Bun B

Bun B sporting the Estevan Oriol x Famous colab tee shirt - Keeping it trill in LA - Photoshoot by Estevan Oriol for Rime Magazine

Limited Edition EO slipmats are here

They are $25 a pair and only available at The Last Laugh Store. Get them soon, we don't have many left!

Estevan on Future Tracks-R Japan TV

Drop City # 11 B Real Ft. Young De BTS video shoot

The homie Big Flaco reppin' the EO Sideshow tshirt!

Estevan Oriol @ Magic '08

The Last Laugh in NY Times Style Map/Los Angeles

Urban Studies
Style Map | Los Angeles Anyone who thinks Los Angeles is a wasteland of strip malls and freeways hasn’t set foot downtown recently. In the city’s historic core, a neighborhood home to Skid Row, a burgeoning gallery scene and the legendary Bradbury Building from ‘‘Blade Runner,’’ the ghosts of Bukowski and Barrymore mingle with the artists, designers and night owls who now roam these ever-gentrifying streets. Click here

New Fall 08 tees

Now available at The Last Laugh store 129 E. 6th Street Los Angeles, CA 90014 213.488.0313 or EstevanOriol.com

The Last Laugh Car Show at PAPER's 24-Hour Department Store

Los Angeles icons, tattoo artist Mr. Cartoon and multitasking (hip hop photographer, music video director, film director) Estevan Oriol, opened up four one-of-a-kind shops in L.A.'s Skid Row earlier this year. The longtime friends and partners presented The Last Laugh Car Show at PAPER Magazine's 24-Hour Department Store. The custom low rider vehicles and a few from their Legendary Lifestyle Car Club turned the roof into a car lovers paradise. The collection is nothing short of amazing.

A short documentary on the summer of 2008 with Estevan Oriol

New EO logo socks

We just received EO's new logo socks. Available now for $12 a pair at the Last Laugh store. These are also available on EO's webstore. Socks are a cotton/spandex blend and have an extra-padded sole. One size fits all, men's 9-11

Last Laugh/Skid Row Tattoo - Downtown LA Art Walk Thursday Nov 13

This Thursday Nov 13th is the Downtown LA Art Walk. If you haven't been downtown lately, we recommend you come check it out. The Last Laugh will be open during the Art Walk and Mr. Cartoon will be tattooing his client at Skid Row Tattoo. All of the gallery's and restaurants in Gallery Row will be open late for this event, you don't want to miss this. Downtown Art Walk is every 2nd Thursday of the month. For more info please check out the website. The Last Laugh is #38 on the Art Walk map. Hope to see you here.

Video of Roland Sands photo shoot

Vimby goes behind the scenes of the Roland Sands photoshoot, shot by Estevan Oriol. Art by Sabre, Same Flores. With Rachel Sterling and Justene Jaro

VIMBY - Roland Sands

Pics from the Paper magazine 24 hour department store

Thanks to Paper magazine and everyone that came to the event. Special Thank You to Danny, Kei, Sega, Chris and Big Flaco for helping make this event such a success!

Mr Cartoon & Estevan Oriol present The Last Laugh Car Show

Going down today Saturday Nov 8th from 11am - 6pm.

Retna on Myspace

VIMBY - Retna


The homie Retna has an interview up on Myspace's front page. Check it out, he's also rocking EO's LA Round 2 shirt!

PAPER Magazine's 24 Hour Department Store in LA Nov 5th - Nov 9th

Save the date... The Last Laugh store will have a booth at PAPER magazines 24 Hour Department Store Friday Nov 7th - Sat Nov. 8th. The best store in the universe open for 1 day only. 8873 West Sunset Boulevard. For more info go to www.papermag.com Hope to see you there.


Get ready to shop till you drop -- literally. Yes, from Friday, Nov. 7 at 6 p.m. to Saturday, Nov. 8 at 6 p.m., PAPER is hosting its second annual 24-Hour Department Store, featuring goodies galore from over 30 of our favorite designers, artists, chefs and musicians, who will be setting up booths throughout PAPER's pop-up storefront space. It's going to be 24 hours of pure, unadulterated madness. Especially because in addition to the aforementioned vendors, Converse is presenting 24 bands in 24 hours, who will be providing the soundtrack for this insane, slightly surreal shopping experience. From Lady Tigra to Entrance to the Chapin Sisters to Daedelus, this will be one multi-sensory cultural happening you will not want to miss.
Here's what you need to know: The store opens on Nov. 7 at 6 p.m. in PAPER's pop-up storefront space located at 8873 Sunset Boulevard, at San Vicente and ends Nov. 8 at 6 p.m. So save your pennies, chug some Red Bull and we'll see you there!

A+R

Pronounced "A Plus R," this global design boutique (with two locations -- one in Silverlake, one on Abbot Kinney) is run by PAPER contributor Rose Apodaca (and former West Coast bureau chief of WWD) and her husband Andy Griffith.

Band of Outsiders

The line helmed by Hollywood agent turned fashion designer Scott Sternberg is a rebellious take on classic preppy that has all the kids in a tizzy. He's managed to get his famous friends like Jason Schwartzman, Max Minghella, Kirsten Dunst and most recently legendary L.A. photog Paul Jasmin to model for him.

Citizen-Citizen
An online project featuring emerging British object-art designers who transform everyday objects into objects of desire. Our personal favorite is the 18-karat-gold-dipped coke spoon.

Confederacy

Who knew that a former That 70s Show star could make dudes look so GQ? Danny Masterson's and stylist Ilaria Urbinati's new 5,000-square-foot Los Angeles boutique AND art exhibition space Confederacy boasts quite the extensive (and awesome) list of designers. They range from Bastian to Tim Hamilton, accessories from Woolrich to Rag & Bone, and hot kicks from Common Projects to Givenchy. We're into it!

Converse

In addition to sponsoring our 24 Bands in 24 Hours extravaganza, Converse will on site hand screen-printing T-shirts with seven great designs. Live wearable art for ten bucks! Sounds like the best deal in town!

Crops and Rawbers

The coolest catering company in town, Crops and Rawbers, the brainchild of Diva Dompé and Amanda Brown, cater L.A.'s hippest art openings and punk rock concerts with their delicious, organic, raw, vegan desserts.

Fruition

The Las-Vegas-based clothing boutique, helmed by Chris Julian and Samantha Alonso, present vintage street fashion as objets d'art. Since opening in 2005, the shop has evolved into something of a concept store, earning stripes for blending street style with the classic catwalk designs. Julian, himself a former fashion designer, and Alonso have recently collaborated on a collection with designer Jeremy Scott, and have also opened (with Eddie Cruz) a new Stussy store in Las Vegas.

FUCT

A legendary skate brand founded by Erik Brunetti and Steve Rocco's World Industries in the early '90s that still knows how to create a good, old-fashioned anti-establishment ruckus.

Henry Holland

The man who made his name with bold statement T-shirts and by being best buds with Agyness Deyn is bringing his cheeky-fabulous London-based clothing line House of Holland to L.A. Get ready for some hyperactive pieces -- his Spring 2009 collection, titled "Sex, Lies, & Volleyball,” is all about mid-‘90s inspired polka-dots and flower prints.

Jeremy Scott

Fashion envelope-pusher Jeremy Scott has posed in his MySpace profile photo with both Lindsay Lohan and Cory Kennedy, if that gives you an idea of him, and his clothing.

Katy Rodriguez/Tony Alva

This is an L.A. power couple if we've ever seen one! Katy Rodriguez heads up one of our favorite vintage shops, Resurrection, and also recently came out with her own eponymous clothing line that we just can't get enough of. Her hubby, Tony Alva, is a legendary skateboarder (do the Z-Boys ring a bell?), who heads his own skateboarding company, Alva Skates.

L.A. RECORD

Since 2005, the folks at the L.A. RECORD have been putting L.A.-based bands like No Age, Lavender Diamond, Cold War Kids, etc. on their covers way before anyone outside of L.A. ever heard of them. Each free issue, which comes with a poster that doubles as the magazine's cover (featuring rock bands re-staging classic album covers), is filled with reviews, previews, band interviews and helpful nuggets for any L.A. indie rock nerd. In addition to putting out said publication, the L.A. RECORD kids run a local music store, curate monthly live events and do a radio show and hold day jobs. Not bad.

Levi's

Levi's really doesn't need much in the way of an introduction, and for their booth at our 24-Hour Department Store they are promising (and I quote): "Surprises..." We love surprises!

Libertine

Libertine, Cindy Greene and Johnson Hartig's line, known for its Victorian-esque, silk-screened wares, recently teamed up with Target for a limited edition line -- so you know they've officially "made it.”

Modern Appealing Clothing

Also referred to as MAC, this sibling-run (Ben and Chris Ospital) San Francisco boutique carries an expertly-curated mix of global designers and local brands -- making it, hands down, one of SF's best shops.

Mollusk

This multiple-locationed surf shop specializes in exclusive handcrafted boards from top shapers like Manny Caro, Michel Junod, and Chris Christenson. Bonus: A cute, real surfer-boy staff that will recommend a "stick" best suited for your pleasure.

Mr. Cartoon and Estevan Oriol

Longtime friends and partners, tattoo artist Mr. Cartoon and multitasking extraordinaire (hip hop photographer/music video director/recent film director) Esteban Oriol, opened up four one-of-a-kind shops in L.A.'s Skid Row earlier this year to add to their laundry list of past collabs. Expect their booth to be exploding with a hodgepodge of graphic T-shirts, tattoos, photographic prints and the bits and pieces of all their all-across-the-board projects.

New Editions

Based in Downtown L.A., New Editions creates limited edition fine art prints by contemporary artists for children and their parents (and everyone else!) The prints are archival pigment prints, all produced at New Editions' studio.

Opening Ceremony

Humberto Leon and Carol Lim recently moved their New York City avant-garde boutique vision to the West Coast -- to Charlie Chaplin's former dance studio, to be exact. Decor includes hydraulic jewelry cases and labyrinthian arrangements that reflect the iconic congestion of W.C. life.

Orange 20

This teeny (although you can't miss it due to its bright orange façade) L.A. biker nirvana of a store, located on 713 N. Heliotrope (7+13=20. Hence, Orange 20) has all the biker necessities -- and books, biker threads, and videos -- one could ever imagine. The store is dedicated to making the City of Angels safer and more rider-friendly.

Rodarte

In just a few years, Pasadena-based designers/sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy have created one of the most talked-about, respected, exciting and beautiful clothing lines around.

RVCA

Pronounced "Rooka," this art-surf-skate line was founded by designer P.M. Tenore in 2001. The line features a who's who of contributing artists/designers like Mark Hunter (see below), Erin Wasson, Mark Mothersbaugh, Brendan Fowler among others.

Royal/T

Located in Culver City, Royal/T is a 10,000-square-foot Japanese-pop-inspired gallery-café-shop. Make sure to stop by the café, where young waitresses wearing sexy maid garb serve afternoon High Tea. It comes as no surprise Royal/T attracts quite the eclectic crowd, and with their curated shop with pieces from the likes of Takashi Murakami, Nagi Noda, Yoshitomo Nara and Mitsuhiro Okamota, how couldn't they?

Screaming Mimi's

Retro chic is the look here. Sixties vintage platform shoes, '70s Chloe dresses and '80s Member's Only jackets are just a few of the treats that can be found at this New York institution -- which we're bringing out to L.A. for the second year in a row.

Show Pony

A little pink shop/artist commune in Echo Park owned by artist Kime Buzzelli. In addition to selling an eclectic mix
of vintage clothes and antique wares, on the first Saturday of every month Bizzelli pairs an indie designer with a specific artist, creating a designer/artist residency of sorts.

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

Offering fabulously offbeat basics for those of us who favor the black-grey-white color palette, Mary Ping's SSWTR has been a staple at favorite L.A. clothing haunt, Creatures of Comfort, and scores of NYC stores for ages. Check out their consistently awesome collection of shoes at consistently affordable prices.

Sophomore

Chrissie Miller's LES line has been hitting it big this year with her collab with Madeleine von Froomer (formerly of Proenza Schouler), and her soft-washed T-shirts being rocked by everyone from Jen Brill to Bijou Phillips. Plus, Sophomore's zippered skirt has been, hands down, the best of the trendy bunch this season!

STRANGECo

Check out the art-meets-toys from San Fran-based STRANGECo that make us wish we had these growing up rather than our massively produced and not-so-cool Barbies and G.I. Joes. Renowned artists such as James Varvis produce STRANGECo's unique collection, in addition to one of our favs -- Ren and Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi's timely and hysterical vinyl figures depicting Barack, Hil', and a deathly pale McCain (appropriately gripping a grenade and rifle).

Supreme

The cool New York skate shop to end all cool New York skate shops, helmed by James Jebbia, recently opened shop in L.A. Now it's the cool L.A. skate shop to end all L.A. skate shops. Go figure.

Teenage Teardrops Records

L.A.'s booming DIY/noise-punk scene owes a lot to the duo behind this small yet influential record label. Founders Cali Dewitt and Bryan Ray are keeping the scene alive, helping bands like No Age and The Sads get their start.

The Cobrasnake

If you've been photographed by The Cobrasnake (aka Mark Hunter) you've made it. If you've interviewed his mother (ahem, Carol) you've doubly made it.

The Smell

This all ages punk/noise/experimental party palace still stinks... in a good way! The place that propelled No Age and Mika Miko to fame continues to attract a stellar line-up of musicians and artists who take refuge here and find common ground at the vegan snack bar.

Undefeated

AKA "Undftd," this L.A. boutique (with locations on La Brea and in Silver Lake and Santa Monica) is best known for limited edition sneakers produced by Nike and Adidas exclusively for Undefeated. Other claims to fame... Air Jordan 4s and the billboard project on La Brea which mixes fine art with street art and places it where everyone can see it... Brilliant!

Welcome Hunters

Located in L.A.'s Chinatown, Welcome Hunters has the coolest freaking clothing. Period. We're obsessed with the multi-colored oversized hooded vest by Brian Lichtenberg, the oh-so-cute Kloset Bow necklace, the MIROÏKE neon-colored gladiators, and obviously, their infamous male leggings.

Wren

LA-based designer Melissa Coker named her California meets classic label after a Charles Dickens character, Jenny Wren, a sad and crippled doll dressmaker with a big heart. That's equally as cute as Coker's adorably hip collection.

Estevan Oriol Interview on EvilMonito.com

EvilMonito.com interviews EO.

Straight Shooter
by PHIL CHANG
Interview with Estevan Oriol
***
Photographers are unblinking witnesses to what they choose to document and observe, and Estevan Oriol’s work offers us an uncompromising look into the bare-knuckle truth of metropolis’s underbelly. His photography is a stark reminder of the extent to which mainstream media has distorted and exploited the real lives of millions of people around the world. In this interview, Estevan reflects on his career as a professional photographer, the intersection of art and identity and how there’s nothing more important in life than getting yours the hard way.
EM: For those who are unfamiliar with your work, please introduce yourself.
ORIOL: I’ve been shooting pictures as a hobby since 1995, and I started doing it professionally in about 1997. Lately, what people mainly know me for is Snoop Dogg’s most recent black and white cover and a Righteous Kill poster that’s getting blasted everywhere with Rob de Niro and Al Pacino. It’s weird, I do a lot of magazine work…and people see the magazines, but what people know recognize me for are the stuff that’s in the streets – like posters in the streets, and then the snipes that the record labels and movie companies do.
I also do videos – I did the latest video for Paul Wall’s ‘Break ‘Em Off,’ some work for Blink 182…I’ve done about 35 music videos to date, shot about 100 magazines and created maybe 30 album covers. Within five minutes of Google searching my name, you can get a pretty good idea of the projects I’ve worked on.

EM: How has the economy effected your profession?
In this business, you can’t be in it for the money, cuz you aren’t going to be making any. All the major record labels, magazines and distributors are shutting down and closing now, so there isn’t too much album cover and video work. A lot of things that I was depending on for my career are being shut down because of the economy.
You know, for me, every day you hear a lot of people say their jobs are hard and it’s hard out there or people are unemployed…but for me, the fact is, every day I’m unemployed. Today I’m doing a photo shoot for a personal project about women in LA with an Italian printer – most of it is for promotion. If I sell out with the book, I’ll make a little money – but it’s not about that. Today I’m unemployed, tomorrow I’m unemployed and yesterday I was unemployed.
Yesterday I did a job for a big magazine – they only paid 150 dollars for the shoot, but if it wasn’t me doing it, it would just be someone else trying to come up in the industry and they’d get that credit and exposure. So, it’s a fine line between turning shit away in the name of self-respect and working. Like, if a musician or someone will come up and ask me to do shit for a disrespectful price, I’ll turn that type of shit away. I was a tour manager for Cypress Hill and House of Pain for thirteen years, so I know exactly how much musicians make. If someone comes up to me with a thousand dollars and asks me, “yo, can you hook up my album cover homie?” I’m like “No, homie,” cuz that’s not how you do your homies. My new thing is if someone comes and asks me to do something for a low price, I tell them to trade. I do your photos and you make me a track or something.

EM: Let’s move on to a broader, more philosophical question. Do you find that there is strength in vulnerability, and conversely, vulnerability in strength?
To some extent, there is, because to me if you’re man enough to come out and say something affected you emotionally…see, it takes more of a man to come out and say that you were sensitive about a certain thing. Most people would be afraid to confess something that hit you like that. To me, it’s like you’re more of a man if you’re not afraid. The whole thing about being gangster and being hard…is that you’re not afraid of nothing. You’re claiming that you aren’t afraid of what people say about you. So if you can still say that shit and not come off as a punk; that shows strength. I know straight killers who’ll tell you some straight up emotional stuff that happened to them as kids and they won’t get choked up at all while telling you. But you wouldn’t ever say shit to these types of dudes, cuz they’re the types of dudes who’ll put metal in you or rip the lower part of your jaw off and be like what? There’s shit that kicks off that sensitivity and emotion in a man, but at the same time, it can make them as cold as ice.

EM: Your photography often offers a very unique, deeply involved perspective into cultures that aren’t otherwise accessible to mainstream audiences. What does heritage and identity mean to you?
It means everything. You know? It’s what you are. What makes your identity is your heritage – where you come from, who you are and what you are. Me, I’m Mexican-Italian, and both those cultures are fuckin’ nuts. They got beautiful women, everybody and their mother wants to talk about being with some hot Italian or Latina woman… the food is off the hook, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like tacos, rice and beans or a plate of pasta and pizza – so, I don’t know, I love everything about my two cultures. Both are very family oriented, great food, beautiful sexy women, both are places that got long histories. The Mexican side has the whole warrior type mentality that stretches back to fighting the European conquistadors, and the Italians got the whole Mafioso, machismo attitude with the men. I love it.
I’ve been to 46 countries and I’ve seen a lot of different cultures. I like tripping out on different people’s cultures. Some people are really hardheaded and are like, “I only like my culture and fuck everyone else’s,” but I enjoy seeing how other people live. There’s a lot to learn about life in doing that. Cypress Hill took me all over the world. I met a lot of people and I seen a lot of different societies – everybody we go to do shows with are like, “oh, you’re from the hood blah blah, we wanna show you our hood, come see our hood.” But Cypress would be tired from doing shows, so I’d go with the local people with my camera and I’d take photos of different hoods in the States, the favelas in Brazil, the hoods everywhere all over the world. I was meeting everyone from the poorest kids in the ghetto to rubbing elbows with some of people who come from money.
EM: While your work is known for its bold, iconic quality, how important are subtlety and nuances in your photography?
Those are important too, especially with women. A lot of my photos with women appear simple and very much like, wow that’s just a straight up woman with no crazy backdrops or whatever. They’re just simple and subtle and there’s nothing really to them except my choice in the women I shoot. Subtlety is almost entirely in the choice.

Like when I shoot celebrities, sometimes I’ll throw em against a brick wall…It’s like is “so and so would like to come down and be shot for a mag, how long will it take? “ And I say, “if they come ready, 15-20 minutes,” and they’re like “that’s all you need?” I’ll just throw ‘em against a nice textured background and it’ll come out cool. I’ve even have Danny Trejo and Forrest Whitaker use the photos I’ve taken as their headshots that they send out. I think it’s because they’re simple and clean, but their expressions are so powerful. It depends on the person though, on how simple you can make it. The power of the facial expression is really what makes a photo sick. Danny Trejo has an intensity in his eyes that makes the photo really powerful.

EM: Many of the subjects in your stark portraits are often prominently tattooed. What is your involvement in tattoo culture, and do you find that there is a common intersection between the stories tattoos and photographs tell?
I’m a co-owner of a shop with Mr. Cartoon called Skid Row Tattoos, that’s our shop that we’ve been doing for about five years – so that’s my tie-in with that whole scene. The people we hang with over here, the lowrider Mexican culture, is predominately about tattoos. Before rapping and all that came out, people been tatted down. Cartoon’s been tattooing since ‘95 and he tattooed everyone and their mom, literally. Like, we tattooed everyone from people from the hood to soccer moms in Malibu – done it all.
I do photos and videos while Cartoon does tattoos, drawings and paintings. That’s what we’re about, so a lot of the reason why I became known is because I took photos of Cypress Hill, which brought me up in the hip hop world – and I took a lot of photos of Cartoon’s work, so, likewise, that brought me up in that world. Simple.

EM: Out of all the subjects who you have captured over the years, do you recall a specific individual who came across as the fiercest and most powerful to you?
Some of the hood guys, like the guys who are known in the ghetto for being the big guys who are known over there – they come across like that – and guys like Rob De Niro and Al Pacino, they really came across like that. Just the way people treated them; the way their whole crew from the movie set on Righteous Kill treated them. They are royalty. But at the same time, they’re normal guys so I wasn’t bowing down or kissing their ass; I was just treating them respectfully like everyone else.

EM: Your publicly viewable photography is often thematically rooted in a decidedly urban context. Are there any subjects that you enjoy shooting that would surprise your audience?
Yeah, I guess the girls would surprise people. Right now, I’m shooting Jeri Lee and nobody will see these until the book comes out. She’s right there with all those other people I was mentioning in regards to being real professional, interesting and simple but subtle.
By now they shouldn’t be surprised with anything I’ve shot. I’ve shot in 46 countries, the hottest girls on Myspace, big-time celebrities and the poorest kids from around the world. So, no one should be surprised by anything I’ve done, right? It’s funny though, people still do get surprised. They shouldn’t, but they do. They’re like, “Ah, man, I saw this thing you shot and I didn’t think you’d shoot that, I only thought you shot Mexican dudes with bald heads and cars.” I’m like, “what made you think that, homie?”
EM: Lastly, in keeping with this issue’s theme, how does one ‘get fierce?’
Hard work. Keep your hustle up – you don’t get fierce sitting around in a house waiting for someone to kick the door down, pull you out and tell you that you’re fierce. You gotta get out there, get your grind on and hustle to make that shit happen yourself.
Thank you to everyone who supported me for this long and all the stuff that we do. We appreciate it all – we love what we do, check out the websites and check out our new store if you can when you’re in LA. We got some tattoo books and the LA women book coming out. And lastly, thank you Rickey Kim and Evil Monito.
***
www.estevanoriol.com
www.sastudiosglobal.com