Fatlace, Alphanumeric, Crooks & Castles - When Two Wo Rlds Collide

SS: Why should motorsport enthusiasts care about fashion? What would you like to see happen to motorsports because of fashion's affect/influence?

CC: Motorsports is a passion and to some, fashion can be a passion. Some people may like both. Since working with Eddie Kim and Paul Jho from the Hankook Tire/Dynamic Autosports drift team, we wanted to accomplish two things: to educate people about street culture fashion and to legitimize our abilities to create technical gear that is applicable to motorsports with zero compromise in features and style. Our main inspiration is that motorsports is an old sport. Drifting is relatively new compared to all the other historically known racing associations. Street culture is referred under many genres. Some New Yorkers coined the term "sartorialism". But in the end, it is a relatively new sector of emerging independent fashion and we felt that it tied back to drifting in a similar manner; a new face to a known genre as drifting is to motorsports and street culture is to fashion. Our vision is to showcase that street culture is not only just about fashion but lifestyle. We have influences in independent art, music, dance and so on... motorsports and car tuning culture is a part of many of our fans today. We support all their lifestyles and we legitimize it by actively being involved with a real Drift Team in Formula D.

SS: Are there any current project cars you're working on or sponsor? How about events? Why? What do you think of these cars/events?

CC: Crooks & Castles has many "secret" projects in the works. Within the automotive industry, we aren't just working with the drifting. We are now involved with OEM manufacturers of the automotive industry and this year we are doing projects with Mini Cooper USA for their upcoming ride and drive programs, working with great partners from ABF Motoring and Yokohama.

SS: Where can people find more information about your brand? Give us an address, a website and a phone number.

Source: www.crooksncastles.com

Undftd
SS: Tell us a little bit about your company: how it got started, your background, sole purpose in life...

James Bond (cofounder): I was a freelance art director at Ford back in the day, so I have close ties to car culture. I started my own high end men's clothing brand called KBond before starting Undefeated with Eddie Cruz in 2001. Today we have six stores worldwide, including the US and Japan. I'm currently driving a BMW M5, an Audi S8 and a Mercedes E500 wagon.

SS: Why are you getting involved with motorsports and/or the different facets of motorsports? How does your brand identify itself with or compliment the motorsports industry?

JB: It's an adventure in itself for us to thrust ourselves into motorsports and we began exploring it more in depth by competing in the Gumball Rally last year. Who wouldn't turn down the chance to drive really fast and get away with it? That led to our involvement with creating a shoe with Puma, which we'll carry on in the future with a line of bags, driving gloves and shoes. We want to hit all types of consumers, not just car enthusiasts. For instance, wouldn't it be nice to have race-ready/inspired gear that you can use for travel that also has great design elements? It's about having nice accessories inside and outside of your car.