It is all about the art. Mike Supermodel is the owner of Jinxed Philadelphia located at the Piazza in Northern Liberties Philadelphia. He is a retail veteran, before Jinxed, he ran Rock and Roll+ on South Street for many years. His values of artistic appreciation come across with what he sells.

Ron and I always take a visit when we are up in the area. I know Ron visits more often than me.

The products are a mixture of clothing, some screened by Jinxed, limited edition art books, and collectible vinyl. The book selection ranges from tattoo flash to mid century illustration and design to look books for new underground artists. Original artwork abounds. There are screen prints and handmade pieces available for sale, as well as a rotating art shown at the Toothless Cat Gallery, the conjoined fraternal twin that shares the same front door. Gallery events are held often and a schedule can be found at the Jinxed website or posted to our blog.

I completely am digging these Japanese imported wrestling figures they have in stock, some of them based off of American wrestlers. Their manufacture history is a bit of a mystery but is an example of the one of a kind items you can find here.

During our visit Supermodel was nice enough to take the time and sit down with Ron and myself in the back room.

OOPM : Can you give a little history about the Jinxed move?
SUPERMODEL : Let me tell you the way it worked out. Jinxed was at fourth and south for five years. We had a great landlord. Unfortunately with the decline of South Street we were doing more business our first year than our last year. Occupancy on our block of Fourth Street is about 60% right now, not the best of times in that area. With the way things were, we knew Jinxed could not continue indefinitely at that location. My friends had the gallery space here and I was looking to relocate but called to inquire about the neighborhood in general. I was under the impression that the Piazza was pretty sealed up, which it pretty much is. But they were like we have more room than we need and everyone works full time. Why don’t you take some measurements and maybe you can stick your store in our space. Back here in the studio, works : Dave Fox, Jason Goldberg, Dave Glass and JL Schnaple. The Piazza wanted more retail so it was a good fit all around.

OOPM : There is a great selection of independent stores at the Piazza. It reminds me of how South Street used to be about ten years ago.
SUPERMODEL : It’s planned up here. Bart Blatstein, who built this whole thing is very hands on. I had a conversation with him about leaving South Street and coming up to Northern Libs. And what he said is true. On South Street you had a hundred different landlords all trying to get the maximum buck that they can. Where as this is planned. He wants galleries, he wants stores like mine, he wants restaurants that are varied. Where is if you visit South Street now, there is just a collection of ear ring stores and that’s the opposite of how South Street was.

OOPM : Jinxed has history. Been around for a while. Is there a motto for your success?
SUPERMODEL : [laughs] Fuck ‘em if they can’t take a joke.

OOPM : How has your business changed from when you started?
SUPERMODEL : We opened the store in 2004. I had just come off from doing a lot of traveling. I was out in San Francisco, I had been up to New York pretty regular. I just had the t-shirt line at the time and that was my main occupation. We would visit these stores in other cities that are kind of what we are now. But six years ago, that doesn’t sound like a long time, but there weren’t stores like this in Philadelphia. The thing that used to bother me was … we would go into nice stores with a lot of cool stuff. And we would go in there and be treated like an idiot. My whole thing is that if you are going to be selling exclusive merchandise you have to educate your customers. You can’t talk down to your customers because they don’t know what something is. Your potential customer doesn’t know what it is because you are one of the only people that has it. In the beginning we focused more on the t-shirt line and the other stuff. We had a few books and a few toys. But since there was not anyone here selling that, we kind of moved our focus as interest here increased. My catalyst to get things going… Traveling to these stores where they had great product but the people were so snobbish, with a cooler than you attitude.

If there’s a theme to the store it’s “stuff that I like”. I go outside of that sometimes. Again because we have customers, we need to serve them. But with the companies we deal with and what we have to focus on, I always like to look at it as art based. Graphic design or more conventional art. Take a look at Sam Flores. Here’s a guy who started painting on the side of buildings, then got in with the gallery scene, now puts out books, puts out his own t-shirt line on Upper Playground. We can sell all of those things. It all stays art based and it all stays true to that artist. They’re not knock offs you find in Target.

OOPM : Is it hard to juggle finding new product with running the business operations?
SUPERMODEL : It has been hard to find great product because three years ago it got really saturated. There were 4 toy companies then it went to about 40. People have the misconception that there is money in this business. This is definitely a labor of love. You can make a living with hard work but there’s not a lot of money. As much as it is for me, and for you this stuff has great appeal. We’re willing to shell out a few bucks for a t-shirt or toy . The general public still isn’t, but what’s good about up here – now that this stuff has become, for the lack of a better word, mainstream we’re still presenting it as an underground store. We are keeping things limited. We get a really good response from people. The Dunny for example. people ask “what is this?” we explain how they are an artistic canvas, their packaging and how you may get a rare one. people get interested. If can stock something that I recognize as quality then people seem to recognize that quality.

SUPERMODEL : want to bring your bike in?
OOPM : [Ron goes to bring his bike inside.]

OOPM : Do you collect toys?
SUPERMODEL : I do. I am more of a mark for the packaging and the graphics. And more of the older stuff, more stuff from the sixties. Hot Wheels are a big thing with me. Hot wheels, Rat Fink stuff.

Other than that it is really hit and miss. We sell some vintage stuff here. Mostly from estate sales going to different flea markets. Again it’s what catches my eye. I am not boxed in to where I need to collect the pink version of a hot wheel that was produced in 1971 that is $250 on eBay… If you have the blue one for 4 bucks, I’ll take two. Take Dunny’s again. I think at home I have a dozen. They’re great. They’re here and it’s limited and it’s meant to be sold. Most of my toy collection is here, which used to be in the window at our old store.

OOPM : Closing time. What’s the theme song?

SUPERMODEL : Maybe the Curt Hennig piece from WWF. It has a nice full orchestra going for walking to your car. A classy way to end your day even if it’s more of entrance music.

Click Here>>Mr. perfect_Theme

OOPM : Thanks for taking the time to talk with us.
SUPERMODEL : No problem at all. Thank you.

Store Hours :
starting 4/15 our hours are 12-10 everyday.

Address Location :
1050 North Hancock St. #86
The Piazza at 2nd St. and Girard Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19123
215-978-JINX

http://jinxedphiladelphia.com
http://upsetthesystem.com

Hilary White ALTAR @ Jinxed & Toothless Cat

Jinxed And Toothless Cat’s 3rd Annual heART Show

When I got a text from Ron about 2 months ago telling me that NAHBS was going to be in Richmond this year, my immediate response was, “what day do you want to leave?”. Having lived in Richmond for 6 years before moving to my current location I was super psyched to get back and have a weekend filled with good friends and more bikes than you can imagine in the place that I consider “home”. There were so many things that went down this weekend, from a million different bike events to all night parties. If you were not able to make it out and want to know what the weekend was like for OutOfPrintMag, this is the article to read.

Ron and Jessop, obviously, or maybe not so obviously, 2 of the other 3 people that do Out Of Print Magazine picked me up on Friday afternoon after driving through the snow that had fallen in Philadelphia. They told me that I needed to have my bike ready because they had strapped theirs to the roof of Ron’s car with a ratchet strap. Yes, it’s singular, one single ratchet strap. Naturally, I listened and we added a third bike to the roof.

The drive down went pretty smooth despite some traffic and every noise making us think our bikes were about to blow off the car and onto the highway.

When we arrived in Richmond we tried to make our way to the convention center to get our media passes so we could attend the VIP party that Bicycling Magazine was throwing, but of course, we got there 15 mins too late. I may or may not have been at fault, but that’s not important. So after missing our chance to go to that party, we made our way to my friends apt. where we were staying. After fixing Ron’s pedal, and Jessop’s handlebars, it was dinner time, then off to the CBC party.

The party at CBC was a good time all around, as soon as we walked in we were drawn to the back of the room where they had the new Mash/Cinelli frame built up and on display. It was a really nice build, along with a few Kazane frames that were also looking really good. There were free beers and a DJ to try and keep things on the up swing. The winners from the Mash Alleycat that had taken place at 8 pm were announced. Sorry I didn’t get the names of the winners, but I do know that they were all Richmond messengers who decided to take all of the prizes, including the $2000 bike and put them into a pool to be given away at the alleycat race that they were throwing the next day. No locals were riding in their race, so it was a pretty level playing field. We had the pleasure of meeting Super Ted at the CBC party. No surprise to anyone that knows him, or knows of him, he was out of his mind by the time we arrived. Great dude though, and so much fun.

He and Tony Fast provided entertainment for everyone on the sidewalk after the party ended. Ted scolded Tony for not knowing how to roll a cigarette and proceeded to give him a drunken lesson. There was also a young lady from Cincinatti (unless she was lying out of fear), that Super Ted had a particular interest in. After their conversation died he resorted to starring longingly at her and grunting, which to no ones surprise didn’t work. At that point everyone was headed to other parties and bars, and we were no acception.

Saturday morning we woke up a bit hung over, but it was nothing that some coffee and delicious sandwiches from a shop down the block from where we were staying couldn’t cure. After some fuel in our systems, it was NAHBS time! We rode down there, locked up, grabbed our media passes and hit the floor. Our heads were spinning. We had no idea where to start, where we wanted to go, who we were, it was sensory overload. As we started making our way through the aisles the first booth we hit that really stood our was Bilenky. They were set up like an old bike shop. It was a well executed set up, and of course, beautiful bikes.

They were advertising teaching your “old dog” new tricks by taking your old frame to them and having couplers added so your bike can actually be split in half for travel reasons. They will also re-paint your frame. With innovative ideas like this I see how they build such great bikes.

Next up on the list of show stoppers was Alan. Alan bikes are made in Padova, Italy then sent over to their distributor, Stellina Sports, to be painted. Instead of doing a powder coat, or a standard color they give the person who ordered the bike control over the paint job, so they can make it match their personality. The painting is done by Canyon Smith who strangely enough is located in Richmond, VA. Canyon is not only a really cool guy, but is very well known for doing custom paint jobs on choppers. When we spoke with him he was telling us how he had just finished the “Lance Armstrong Zombie” paint job at like 2 in the morning on Thurs. before the show started. This paint job was really impressive and detailed, all the way down to the blood splatter and flies.

When we walked up to the Six-Eleven booth and spoke with Aaron Dykstra, we were all super surprised that he has only been building frames for 2 years due to the impressive look and quality of his build. Aaron’s metal working experience before going to Yamaguchi’s frame building school came from the Air Force where he worked with F-15′s. Six-Eleven Bikes are based out of Roanoke, VA.

There were so many amazing bikes around every corner I really can’t even begin to tell you . We met the guys from Brooks Saddles on Saturday and got to see some prototype seats that they had. The Colt was the one that I tried to buy off of them, but they weren’t having it. It should be available in about 2 months though, so not too long to wait. They also had on display some of the limited edition racing/ event saddles (Red Team Pro NACCC Boston,White Team Pro CMWC Tokyo,Red Team Pro NACCC Boston……Read more about Brooks @ NAHBS Here). We also talked with Geekhouse Bikes for a minute on Saturday but when we talked to them on Sunday they had a touring bike that was missing the day before. This thing was awesome! It has led lights on the seat tube and the front fork that are lit from the generator hub. Not only did they have the generator hub, but they needed to find a way to run the wire from the hub to the led’s, so in the name of using something durable and a resource that is cheap, they encased the wire in an old bass string. The innovation and thought processes of these guys really blew us away. They are all about finding creative solutions to make life better. It was actually referred to, by them, as geek technology. Well done guys. They started as a company in 2002, based in Boston. The frame builder that we spoke to, Marty Walsh, learned his art from Mike Flanigan at ANT (if I am deciphering my notes from the show correctly). Geekhouse has also recently started doing in-house powder coating on their bikes, making very little of their process outsourced.

Independent Fabrication was something I was waiting all day to see. The previews that we posted in the month before the show did not do these bikes justice. We took a lot of photos of these bikes, just because they were so beautiful. They had the Duck Hunter from their Paper Lables show that was 2 weeks prior(Read more about Paper Lables, here!). They also had a bike that was running a Chub hub on the front, which I found very interesting, and an SRAM on the rear. Then the bike to make everyone drool, the Phil Wood 40th anniversary bike. It was so amazingly simple with it’s silver and black. Special PW hubs with XL (40 in roman numerals, I think, ha!) on them, and a crank to match! Just an all around beautiful track bike. Way too much good stuff to put into words, but on the way out we also talked with Peacock Groove, who we really enjoyed because of their bikes, and the owner Erik Noren’s awesome attitude.

After NAHBS it was off to the River City Trick Jam. When we showed up it was a handful of fixed riders and about 25 BMX kids all riding the pavilion that was there in the park. Mike from RVA Fixed was there when we showed up and after a while Phil from Trick Track showed up with the ramps and the box, and things got underway. BMX kids came out strong right out of the gate throwing down some major moves on the box, then the fixed kids started getting in on it too. Some people bypassed the box completely and just hit the stairs which were pretty healthy, probably like an 8 or 9 set. The ramps stayed a ghost town until about an hour into the jam, then things got really fun. The ramps launched you over a 10″ wall on your side, but when you came down on the other side it was a grassy hill that, depending on how far out you landed, turned it into a 7-8′ drop. With 3 different sized ramps, the higher the ramp you rode, the higher the drop on the other side. For the time we were there, Wonka had a strong showing, maybe not hitting the most tricks, but definitely the cleanest every time he went. Congo (from Cali), was going real strong, hitting the ramps hard and probably the most frequently out of the fixed kids. Check out the photos from the event, because there was a lot going on. After a few hours of hanging out at the jam hunger took over and we had to satisfy ourselves, so we went to grub down and wait for the next event which was the Kazane/Cog party that night.

We made it down there in time for the free beer and to see the winners of the local alleycat win the prizes that the Richmond messengers had won the night before from the Mash alleycat. We all thought it was pretty awesome that they donated their prizes for the race they put on. It was a good vibe there, but was just a little too crowded and hot for us. After the raffle we headed to Mojo’s for the Death Pedal Premiere. You will have to get the lowdown on this from someone else because by the time we got there it was second showing and sold out. So instead, it was back to the bar!

After a super late night on Saturday we made ourselves get up early enough to make it to the “media hour” at 9 am before the doors were opened to the public because we wanted to make sure we got tons of clean photos for you guys, of course. But Sunday was a pretty chill day since we were winding the weekend down. Went and photoed in the morning, met our friends that we were staying with for brunch. Back to NAHBS for the awards ceremony, then back in the car to drop me off in DC, and Ron and Jessop to be on their way to Philly. Unfortunately for them they got a call from Tom Lamarche right as they were about to drop me off saying he and a few others were stranded in VA, about 25 miles outside of DC. So, Jessop and Ron were off to pick those guys, and their bikes up, THEN they got to head back to Philadelphia. But they made it back safe and sound, and lived to tell about it. Amazing show, amazing weekend, amazing bikes, not much more you could ask for. Can’t wait until next year!

We have left a trail of binary breadcrumbs. We used to be friends ‘back then’. We followed the trends from social network to social network. What has been forgotten?

For shits and giggles recently I looked back to where I had electronically nested in the past. MySpace, my last log in was in 2008 before now. Friendster, my last log in was 2006. I found comments, my friends photo’s, their flirtations and wild Saturday nights trapped as mosquitoes in legacy amber. I am not saying that my friends are insects, but a few are fairly thin. In a few occurrences old profiles provide an online life after death.

Passwords are lost and some email addresses changed. There are profiles that cannot be changed but will exist as long as the network that hosts them.

One change from site to site was numbers. With myself and 99% of my friends, everything got bigger. The number of connected friends jumped to 65, to 265, to 408 from migration to migration. Photographs increased from 12, to 30, to over 500. With the innovation of tagging compiled with the increase of users, the number of your photographs continue to increase.

The numbers are the quantitative statistics. Your friend connections rarely leave. Most comments are never removed. [if even spell checked] If you look at profiles and their writing on the metaphorical wall, you can witness hidden stories from start to finish…

A nation of beautiful people no longer talked to.

I used to flirt with you heavy, now we don’t talk. The evidence is right there next to your user image.

Searched for your profile from before we were friends. You had less hair, tattoos, job experience.

Yes, I am listed as in a relationship – which I am now, but since posted I have had two more.

Photos of us hanging in the apartment you bailed on. Holiday photos from the house you now rent.

I pretty much have dressed the same for the last 8 years.

Bathroooms are the number one place for profile pictures. I had one.

My new gig is taking Friendster comments and posting them on my Facebook friends page. Nerdy, I know. I harbor thoughts of starting up my Friendster profile again as a demonstration of social irony. What made you forget about my life from 2001 – 2003 ? If you knew me then you may receive an invite back.

I am not exactly sure what started the social migrations, it could have been the promise of new features or the activity of more users than the previous social network site. Maybe the ways to portray yourself as more popular than before is the ultimate lure. Sites can change themselves – usually for the better in small tiny upgrades. A few can change drastically for the worse with more and more intrusive advertisements.

Who can find these slices from your life? Well, everyone. Take this example to demonstrate the weight of search engine optimization done with social sites. My nickname used on MySpace, ‘based off of a character from a well read teen novel’ when searched appears ranked number one in Google. In fact I am placed within a grouping that all surpass the original source material. About half of the results are from social sites.

A little information about the contenders :

Make Out Club. One of the first from 2001, listing a single photo of each user with a list of interests. Make Out Club has grown but managed to keep their underground DIY roots intact, with forums dedicated to music and subculture.

Friendster. The originators of the immersive social site and holders of key patents for sending social network info over the net. If you were a member then, you remember rumors of tracking who visited your profile. If you later went on to MySpace or Facebook you still heard the rumors. Friendster holds these patents, and knows who is visiting who all along.

MySpace. The first version was created in ten days after some savvy entrepreneurs recognized the unused potential of Friendster. Tom rested on the eleventh day. He still wants to be your friend. The typical MySpace page was centered around a blog format. MySpace was the number one social site from 2006 until 2008 when membership was surpassed by Facebook.

MySpace stretches over the world – although quite Orwellian if you are a user from China.”The simplified Chinese version of MySpace, launched in April 2007, has many censorship-related differences from other international versions of the service. … Users are also given the ability to report the ‘misconduct’ of other users for offenses including ‘endangering national security, leaking state secrets, subverting the government, undermining national unity, and spreading rumors or disturbing the social order’.” << From Wikipedia.en

Facebook. The current Monarch. Based around the publication of a newsfeed that tracks the activities of users which your friends are already reading. You are a member of facebook.

LinkedIn. A social site where your resume is your profile. The only site listed here where leaving a verbose history will come out as positive.

So. Try an oldie. Log back in and give yourself a treat.

Quite obviously working for yourself can be one of the most enjoyable, rewarding, and time consuming endeavors one can undertake. Well Matt Gorton and Jon Contino have done it twice, and done it well both times. They are the founders of OneTwentySix studio and CXXVI (126 in Roman Numerals in case you didn’t catch that). It’s hard enough to hold down one full time job and keep motivations up, but both of these companies are full time jobs right now which keep Gorton and Contino constantly on the go. OneTwentySix offers a well rounded collection of services including, but not limited to, branding, design, illustration, photography and marketing.

You’ve probably seen some of their work and not even realized it with companies like, Brooklyn Circus, Vincent & Vincent, Simmons Jewelry Company, and Casualty Clothing. CXXVI is the clothing label that they started with a line of products covering the basics like tees and hoodies, as well as offering accessories like hats, bags, and bandanas.

The groundwork for OneTwentySix was laid at Adelphi University in 2001 when Matt and Jon first met. The two not only connected creatively but had similar backgrounds growing up going to shows in the hardcore/punk community, as well as playing in bands from Long Island and NY. Their partnership began and continued throughout college finding as many opportunities as they could to work together on projects for school, as well as some freelance jobs. After graduating, Matt began working for Orange32 while Jon went on to work for various design firms. Their creative partnership was reunited when Jon eventually made the jump over to Orange32 as well, until the two decided it was time to head out on their own and opened the doors to OneTwentySix design studio.

A few years after acquiring a healthy list of clients in the fashion/apparel industry Matt and Jon decided to use their experiences in the industry to launch CXXVI in Fall 2009 in addition to the already established OneTwentySix design studio. The brand took off in a most unexpected way explains Matt Gorton, “CXXVI grew from a tiny idea into a pure side project. However, the alarming and immediately large response that it received has absolutely forced the brand into becoming a full time company.” Looking through the Spring 2010 line there is a definite feeling of vintage Americana as well as a nautical theme fueled by imagery of whiskey bottles and anchors. The lengths they go to create their lines and make them unique is quite respectable.

All of their shirts are not only hand-printed, but also numbered and dated. To make each piece even more unique, the inks are all hand mixed, and the henleys are hand dyed. Each piece is more a piece of art to both Matt and Jon, rather than just a shirt that you wear, and that is obvious through the care and detail they put into each one of them. The organic muslin that the bandanas are printed on are all hand-cut as well. Something to look forward to in the coming Summer 2010 line is jewelry. To keep these unique and different like the rest of the products from CXXVI, they are partnering with local artists and metal workers.

Since Jon and Matt are running both businesses, it would only make sense that they are run out of the same space. About 7 months ago the guys moved into a two level finished garage that plays host to the OneTwentySix office and CXXVI office on the upper level in a 3 room office space. The lower level houses the printshop, warehouse for the apparel line, and photo studio. The photo studio comes in handy as OneTwentySix does all it’s own photography for their clients, as well as the photography for CXXVI lookbooks. To see more of their photo work check out www.mattgorton.com, and for the entire Spring 2010 lookbook click this now!