Inspiration, Rin Tanaka...and My Neighbors

We ate a mighty breakfast at Swingers Diner famed location in Melrose. This resto has been the meeting place of many a hipster, and since we were staying at the Beverly Laurel Hotel it was a very convenient launch point for our stomachs. 24 hours a day of the cool, the strange and the hungry! I needed a full stomach to head off to the Inspiration show and set up our booth. Thank god for my GPS because the drive to the Santa Monica Airport was smooooth and fast. When we got there setting up was a combination of a vintage reunion schmooze fest and a lot of great embracing of old friends. Was I ever surprised to find out that Robert and I had a booth right across from Rin Tanaka's book booth, down beside Mike of Filthmart, Mike of Mike and Pat, Larry of Heller's Cafe (who was launching his book with Rin) and Double RL. I was in a pantheon of new and vintage greats. This was one hell of a party. My good friend Eric of Junkyard Jeans
lent me his best 1920s display rack and we set out to show off Himel Bros new leather jackets!!!




After the big panic of getting setup the schmoozing began. I checked out everybody's stuff. It was a vintage leather jacket porn fest. Every person who ever contributed to the rise and popularity of vintage clothing was there. It was a vintage rockstar festival all created through the vision of Rin Tanaka and his vintage spirit!!!




I will cover many of the attendees in my upcoming posts. Each one of the exhibitors at Rin's show contributes keystone style and design to the movement of craft historical clothing. If that's what your into, then you must get to know every single detail of the collections that were hosted at this show!