Tradition decided to expand further into the 805, opening their newest store on Main Street in Ventura. Their Ventura store has a very industrial feel and features wood floors mixed with white walls and exposed bricks. This store is a welcomed change to the recently renovated strip of main street that also house an Urban Outfitters, American Apparel, and Buffalo Exchange.

Tradition carries a strong line-up of apparel brands such as Crooks & Castles, The Hundreds, Diamond Supply Co., Black Scale, 10 Deep, Bloodbath, The 7th Letter, G Shock, and Akomplice as well as their own Tradition brand. They also stock footwear from Nike, Vans, Supra, and The Hundreds. 

Tradition 

518 E. Main Street (at California)

Ventura, Ca. 93001

805-643-8805

More photos after the jump.

Streetwear brand Crooks & Castles has collaborated with SE Racing to come up with a dynamic, cleanly designed 26″ Flyer BMX Bike for limited release. Only 300 were made and they are retailing for around $750. The white color gives way to intricate little designs and detailing from the embroidery on the back of the full grain leather diamond quilted seat to etching in the handlebar end caps, its a pretty flashy bike no matter how you break it down.

Words by: Mark Anthony Jenkins

Establishing one’s self as an artist in the music industry is a daunting task on its own, but what about trying to shed the perception of an entire city’s musical identity? Though L.A. may forever be synonymous with “gangster rap,” it appears that a new generation of artists is challenging that notion. With the city’s musical landscape shifting like the very fault lines beneath its surface, one artist helping to cause that stir is Diz Gibran. His recent release, Soon You’ll Understand, produced by New York native Moonshine and put out by Crooks and Castles, has garnered much attention, putting him at the forefront of a new West Coast movement.

“There’s always been emcees like me and a lot of the cats that you’re hearing now from the West Coast,” Diz states between drags of a cigarette, fresh from opening for the Clipse at Downtown L.A.’s Club Nokia. “[T]he internet and music blogs, it made it a lot easier to get our music out there. The majority of cats out here don’t bang; you’re affected by it, you know people that do, but you don’t bang.”

A snowboarder and skater since 1989, the fashion-entrepreneur-turned-emcee credits growing up around a diverse group of people for his varied interests. “I was always a kid that was all over the city, I wasn’t only on my side of town, I mixed with everybody. I went to school with people from everywhere.”  While discussing what it was like to board before it was cool for urban black kids to do so, Diz acknowledges how times have changed and how good it feels to see the skateboard scene so vibrant in the city. “I had homies that skated that was from the hood and I would take my boys snowboarding. Back then though, we were the minority, and everybody was giving us shit for it, because it wasn’t accepted…but we kept doing it.”

Nowadays, it is almost cliché for a rap artist to have his own line of clothing after dropping a few hits. Unlike his counterparts however, Diz’s path to fashion didn’t come as a result of his music career. While at Florida A&M University, he began working with some friends that had created their own clothing line, helping them market and sell their products. Bored with college life, he decided to leave school and upon returning to L.A., became an investor with the Diamond Supply Co. He also started The Stevenson/Gibran Agency with his long time friend Terron, a sales and marketing company within the clothing industry. “I grew up in fashion; [from] getting ‘Best Dressed’ in high school to boosting and all that. My parents would always find clothes and would be like, ‘We didn’t buy this shit!’”

Though he admits his parents were less than pleased with him leaving college, Diz acknowledges that they have always stood behind him. “My parents have always been supportive of what I did, but they didn’t always accept it at first. But I think over time they got to know me as a kid that was strong minded, and anything I did, I was serious about.”

With the release of “Soon You’ll Understand”, Diz is quick to point out that his focus is music. He has amicably left Diamond Supply and although his hand is still involved in the fashion world, he declares that he wants to continue to develop musically and push their latest release, with thoughts on doing videos for select tracks. “Before anything, music is my first love. The thing about it is music and fashion goes hand in hand. But it’s a no brainer…if I have to choose between fashion and music, its gonna be music.”

Providence, RI
When you scan your mind for influential stores, Providence probably isn’t even on your radar. But since throwing open its doors in June of ‘07, Sneaker Junkies has been the tastemaker behind Rhode Island’s booming sneaker and streetwear scene, and the store’s becoming recognized far beyond the tiny state’s borders. And the name Sneaker Junkies says it all: this is a store by and for sneakerheads, and aside from the obvious selection of finer footwear, names on this retailer’s racks include the likes of Alife, The Hundreds, Crooks & Castles, 10 Deep, Creative Rec, Clae, Orisue, Mighty Healthy, Supra, and just about everything else you ever wanted. So next time you’re blazing down 95 between NY and Beantown, pop into Providence and see what all the noise is about.

sneakerjunkiesusa.com

251A Weybosset Street
Providence, RI 02903
401.351.2112