After our lunch at Neighborhood we met up with Alyasha Owerka-Moore over at his loft for a quick chat. I had briefly met him 5 or so years ago in Vegas at his booth when he was doing Fiber Ops. I then again met him at Dixie for Russ' event through our mutual friend Len Higa. I know of Alyasha through some of the things I've read online and in magazines as well as through stories told by mutual friends. I was surprised when I had gotten a text from Len saying that Aly was down to meet up with us at his loft to talk a little story. I don't really know him personally and for him to take the time out and to have us come over to his living space was quite generous. When we got to his loft I was pretty blown away by all the memorabilia and nostalgic collectables he had accumulated and displayed throughout his space. Although I was fascinated by all of it I was even more caught up with his stories regarding his background and history in the skateboarding and street wear scene. I had never heard any of it before and now realize why Aly is held in such high regards by skateboarders and those in the fashion scene. He was part of that first wave of kids who skateboarded in New York who was into punk rock and hip hop as well as the fashion of skateboarders at the time. Through this small scene things just organically happen to take shape through his friendships and networks that pretty much brings him to the point at which he's at today. I could've easily spent a couple more hours talking story with Aly but we were on a tight schedule and had to hit the road back up to Long Beach. Hopefully one day soon I can stop by and talk story with Aly again but this time with no time constraints. Mahalo Aly for your hospitality and sharing the aloha with us!
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| Felt like a scene out of Pulp Fiction but with way more rad memorabilia. The bomb in the backgound was from Len Higa of Onimotorworks. Aly said it was one of those fake bombs that the Navy used to fill with water and used for training to simulate mounting onto aircraft. Len got a hold of it and sealed it up and built the mounts for it. Aly has since used it for a prop for some photoshoots. How's the Rock em' Sock em' Robots! |
