Levi’s Vintage Clothing are putting some pedal to the metal this week on their Spring 2013 Hot Rod themed collection with the launch of a traveling ”Hot Rod” exhibition. The show features 35 one-of-a-kind hand-painted “Kustom Monster” Levi’s Vintage Clothing 1950′s sweatshirts, individually airbrushed by living legend & one of the originators of iconic Hot Rod style, Von Franco, (basically, he’s the still-underground version of Von Dutch). There’s also a special project with Fender Custom Shop, featuring a hot-rodded hand-built guitar and one of a kind Levi’s Vintage Clothing jean jacket.  For this, the two brands took inspiration from GIs returning from World War Two with an invigorated DIY spirit and a penchant for fast cars and fast music. The guitar is a replica of a 1957 Stratacaster® that has been painstakingly built and relic­ed by Fender Custom Shop’s Master Builder, John Cruz, to portray many years of hard wear and play—in and out of the garage. Levi’s® Vintage Clothing similarly designed its contribution a full look (custom jacket and jeans) that the Hot Rodder would have worn while working on engines or jamming with friends. Hang a louie and check more images and tour details by clicking here.

Whoever heard of that old “flu” thing. We’ve got the travel bug around here (no, really, off to the European shows!), which has piqued (up) our already equable attention to travel-style. Fitting, then, that we come across a brand new label in menswear that counts travel as its core inspiration. Hotel 1171 arrives just in time for Spring 2013 with a laser like focus on the style-minded adventure seeker—that guy who is just as comfortable kicking it along the rugged shores of the American Northwest, the trains of India, the mountains of Peru as he is along the art galleries of New York’s Chelsea, the boutiques of Paris’ Saint Honoré, the malls of Mexico City. (By the way, we’re not mathematicians, but if you add all of that up, we’re pretty sure that equals Tokyo.) 26-year-old designer and creative director Brett Baldwin was inspired by the desert, Hong Kong and fishing trips to the Sierras for his first go round with Hotel 1171. The brand’s graphic is a door knocker—meant to recall the “excitement of travel and spontaneous adventures.” We assume, the metaphorical knocking, thereof. Standouts include a floral-lined bomber with leather trimmings (versatility, defined, and kinda western), saddle shoes made from aged leather, suede and lightweight athletic soles (for peripatetic needs), hoodies designed in premium fleece mixed with lambskin sleeves (a nice compromise between luxe and lazy) and the washed denim duffle bag that kinda-sorta-really makes us want to jump on a horse and ride off into the mountains. Check the whole collection, and video (great watch) after the jump.

They say every cloud has its silver lining and in the case of Japan, said lining seems to have been sewn by the hands of New York City’s fashion elite. In the wake of last year’s devastating earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear meltdown, all around mens fashion guru Nick Wooster and PROJECT President Andrew Pollard went to Tokyo with the goal of unearthing some of the country’s most overlooked fashion treasures. What they found is not only stunning, exhilarating, abjectly handsome and utterly fresh, but effuses hope that in the power of Japanese innovation, there will always be a light coming from “The Land of the Rising Sun”. Check out video and images from their big unveil at PROJECT Las Vegas after the jump.