I’m up north at The Hundreds San Francisco. THSF’s own Micah Aza and Quinn manning the fort. Micah just got interviewed by Sound in the Signals for his music, you can check it out HERE.
The THSF crew spent the better part of the day in a photo shoot for the next issue of The Hundreds Magazine. Shot by SF photographer Sean Desmond, who is widely recognized for his work with The Tenderloin Project.
by bobbyhundreds
Say what you want about New Yorkers, because they’ll certainly say what they want about you.
If there’s one thing that’s true about NYC, it’s that its inhabitants are never ones to shy away from opinion. And if you don’t have thick skin, chances are it’s not the opinion you want to hear.
The months leading up to The Hundreds New York‘s opening, Ben and I were brainstorming how to promote the opening of our 3rd flagship store. With any other location, it can be a little more straightforward. Maybe a grassroots campaign or an online blast. But as we walked around downtown on a late night out, it was clear to both of us that a simple sticker and wheat-paste street bombing campaign wouldn’t suffice.
How long does a sticker, ANY sticker, last in New York? Whether it’s the city cleanup crew or a lone drunk hater, it takes a typical weekend to find the stickers picked at and sliced on street signs, or posters half-torn and defaced. It’s the nature of the game, it comes with the territory.
So the answer was this. Why don’t we beat ‘em to the punch? The Hundreds, after all, is a West Coast streetwear brand stepping foot into New York. We were asking to get sneered at. In fact, we welcomed the welcoming.
We initiated a street marketing campaign that involved our usual The Hundreds logo stickers, but designed to look as if they were already clawed at and ruined. We also instigated a program called “KEEP THE HUNDREDS OUT OF NEW YORK” on bumper stickers, giveaway t-shirts, and posters wheat-pasted around New York City.
Over the weeks, many New Yorkers bore witness to the “hate” as it unfolded across the boroughs, and many of you even sent in pictures with curious emails attached. (And a big thanks to everyone who steadfastly aligned themselves with us, having been convinced that we were “under attack.”)
Anyways, whether or not it did anything to raise brand awareness or usher our retail presence into New York, it was a fun campaign for us to work on. A New Yorker friend of ours recently told us a big secret of The Hundreds’ success was that we never took ourselves too seriously, and even moreso, we never bothered to heed the hate spewed our way. And for the most part, it’s truth. So keep on hating, and we’ll keep on creating.
by bobbyhundreds
Have you checked out the new issue of The Hundreds Magazine? I caught up with Mike Rapaport for our regular DIRTY DOZEN column, where he breaks down his Top 12 Favorite Actors. And just for the blog, he effortlessly pulls off another DIRTY DOZEN, this time his Top 12 Favorite Rappers. See if you agree:
by bobbyhundreds
Just like old times…
Skateboarding these days, as far as I’m concerned, is wholly unrecognizable. It’s engorged on steroids, churning with corporate money and mainstream glitz.
Fortunately, there seems to be a real hearkening back to true skateboarding, to its roots. Mike Vallely was talking about it, and you still see it outside of cable television, energy drink spots, and supercharged contests. Real skateboarding is still based in the streets, on your neighborhood curb, in the back of mom-and-pop skate shops, and still poor and pure as ever. And you certainly see it here, at the new Brooklyn Projects on Melrose.
The new BP opened Sunday afternoon, and it was a celebration for both the older generation of skaters and the new breed of skate rats. It was a great feeling to see BP bring all the old crew back together again. And to bring skateboarding back again.
Brooklyn Projects is brought to you courtesy of Dom Bomb and Merf.
Chad Fernandez slaps a disaster.
Mandee Guns hates the photo I posted of her the other day.
Merf and BP’s newest mascot, Saigon.
Billy Roper and Natalia Brutalia are like the Sid & Nancy of skate, if you replace all the drugs and depression with happy times and awesome photography. So yeah, not like Sid & Nancy at all.
You can follow Tatiana on Twitter, but if you follow Merf, your face will find his fist.
It isn’t a BP party without Schizo.
by bobbyhundreds
I spent my Saturday at the 11th annual Cruisin’ for a Cure, the world’s largest 1-day charity car show, down in Orange County. California Culture is a prism of subcultures, and car culture makes up a giant wedge of the pie. Thanks in part to our poor (lack of) public transportation system, a true Californian is identified by the car he/she drives. There were 3,500 automobiles on display here today, all makes and colors, all sizes and custom fabrications. It was hard to tell who was to blame for the triple-digit temperature, global warming or all the heat on the fairgrounds.
by bobbyhundreds
Just a heads up if you wanna roll with the homeys, the weekends are a good time to catch up at Stoner Park in West L.A.
Everybody wants more of our new intern, Mandee Guns. Okaysurewhynot.
Visit our friends over at Johnny Cupcakes. They just got a batch of Artist Series tees in. Ask Kellen all about ‘em!
by bobbyhundreds
The Hundreds Magazine is now available at The Hundreds LA, The Hundreds SF, The Hundreds NY, your local authorized The Hundreds stockist, and right here in the Online Shop. Here’s a peek at just some of the features you’ll find inside Issue #3, graced by cover girl Jessica Lowndes.
by bobbyhundreds
The Hundreds Eyeware “Phoenix” in 6 new styles. Releasing tomorrow, Thursday, September 23, 2010, at THLA, THSF, and THNY and The Hundreds Authorized Stockists worldwide over the week.
*Also, the GREEN TORTOISE and FLAT BURGUNDY Phoenixes can only be found EXCLUSIVELY at our 3 flagship locations, THLA, THSF, and THNY.
by bobbyhundreds
Say what you want about L.A., but nothing beats coming home to blue skies and big burritos.
The new season of The Hundreds Eyeware releases this Thursday morning at The Hundreds Los Angeles, The Hundreds San Francisco, and The Hundreds New York. 6 new styles of our popular model, The Phoenix.
Ruby Rose is in town from Australia for a few days and stopped by The Hundreds HQ with Didier Cohen, the world’s most tragically misfigured man. I couldn’t have found an uglier pair to model our Amber Tortoise and Flat Black Phoenixes.
Aaron (Agenda Show) came downtown for lunch but couldn’t even make it back up to his office without breaking out the Macbook and iPad and immersing himself into a serious work sesh. Talk about diligence. Somebody take his battery out.
BH and Nipsey Hussle in the building as well. We’re working on some fun things, the Marathon continues…
by bobbyhundreds
The real reason I was in Orange County on Sunday night was to visit my friend Chad and shoot his band New Found Glory for their last U.S. tour date in a while. But of course, I grabbed first place at the Being Awesome Olympics and just missed ‘em by 2 minutes. So a big hearty shout-out to Honda Center staff for giving me the run-around at the door and being gigantic douchebags! Not only did Kanye write a song for you, but you grabbed 2nd place at the aforementioned Olympics.
Anyways, not to worry, because I still caught up with Chad (right) backstage and talked about new records he’s produced for hardcore band TERROR and dedicated The Hundreds supporters, A Day to Remember. Chad’s a hardcore kid like me, we both grew up in the scene. I guess he did a better job of it, however, considering he’s the former singer for Shai Hulud.
Speaking of which, the next generation of hardcore music belongs to Luis on the left there, and his band Alpha and Omega. I’m gonna be shooting them later this week for the next issue of The Hundreds Magazine. They’re the first new hardcore band I’ve really dug into since I was a youth and that means absolutely nothing, considering it’s coming from me.
As long as I’m here, I’m gonna go out front and watch the show. Paramore is headlining the night. The band’s lead singer Hayley Williams is not only a rising rockstar and responsible for the summer’s biggest hit, Airplane, with B.O.B., she’s also with Chad. So I guess that kinda zeroes everything out for Hayley.
Juuuuuust kidding Chad.
And while we’re on the subject of hardcore, although she’s a pop vocalist, there’s something very reminiscent of old school, jump-kicking, finger-pointing, windmilling hardcore style in Hayley’s stage presence. At the least, the punk spirit is obvious. As my friend noted, there’s something very Joan Jett about this one.
Hayley literally jumped right offstage and took this shot for the blog. Did you know she reads The Hundreds blog? I really do grab Being Awesome gold.
by bobbyhundreds
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