment District which was once Lucid nightclub which had little success after taking the space from Playdium, an interactive arcade.

What is so unique about Circa is the fact that Gatien has been working with several artists, designers and architects to make sure Circa does not fail at any account and become the talk of the town.

Here’s a summary of what you can expect from Circa: