Of course, it’s virtually impossible to plan an intimate 6-year anniversary party for just the crew homeys, when all the homeys start inviting all their homeys. And before you know it, what was designed to be a simple get-together at THLA spills into the streets… I’m sure the taco truck didn’t help.
by bobbyhundreds
Tonight, Rick Klotz (Freshjive), Lanie (Hellz Bellz), Ben Hundreds and I led a discussion panel at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy in downtown Los Angeles. I want to thank all of you who came out, and because the event reached capacity from the get-go, I also want to thank everyone who made the trek out but was turned away at the door. Hopefully we’ll have more events like this in the future to accomodate all of you who missed out.
Here’s Miss Lawn herself breaking down her brand Hellz to a captive audience. The crowd was solid tonight, a lot of great questions were asked, and it encouraged us to see so many young people putting in work to get their dreams off the ground. Some of the questions that were discussed: streetwear’s impact on the music industry, maintaining brand longevity, the requisite capital to start up a brand, how/who to sell in a climate where stores are dropping off like flies, and why none of this would be possible without skateboarding. A lot of people afterwards thanked us for doing this, but as always, I had to thank them for inspiring us to stay motivated and creative.
by bobbyhundreds
This Sunday, our family at Brooklyn Projects are opening their newest, and long-awaited, location in Pasadena. To commemorate the occasion, Dom forced us into worked with us on a great idea… re-appropriating Adam Bomb to lock up with Pasadena’s City of Roses title. There are only 144 of each t-shirt. The black and white versions are dropping at Brooklyn Projects Pasadena on opening day, Sunday August 2nd at 12 noon. (The blue version will be released exclusively through The Hundreds at a future date, stay tuned for more information on when/where/how that’s happening).
by bobbyhundreds
I took a drive up to Sunset Blvd. earlier today to say hello to our friends Dennis, Emil, and the rest of the crew at Crooks & Castles‘ new headquarters.
Dennis is bummed because he just realized he missed out on a new Kaws figure. (What’s with the emails going out at 5:30am PST?)
It’s been so inspiring to watch these guys take over the streetwear game.. I mean, I can’t say we didn’t see it coming. I remember when they were just running logo tees through Todd Shimabuku’s 5&A Dime distribution, and then they dropped their “chain” hooded sweatshirts. They showed up to a MAGIC tradeshow with those samples draped over their backs and it spelled out GAME OVER.
What more do I need to say about these dudes? Technically, some of the best veteran designers out there. Brand-wise, built to last. Hustle? Very much so. Aside from Crooks & Castles, they also got C.S.T.C. and the Illuminati Collection under their wing. I mean, you can hate all you want, but like they say, Can’t Stop the Crooks.
Oh wait, there’s one more sub-label to consider. An entire range of apparel that’s offered exclusively in Crooks & Castles’ newest retail venture, their concept shop on Sunset.
All the product for this particular shop is made domestically, as can be seen from this custom label on the garments. It’s a brave task, and can be costly, but Dennis says it hearkens back to their days at his previous brand Landscape, when everything was designed, sourced, and produced right here in Los Angeles.
The Sunset Concept Shop had it’s soft opening last week with a grander release set for this Fall. Stop by to see how the Crooks get down:
8570 Sunset Blvd Suite 6.1
West Hollywood, CA 90069
310) 652-3007
by bobbyhundreds
Not too long back, Rick Klotz (Freshjive) asked if we’d participate in a little event his friend at LAartlab was putting together.. a panel discussion on streetwear and design.
LAartlab is an all volunteer project helping teens and young adults engage In the various facets of the Los Angeles art scene and California’s creative economy by providing hands-on opportunities to help design, produce and host free art events!
Of course, we were down. So join us, Lanie from Hellz-Bellz, and Rick Klotz from Freshjive himself as we hold “a frank discussion about what it takes to start a label, develop it, keep it sharp and maintain its creative integrity.”
This Thursday, July 30, from 7pm to 8:30pm at:
National Center for the Preservation of Democracy
111 North Central Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90012
And the best part, admission is FREE.
by bobbyhundreds
The Brothers Makowka, Abram and Adam, came by this afternoon to wish us a Happy Bubbly Birthday. CHEERS.
by bobbyhundreds
Considering today is The Hundreds’ 6th birthday, I wanted to show you a couple things. Like our first linesheet / catalog / brochure / whatever it is. This was our first season, Fall 2003. We didn’t really know what we were doing, so we printed these up to showcase our line of 5 t-shirts. 1-color prints, accompanied by The Hundreds’ ethos and purpose. You can see early JAGS on the cover there, and our umbrella company’s logo, Mixed Media Productions.
Fred Segal Street, Brooklyn Projects, and Grey One were the first ones to bite. We fast realized that buyers couldn’t have cared less about the brochure though, so that was the first and last time we ever poured $ into one of those.
Check this out. Our first season of t-shirts were all packaged in these vinyl bags. This was back before we had our own silkscreen print shop, so to stamp the logo and website, we ran the bootleg Speedball homemade kit. That’s maybe the first The Hundreds logo.. the Kirby dots played a sizable role with The Hundreds’ branding for the first couple years.
Most importantly, the website. Now this was perhaps that one thing that really set us apart from the influx of t-shirt brands at the time. That was one of those questions we were confronted with repeatedly from the get-go. “What makes you guys different from all these other t-shirt lines out here?”
Well, we never considered ourselves merely a t-shirt line for starters. As trite as it sounds today, we were labeling ourselves as a lifestyle project, which gave us the leeway to one day get our hands into building stores, making denim, shoes, magazines, music… And with every t-shirt you bought from us, you were not only participating and contributing to that lifestyle, but also buying a story, that was told through our website. Which goes back to why we were pushing our site so hard.. to really understand the product, you had to be engaged in our online project, and be versed in the background and culture as to where that t-shirt came from.
I know I know, seems pretty simple by 2009 standards, but 6 years ago, it was a pretty strange idea. Fortunately, an idea that just so happened to work.
by bobbyhundreds
The Hundreds celebrates 6 years of existence today. To commemorate the occasion, I just mashed up a buncha vintage TH graphics into a couple revolving splash page images that you may have noticed on the way into the blog this morning. See if you can spot some old friends.
by bobbyhundreds
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