So here’s a picture of my friend Phil and I holding up Hasheem’s Shirt.(click the pic to check out Santa’s Blog) You wil def. see me rocking this on the Lil’ Wayne/T-Pain Tour. Thanks to Phil and Phina at sugarheadquarters NYC (www.sugarheadquarters.com) for introducing me to Santa and his whole movement, Here’s a little background on Santa:
Santa Inoue
Born in Paris, France in 1968. Santa Inoue is known around the world as the premier urban manga artists. Santa Inoue’s work is heavily influenced by his love of hip hop and his relationship with his hometown Tokyo.

In 1989,Santa Inoue won the coveted new comers prize from “Young Sunday Magazine” for his work “MURDER”. This debuted him as the manga artist to lookout for.
Santa is best known for his series “Tokyo Tribe” which he created in 1993. And its follow-up Tokyo Tribe2 garnered international acclaim and is published worldwide. Tokyo Tribe2 was launched and serialized in the fashion magazine BOON(JP). Tokyo Tribe2 was animated and broadcasted through WOWOW in Japan in 2006. And now, Tokyo Tribe3 is serialized in the fashion magazine Ollie(JP).Other notable works by Santa Inoue include NEIGHBOR13, which was made into a film in 2005.

To further bring the SANTASTIC! world to his fans, Santa Inoue launched his flagship store in Shibuya, Tokyo in 2002. Fans and shoppers can peruse the racks for selvedge denim, outerwear, hoodies, tees, and accessories all designed by Santa Inoue. Santastic! Wear collection is now available throughout Japan at all the tastemaker boutiques. SANTASTIC! Shanghai was opened in the summer of 2008.

Santa Inoue has been a long time fan of vinyl toys which led to the numerous limited edition Tokyo Tribe toys. Fans and collectors line up for the special release collectibles. Tokyo Tribe Kubricks, Bearbricks, Talking Hasheem, Tokyo Tribe character Monchhichi, and collaborations with KAWS and MICHAEL LAU can all be found on the most wanted list of any serious toy collector.
Santa Inoue further brings his vision through music, which is his muse for many of his works. In the past Santa Inoue has designed album covers for DE LA SOUL, worked with DJ MURO to score the music to his animation, and has also produced a cd titled “DRIVIN’ WIZ MY HOMIES”(UNIVERSAL).

Currently Santa Inoue resides in Tokyo.

We have alot of cool ideas cooking up for next year, i’ll be sure to keep you posted…