I promised this year I would do better at keeping everyone in the loop on what’s going on at Laidback. It has been rough the past few days in a good way as I have been running about the big city working on projects, collaborations, boutique research, (yes there are plans for giving you an in store experience), and preparing new hotness to debut during the Gift Fair and the Home Fashions market. So bear with me for a few weeks as I post a bit sparsely until I get some of the projects underway. One of the boutiques that inspired me the most as I walked about this week from one meeting to the next is Kid Robot. The colors, the boldness of the graphics and the playfulness of the place appeal to the Laidback aesthetic. I have also been shopping a new office/studio space as well and was pleasantly surprised to find some great things going on in the burgeoning Sobro (S. Bronx) area. Before your head rolls and the teeth gnashing begins about the Boogie Down their is a lot going on and some great artist breaking out uptown, not too mention the BX birthed Hip Hop, so show some love. For real though, I fell in love with a space on 137, which is about 15 minutes from midtown in a very up and coming area. So prayerfully you guys will be able to come visit the studio very soon. In the words of Tim Gun I gotta “Make it Work”

In the spirit of the New Year I want to big up all your dreams and wishes for a progressive, successful and prosperous year. It is definitely time for change. We have the upcoming election that will prayerfully catapult some nation-wide change and the personal changes that we are all preparing to better our families, health, relationships, style and comfort. Let’s do it.
Laidback is preparing for a slew of changes in the coming month. We will be expanding the our offering and introducing new styles, and collaborating with other companies for giveaways and contests.

We will be reviving the website and offering some style tips and ideas for the fashion forward urbanite who loves to entertain stylishly at home. It is all about glamour, comfort, and love this year for us at Laidback. The more glamorous we get the more love will abound as we share the lifestyle and the benefits of the lifestyle with those around us as well as those less fortunate, and comfort is the middle ground between living the and loving amidst the glamorous life. Let’s do it big this year and leave no one behind. The Laidback chick loves ya, stay around because I have some great things prepared for the future.

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A&G Merch: Love the color play in the merchandising, the bed looks so fun and lively. Peep the box below the bed with the brightly colored Laidback pillows waiting for someone to pull it out and chill.

A&G Merch

Good music is essential to the very core of the laidback lifestyle and one of our favorites is Musiq Soulchild. I had the pleasure of outfitting the Music Soulchild VIP room yesterday for the House of Couvosier sponsored Musiq concert. It was a dope experience. Musiq was fire! The crowd was grown and sexy, Biz Markie was spinning, Big Tigger hosting, and Laidback rocking the VIP. The crowd was crazy trying to get in but thank God for VIP treatment, my new friend Renae from Crush Media was creating the ambiance and contacted me about using the pillows. They rocked the VIP with Ol’ Play pillows in orange and dew, a camo chill pillow and a denim joint. It was great, you know the product is hot when people are trying to high tail it out of VIP with big-a$$ pillows in tow. It was great, Laidback received mad luv and plenty of connects. Great collabo, great night! Yes I did hit Musiq off with an Ol’ Play joint of his own.

As we grow and step up our games by creating hot living spaces to go with our dope sense of style, we need to keep in mind what the walls of our homes look like. Do you still have posters of Neo and Usher, or posters of Nike ads or Bob Marley puffin up in your room? Well the time has come to invest in art. While most of us are still on a paper chase just trying to keep looking good, you might balk at my suggestion. But art can be a good photograph that you or someone else has taken, check out flickr, a framed pop art poster from the flea market, or when you are really ready to invest…ART. I stumbled on Mustafa Maluka’s work while I was on myspace yesterday and I can’t stop thinking about the colors and textures and pattern play. When you really begin to study art, color and strokes, pattern, and technique begin to spell out a story or eveoke an emotion and it is a wonderful experience. This cat just finished showing and selling work at the Armory in NY, and continues to show all over the world. He has made a name for himself and has a great eye for color. Check out his work above and get ot know more about him. He is definitely someone to look out for. Send me some links of good art and artists and lets share, but get to know and understand art and then invest in it, the pay off is far greater than the airbrushed Biggie on your new tee.