webstore is OPEN!!

The moment is here brethren, its here my people, the lookbook we have been teasing and tickling you with is now here for your viewing pleasure, but before you go ahead and click that beautiful picture below I just want to say thank you to a couple of people who made this day happen, to Antoine, Brandon, Zack, Ariel, Roderick, Milton, Marcus, Jhovi, Rachel, Joffrey, and last but never least Bryan and Matt Gofresco, thank you for being there for us and thank you for being a part of this wondrous first step into the right direction, We love and appreciate you all.

This collection is called Falling up remeniscent of seeds that fall from big and strong trees but grow to one day be tree themselves. all the styles are specifically designed for versatility to blend in and standout, to be worn alone and in conjunction with your fine layers.  now you can click Ariel’s pretty face to view the lookbook ENJOY!

As you all know we are really close to the release of the fall/winter 2009 collection, however something are left unclear. Allow me to clarify, the lookbook will be up for your viewing pleasure on THURSDAY DECEMBER 3rd. and the very next day the collection will go up on our webstore on FRIDAY DECEMBER 4th. thanks for the support and paying attention.

After a hard days of work, the Connoisseur team have unmasked a few hidden gems we’re more than willing to share with you. Enjoy!

props to Go-Fresco on the video, if you love endless entertainment, life changing photography and pure fun click that link to the site now.

It’s the day of thanksgiving, and we give thanks for you the faithful readers and for the ability and priviledge to be able to do what we do. The hour is at hand, the time is now, the dawn is near (and any other cliche phrases you can think of.) This collection has seen a lot of changes before the final product you will be presented, a lot of thought, arguments, time, and hard work people. Hope you appreciate it as much as we do.

Till Next time

Wale A.

One thing I pride the site on is our content, and although the primary reason for this site is material based, I’d like to think we enrich your lives with some intelligent content every once in a while that you can relate to. I joke about it as the biggest swindle of the century (lol) we attract you with a nice layout, a couple of graphics, decent photography and a promise of some clothing but some how we keep talking about issues in our community, personal struggles you can relate to, and exploration of self and society. The clothing is coming my people, so if your patience is wearing thin hold on for a little longer, but while we have your attention we would like to swindle you once again with some knowledge.

Excuse my vague and unaimed ranting as I have not written one of these blog posts in a while.

Here at the Institute of higher learning, otherwise known as Penn State,  while I am here to acquire degrees that will ensure economic stability for my future, I can’t help but realize the toll these paths to higher learning take on me and my peers, sometimes these pressures are positive, testing and reinforcing, but at other times they break the spirits of many and a self esteem becomes dissolved. Even more dangerous to those who had no solid self esteem in the first place.

I’ve observed countless people realize their chosen path was never their choice in the first place and others have the biker boyz type of tunnel vision that will only ensure their success. I have watched people study for countless days only to find the test score telling them they are not good enough. What to do? What to say? how do you handle this confidence bashing experience sometimes?

While I may not have the answer you want to hear I have this little bit of  knowledge that my mother passed on to me, she said life is sometimes about our struggles, success doesn’t make you stronger, it reinforces what you already know but you don’t learn anything from it, in fact success can be dangerous since it tend to make you comfortable and content, failure is a reality check, a smack in the face a HEY YOU!! WAKE UP! SOMETHING ISN’T RIGHT. It’s up to us as individuals to step back and evaluate the situations once more, to make sure you are doing all you can to succeed. Failure (when you are working hard and actually trying) doesn’t mean you are not good enough, it doesn’t mean you are not capable, it just means you are not being the best version of yourself, see it as a gauge of your untapped potential, NEVER let the world dictate to you how it should be, always dictate your own path. Failure is like a new level in a video game, it makes things interesting, once you have conquered level 1 you start all over again at level 2, keep going from there, never be discouraged people. If you need someone to talk to, hit me up and we can definitely engage in further conversation.

Until next time..

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”  

-Dr. Seuss

Despite all the jolting and jagged turns in life’s continuous roller coaster, remember to maintain your individuality. Your true happiness can easily be stripped away if there’s a loss of self. Reclaim it and embrace it.

-Peace & Light

What’s going on world?

These past few days at the University of Maryland have been eye opening, (I tell you). Recently, the University’s Associate Provost for Equity and Diversity, Dr. Cordell Black, was ‘removed’ from his position of 18 years. According to a statement sent out from the University, he was ‘removed’ due to budget cuts. Come on son, budget cuts, wtf??? If the University of Maryland is willing to spend $250,000 on a new slogan, “Stop the Unstoppable,” new luxury boxes in Byrd Stadium, or even hundreds of thousands on keeping up the flowers at the entrance, why can’t they maintain positions among vital staff members?

In response to this tomfoolery, us students got together and made something solid happen. 600 opinionated students, like myself, marched in front of the Administration building and made our voices heard. If our diversity department is in jeopardy, so are the stances of the countless students that make up the school.

If anything, the moment of camaraderie was incredible. Just the opportunity to stand among like-minded people of different nationalities yelling chants of “THIS IS WHAT DIVERSITY LOOKS LIKE!” was moving.

If you feel compelled to contribute to the fight, come out to the Nyumburu Cultural Center for the S.T.A.R.E. meeting, Tuesday November 10, 2009 at 7:00pm

-Peace & Light

From toddlers we are shown the ways of the world, taught it’s languages and versed in it’s acceptable and shunned behaviors. However we are born with a gift of imagination that knows no rules and no bounds, we create on a different slate, a slate different from the one we are being molded on. This is not a bash to structure and form of society, it’s a cry to explore what went wrong, where did the imagination of so many of our peers go?

It seems the older we get, the more our imagination dies (speaking of our generation as a whole), we become more cookie cut, more programmed to fit into the system, we strive to fit a norm that no human being has ever, or will ever embody. I believe the creative minds of our generation are those that never lost that childhood imagination, those who still believe they can be superheroes or dance in the rain with little or no regard for clothing they are wearing. Sound like crazy talk? Well let me be the first to claim the crazy because if it means not being a drone then so be it.

Our generation is too worried about fitting in instead of being comfortable in they’re skin. That is what is wrong with our cultures today, we were once intelligent unique individuals with different perspectives and the courage to express them, now we strive to fit into a class or plateau were wearing the “right” brands, listening to the “right” music gets you an all access pass to a culture? Absurdity in it’s truest form. This is not the first time I’ve ranted on this topic neither will it be the last,  so forgive my repetitive expression.

In the end even I am guilty of once trying to conform to this “norm” but not anymore folks, never again, I urge you to please be free in your thinking, not ignorant or arrogant. Self educate, speak to strangers, walk in the rain, read this blog ( lol trust me none of the “cool guys” are). What is the sum of all my rambling you might ask? Well there truly is no sum for I can go on for days on this topic, All I can really say is don’t loose your imagination, have passions not trends my friends, till next time.

There is something about beautifully worn in sneakers that is undeniable, the genuine “don’t give a crap how much they cost” attitude and organic creasing that comes from actually wearing the darn shoe is simply gorgeous. A word to all you sneaker connoisseurs out there, wear your shoes, thats what they were made for, there is nothing that makes me cringe more than seeing one of my peers walk like a duck for fear of creasing their “grails” come on, if you’re gonna pay whatever amount for them you should get your money’s worth no? till next time, enjoy my AJ-Falling aparts.