Theophilus London is the NY-based rapper, singer, and songwriter that many critics and music fans alike are placing at the forefront of a burgeoning music scene coming out of Brooklyn that houses everything from urban pop/indie hip-hop to no wave and post punk revivalists. KarmaloopTV caught him after a hometown performance and he goes on to describe where his confidence and clothing styles come from.  His newest mixtape, “I Want You” is an eclectic showcase of the disparate parts that make up the artist’s diverse repertoire thus far.

It seems like the more mainstream attention an action sport gets, the crazier and more death-defying the moves have to become. Motocross riders started doing backflips, skaters added super ramps, and now the double cork in snowboarding. I’ll leave the explanation to the experts (although there are many variations), but for the most part it usually involves at least 720 degrees or so of rotation on one access and a flip or two on another. I like physics and I’m still confused by it. Check it out and do your homework, you’ll see a lot of them in this year’s Winter Olympics.

Check more colorways after the jump

When Pierre was a teenager he met a fellow skater in front of the Eiffel Tower; this skater happened to be a refugee from Iran and didn’t know anyone and spoke little French. Pierre took the kid home with him and in a short time added (officially) another sibling to his immediate family. This was just the way Pierre was raised, with an almost uncontrollable urge to give back. After building Sole Technology (the umbrella company that houses Etnies, eMerica, eS, Thirty-Two, Altamont and many other brands and projects) one of the first non-corporate skate shoe companies, Pierre continues to give back just as much as he gets, whether it’s his personal crusade to save the planet, creating a high-end fashion brand from recycled elements, hosting an annual shoe giveaway to homeless shelters or making movies with Leonardo DiCaprio about the importance of the environment.

Pierre’s other passion, skateboarding, has also benefited from his relentless ideology of constant innovation. He created the Sole Tech Institute for the sole (no pun intended) purpose of improving the functionality of skate shoes to help skaters improve, and more importantly to allow them longevity.  If there’s one thing that’s evident when you speak to the ex-IBM engineer who at one time printed his French skate ’zine in the hallowed walls of a Paris church, is that with all his accomplishments and money, its all about making the world and skateboarding a better place.

Andrea Rosso: Fifteen Fucking Years of 55DSL

By Carter Higgins

I actually remember the first time I saw the 55DSL shield. It was tucked away in the corner of the Diesel flagship store on Lexington Avenue in New York City back in 1997. That corner of the store was almost like sovereign soil; something or someone else governed this little island of the Diesel brand but at the time I wasn’t quite sure what or who it was. This brand was not talking to most of the people coming through the doors looking for designer jeans. 55DSL was a snowboarder among skiers, a skater among golfers, a punk rock girl among the cheerleaders…you need more, make up some yourself!

After taking a closer look, it was obvious that the influence was coming from action sports, from skating to surfing. It was a designer brand approach to a culture, which at the time was really just about logos, big jeans and hoodies. 55DSL was bringing something new to the game:  really cool design and full collections, from outerwear to sweaters, board shorts to button-ups. After all, this brand was created by Diesel and was, in fact, named after Diesel founder Renzo Rosso’s favorite number.

Shortly after the 55 brand was formed, Andrea Rosso, Renzo’s eldest son, became the creative director and started to steer things even more towards action sports, eventually sponsoring major athletes and creating a small team in surf, skate and snow. As an accomplished skater and snowboarder himself, it was a natural fit and led to 55DSL breaking away from HQ in Italy to Switzerland for several years to be closer to the European snowboarding mecca.

Fast forward to 2009, the brand’s 15^-year anniversary, and quite a few things have changed since the humble beginnings in 1994. The brand is much larger with global offices/retail stores and is now situated happily between the worlds of action sports and streetwear. 55DSL remains unique and is still a defiant voice in the saturated world of street/casual fashion. We caught up with Andrea Rosso and his father Renzo for a quick chat about the brand. Enjoy.