This past Wednesday, we were invited to a special event hosted by Modernica and Vault By Vans, where we not only got to get a first-hand look at this weekend’s upcoming highly anticipated collaboration, but we also got to learn about the company who has brought us so many great collaborations, with some of our favorite brands in the industry.  Now, you may think that I want to talk about their extensive back catalog, and name drop all the big brand names who fill up their collaborations section, because you know…for the culture.  But to be honest, I was looking through a different set of lenses that day, and really wanted to share my appreciation for all of the craftsmen who make up the majority of the company.  I’ve always been that kid who got excited when Mr. Rogers went to visit the local factory to see things being made, and to this day, if I come across How It’s Made on tv, I’m not changing the channel!  I have an understanding and appreciation for people in the skilled trades industry.  Mentorship, and the idea of working under someone with more knowledge and experience to gain a skill, is something I personally relate to in my own life, and value a lot.

We got to see the actual chairs being produced, from their beginning stages of shredded fiberglass, to their very last step of assembly.  I felt bad, because we were obviously impeding on their workspace, getting in their way.  The place is loud, and I’m not sure if my high was because of simply being invited to the event, or just the fumes from the fiberglass resin filling the shop!  From there, it was on to the woodshop.  This is where the majority of the craftsmen work.  The amount of wood furniture and accessories they make, is staggering.  I love walking into a woodworking shop, and smelling the sawdust in the air.  You can’t walk out of this place without looking like Pig-Pen.  Co-owner Jay Novak, had mentioned to me while we were walking through the factory, that some of his craftsmen have been there for over 20 years, including multiple generations of family.  There’s so much going on here, it’s just so much to take in, in one day.  There’s a wood-forming machine that bends veneer sheets into those cool curved wooden furniture pieces you always wondered how they made.  There’s an upholstery shop, where all of the cushion and fabrics get attached, and there’s also a composites section where you see some other cool curvy fiberglass furniture being produced.  The archive section is also pretty neat, where you can see some of the past collabs stacked up on shelves, and also the blanks section where shells are ready to be custom ordered.  It’s definitely a beehive of activity.

The product is of the highest quality, made right here in Los Angeles, CA, by carpenters and craftsmen with decades of experience.  It’s not glamorous.  It’s sometimes dirty.  It’s tiresome, but there’s this sense of accomplishment that just feeds the soul.  There’s satisfaction in working with your hands to create something from a raw material, to seeing it as a finished product in the end.  The amount of time that went into making each and every piece of the chair, tells you how much attention to detail matters to them.  Hell, just take a look at the custom box Vans had gifted us, made by Modernica, just to put a pair of shoes into!  That box is so sick!  (It’s near the end of my photo gallery).  There’s no substitute for the real thing, and in this day and age, authenticity means something.  This collection is special, and who knows if it will ever happen again.  Two SoCal brands, representing the epitome of style, with a timeless collection that we get the opportunity to own a piece of.

Once again, I’m absolutely humbled by Vans for letting me be a part of these cool media events.  Special thanks to the Vans PR girls who always show me love, Michelle, Taylor, Laura, and everyone else, and also our old Blends Costa Mesa homie Brian Chor, who as Modernica’s new Art Director, came out with a banger right out the gates!  Proud of you homie!  I’m sure I get invited, mainly cause I’m local, haha!  I’m the guy that sticks out amongst the rest, because I’m not fashion forward, and I don’t really care how I dress, but I guess when I have a passion for the waffle sole, I get to bring an entirely different perspective, perhaps one that most Vans fans share.  I highly doubt any other fashion blogger who was there, is going to go on and on about the people responsible for making the product and geeking out on the manufacturing process, but maybe our following will appreciate it.

Last but not least, I just want you to have a different perspective on what you’re actually paying for, when you decide to spend $500 on one of these chairs, as that’s not easy for most of us Vans collectors.  We’re not regular furniture collectors.  We’re probably trying to figure out where we’d even put this damn thing, but just know that it’s timeless.  It’s going to be cool forever.  I’m going to leave you with a little excerpt that I copied from the Modernica site:

“This chair is easily one of the most important and recognizable designs of the twentieth century.  They were originally designed in 1948, as an entry in The Museum of Modern Art’s International Design Competition, and it should be noted that Modernica is responsible for revitalizing the almost lost art of high-pressure fiberglass molding. The factory is home to the historic fiberglass presses and specialized machinery that has been used in the production of thousands of chairs for over three generation. Since 1999, Modernica has steadfastly produced the chairs as they were originally created, preserving fiberglass chair legacy and craft.  In 2000, Modernica revived this potentially lost art of high-pressure, molded fiberglass. Modernica creates each shell, by hand, one-by-one, in their Los Angeles factory—just as they had been designed, developed, and produced in Southern California in the 1950s. Modernica uses all of the original presses and specialized equipment obtained from Century Plastics. To ensure authenticity of production, the initial shell chair production was overseen by Sol Fingerhut and Irv Green, the same team employed over sixty years ago to develop the original technology. Modernica creates each chair with the charge of adhering to the original tactile qualities, texture, and characteristics that alone are unique to the fiberglass shell chair. Their historic equipment has created thousands of chairs for three generations of chair lovers — and everyday Modernica continues to produce beautiful chairs for upcoming generations.”

tons and tons of pics by myself, or Celina Kenyon from Vans, after the jump Read More