On Thursday we left the Ganservoort Hotel and headed to Highline Studios for the launch of a new Nike product.

Everyone was in attendance. They even had the balls to bring in the king of Paris Jay! HA!

Michael from LaMJC showing us his new All Gone Book.

Questlove opened up the event with a crazy set.

Jimmy Fallon was funny as always. (It’s the year of the navy suit)

The man of the hour Mark Parker

We got in the specifics of the Fuel Band which is pretty awesome.

Nike describes the fuel band in three easy steps of How It Works, It Starts With a Goal and Make Life a Sport. The How It Works section describes Nike+ FuelBand as a tool that tracks you activity through a sport-tested

A special appearance by Kevin Durant and Lance Armstrong

oh and the fastest lady in the world!

We got to play around with the band and got some intimate details of the product.

Demetria has a crazy dope style! We were on our way back on the bus to complete our mission. They wanted all of us to go on separate missions to test out the fuel bands.

The first spot was in Brooklyn and it was a beautiful space.

Double Dutch champions… They girls were insane!

Tim getting some lessons.

I think he got the hang of it.

Yeah these girls were crazy, I’ve never seen double ducthing like this before.

Then we went off to beat buckets. This was extremely fun and I think I burnt about 800 fuel according to my fuel band.

We were then sent off to LES to play ball at the new Masaryk facilities. We were all gifted the new Kobe Systems and a full basketball uniform. I was unable to practice due to a foot issue but it was fun to watch. The court and facilities are pretty awesome,and the initiatives are pretty incredible.

It was a great event and I got to catch up with so many people from around the world who were flown in to take part in this launch. Thanks to team Nike for the love and hospitality.

Learn more and purchase the Fuel Band here.

If you were at this seasons PROJECT show in New York City I’m sure you would agree that it was a great show for several reasons. The vibe was right, the people were great, things were moving and people were happy. The Sand Box Studios test shot wall, really sets the mood of the show for me.

I was setting up to interview Andrew Pollard, President of PROJECT. He is the visionary behind the growth and exciting movement of the PROJECT Market Place.

I curated a bloggers PROJECT, this was the 3rd time I’ve curated this project. It’s really my way of building and supporting the blogging community. PROJECT has given me the platform to express my thoughts and ideas through this initiative. I am so thankful to the blogs and bloggers who continue to support this movement.

Blogger Project: William Yan, Freshness Mag, Slamxhype, Selectism, Highsnobiety, Two Inch Cuffs, Por Homme, Denim Therapy, The Denim Guy.

When I was not hanging out with the bloggers I was spending my time interviewing the movers and shakers at the PROJECT Market Place. Nick Wooster was next up on my list and we talked about his latest collaboration with Orlebar Brown.

The collection was great! The display was like a work of art… Come back later to find out the inspiration behind the collection.

Stephon Torrence well dressed and busy as usual.

A great collection of books. ( more details later)

I interviewed Ronnie Fieg from KITH

Barbour had some great pieces. This scarf was amazing.

This piece had me so excited. A miniature watch chair!! How fantastic is this piece?

LEXDRAY Bags are amazing.

Lexdray

Sir & Madame

Interview after interview

BKC

Ouigi from the BKC

Camo bags from Logan Zane

Waxing Barbour jackets on the spot.

Blind Barber Pop up space at PROJECT

Made by PROJECT

I interviewed Fred the water.

Nick Wooster got a cut.

Nick Wooster looked sharp.

See you guys at the next show in Las Vegas.

Photo’s by The Unknown Collective.

I’m in New York at the Project Show working on a few things.

pic via Get Janet

Last night in Montreal I had an opportunity to see the Jay-Z x Kanye West Watch Throne Concert. I was given these amazing floor seats (thanks to my connects) which put me at 10 feet away from Yeezy 2’s and Jay’s Timberlands.

The show was pretty amazing and it was awesome to see the lyrical chemistry between Jay & Ye. I am not one to talk about age but it is remarkable that Jay is 40+ and still doing it better than a lot of the kids out there. The most remarkable part of the show had to be the lighting it made everything so surreal. The people who worked on the lighting should get a super duper raise because they killed it.

We were blessed with songs from both of their catalogs and of course songs from WTT. There is something magical about seeing girls rap Jay-Z lyrics word for word and something a bit disturbing about seeing grown men turn into groupies when Kanye is on stage.

Apparently Boston got blessed with N*ggas In Paris 6 times the night before, I believe we also got blessed with the song 6 or 7 times. It was truly crazy to be on the floor as Jay-Z told everyone to rush the stage to hear that song. It was nuts!

First of all I want thank my connect the most important person with all due respect. Also a big shoutout to Evenko, MB, AJ, KW, NF, VA

If the tour is coming to your city I suggest you make it out there!

Enjoy!

Michael Williams

Aaron Levine

Myself, Justin Garcon & Aaron Levine

I was invited to the Club Monaco Men’s shop opening in Toronto this weekend. Michael Williams from A Continuous Lean & Aaron Levine VP of Men’s design at Club Monaco were also on site to sit down and chat with us about the collection and shop. The place looked great and the collection was fantastic. I picked up a few pieces  and  a killer trench coat.

That shit Kray…

Thanks guys for the invite and the great time!

My friends from the Bread & Butter show in Berlin sent me over their latest Summer 2011 survival kit. There are only 150 of these co-branded Desert Land kits and it is pretty awesome. I love things like this!

The contents:

Hershel Backpack

Mag lite

Victorinox utility kit

Palladium ripstop boots

Incase laptop sleeve

New Era hunting cap

Happy socks

packable water

Emergency Food ration

Wesc headphone

A lot of these things are going to be put to use.

I’m going to Japan for a few days with, my brother Ahmad, Nick Wooster, Andrew Pollard and a few other amazing individuals. You can follow the journey here http://marcustroy.com/japan/

See you guys in a few weeks!

A few weeks ago, I received an email from Michael Williams inviting me down to Minnesota for a 3-day trip to visit the Red Wing factory. I immediately said yes to the opportunity then we were on our way to Minnesota.

We touched down in Minnesota a few days later and the great American trip began. It was a small group of us representing different media outlets, Complex Mag, Valet Mag, Standard Edition and of course ACL (A Continuous Lean).

We checked into the Ivy hotel and then hit the Northern Grade product show. The show was fantastic, displaying Made in America brands from all over the country. Red Wing happened to be one of the main sponsors, so we got a chance to see some early product.

The next day, we ate breakfast at the famous Al’s, which is a 14-seat diner with a wait time over an hour long. A few funny stories came out of that place and, oh yeah, it was worth the wait.  After breakfast we went to visit a historic Mill City Museum, which I will talk about a bit later. After the museum trip we headed out to the small city of Red Wing, where the real trip began.  We checked into the Red Wing hotel, which was awesome. Oh, and apparently, a bit haunted. We received a little RW box at check-in and then we took time to explore the city.

We were scheduled for a product presentation and meeting with Red Wing Heritage Director Dan Dahl & Sales Director Steve Spencer.

Our first stop was to the SB Foot Tannery, where all the magic of RW starts. The tannery was purchased by RW back in the ’80s and they’ve been operating out of there ever since.

Our visit to the SB Foot Tannery was exceptional. We learned so much about the brand and why the brand is by far one of the leading boot companies in the world. To think the entire operation is run on US soil is still pretty incredible.

They split the team up in two groups, after which we began to take in all this amazing information about the company and tannery. The Red Wing Shoe Co. was founded in 1905 and uses about 300,000 hides a year, which I think is remarkable. They use Mosconi shaving machines, some of the best in the world. The machines are made in Italy and are perfect for shaving the hides.

They walked us through the entire process, from the minute that the hides come through the door. We covered every detail that goes into the cleaning, shaving, washing, treatment, lubrication, dye, drying and storage. Part of the process involves a lubricant that strips the hide of its natural oils, upon which they inject oil back into it. This process makes 40% of the leather waterproof, key to preventing water from penetrating your boot in case of a scuff.

This tannery provides hides for some of the best companies in the world, like LL Bean, Danner and Wolverine. In addition to that, the tannery also provides combat boots for the armed forces. All of the boots go through rigorous testing to ensure that they’re producing the best possible product for their customers. We got to experience all the stages of testing, quite a sight to behold.

Our next stop was Red Wing Plant II. They gave a tour of the site and showed us where the product is actually manufactured. What a great experience! We saw the boots get assembled from A to Z. The entire process can only be described as magical. All handmade, hand-sewn by American factory workers, putting every ounce of love into each boot. When you purchase a RW product, you are buying 100% quality.

Afterwards, we headed out to the  Red Wing Shoe Company HQ and were shown more products as well as a presentation. The day ended with a special trip to the Red Wing store, where we saw the biggest boot in the world. The boot is actually to scale and is size 638 ½. How crazy is that? The store also has a makeshift museum where you get to experience the history of Red Wing through imagery and products.

After all the tours we were surprised with a wonderful treat! We got to pick out any shoe we wanted from the shop. I had a hard time deciding between three different styles, so I settled on the Beckman Boot and ended buying a pair of Postman Oxfords.

Overall, it was a fantastic trip and I want to thank MW & Red Wing all the hospitality.

Kendall Hurns

Chris Gardner JR (pursuit of happiness) is a big guy, look how he is towering over me! KH, and Andre Iguodala, oh yeah Andre was rocking the Don C x MN hat.

Last week when I was in New York, I was invited by Kendall Hurns to the NBAk12 event at the Hudson Hotel. I caught up with a lof of my homies like Combat Jack, Hawaii Mike, 6Magazine, Foxx Files, Ferris and the dope folks at Decon. I met Chris Gardner JR who was a super cool dude and if the name sounds familiar he is the kid (not a kid anymore) from the Pursuit of Happiness starring Will Smith. He happens to be friends with Kendall & Andre Iguodala.

The event was cool, a lot of the NBA came out to support even the legend Scotty Pippen. Jada Kiss, Busta Rhymes were the headline performers and a few rap battles took place which were less than impressive. I even got a chance to see Steve Urkel ( Jaleel White) ha!

Now only if we can get an NBA season.

Thanks Hustle, Kendall and Andre… looking forward to the future.

This week was a pretty special week! I got invited down to Portland to visit the Nike & Jordan Brand Headquarters. They wanted to unveil a few special projects that they’ve been working on and I was fortunate enough to be a part of this trip.

Day 1 involved hanging out and eating great food as we discussed hip-hop amongst many other things. We dubbed that night the first annual Hip Hop Summit. Some real heavy hitters were in the room and were a part of this discussion.

Day 2 we took a bus over to the Tiger Wood facilities where we got to take a look at the Jordan Brand Holiday offering. The lineup consisted of new Melo’s, Wade’s and CP’s. We got a chance to sit and talk with Andre Doxer, Creative Director for Jordan Brand, designer, Mark Smith who designed the Wade’s and designer Justin Taylor who worked on the Melo’s.

We learned that the goal of the Jordan Brand is to leverage the best technology to date and to focus on performance. A few people commented via twitter that the shoes don’t look like “classics”. Well I believe that back in the day the Jordan’s that we all love today weren’t dubbed as “classics” yet and since the technology in footwear has become so advance it makes the shoes far more superior than the past.

Little did we know that after exploring all 3 models that we would head over to the Bo Jackson facilities where we would get to test out the shoes and get to play with them on the court. We received this super amazing Jordan backpack that was stuffed with uniforms, new shorts, tops, socks and a few other goodies. We were also given 3 pairs of shoes, the new Melo’s, CP’s and Wade’s. We put on our uniforms and then we headed out to the court where they tested our speed, agility, ups and power. I haven’t work this hard since high school! They put us through some real NBA drills, testing out each pair of new shoes. We were in Flight School for real… After all the drills we got to run some full court games where my team did not win…

My favorite shoes end-up being the Melo’s and I look forward to playing in them again.

It was truly a great experience and I can’t wait to avenge my team, so I’m joining training camp ha, see you next time!

Thanks Team Jordan!