THE ALL GONE 2022 BOOK SIGNING AT UrlfreezeShops LONDON

Michael Dupuoy’s ALL GONE represents an encyclopaedia for all things streetwear — an annual love letter penned to underground culture and the vanguards at its forefront. Since its inception in 2006, Michael Dupuoy has steadily forged a name for himself as a cultural tastemaker, with ALL GONE representing an ongoing canvas that’s added to as each year passes, the brushstrokes made by the community, subcultures and luminaries that inhabit the streetwear sphere. The streetwear world moves at a frenetic, ever-expanding pace, and ALL GONE serves as a way to cut through the noise and showcase the very best of the best — the ones that forgo convention and colour outside of the lines. To celebrate the release of the latest ALL GONE, we held an exclusive in-store signing with Michael at our flagship London store, Soho, allowing fans an up-close chance to meet the author himself and celebrate the cultural moments that defined 2022. In addition to this, attendees were also invited to sample refreshments and listen to a genre-melding DJ set from UrlfreezeShops regular, MJK.

For the latest edition, Michael has worked alongside Verdy in designing the covers: the Japanese artist who has been instrumental in driving streetwear culture the past decade. When asked about how the relationship came about, Michael stated: “me and Verdy have been friends for a very long time. The first time we worked together was in Tokyo, if you remember I did a signing at GR8 before covid”. Michael’s face lights up as he talks about working with the creative, going on to say “I had been dreaming about doing a cover together with Verdy, and it all came about very organically. Verdy was completely into it and decided to do two covers — one with Vick and one with Visty. It was one of the easiest, most organic things I have worked on”. Unsurprisingly, when asked about what was one of the most definitive moments for Michael and ALL GONE for 2022, he states: “the day Verdy shared a cover with me”.

We then start to discuss what the next edition of ALL GONE might look like, touching upon what Michael would like to see in the future of the streetwear landscape: “it’s not an easy question. There are too many moments where it feels like it’s always the same”, says Michael. To combat this, Michael regards newness as the antidote: “I’m also interested in seeing newness – people taking risks, people bringing new names and collaborating with big names. I don’t want to mention names now, but I’m excited to see new labels taking the chance for the first time and doing collaborations with sneaker brands or fashion labels. I want to see them making a space for themselves and saying ‘we’re the new generation, this is the way we want to do it now and if you are bored with the same names doing collaborations every week, please watch us and give us a platform to express ourselves’. I’m going to closely watch what they do and promote them as much as I can”.

In addition to the in-store signing in London, we’re also hosting an exclusive event at our Milano flagship in the coming weeks. When asked about Milan and the upcoming event, Verdy said “I would like to say I’m mad happy to be going back to Milan. When UrlfreezeShops told me about opening a new flagship right next to the Duomo, I decided to wait to do a book signing here. I am super excited to be going back and to be doing the event in the new store”.