You had a streetball / Hip Hop show on an Ivy league jazz radio station. That’s not really a question, more of an observation.
And a good one. I had the world’s first-ever talk radio program discussing playground basketball on WKCR 89.9FM. It was called On the Fence, and came on earlier in the evening every Thursday before me and Stretch Armstrong’s hip hop show. I also wrote the first article on sneaker culture in media history, titled “Confessions of a Sneaker Addict.” It ran in Source magazine in 1991. I also hosted the first TV series ever dedicated to sneaker culture, called It’s the Shoes, which ran for two seasons on ESPN. I could go on but I’ll stop there!

What kicks do you have on permanent ice?
There is no pair on permanent ice in my closet—everything gets worn at some point! There are definitely joints that only come out on special occasion when they’ll be a good amount of heads that will understand what’s on the feet and can appreciate it.

As president and co-founder of Paul Frank Industries, Ryan Heuser has been with the brand since day one. In 1995, Heuser befriended the brand’s namesake while working as the head of public relations for Mossimo men. The California native knew a good thing when he saw it, and he immediately invested his efforts in Frank’s project—now worth well over $40 million. The brand recently made a split with Paul Frank the man, leaving the enterprise in the hands of Heuser and CEO John Oswald. Heuser opens up about the split, business these days, and going green.

When you walk into Confederacy—a Los Angeles boutique owned by Ilaria Urbinati, Danny Masterson, and Aly Mawji—you instantly feel inspired. Whether it’s the quality selection of designer clothing, accessories, and beauty products, the rotating display of artwork and photography, or lively in-store events, the space hosts an endless amount of creativity. The charming Ilaria, a celebrity stylist and former buyer for LA boutiques Satine and Milk, fills me in on her style influences and why every visit to Confederacy is truly a unique experience.

Stacy Bendet Eisner is a woman of her own design. Deciding to forgo the Wall Street path early on, she entered the fashion world, becoming her own CEO, and after blazing the way for super original multi-colored jeans, earned her “StaceyPants” nickname. A mother to Eloise, wife to producer Eric Eisner, and often times a convivial hostess, the pint-sized powerhouse designer behind Alice + Olivia makes her work part of her life, and her life part of her work. Here she talks about her new ventures, her bi-coastal tendencies, and her love of Big Macs.

What are you doing in LA right now?
Well, I’m out here the last week of each month. We have two shops here. We just opened a store out in Malibu but right now I’m actually on my way over to my store on Robertson.

DJ Ivy, aka Homewrecker, makes noise at LA hotspots Les Deux, One Sunset, Kress, Social Hollywood, S Bar, Viper Room, Key Club, Cinespace, V-Lounge, and The Garter. A 7 Jeans designer by day and Hollywood selector by night, she’s known for her rocking sets and smashing blonde locks. Here the hottie goes off on hustling 24 hours a day, shots with Dr. Dre, her homies, and fashion in LA.

You can usually find Aaron Lacrate lighting up the 1’s and 2’s while spinning records in New York City or bragging that Robert Downey Jr. and Robin Williams are sporting his custom-made shirts. As creator of the clothing company Milkcrate NYC, Lacrate has avant-garde couture junkies clamoring to get one of his signature designs. When he’s not dishing out his fashion to the selective circles afforded to browse the goods, the Baltimore-bred DJ is working on building his record label, B-More Gutter World Wide. The label just released the critically acclaimed B-More Club Crack, an album his crew created as a way to allocate the signature sound of Baltimore club music worldwide. Lacrate takes time to discuss his burgeoning empire and why naming his company Milkcrate B-More just didn’t make sense.

Once upon a time—about 20-plus years ago to be a bit more precise—two heavyweights were introduced to the burgeoning world of hip hop: De La Soul and Nike. One a rap group, the other a corporation, both wielding powerful influence on the evolution of a then young hip hop culture. De La Soul injected the sea of gangsta rap with forward-thinking rhymes and colorful beats, while Nike introduced equally colorful and progressive sneakers that became staples in every hip hop-a-holic’s wardrobe. After a few successful and well-suited collaborations between the two powerhouses in the past few years, De La Soul has debuted their latest, the fifth album in the Nike+ Original Run Series, titled Are You In? and available exclusively on iTunes. The 45-minute track, a collaboration with mashup duo Flosstradamus, is designed to flow with the pace of a seasoned runner. De La Soul’s Kelvin Mercer (a.k.a. Posdunous) talks sneakers, music, and the creative freedom of working with Nike as the group celebrates the 20th anniversary of their debut LP, 3 Feet High and Rising.

Taryn Manning is exhausted. Consider the slew of film auditions, big time fashion shows in support of her Williamsburg-friendly line Born Uniqorn, getting her party on with the likes of, you know, Paris Hilton and company, and now, the March 10 release of her electro pop funk of an LP A Million Trillion Stars. As the distinctive voice fronting brother/sister duo Boomkat, Taryn's proving that the whole actress/singer/fashion designer thing doesn't always have to conjure up J.Lo (and we're thankful for that, as JLO jeans still haunt us). You've likely come across Manning's fearless acting chops as the no-bullshit prostitute who rocked Bo Derek cornrows in Hustle & Flow. With all of Manning's film roles, even as Britney Spear's knocked-up BFF in the chic-flick Crossroads, Manning keeps it real, and equally as real in life--whether it's on the silver screen, as heard through her throaty, soulful pipes, or through an e-mail. No publicist or puppet strings of any kind hold Manning back; she's the all around real deal in the unfortunate Taylor Swift/Katy Perry world in which we live. We talked about her Large Marge nightmares, Lynne Spears requesting her MySpace friendship, and her regrets for turning down make-out sessions with Charlize Theron.

Trovata's John Whitledge on pulling off the best Fashion Week prank of the decade.

What has been your most memorable season so far?
I think the most memorable Fashion Week was Fall 2007 with the faux Eastern European socialite couple. We weren't planning on doing anything during Fashion Week, but since my partners had just left the company, we were really encouraged to participate in the week in some way. I literally came up with the idea two weeks before the show, so it was pretty amazing that we put it all together so quickly.

Syndicate PR’s founder Nathan Ellis on spearheading the popularity of the Fashion Week presentation format, earning Anna Wintour's approval and looking forward to the most imaginative designer each season.

What has been your most memorable Fashion Week moment so far?
One is the 2007 Petrescu project with Trovata, where we created characters inspired by the collection and then unleashed them on an unsuspecting Fashion Week. When WWD ran an article on the stunt mid-Fashion Week because Radar.com speculated it might be an Ali G prank, I knew we had created something that would really raise eyebrows. Page Six outed us the last day of Fashion Week, and we celebrated with a party hosted by, quite naturally, the faux Romanian socialites and Waris.