Maison Krew Becomes the Official Luxury Streetwear Brand of Playboy

Dec 5, 2024 – Kickoff party at Hyde Beach, SLS South Beach: featured DJ Themba, a live performance called Heartbondage by artists Mitya Staev and Marion Crampe, art installations curated by Evoken Global, and Playboy Bunnies. Sponsors included Lucky Energy Drinks and the Pure Dating App. Huffmag Elite Luxury News
Dec 6, 2024 – Follow-up event at Villa Asur, Miami Beach, a joint activation with Playboy Mexico spotlighting mixed-media artist Max Jamali's work using diamond dust and 24K gold. Huffmag

Background:

The push tied into the relaunch of Playboy Magazine, planned for February 2025, with the new issue set to feature the Playboy Interview and spotlight the 2024 Playmate of the Year. HuffmagHuffmag
Playboy also emphasized supporting local artists and cultural institutions as part of the activation, including art scholarships and workshops. Elite Luxury News
“..none hold a candle to the Art Basel Playboy Art Party, which also featured stylish streetwear from Maison Krew.”https://www.playboy.com/read/playboy-events/art-basel-playboy-party

Role: Founder & Creative Director, Maison Krew

Background:

Ryan Friedlinghaus (CEO of West Coast Customs) and the team reached out to help launch a digital + physical collectible of die cast cars that had digital twins.
The collection was limited per design of the die cast car and sold out within minutes generating over $500,000 USD in revenue for West Coast Customs.
NXOS handled the minting and sales of each collectible while West Coast Custom’s digital team worked alongside me to generate 3D digital twins for each die cast car.

Role: Co-Founder, CEO & Head of Creative for NXOS

Background:

In December 2021 (bidding Dec 4–7), FriendsWithYou participated in Christie's first on-chain NFT auction, a collaboration with OpenSea.
This was part of events tied to Art Basel Miami Beach, where works were exhibited in "The Gateway" experience. It marked Christie's early push into on-chain (Ethereum/OpenSea-based) NFT auctions, with bidding, payment, and transfer handled directly on the blockchain.

Key Stats for the Auction and FriendsWithYou's Lot:

Overall auction total: 843 ETH, equivalent to about $3.6 million at the time.
FriendsWithYou's highlight lot — fRiENDSiES 00001 (a 1/1 animated cloud sculpture NFT with AR capabilities; described as the first bronze sculpture on the blockchain): Sold for 96.9 ETH (~$415,600). It was one of the top lots in the sale.

Role: Founder & Creative Director, NVTIVE - Creative Strategy Consulting for FriendsWithYou (Sam & Tury).

Background:

Superplastic: The Janky Heist was a July 2021 NFT collaboration between Superplastic (creators of virtual artists/characters Janky & Guggimon), Christie's, and other artists. It was themed around a playful "heist" narrative (with a short film) where Janky & Guggimon try to steal art from Christie's, leading to exploded/mashed-up digital pieces.
This was part of events tied to Art Basel Miami Beach, where works were exhibited in "The Gateway" experience. It marked Christie's early push into on-chain (Ethereum/OpenSea-based) NFT auctions, with bidding, payment, and transfer handled directly on the blockchain.

Key Structure and Stats:

Two-part event (July 9–22, 2021, online):
- Christie's portion (part of the broader Trespassing online sale): Featured 8 unique artist-edition Cryptojanky NFTs. These were collaborations with artists like Gucci Ghost, OG Slick, Shantell Martin, Alex Pardee, Stickymonger, Alexandar Todorovic, plus special pieces by Janky & Guggimon themselves.
- Sale total: USD 197,500 (hammer price; excludes buyer's premium).
Superplastic's Janky Heist drop (launched July 13 on jankyheist.com): A large-scale release of 9,240 unique 1/1 Cryptojanky NFTs (generated from recombined fragments of 22 original Janky figures). It used a Japanese-style reverse auction mechanic (prices decreased over time to encourage quicker buys).

Role: Co-Founder, CEO & Head of Creative, NXOS - Creative Brand IP Strategy & Digital Community Management for Superplastic and Paul Budnitz

Background:

Reolink hired me on as Creative Director for the newly formed North America Marketing team.
Led North American brand expression for a global intelligent home security technology company, translating headquarters brand strategy into culturally attuned creative frameworks for the local market.
Served as the voice of the North American audience in global brand discussions, advocating for bold, locally resonant creative approaches.
Produced, edited, and provided on-set creative direction for our North American video production shoots.
Implemented ElevenLabs for commercial voiceover production, replacing a $3,000 external vendor cost with an in-house same-session deliverable.

Partnerships: World Wildlife Federations, Conversation Science Global, and Rocket Chimp Creative Agency.

Role: North America Creative Director, Reolink

*Current Project*

Background:

Developed Sail Echo (Seafarer AI Link), a fusion engine for AI-powered marine navigation and boating safety, inspired by hands-on experience living aboard a boat in San Diego’s Mission Bay Marina.
Designed and built a functional MVP leveraging edge AI computing on the NVIDIA Jetson AGX Thor Developer Kit, integrating real-time sensor fusion, intelligent decision support, and modernized safety protocols for seafarers.
Served as the lead visionary and technologist, bridging creative direction, brand storytelling, and deep technical implementation to translate maritime challenges into intuitive, AI-driven solutions.
Handled full-cycle development from concept and architecture to prototyping, optimization, and validation—focusing on power-efficient, on-device AI that enhances situational awareness without relying on constant cloud connectivity.
Incorporated advanced AI/LLM capabilities for voice interfaces, predictive analytics, and user-centric design tailored to the realities of life at sea.

Partnerships / Tech Stack: NVIDIA (Jetson AGX Thor), edge AI frameworks, ComfyUI/Python pipelines (leveraging prior AI workflow expertise).

Role: Founder & Chief Creative Technologist, Sail Echo (Seafarer AI Link)

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