December 12, 2008 8:29 AM  (go back to main view)
Hot Freedamn! Don't Miss Rin Tanaka
Inside Volume 7 of My Freedamn!
Slaves to fashion, sociology and pop culture live by the My Freedamn! series, a growing anthology of oversized books painstakingly chronicling the clothes, ephemera and other visual references of revolutionary chapters in Americana life.
A seventh volume is now out, spotlighting Aloha shirts from the 1930s-1950s, as is another book devoted to Harley Davidson branded style from 1910-1950. And the man behind them all, Rin Tanaka, will be on hand this Saturday, Dec. 13, from 5-7 p.m., signing copies of his two new books and talking pop at the funky landmark Surfing Cowboys in Venice, Calif.
Rin’s a hard cat to catch. A nomad with a camera, he spends much of his time on the road researching and documenting Americana culture. The books are choc-a-block with colorful images and contextual essays and captions. Rin’s obsessive care in archiving leather jackets, cowboy shirts, Levi’s, rock T-shirts, surfwear and other usually rare-to-find modes of bona fide Americana style makes these books required reading for anyone interested in fashion or culture. If clothes make the era, then Rin’s encyclopedic books make sure we don’t forget every vivid, groundbreaking and creative flourish that contributed to forging a moment in time we still, today, can’t get enough of and continue to lift from in our contemporary dress.
The first three volumes of My Freedamn! are becoming harder to find, and in some cases going for inflated sums. So this is an opportunity to not only score a copy, but one handled and signed by the mad historian himself.

Book Signing with My Freedamn!’s Rin Tanaka at Surfing Cowboys, 1624 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice, CA. Signing is from 5-7 p.m. (You can also buy copies of Volumes 3-7 and the Harley Davidson book online at Surfing Cowboys).

Related Posts:
Postcards from the Edge (of Echo Park)(47 days ago - No Comments)
The Voluptuous Horror of Kembra Pfahler(89 days ago - No Comments)
Getting Fit with Yeohlee(92 days ago - No Comments)
It Takes an East Village(97 days ago - 1 Comment)
Blog Comments (0):
Add a comment
Name
E-mail

Rose Apodaca is a pop culture and style journalist and the co-owner of A+R, the design retail lab in Los Angeles, and its online sister http://www.aplusrstore.com. She contributes to Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Glamour, Paper, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, Style.com, Preen and other publications, and consulted on the launch of Image, The Los Angeles Times newest style section. Her first book, Style A to Zoe: The Art of Fashion, Beauty & Everything Glamour, an all-encompassing lifestyle guide written for celeb stylist Rachel Zoe, is now in paperback and hit The New York Times bestseller list in September 2008. She is currently wrapping up a biography on Fred Hayman, co-founder of Giorgio Beverly Hills and marketing architect of Rodeo Drive, as well as co-authoring a beauty book with neo-burlesque queen and style icon, Dita Von Teese.

A+R is located in Silverlake and on Abbot Kinney in Venice, CA.

Rose helmed the west coast bureau of fashion-industry bible Women's Wear Daily and was a contributor to W for six years until March 2006, when she left to join partner Andy Griffith in A+R and focus on related projects. She has long championed Los Angeles and California style and design, from the streets and runways to interiors and food. She is the first recipient of the Los Angeles Fashion Awards Communications Prize for bringing global attention to the region's fashion industry and style culture. With A+R, she continues to showcase rising and undiscovered talent from around the world.
 
In addition to co-owning Beauty Bar Hollywood and Las Vegas, she is a conspirator-in-camaraderie with several artists and designers showcased under A+R or related projects. Rose and Andy, who tied the knot in September 2007, live in Silverlake.

* All photographs appearing on this blog were snapped by Rose with her Leica D-Lux 3, unless otherwise noted. Please credit all photographs accordingly.

Visit The Store (click below)
SNAPSHOT OF THE MOMENT
La Vie en Rose on Le Town
Welcome to the A+R Store
DecadesTwo
W Articles, Features, and More on Style.com
Beauty Bar ~ Cocktail Lounge
View All Uber Links (17)
  1. TOGEL HONGKONG
  2. DATA SGP