We had an amazing experience at INK-N-IRON, the world famous, three-day tattoo, car and culture festival that takes place on the grounds of the historic Queen Mary. What really stands out about the festival is the richness of the entire experience. There are over one-hundred vendors selling an amazing array of merchandise including vintage apparel, Ts, hot rod inspired art work, pin-up clothing and pin stripe sculpture. The are multiple car shows going on at the same time, hot rods and rat rods dominate the outdoor area and there is a showcase of customs inside the convention area. A world-class tattoo convention is housed aboard the Queen Mary.  Tattoo artists fly in from around the world giving people a unique opportunity to get inked by the best in the business. Music takes place all day on two separate stages and talent included 20+ acts including, Merle Haggard, Rev. Horton Heat, X, Stiff Little Fingers, and Bronx. The festival also includes cabaret, art shows, and an beautifully produced pin-up pageant on the main stage.

Got to spend some quality time with the family and some of NHRA’s top contenders including Antron Brown, John Force, Morgan Lucas and Ashley Force Hood in the pits at Gateway International over the weekend. All the drivers were excited to get their new TRIM SS TEES.

Ashley Force's Car

Ashley and I

Morgan Lucan, Charlie Smith

John Force

John Force Staging

Antron Brown, Charlie Smith

We threw a party at the TRIM Warehouse and welcomed a few hundred people over for a night of live music from alt-country rockers Trigger 5 and Miles of Wire.

Bull Run and Gum Ball 3000 Rally winner Richard Rawlings was there to help keep it at an  11. Roller Girls, Rolling Rock, Bacardi and transvestite hooker helped make it a super swell evening.

Just wrapped up STL Fashion Week and a huge thanks to all, especially Steve Smith, Alive Magazine, CORRIDOR40, Attilio D’Agostino and Jill Manoff. We were honored to be a part of an event that included some amazing brands including Love Brigade, Bolongaro Trevor and Wrath Arcane. Aside from the bloated, moronic, mono-testicled security detail at Lumiere Place, who arrested Charlie because they thought he was drinking underage, it was a great time. Here’s some runway shots and I’ll post behind the scenes photos soon.

STL Fashion Week Spring 2010

STL Fashion Week Spring 2010

STL Fashion Week Spring 2010

STL Fashion Week Spring 2010

STL Fashion Week Spring 2010

STL Fashion Week Spring 2010

STL Fashion Week Spring 2010

STL Fashion Week Spring 2010

Charlie’s dad Steve hit the Topeka Drag Races a few weeks ago and shot some photos for us.

My friends Jonathan and Sue sat in the Southwest Vista section at IMS with a great view of turn 1, turn 2, and the track entrance from the pits. Turns 1 and 2 were the hotspots for wrecks, and there were some spectacular ones. Everyone was stunned when Marco Andretti got scrubbed into the wall on turn 2 of lap 1 crushing his hope of winning on the 50th anniversary of Mario Andretti’s victory at the 500 in ’69. Chevrolet made a great showing of the new 2010 Camaro both at their booth and on the track as the official pace car.  They also showed a Corvette concept that was very cool.

Here’s a link to a story on jalopnik about the most gruesome wreck of the day.

The shots of the Airforce racecar being pulled off the track are from moments after this wreck. Vitor Meira’s car was sliding along the wall, backwards directly towards us and passed right below us before coming to a halt midway up the straight.

The Ha HA Tonka show at Off Broadway was great. Rolling Rock sponsored an amazing BBQ, the weather was perfect, tons of people and the beer was cold.. what else do you need. Oh yeah, Lucas Long to rock a TRIM, Motor Head T and hat all night. I will be posting more on Ha Ha Tonka as the tour progresses. Best of Luck.

Four-time rally champ Richard Rawlings will be hauling ass from coast-to-coast in the Gumball 3000. He’ll be driving a 1975 Chevrolet Caprice 2008 Cadillac Escalade 6.0ltr Motor and trans. And he’ll be Keeping Fast Company with Trim. We’ve sponsored his car and dressed him up – real proper. Stay out of jail Richard.

Richard Rawlings heads out for the Gumball 3000 wearing TRIM.

And here’s a link to Richard competing in Bullrun 2008 when he din’t quite pull it off. Looks like fun.

INK-N-IRON is a Tattoo and Kustom Culture Festival in Long Beach, California. June 5th-7th. There will be 280 tattoo artists, cars, bikes, pin-up girls, amazing art, music, some cool vendors and a tatted-out, 5-year-old with pigtails. Hope to see you there.

Here’s a few of the shots taken by TRIM photgraphers, Jeremy and Jonathan at Fashion Week. We had a great show and were more than proud to be in the company of Beach Bunny Swimwear, Cloak & Dagger and Black Halo. And here’s a photo collage of the runway show. We will be posting more photos and a video of the show in the next few days. Oh, and have you ever noticed how delicious Schafly Dry Hopped APA is? I have.