Product News

IDEA started from a passion between co-founders Angela Hill and David Owen for extensively sourcing rare vintage books. Having built their own personal collections with multiple copies of their favourites, the two started to sell their books in the late 90s through Colette, a Parisian high-fashion boutique and streetwear retailer and then later through Dover Street Market where it still exists today. IDEA now also runs through an Instagram page and e-commerce website where they sell what they call "superbooks" amongst all other rarities and today are likely to be one of the biggest collection and archives of super-rare and obscure books for sale on the market.

IDEA's collection of superbooks are generally regarded as "books that are new to us [IDEA] and have huge potential to inspire new ideas”, books that "take on such power” because of their uniqueness, age and sometimes extraordinary subject matter. From; photography and art books, vintage exhibition catalogs, (a super rare Donald Judd Catalogue Raisonné from 1975 has just surfaced for £3,500.00), fashion collection lookbooks, design catalogs, band retrospectives and everything weird and wonderful in-between whether it be ‘A Golden Guide to Hallucinogenic Plants’, 'Rock Stars In Their Underpants' or the ‘Erotic Sketchbook’ by Salvador Dali - we recommend taking a look for yourself and scroll through their Instagram feed.

Its this growing collection of superbooks that allures IDEA's most exclusive clientele of leading industry professionals from within fashion, design and architecture as well as artists and musicians who have all used the archive from IDEA as source material and inspiration. These books aren’t for everyone, they are weird and wonderful with some so rare that hardly anybody has heard of them, but they are adored and treasured by the people who do know.

Angela Hill, David Owen and IDEA have taken their knowledge and passion for selling vintage books and developed it into publishing their own, collaborating with the likes of Stussy, Palace, Gucci, Vetements etc. More recently IDEA have published a collection of iconic photographs by Dave Swindells into a book called 'Ibiza ’89', at first a sell out with demand to produce a second edition just weeks after, as well as the brand new and expansive book 'SPIKE ISLAND' featuring multiple photographers including Swindells.

SPIKE ISLAND is a photographic documentary of a legendary single day event held in the North of England on May 27, 1990. The occasion was a concert by The Stone Roses. The location was Spike Island, Widnes, Cheshire. The book is not about The Stone Roses as such, this is a book about the fans and really about what they wore. Photographed by Dave Swindells, Patrick Harrison and Peter J Walsh, SPIKE ISLAND is a visual encyclopaedia of 80s/90s British street style. When indie rock met dance in the third summer of love.

We are pleased to be stocking publications from IDEA with us here at Consortium, 'SPIKE ISLAND' and 'IDEA Fanpages 2!'  are available with us online now!

Introducing Chinatown Market to Consortium with their ‘Money Capsule’ collection.

Chinatown Market is an LA based streetwear brand founded by Mike Cherman. After graduating from Parson’s School of Design in 2010 and spearheading a career in design Cherman decided to start CTM in 2016 deriving its name from Canal Street in New York City where, as a child, Cherman would explore with his father. The brand first accumulated social media attention and a devout cult following for creating bootleg sneakers with unique, one off designs from Nike Air Force customised using a handheld inkjet printer gun as well as the ‘Swoosh 1970s’ - a bootleg pair of black Converse 70s Chuck Taylor All Star adorned with both a Nike Swoosh and Smiley face on the sidewalls which were worn by LeBron James, A$AP Rocky and Erykah Badu.

Chinatown Market encapsulates the spirit of New York City street culture with a positive mindset - focusing on using fun, graphic heavy motifs throughout their clothing and accessories collections with sought-after, collectable pieces.

With their cult fanbase turning into 858,000 worldwide Instagram followers, it's apparent that the brand garners a special connection with their audience. With only five years after its inception, China Town Market have achieved a long list of collaborators with the likes of Nike, Converse, Lacoste, The Grateful Dead etc. The list goes on… and the brand impressively produces a number of capsule collections each month and collaborations season on season. Chinatown Market has firmly placed itself within the bloodline of streetwear and is a prime example of how the culture has developed with the new generation of young creators utilising the power and reach of social media whilst embracing the original ’do it yourself’, creative attitude and ethos.

The Chinatown Market 'Money Capsule' uses key jersey pieces from the CTM repertoire printed with the classic 'arc' and 'smiley ball' graphics alongside all over dollar bill design basketball shorts and basketball.

 

The Chinatown Market 'Money Capsule' collection releases with us online on 01/07/21 at 00:01 hrs BST.

A.P.C. and Gimme 5 have teamed up for the 11th instalment of A.P.C.’s ongoing series of ‘interactions’. An interaction is much like a collaboration; built from long-standing friendships, affiliation of shared interests and values or through sights at an opportunity to create something special.

Founded in 1989 by Michael Kopelman, Gimme 5 is a London-based fashion agency and distributor who also became known for their graphic t-shirts, soon to be collector’s items among a devoted fandom. Importing authentic and credible brands from around the world, what were then up and coming streetwear brands: BAPE and Stüssy and in more recent years with American skateboard brand Fucking Awesome.

Interaction #11 was born out of a long-standing friendship between Michael Kopelman and Jean Touitou beginning in the 1990s when Gimme Five T-shirts were sold at A.P.C. Magasin Général - Touitou’s shop, concept store (before the term was coined) and curation of more obscure, unique products from clothing, music, books and household objects sold amongst his A.P.C. collections.

The relationship between the two continues today with an A.P.C. and Gimme 5 capsule collection utilising an iconic graphic from the Gimme 5 archive and a new exclusive design silkscreened onto A.P.C.'s high-quality 100% cotton jersey t-shirts and sweatshirts.

"I very much believe that A.P.C. is made by people who go their own way for people who go their own way.” — Michael Kopelman.

The A.P.C. x Gimme 5 'Interaction Collection' is available with us online now.

Enter our draw for an opportunity to purchase a pair of Reebok x Bronze 56k Classic Leather via Consortium Releases!

Draw closes Friday 25th June at 12:00 hrs BST. Read the full Consortium Releases T&Cs here.

Th Kids' adidas Originals x LEGO ZX 8000 J 'Bricks' collection is available with us online now in sizes UK 3-6!

New season skateboards from Pass~Port are available with us online now featuring pro decks on natural wood stained veneer with graphics for Dean Palmer and Callum Paul, including boards from the new ‘Doily’ and ‘Tin Floral’ series’!

We stock the latest skate hardware from from both well-established and emerging brands over on our skateboard category.

Sean Wotherspoon has a great recent-history of projects with adidas Originals since the start of their collaboration in 2019, designing exclusive and highly-desirable footwear that advocates the use of recycled materials, no animal products and sustainable production processes to lessen the dependence on harmful manufacturing.

Enter our draw for an opportunity to purchase a pair of Kids’ adidas Originals x Sean Wotherspoon ZX 8000 Superearth ‘Legacy 4 Our Kids’ via Consortium Releases.

Draw closes Saturday 12th June at 17:00 hrs BST. Read the full Consortium Releases T&Cs here.

 

Born out of the Malmo skate scene in 2011, Polar Skate Co. hardware is instantly recognisable from its unique choice of graphics, shape designs as well as spearheading the resurgence of 1990's-era wheel wells and slick skateboard decks.

The Polar Spring '21 hardware collection has arrived with a strong rotation of colourful graphic artworks from the likes of Emilie Laurent, Isaiah Kennedy, Tynan Kerr and mastermind behind the brand, Pontus Alv.

The Polar Skate Co Spring '21 hardware collection is available with us online now.

‘Old-school shoes rebuilt with plant based materials’. Building on from the brand’s Cotton + Corn collection of footwear, Reebok ‘Grow’ continues their commitment to reducing the use of petroleum-based plastics in their shoes by substituting it with plant-based and sustainable materials. These organic silhouettes are composed of a non-dyed USDA Certified Biobased cotton canvas upper and sustainably sourced natural rubber sole from real rubber trees.

The Reebok Classic Leather Grow keeps the same build and feel that you would expect from its iconic leather predecessor, where now it is composed of a non-dyed, 50% plant-based cotton canvas upper giving it a revamped, clean look.

The Club C Grow court shoe features a BLOOM EVA drop-in midsole that adds comfortable cushioning and its production removes toxic algae bloom from water.

Reebok is focusing their sights on their sustainability efforts under two pillars,  [REE]GROW, with its focal point being the manufacture of products from natural and organic materials; and [REE]CYCLED, which focuses on producing products using recycled or repurposed materials. Reebok is committed to sustainability by reducing virgin polyester from its material mix and eliminating it altogether by 2024.

Shop the Reebok Grow collection with us online now and keep an eye on our website for more sustainable footwear releases coming soon!

Industry titan Reebok once again partners with Canadian skateboard brand Dime MTL for an explosive SS21 collaboration together to grace the world with the unique low-cut court silhouette, the BB4000. The design aesthetics and functionality of the shoe make the BB4000 an ideal skate shoe whilst paying homage to Reebok’s fitness heritage. With this suede & leather basketball model, Montreal’s finest have created 2 iterative colourways in a fresh and crisp white and unorthodox yet refreshing brown.

The Dime “Restoration” woven tongue label graphic honours the world-renowned masterpiece called the Ecco Hommo, the artwork was a botched attempt at restoring a century-old painting artist where it unintentionally became viral video sensation and popular tourist destination. Being no strangers to internet humour, Dime lightheartedly added this Magnum Opus to their graphic roster and now also holds its place on every tongue of the Reebok x Dime BB4000.

Head over to Consortium Releases to enter our draw for an opportunity to purchase a pair of Reebok x Dime BB4000, draw closes Thursday 11th February at 12:00 hrs GMT, good luck!