Category: artist

  • The Drop: Mattias Gollin x Vans the Art Basel Moment

    The Drop: Mattias Gollin x Vans the Art Basel Moment

    On December 5, 2025, at Art Basel Miami (often loosely discussed as “Art Basel”), streetwear and art collided once again this time through the lens of masterful craftsmanship by Mattias Gollin. The release: a reimagined version of Vans’ classic Authentic sneaker, rebranded “Authentic,” hand embellished with pearls and crystals and constructed in Italy.   

    With only appointment only in person purchasing available, and a retail price of US $750, this drop was engineered to be as exclusive as it was expressive not just a sneaker release, but a limited edition art statement.  

    What Makes It Special: Craftsmanship, History & Hype

    • Hand crafted luxury rooted in footwear heritage  Gollin has deep ties to Italy’s footwear industry and approaches shoes as canvases for artistic expression.  
    • Turning a skate classic into wearable art  By overlaying pearls and crystals on the Vans Authentic, Gollin transforms a humble, utilitarian sneaker into something ornamental and sculptural.  
    • Scarcity amplifying desirability The appointment only release, limited stock, and high price point create a built in rarity, fueling hype and prestige among collectors and culture savvy sneakerheads.  

    Why This Collab Matters (Especially for Culture & Streetwear)

    This isn’t just another sneaker drop it’s a cultural statement. Gollin’s work straddles the line between streetwear and high fashion luxury, challenging conventions around what constitutes “cool,” “art,” and “wearable design.” By elevating a mass market silhouette (Vans Authentic) through painstaking hand craft and artisan detail, the collaboration disrupts both skate culture and high fashion norms.

    For the collector, it’s a trophy. For the fashion forward, a daring risk. For the art lover, a piece of wearable sculpture.

    What It Signals for the Future of Sneakers & Art

    • Expect more cross pollination between sneaker brands and independent designers/artists like Gollin especially those whose roots lie in craftsmanship and heritage rather than hype alone.
    • The line between “sneaker” and “luxury accessory” is getting thinner. Historically casual shoes are becoming canvases, blurring fashion categories.
    • Rarity and exclusivity not just limited colorways but limited quantity, handcrafted detail, and high art positioning may become the new standard for “premium” sneaker drops.

    by PINES STUDIO

  • SWEETEST ME A WORLD BY MAHIRU | A Pines Studio Feature

    SWEETEST ME A WORLD BY MAHIRU | A Pines Studio Feature

    There’s something disarmingly honest about Sweetest Me. It doesn’t announce itself as a concept album it simply breathes. Mahiru didn’t start with a grand message or storyline; she started with truth.

    Each song became a timestamp a snapshot of her emotions, her friendships, her quiet introspections. The result feels like pages torn from a private diary, where love and solitude co-exist without explanation. It’s not confessional for attention it’s confessional because it’s real.

    “I just wanted to make music that felt honest like whatever I was actually feeling in that moment.”

    If Mahiru’s past work lived in the fog of dreamy melancholy, Sweetest Me is sunlight after rain still tender, but warmer. Working with close friends shifted her creative chemistry; the sessions felt more like late-night conversations than studio marathons. That intimacy radiates through the record’s palette playful synths, candid laughter, and pauses that sound like she’s smiling between lines.

    “I worked with people around my age friends I hang out with on a regular basis and that chill, fun energy definitely came through in the songs.”

    The emotional spectrum widens from the gravity of heartbreak to the weightlessness of new beginnings. Mahiru doesn’t discard her melancholy; she redefines it.

    The world of Sweetest Me extends beyond sound into the lens. Shot by Badboi, the cover captures Mahiru in her purest form: stripped down, luminous, framed by her signature Chordal Mark. The stark white studio and her minimal styling create a stage for sincerity no theatrics, no filters.

    Mahiru’s vision led the process; she designed the look, the pose, the mood. Together, the collaboration crystallized into an image that feels like silence after truth still, cinematic, alive.

    “Since this project is all about self-expression, I wanted the visuals to feel raw just me, in a simple space.”

    When the album ends, it doesn’t fade it lingers.

    The echo remains, suspended in the room, a quiet reminder that vulnerability can be the loudest thing in art.

    “I want listeners to feel overwhelmed like they need to go back and listen again just to process what happened.” – Mahiru

    by PINES STUDIOS

  • Maison Margiela’s Next Canvas: The Home

    Maison Margiela’s Next Canvas: The Home

    Maison Margiela is extending its quiet rebellion beyond the runway into the realm of living.

    Its debut residential project, Maison Margiela Residences, is set to rise on Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah, with only 25 limited homes that blur the line between architecture and couture. Each residence looks outward to the sea and inward to Margiela’s philosophy: transformation through deconstruction.

    For over three decades, the Maison has treated design as an act of storytelling stitching together ideas across fashion, furniture, and form. This new venture continues that language, where walls behave like garments and materials carry the poetry of imperfection. Red marble, aged mirrors, and precise tailoring become architectural gestures rather than decorative choices.

    In collaboration with Alta Real Estate Development, the project imagines what happens when Margiela’s codes trompe l’œil, reconstruction, and restraint translate into space. It’s a study in controlled disorder, where the intimacy of couture meets the permanence of structure.

    Italian architect Carlo Colombo contributes a collection of bespoke furnishings crafted exclusively for the residences. His approach sculptural, deliberate, quietly cinematic builds harmony between the architecture and what lives within it. The result is a world where Margiela’s unconventional philosophy can be lived, not just worn.

    Beyond luxury, Maison Margiela Residences represents a shift: a home as narrative, a structure as statement.

    The Maison continues its exploration not to decorate life, but to design its atmosphere.

  • Light Over Giza: When Anyma Brought the Future to the Desert

    Light Over Giza: When Anyma Brought the Future to the Desert

    Under the watchful gaze of the Great Pyramids, Pines Studio went where few have ever gone behind the scenes of Anyma’s performance in Egypt. The desert wind carried sound instead of sand, and the lasers carved through the ancient night like a dialogue between history and the future. Our cameras caught the quiet before the chaos, the pulse before the beat dropped a crew chasing light down the highway to Giza, where myth met machinery.

    The crowd tens of thousands stood shoulder to shoulder beneath the oldest wonder of the world, their silhouettes painted in orange glow. No brand had documented it like this before. It wasn’t just a concert; it was a moment suspended between centuries. A communion of dust, rhythm, and divinity. Pines Studio was there not as spectators, but as witnesses to the night technology bowed to the desert.

  • EASY LOVE: JOHN ALTO AND AYLA SPIN DISCO INTO 2025 | A Pines Studio Feature

    EASY LOVE: JOHN ALTO AND AYLA SPIN DISCO INTO 2025 | A Pines Studio Feature

    John Alto has never been afraid of reinvention, but with Easy Love his latest release on Swedish House Mafia’s SUPERHUMAN imprint he arrives with a sound as polished as a mirrored dance floor. Swapping his trademark heavy bass lines for something buoyant and undeniably chic, the Los Angeles producer leans into a groove that feels drenched in nostalgia yet charged with tomorrow’s energy. At the heart of the track is Swedish vocalist and producer Ayla, whose velvety delivery turns Alto’s production into something cinematic less about spectacle, more about allure.

    The collaboration didn’t start in a glossy studio but with a chance online discovery: Alto stumbled across Ayla’s voice, fell into its texture, and built Easy Love around it before they even met. Months later, when Ayla flew to Los Angeles, the session wasn’t about invention but completion fusing Alto’s neon-lit beat with her raw, genre bending tone. The track resonates like an artifact from a parallel 2025, where Studio 54 never closed and the fashion crowd still moved in sync beneath disco balls and strobe lights.

    With co signs from Alesso, David Guetta, and Swedish House Mafia, Alto has already carved his name into the new echelon of electronic music. But Easy Love feels like a statement of intent: a refusal to be boxed in, a pivot from darkness toward something sleek, sophisticated, and versatile. It’s the kind of release that doesn’t just hit the charts it slips into the cultural fabric, the kind of track you’d expect to hear both on a Paris runway and in the after hours of Brooklyn warehouses. Alto isn’t chasing a trend; he’s tailoring the sound of now.

    by PINES STUDIOS

  • ARTHUR ASHE TO THE UNDERGROUND: SHM IN FULL FORCE | A Pines Studio Feature

    ARTHUR ASHE TO THE UNDERGROUND: SHM IN FULL FORCE | A Pines Studio Feature

    Last weekend, Pines Studio was invited to witness Swedish House Mafia’s rare back to back shows first under the steel and shadows of a bridge, then inside the glowing arena of Arthur Ashe. The contrast was electric: one night felt raw and underground, smoke rising into the night air as the city skyline flickered in the background; the other was a cathedral of light, lasers carving through the dome as thousands of voices rose in unison. Each crowd moved like a single organism phones lifted, hands stretched, strangers turned into family for a few hours.

    People left both nights looking like they had been part of something that can’t be repeated a mix of sweat, awe, and disbelief still on their faces. There was a sense that Swedish House Mafia weren’t just performing, they were testing the limits of what a live show can feel like. Fans talked about goosebumps, about moments where the music seemed to stop time, about being reminded why we still gather in massive rooms and under overpasses to let sound carry us somewhere else. It was more than a concert it was communion

    photos by Jason

    by PINES STUDIOS

  • Moynat Taps Kasing Lung for a Playful Twist on French Luxury

    Moynat Taps Kasing Lung for a Playful Twist on French Luxury

    Luxury heritage meets cult favorite art toys. Parisian trunk maker Moynat has teamed up with Hong Kong born illustrator Kasing Lung for a capsule that flips the codes of classic French craftsmanship with the mischievous world of The Monsters.

    The Collision of Craft and Culture

    For over 175 years, Moynat has been synonymous with understated elegance trunks, leather goods, and travel pieces rooted in tradition. But in this new drop, the maison hands the keys to Kasing Lung, the mind behind the globally adored characters Labubu, Zimomo, and King Mon. His creations, once confined to art books and collectible figures, now crash headfirst into Moynat’s iconic M Canvas.

    The result? Bags and accessories that feel like they walked out of a gallery and onto the streets part Paris atelier, part toy convention heat.

    What’s in the Capsule

    Expect reimagined staples like the Moynat Tote in PM, MM, and GM sizes, a revamped Mini 48h, the everyday Hobo, plus ultra rare Mignon bags. Smaller lifestyle pieces cardholders, passport covers, charms round out the drop, all stamped with Lung’s irreverent Monsters.

    This isn’t just merch. Each piece feels like a collectible one foot in high fashion, one foot in street culture, and both planted firmly in the now.

    Why Now

    The collab marks the 10th anniversary of The Monsters, with the first wave launching in October 2025. Availability is tight the pieces will be sold exclusively in Moynat boutiques where the exhibition lands. Translation: blink, and you’ll miss it.

    Kasing Lung’s Moment

    Since debuting The Monsters in 2015, Lung’s universe has exploded, turning his characters into icons of the collectible scene, from Asia to the global stage. He’s not just drawing creatures; he’s building worlds. And with Moynat, those worlds get stitched into leather, making luxury a little less serious and a lot more fun.

  • Pearls in Motion : Redefining Sneaker Culture with the Pearl Vans

    Pearls in Motion : Redefining Sneaker Culture with the Pearl Vans

    In an industry where sneakers often chase hype through collaborations and colorways, the Pearl Vans arrived as something else entirely, a disruption with elegance. What began as an experiment quickly spiraled into a cultural artifact. Pearls, long a symbol of luxury, purity, and eternity, were suddenly reimagined not in jewelry boxes or runways, but on the canvas of everyday footwear.

    Italian designer Mattias Gollin who has cultivated a visual narrative through his Instagram describes the spark as a question that wouldn’t let go: “How can I take something timeless, precious, almost sacred and place it into a cultural icon?” That tension the sacred versus the everyday, the eternal versus the street gave birth to one of the most talked-about sneaker drops in recent memory.

    For Gollin, pearls aren’t just decoration. They’re personal mythology. “An oyster turns an intruder into something precious,” he explains. “I connect with that. I use emotional factors as fuel, transforming them into creativity. Pearls feel like amulets, symbols of eternity and protection.” By embedding them into sneakers, he wasn’t just redesigning footwear; he was fusing two worlds that rarely meet.

    The first drop of the Pearl Vans was less a collection than a ripple in the culture. It wasn’t designed to fit the fashion system’s seasonal rhythms. “I don’t really make collections,” Gollin admits. “My creativity moves with my own flow. When the energy feels right, that’s when I create.” That refusal to play by industry rules became part of the story, fueling both the mystique and the demand.

    Still, there’s always a balance between the personal and the cultural. “I start with something deeply personal symbols, memories, vibrations and then I project it outward, imagining how culture will absorb it and remix it,” he says. “If it’s only personal, it risks being self-indulgent. If it’s only cultural, it feels hollow. The magic happens when my story becomes a mirror for someone else’s.”

    As the Pearl Vans move into their second chapter, Gollin is clear but reserved. “The story has just begun. No spoilers.” What’s clear is that this isn’t just about sneakers anymore. It’s about rewriting how objects can carry memory, symbolism, and story, one pearl at a time.

    At Studio by Pines, stories like the Pearl Vans remind us that culture isn’t just built through trends it’s shaped by symbols that carry weight, history, and emotion. What began as an experiment has become a movement, a reimagining of how personal mythology can slip into the everyday. And like the pearls themselves, this story will only grow more luminous with time.

  • J BALVIN BRINGS MEDELLÍN HEAT TO TOKYO: SUMMER SONIC 2025 | A Pines Studio Feature

    J BALVIN BRINGS MEDELLÍN HEAT TO TOKYO: SUMMER SONIC 2025 | A Pines Studio Feature

    Tokyo, Japan. Summer Sonic 2025.

    The air was thick with heat and anticipation as J Balvin turned Tokyo’s Marine Stage into a reggaeton takeover. From the first drop, the Colombian superstar pushed the festival into overdrive, folding Latin rhythm into the city’s summer chaos.

    photo by @gabydeimeke

    The crowd was a collision of cultures, Colombian and Japanese flags waved shoulder to shoulder, fans shouting “Latinos en Japón” as Balvin delivered hit after hit. Midway through the set, he welcomed fellow paisa and global rising force Feid onto the stage, sending the arena into a frenzy. Together, they delivered a performance that felt less like a guest appearance and more like a cultural statement, Medellín energy transported directly into Tokyo’s heart.

    photo by @gabydeimeke

    J BALVIN, SUMMER SONIC 2025, FEID, JBALVIN

    The official press team captured the spectacle in full color with fireworks, LED explosions, and Balvin commanding the stage in larger-than-life form. PINES STUDIOS documented a different side. Our black and white lens moved backstage, where Balvin was stripped of spotlight and pyrotechnics. Here, the energy shifted with calm focus before the storm, tattoos speaking their own stories, laughter exchanged with friends. Among them was Bajowoo of 99%IS-, the cult Tokyo designer whose presence underscored the creative bridge between reggaeton’s global rise and Japan’s underground fashion world.

    photo by badboi

    Together, these dual perspectives tell the full story. The press captured the chaos and color while PINES STUDIOS revealed the grit and intimacy. What emerged at Summer Sonic 2025 was not just a set but J Balvin continuing to redefine how Latin culture moves across borders, sweating it out in Tokyo and taking everyone with him.

    Words by PINES STUDIOS