It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Kitsmas
Working the room with Casa Montego and I'll Call You Tomorrow
VANCOUVER – I tell Chris and Ricardo that magazines are coming back.
I know this because I read about it in GQ earlier this week. “Chris Black’s weekly newsletter,” I say, as if it’s self-explanatory.
Though, at this party, it probably is.
It’s the second Friday in December and even though we’re well past business hours, Kotn’s Kitsilano outpost is abuzz with the sights and sounds of its so-called KITMAS HOLIDAY PARTY.
Self-described SWAGAPINO legend, and friend of the newsletter, Raeland Mendoza, helped plan the activation. He texted me an invite, and suggested I put my FREE NEWSLETTER skills to work.
“We can do a little crossover episode with Logging On,” he said, referencing I’ll Call You Tomorrow’s own email offering. “A lil scene report.”
A tastefully proportioned flyer promised, among other things, an open bar and Proper Chunes. It all seemed a far cry from the fat nothing that normally happens on 4th Avenue after 6 p.m.
And so I find myself “working the room.”
By my count, I know exactly three people at this party: Chris, Rae and Rae’s friend, Alfred. Make it four if you count Ricardo, Chris’ business partner and collaborator, who I just met, and who is nodding in agreement with my pilfered publishing commentary.
“This is what I've been saying,” he says, looking at Chris “We gotta get issue three out.”
During the pandemic, Chris and Ricardo created Casa Montego, a multi-hyphenate magazine-cum-fashion house that includes, or plans to include, everything from hats and scarves, to full-fledged documentaries. At least three men at the party are wearing their signature brown chapeau as we speak. Ricardo says they even saw someone wearing it in New York over the summer.
“That was crazy,” he said “We were so excited.”
I sip my non-alcoholic Olé margarita and scan the room. While I haven’t seen the guest list, most of the people here tonight might reasonably be labelled creatives and/or “culturistas.” Stüssy Tribe’rs and Gravity Pope girlies, bilingual production designers and tattoo artists in training. People I follow from a digital distance, but rarely encounter en masse IRL.
It occurs to me that there’s no substitute to standing with like-minded people in a crowded room; talking over the music, brushing up against unfamiliar bodies, basking in the vibe
Later, Rae will tell me the activation was “close” to the ones ICYT throws in Edmonton, but still a little too Vancouver. I’ll ask him what he means and he will leave me hanging. There’s a karaoke bar downtown calling his name. Songs to sing, projects to ideate, an entire world to link and build.
I’ll exit through the glass doors and make my way back home. The Casa guys will meet him there.
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