~ ØUR PHILØSØPHY: "BE ØN THE ØUTSIDE, AS YØU ARE ØN THE INSIDE" ~
Hello there and welcome; we are so happy you have chosen to visit us! We do very much hope you will find something here you will like.
Bønes and Balløøns is a small and independent fashion label founded by Shahaf, a former computer programmer with an EECS degree from UC Berkeley that grew up in California and specialized in networking and encryption. He left hi-tech to pursue his passions of fashion design / personal style development (see photos of him with some of our products at bottom of page - very pleased to meet you!) and, his second passion, electronic dance music production and singing (if you want, you can click the blue speaker icon on the bottom left of the screen to play one of his tracks as you browse our site).
Our partner companies are located around the globe, from America to Europe to Asia to Africa.
In general, we aim to create designs / collages that could belong to a fantastical and surreal world where unnatural and wonderful things are possible and happen with vibrant colors – and – we print these on various footwear, clothing and accessory items.
All the prints are made of old paintings and photos from museums, contemporary photos, handwriting and typography and symbols and geometrical shapes and are made by Shahaf. Our products are real art and are no strangers to art galleries! What's more, our prints are unique enough so that we can pretty much guarantee, you won't find anything like them anywhere else – and – we have around 150 of them!
The designs / collages are meant to provide an escape from our day-to-day ordinary existence. They can be everywhere with the wearer or carrier of the product with their print because they are worn as clothes or shoes or used as accessories. They are seen and experienced by the wearer or carrier of each specific item and but also those around him or her. Like the Duomo in Milan, a Picasso painting, a song by Ella Fitzgerald, a book by Ayn Rand or Antoine de Saint-Exupéry or any other great work of art in general, they are meant to inspire – or – stated otherwise, “charge our inspiration battery,” like when watching an eagle soar high in the sky, each time we perceive them. They allow thereby, for the wearer or carrier of the item and those around him or her to exist in a spiritually higher state... even if just for a moment at a time. We think nature doesn't hide her beauty and so shouldn't the human spirit, when it comes to how you dress. There is the double-breasted pea coat of the heroic sailor, there is the suit of the upperclass businessman or businesswoman and there is the bomber jacket of the fighter plane pilot but there can and should be more when it comes to vibrant colours and design.
Additionally, children's clothes are often vibrant and colorful but adults' often aren't. We all still have a child inside of us and being a grownup is just a “trap” anyway. That “childfulness” should be able to be expressed and we aim to make that possible as well.
You can see all the 149 original unaltered classic collages in our catalog or design showcase video here: https://youtu.be/OCTZ_txRqF8 (the music is by Shahaf and is meant to express the same ideas as the collages). Each collage has a unique name assigned based on its meaning and context and here you can see the names. The same names are used in our online shops for products - so if you see one you like, just search for its name using the search box on our site (or click on the design in the catalog).
Our motto, at Bønes and Balløøns, is “Be øn the øutside as you are øn the inside!” - meaning that we can express our fantastical and vibrant insides by wearing clothes and shoes and carrying accessories that show that on the outside! It is meant to be exactly like in ILLENIUM's song, “Beautiful Creatures”: https://youtu.be/omT5rKmU5_k .
Pablo Picasso once said, “Why do two colors, put one next to the other, sing? Can one really explain this? No. ...” We tend to agree and apply this idea in the making of our products.
We started making the products we make because we searched for apparel and accessory items like we make for years and years and could not find anything quite like them. When we discovered the possibilities of creating them with our partner companies, who supply the technologies we use, we got very excited and over the course of nearly seven years, we made them... and lots of them!
We started out with tee shirts and tank tops and expanded and are expanding from there to all our other products. For us, it was a perfect marriage between design and technology.
We use high-resolution vibrant sublimation technology or other similar technology printing, taking these technologies to the utmost possible limit / getting the maximum out of them, to get the best product possible in those two ways: having high resolution and vibrant colors. This is, perfect for, and in accordance with our basic concept because of these vibrant color possibilities and high resolution - they really make our designs "come to life" (or “sing” per Pablo Picasso). They make the fantastical and vibrant insides of the wearer or carrier of each specific item seen!
In any case, and finally, we do hope you like these ultra-cool (per our opinion) products as much as we do because we love them very much ourselves, own many of them and wear and / or carry them often and want for them to be available to everyone who loves them too, anywhere in the world!
Best wishes and may you find here something that will make your heart and soul (insides) sing!
XOXO,
