Street culture experienced a major boost in Malaysia when All Gone was launched in Kuala Lumpur (KL) for the first time on 14 March 2014. Regarded and recognised globally as an acclaimed street culture bible since 2006, All Gone is an annually published all-encompassing hardcover book that documents the finest in street culture over the past year.
Courtesy of Converse and CLOT, the debut of All Gone in KL was graced by the book’s mastermind, Michael Dupouy, who is also the founder and director of La MJC. He was accompanied by CLOT co-founder, Kevin Poon for the book signing tour stop at JUICE KL.
No stranger to premium sneakers, Converse has been one of the main features in the previous All Gone books. This edition features highly-coveted Converse collaborations from 2013 with Maison Martin Margiela, Undefeated, CLOT, Neighbourhood and Missoni – all of which were literally ‘all gone’ as soon as they were released. JUICE KL is also showcasing some of these sought after Converses from the All Gone 2013 Book.
Nookmag had the honour to catch up with both street culture titans during a media session at the book signing session.
What are both of your feelings bringing the All Gone event to Malaysia for the first time and it being hosted in JUICE KL?
Michael Dupouy (MD): Me? I’m super happy. I just arrived here after a long flight but I’m feeling super – in a good mood.
Kevin Poon (KP): I’m also very happy that Michael came from Paris to Juice KL. Hopefully, everybody gets the chance to see the book and get his signature today
The CLOT x Basquiat Millionaire type font tee made its appearance in the book! What are both your thoughts of brands showing love to modern art?
MD: That’s good! The more we do crossovers between fashion and art, the more people are happy. And it’s also the easiest way for people to own some art.
KP: For Michael and I, we like to collect art and we’re always searching for cool artists and collections. We’re really happy that Basquiat showed up in the book and we’d like to thank you for showing us love. Hopefully you guys will like it too.
Kevin, have you ever said to yourself that this CLOT shoe is going to appear in All Gone during the design and creative process?
KP: No, when we designed the shoe, we didn’t think about the All Gone book. But I remember when we first met Michael in 2005, we were hoping that some of our products would reach the book. We were really happy when one of the first products that we created like the CLOT Air Max reached his book and we’re super big fans of what Michael has done. Since then, we’ve become really good friends and we’ve travelled around the world. Now we’re here today, and we hope we can share this positive energy with you guys.
What are some things you guys look at to determine what is a good design?
MD: I don’t really know. I just have to love it. There’s no specific criteria but basically, it has to be original and not a copy of something done before. Something that I can wear and love.
To Michael, how is this year’s All Gone book different from last year’s in terms of products, brands, etc?
MD: There are more Converse in this book. With their First String line, they are doing really well to push the brand into new boundaries and they have really good collaborations.
KP: what about the ones you have on right now?
MD: It’ll actually be in next year’s book. We worked with Concepts (CNCPTS) from Boston to design this pair of shoes for Converse. We released only 65 pairs for the launch of the All Gone book in Boston. This will be featured in the 2014 edition.
ALL GONE: The Finest of Street Culture 2013 contains 248 pages of outstanding fashion items of the year. It is available in two versions – a standard version and a rare limited edition release – from 14 March 2014 at JUICE KL, retailing at RM299.