Streetwear companies show that wearing a brand goes beyond wearing a t-shirt
T-shirts are probably the most popularly adorned fashion items in North America. They’re cheap to make, they’re comfortable, and their casual nature allows companies to make a sellable item out of practically any design.
While t-shirt companies boast infinite design opportunities, t-shirt wearers all too commonly run into what on prom night would be regarded as a fashion nightmare: they come into contact with others that are wearing the same designs as them. This is not so much a problem for the wearer, but a sad reflection on the companies that produce them.
With so many design possibilities at their fingertips, clothing mega-companies like Nike and Adidas will paradoxically settle for the mass-productions of single images in order to cut down on screen-printing costs and maximize revenue. In effect, the people consuming their products are seen in the public as fashion clones.
According to streetwear moguls like Bobby Kim, the founder of LA company The Hundreds, this just prevents anything like brand loyalty on the part of consumers from arising. His logic is fairly straightforward: people don’t like to look like other people, so they start to avoid the brands that might put them in those situations. His company has responded by producing runs of limited edition t-shirts.
Kim’s company has become a leading name in streetwear fashion, but smaller independent companies are picking up on their business strategies.
Milton, Ont. originating company Villains and Halifax, NS company Estate Family Guild (EFG) have enjoyed significant success from releasing designs in limited runs, promising never to rerelease a single design. In the case of EFG, the company presses designs in 13 shirt runs, and each item they sell is stamped with a number. Their fans look at their purchases not just as fashion items, but artifacts that are parts of a larger whole.
Another pitfall that popular clothing companies fall into is a tendency to market their lines to as broad an audience as possible. Successful streetwear brands like Supreme and The Hundreds have adopted “anti-marketing” campaigns that keep their items out of malls and major shopping centres. By catering their brands to “underground” audiences, fans have to opt in and learn a story before becoming consumers, also forging brand loyalty.
Keeping brands off the street and limiting product yield aren’t enough to make a successful business venture, though. The minds behind companies like The Hundreds, Villains, and Estate Family Guilds have adopted daily blogging policies in order to promote and produce their brand image. Here too, the companies adhere to their principle of exclusivity. Often blogging involves talking about or providing coverage of things that are not sold by the brands themselves. They market the brands as lifestyles, and as a result, followers can tell the coverage is less about making money than it is solidifying an identity. So you won’t see The Hundreds collaborating with a company that makes birthday cakes. Think about that, Harley Davidson.
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