LOVE TO FLY EMBROIDERED NYC PIGEON BASKETBALL TOSHIRO ORGANIC HOODIE — DROP 2025 - 13

LOVE TO FLY EMBROIDERED NYC PIGEON BASKETBALL TOSHIRO ORGANIC HOODIE — DROP 2025 - 13

A SLEEPING SAMURAI® drops this rare, exclusive, one-off design organic cotton hoodie with exquisite TOSHIRO embroidery. We will only ever produce 100 pieces of this design, making it one of the most exclusive hoodies ever made. It's part of the "LOVE TO FLY™" collection, and the only piece in DROP 2025 - 13.

THE PIECE

The piece is inspired by our "LOVE TO FLY™" theme of inspiring a forgotten generation to be better than they ever imagined was possible. No matter what we dream, no matter how high we want to rise, no matter how impossible others tell us our dreams might be, ignore them and do it anyway. And, just like little TOSHIRO flies through the air to dunk his basketball, so we all can fly high in whatever we choose to undertake.

This hoodie is all about flying high and making our dreams come true. Made from soft, organic cotton and delivered in a deep olive colour, we feature exquisite embroidery on the front of TOSHIRO playing basketball in New York, being watched by a single and yet famous New York pigeon. This is a one-off piece with only 100 pieces ever being produced.

Olive organic cotton hoodie with Toshiro basketball player graphic design

This piece will be available in a limited quantity of only 100 pieces at the A SLEEPING SAMURAI® online store at https://asleepingsamurai.com/products/love-to-fly-embroidered-nyc-pigeon-basketball-toshiro-olive-organic-hoodie.

 

THE STORY OF THE PIECE BY THE DESIGNER

I walked down Canal Street in New York, heading for a basketball court at the Hudson River Park. I'd heard from a lady in the hotel that it was a great basketball court and really popular. I was scouting for basketball players for our "LOVE TO FLY™" collection. I figured basketball was a good simile for the brand message of "DO YOUR WORK WITH LOVE, THE OUTCOME WILL BE LOVEABLE.™", that if we work hard we can fly very high. I'm a sports enthusiast and sports is a great illustrator that hard work and practise makes for a better sports person. Dare to dream and with hard work and focus, we can fly very high.

As I approached the basketball court, I noticed pigeons dotted around the basketball court, watching the single player on the court practising his art. Actually they were probably looking for food, but my imagination was in full effect.

NYC basketball pigeon

With nobody around to admire his craft apart from myself and the pigeons, the basketball player's shots transformed into dunks. I sat beside a pigeon and we watched the man dunk and dunk and dunk. He looked to be flying through the air, just like my friend sitting beside me.

That, day I didn't come away with a basketball player for my brand. It turned out the man on the court already had something going with Nike. But I did come away with an idea. A hoodie in olive organic cotton. Olive, to match the colours of the surrounding park. Along with TOSHIRO, flying through the air, dunking his ball into the basket, under the careful watch of a single pigeon.

I will never forget that early morning in New York, and the new "LOVE TO FLY™" EMBROIDERED NYC PIGEON BASKETBALL HOODIE will be a constant reminder of how the magic of hard work and practise can make us fly very high.

Richard McDowall

 

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