I love Karmaloop, it is an impressive online store and resource for Urban and Streetwear Culture.
Polos, tshirts, jackets, pants… and also jewelry, belts, bags, housewares… headphones? Yes, also very stylish headphones. Why? In the Urban Culture, style and respect are very important, but also hip hop music, the source of everything.
Karmaloop and Urban Culture
When I speak about Urban Culture, I mean baggy shirts, baggy jeans, sneakers, hip hop and urban neighborhoods… and also jewelry, earrings, long chains.
Urban Wear has evolved over the years. You can find more aggressive styles lately along with very elegant and fashionable designs. Evolving is a good thing, nobody wants to always wear the same things for years, but of course if you follow the trends very closely, you’ll have to spend a lot to keep yourself up to date.
Nice thing about Urban Wear is that it has been influenced also by Japanese streetwear culture, and the ever evolving indie music scene. This brings to new trends and new ideas… and of course new ways to spend your money!
At Karmaloop you can find practically every kind of Urban Wear, every trend and every flavor. What matters is that all the clothing represents the city and is not mass produced. You’ll feel really cool with their apparel.
Prices are very good and you can create your own style easily with just few dollars. We can say that Karmaloop is at the cutting edge of the urban fashion market and sells everywhere in the world.
Baggy, brightly colored urban clothes are not only the culture of cities in United States. This style is going to be international and more and more customers from other parts of the world are being attracted by this fashion appeal.
Street wear is a retro 80s look inspired by the sneaker culture and hipsters on New Yorks Lower East Side. With a few wardrobe essentials you can incorporate the street wear look into your own style, with tight fitting jeans, vintage-style sneakers and graphic tees. But where to find the tees?
Street and Urban Fashion, with a touch of red
StreetWear-And-Red.com, which has also the domain StreetWearAndRed.com, provides cool designs for the urban and street fashion along with elegant ideas for the modern gentlemen.
The nice thing about this website is the idea behind it. It is not just a virtual shop where you can find tshirts, sweatshirts, jerseys, polos and jackets, it is also a fashion mark, red and scratchy, a perfect mark for this kind of wear!
We have found the best design to be the “Legend” one. It’s based on a funny phrase but the graphics and the idea are superb!
There are other interesting designs like the vintage ones but seems that there will be tons more in the next days… so it’s better to check this website daily to see what’s new and what’s changed, the website is growing fast and changing daily!
Tracey St. John and Kim Jacobs love to ride quads at the desert and wanted a product they could ride in and still feel and look like women. Research was gathered, products designed, and Huchi Gear emerged. Read Tracey exclusive words about their desert riding story!
A desert riding story
A few girls at the desert at a campfire talked about starting a business—of course, a few cocktails were involved. That is where we started! At this point, there were very few clothing companies with riding gear that catered to quad riding, desert-loving women. The name was picked that evening by one of our friends who wanted the name ‘dirty!’ We had our first meeting and everyone declined business involvement except Kim and me (Tracey). We cleaned up the name and changed it to Huchi. I did research on the name and found out that in Japanese it means ‘Goddess of Fire.’ Let me tell you our road was rocky. Many fights! Honestly, we could write a thousand page book on that! We went to Los Angeles with our spouses to find material to make our pants. We spent a lot of money to come up with the product we have now, which is pretty darn good.
At first, we had our friends sell our clothing at their shop and during desert season at their booth. He got us in Dirt Wheels magazine for our first article. After a while we had so much inventory that it was too hard for our friends to carry everything and the few stores we distributed to only carried a small amount of our inventory.
So by the third year in business, we decided to try it on our own. We had so much fun—sold at the desert (won a toy hauler), Thunderboats, Oktoberfest, Off-road shows, and so much more! We met an heiress, boat racers, rode in the fastest cars in the desert while we threw out clothes for promotion, sold to bigwigs in the police force, military, you name it! We were profiled in several videos and pictures. We signed autographs, and even posed in pictures with some of our best customers. We met so many people and that was the best part. Even men loved buying our clothes for their girlfriends/wives. We learned to size a woman up by the spouse or significant others body description. We do not know how it happened, but our product has been sold online all over the United States.
There are lots of people who have asked us how to start a business! In fact, right before writing this article, I had a friend’s son ask how to legitimately to sell online. One reason that most people do not become rich selling clothing is because there are just so many clothing companies in operation, causing difficult competition.
Here is our best piece of advice—networking and customer service are critical for a successful business. A word of caution, think twice before starting a business with family or friends. It is tough!
Primal Wear is a cycling apparel company out of Denver, Colorado and has been in business for over 16 years. They have the most technical fabrics with original jersey designs. Besides being in over 1500 Independent bike shops across the United States, they are in some of the bigger retailers such as REI and Performance. I’ve been in contact with Jessica Edwards that sent me one of their Star Wars jerseys.
Star Wars loves Cycling
The Star Wars jerseys are made of 100% ProSenor, a technical fabric which wicks moisture from the body so you remain comfortable on your ride. This is a popular design that they picked up in order to connect with the large Star Wars following. They currently do not attend Star Wars events in relation to this jersey, although it is something they have considered.
Being a mountain bike enthusiast, I decided to take my lightweight aluminium beauty and go for a ride. Nothing really serious, just 5 miles, to feel this new jersey and test the fabric. This has been my worst performance and probably one of my most valuable experiences. The weather was cooperative, with a sunny and clear sky. I cruised at a comfortable speed. The roads were in fair condition, no hills, scenic routes and not much traffic. A great course! The only problem was the temperature, really hot.
The jersey worked very well! The fabric is as they said, breathes with you and controls moisture and temperature to keep you performing at your best. Probably I would have had many more problems with the temperature, with another fabric. So I’m very satisfied and happy of this product.
I understood the importance of using the right wear. You can’t just have a tshirt and common shorts. A helmet is essential, as gloves, and elbow guards. A good pair of shoes is also recommended. And of course technical fabric clothing.
The reward of this experience has been a great spaghetti plate with pomodoro and parmigiano. A very simple plate, but I consider it the best of the Italian cuisine. Maybe it is the best food also for sports?
Few tips for cycling beginners: eat healthy food (mediterranean food) or you’ll never cover long distances; find the perfect bike for you, you don’t need to spend 20,000 dollars but you need a bike with three chain rings, which gives you the most range of gears; wear a bike jersey, typically made of synthetic materials that help wick away moisture from your body, and including a rear pocket to carry extra supplies while you ride; buy yourself some proper cycling shorts; set realistic goals and start slow; relax and enjoy the scenic routes.
Today we interview Justin Hoehn. Justin manages LEADapparel.com, providing a broad range of apparel brands at the lowest prices possible. With 27 warehouses covering all regions of the U.S. LEADapparel.com has the ability to ship customer orders quickly to anywhere in the country and worldwide.
Fashion, internet and our society
Manuel Marino: The styles you present are sporty but also with an elegance touch, we can say unique looks, right?
Justin Hoehn: Absolutely. We try to give our customers diversity. We believe that the stylish consumer has different needs for different occasions. You might want to dress in an urban influenced t-shirt when bumming around town but tomorrow, you might have a tee time & need a nike dri-fit polo.
What can you tell me about your latest alternative apparel line?
We recently added alternative apparel to our product line and are extremely excited about the response we’ve had from our customers. Alternative apparel is in the same mold as american apparel. The line is made from high quality fabrics, fitted and fashion driven. They focus on core prodcuts and do a wonderful job at expanding on colors and certain fits. You’ll see awide range of celebrities sporting the line (Pitt, Timberlake, Leonardo, Clooney, Fergie, Walberg, John Mayer, Christina Aguilera, Eva Longoria) this is just to name a few.
What do you think about fashion in 2008?
Fashion is always changing, sometimes for the better / sometimes for the worse but at the end of the day, we like the classic / minimal look to pass the test of time. Although everyone appreciates a saville row tailored suit, the reality is you have more people working from home or in a casual office enviroment. They’re more comfortable in a tee & jeans, tee and designer sweats or some sort of combination. It’s no longer a sloppy look since designers have tightend up the fit & color options and it’s become more acceptable in the office, especially at younger companies.
What about fashion and internet, is it a good alliance?
The web has obviously been a wonderful alliance for all business. The consumer has more choices in a matter of minutes than they would in an entire day of shopping at the malls and you don’t have to pay for gasoline. The knock has always been that you need to try on / see in person what your going to buy. At leadapparel.com, we have made it a priority to make this a seamless process. The addition of images for each color and sizing charts for most products elminates the risk of ordering something that doesn’t fit or not the exact look the customer was expecting.
It’s only going to grow into a more sophisticated shopping experience. We’re looking into video displays for certain products and I’m sure by this time next year there will be a must have for online stores such as ours.
Is it really so important appearance in our society? is it really a good thing?
Appearance and style has always been important and always will. Call it vanity, expression or necessity, we all have style, whether it’s bad or not is up for debate. But there is no doubt in my mind that style is an important aspect in for living a more exciting and interesting life. People with a great personality seem to give off more style even if they are wearing the same get up as the next guy with a bad attitude who thinks style will carry him alone. If you are constantly following the crowd, it can become mondane but if you are diverse and comfortable with your style, it’s a major plus on how it comes off to others.
I think it’s only smart to keep your appearance looking good. Sure, there might be too much focus on “appearance” in some circles but I think there’s no doubt that someone’s overall appearance is a direct reflection of a person’s vibe and personality.
Paul Baines is a T-shirt Designer and Blogger. Read his popular t-shirt reviews blog and read also about his highly original t-shirt designs. You can vote now on his latest Threadless.com submission or purchase pieces from his collection at Retrogod, Redbubble, Zazzle. This is his exclusive article for us, a kind of diary, where he talks about tshirt designing, internet and shopping.
The life of a T-shirt Designer
I’m a t-shirt designer, in fact I’m simply a designer, but I’ve found myself straying from the rather bland world of graphic and web design to the glitzy and glamorous world of fashion without even realising it.
I can’t say I’ve made a fortune from t-shirt design, but I will say it’s one of the most rewarding career shifts I’ve taken in my life so far. My time is split between conceiving and designing unique and original ideas for new t-shirts, and reviewing new and established t-shirt fashion labels on the Net.
My consumer market expands daily, these days savvy fashionistas realise they can make an immediate impact in any wardrobe with a few choice artistic tees, a frugal yet fashionable way to stand out from the crowd.
The beauty is there are so many sources for t-shirt design these days that you are bound to find a design you love, a design that no one you know and perhaps not even friends of your friends have yet discovered. Impact and individuality, artistic style and originality, these are the watchwords of the t-shirt fashion industry and its consumer base.
One explanation for the ‘t-shirt boom’ is a revolution in Internet technologies, with the arrival of Web 2.0, more and more websites, stores, business and consumer networks, search engines and directories realise they have to keep their audience engaged, and consequently interactivity has become the name of the game. It doesn’t really matter what you create or sell, if your potential buyers are bored they will leave.
Unlike the ‘real world’, the online shopping experience cannot rely on the vitality of human senses such as taste, touch, smell to inform their choices. Perhaps we’ll find a way in the future to replicate these essential components of the human and therefore shopping experience. Until then we have one vital advantage on the Net and that is the interactivity of community. Something unheard of in the modern world, a concept one might even describe as old fashioned, has created a revolution on the Web. The explosion in user-rated and user-generated content has changed shopping online forever.
Amazon.com and Ebay.com are the most likely pioneers in this way of selling, consumers turning to the opinions, comments and reviews of past buyers and contributing their own. The difference is that this methodology has moved far beyond seller ratings and book reviews, and I’m proud to say that the t-shirt fashion world is leading the next stage of the Internet’s development as a fully-rounded experiential shopping platform.
Until recently t-shirt designers had two choices, firstly they could set up their own independent store with ecommerce capabilities and secure hosting and hope and pray they can cover their costs. The second choice was Cafepress.com which has been running for over a decade now and provided designers a way to economically begin to sell their unique t-shirt designs to a worldwide audience, whilst keeping costs as low as possible for their consumers. The problem with Cafepress.com and Spreadshirt.com (a later arrival offering higher quality screen printed tees) is that neither offers any real quality control. Yes Cafepress.com still sells a basic white t-shirt with the design of your choice from only $9.99 but they have serious limitations on the size and placement of any contributed image. Essentially you’re talking a 10″ square box in the middle of your t-shirt, no matter what the design may look like.
Some years back a new company, formed originally as a thread on a t-shirt forum burst onto the scene, and it completely revolutionised the way that people buy fashion. Threadless.com introduced the idea of totally empowering the customer, not only enabling them to rate the current collection on sale and communicate personally with each designer, but more so, the customer can decide if a t-shirt is ever even made! Yes, before a new design is printed users of Threadless.com can vote through a 7 day process that defines the fate of every t-shirt they sell.
I can imagine a bright future for the online consumer, more and more choice, variety, control over design and production. The only problem is the rising cost of fuel. The ‘virtual shopping’ experience may always be able to compete with smaller items, but as the world runs dry, shipping expenses will become highly prohibitive. The future may be far less complicated than any of us can imagine.
Al Keser wrote this article for us. He is a New York fashionista, intrigued by the on-goings in the urban fashion scene in the Big Apple. He is writing on behalf of R.A.G., the New York clothing store which specializes in urban wear such as graphic t-shirts, plaid shorts, and baby doll t-shirts. R.A.G. was established in 1959, has 5 locations in Manhattan, including one at Times Square.
Graphic t-shirts enter the world of haute couture
It was only 15 years ago when teenagers were still seen wearing Nirvana band t-shirts showing off their adoration for the grunge band lead by Kurt Cobain. These t-shirts were seen as un-stylish, over-sized, and definitely not acceptable in any New York nightclub (not that these kids were trying to get in). That was back then. Today, brands from Armani to American Eagle carry graphic t-shirts that are both stylish and are completely acceptable elements of fashionable clothing. This has happened for many reasons, mainly due to changes in t-shirt manufacturing, but also in the mindset that it is okay to pay over $10 for a tee.
Graphic t-shirts, in general, were part of the anti-establishment culture that reigned with the grunge movement and previously with 80’s hip-hop (anyone say Run DMC?). Then came West Coast gangster rap and its series of graphic tees that idolized stars such as Tupac. Interestingly enough, we also owe these two groups for the advent of plaid as being cool.
These days, vintage tees from the 80’s – especially Run DMC’s – are sold for astronomical amounts (up to $13 000) and major fashion houses such as Armani and Ralph Lauren have began to produce graphic t-shirts with new techniques that make them fashionable and hip. New weaving techniques have made it possible to make very fine cotton, while distressed finishes allow for vintage looks to be enhanced – as seen in many American Eagle t-shirts.
What has really made graphic tees a hot item are the many 2.0 websites that have popped up – such as Threadless.com – that feature very original designs, which was rare thing back in the day. Now that a t-shirt can be a work of art and not something mass-produced, its value rises and it becomes a cool t-shirt. These new arenas are giving way for more graphic t-shirt designers to show-off their talents. They are relying on the graphic design software that is readily available – also something absent a few years ago.
New York stores now readily carry graphic t-shirts that resemble the usual Gothic style as well as abstract designs. These tees have become part of the mainstream. The market for graphic t-shirts has grown in the meantime. People are not only okay to pay a lot of money for graphic tees, they are also okay with displaying messages besides a name brand or a band name on their clothing. Now every college student wants a t-shirt that sends a message about him or herself in an original way, and be able to go out in clubs without a problem.
In the streets of New York, you will not miss the number of ironic, funny, or offensive messages delivered via graphic tee. In clubs, worn under a dress jacket, graphic t-shirts are becoming a statement. They have become what’s hot. Meantime, those anti-establishment folks have turned elsewhere. The mainstream crowd should not be far behind.
This is a nice personal story written by Elizabeth Burn, a kind entrepreneur in the vintage clothing industry.
Love for Vintage
My love for vintage began when I was a poor college student in NYC, basically out of necessity, it evolved from a hobby and passion into a business. At first my family was a little annoyed at the ‘clutter’ but after some years and much patience they are coming around, beginning to appreciate the history of a garment that has been around for many decades sometimes centuries. How important it is to care for, restore them, the quality of garments from the past and how we are keeping them from the landfills or from being exported to other countries.
When I travel I am always hunting for great finds, a vacation is never complete or satisfying unless I am rummaging through vintage & antique stores. One of my latest finds was a Victorian top, to be the proud owner of such workmanship… to be able to hold in my hands something a young woman wore in the 1800s is very exciting to me.
I have an amazing lace dress from the 30s that has to be one of the most beautiful and delicate things I have ever seen from that era. I could go on and on…
At the moment I am in the process of relocating, my store is down to the bare minimum as I’ve had not one moment’s chance to play with my dolls (mannequins) the past few weeks.
Once the dust settles next month I plan to add many wonderful things. I am really looking forward to finally featuring a fun 60’s psychedelic collection I have been hoarding for years and years, it will include a few great designers of the era. As a matter of fact, the house I am buying is a restored 60s house.
I am also in the process of opening up my own web store, you can take a peek at www. funkyvintage.com at the moment but it will be both www.figure8studio.com and www.funkyvintage.com once the ‘web doors’ are finally open.
I served on the board of directors of the Vintage Fashion Guild. I am a member of several vintage organizations including the http://evintagesociety.com we strive to sell only quality vintage and provide excellent customer service.
Jeff Knowlton wrote this exclusive article for us. He is the National Account Manager of 66North.com.
66°NORTH Ltd. is among Iceland’s oldest manufacturing companies. It was established in the year 1926 and has throughout the decades been a leading producer and innovator in the making of working clothes used on sea and land, made for the toughest outdoor working conditions on the Planet. In the past decade, 66°North has leveraged its expertise into a wide selection of outdoor clothing for sports and leisure. It has received numerous awards for its designs and marketing campaigns.
There is not Bad Weather, Just the Wrong Clothing
Even though 66 North has been in business for over 80 years, we are relatively new to the United States. Our stylish and functionable brand is instantly recognizable and has been well received stateside. That being said, along with trying to expand our retail carriers, the internet ordering system has been a huge success. Whether it is a celebrity such as Quentin Tarantino wearing our product in an interview, or sponsoring the 2007 Syndicate CMJ Conflict of Interest party, 66 North has taken great steps in promotion and sponsorship programs. These avenues help with our brand recognition, and the reward has been an increase in web orders.
The online shopping phenomenon has moved from such a term to in actuality, a commonplace form of consumerism. Everything is readily available at an instant and customers have a myriad of products to choose from. Because of this, we see a shift in the industry in regards to how products are being marketed. Outerwear marketing is geared to a slightly younger demographic, with emphasis on creating a relationship via MySpace pages, posting pictures on company websites and essentially making their online experience a bit more interactive.
Currently, all internet orders go through our Iceland office, but in a few months they will all be handled here in our New York office. As our retail distribution grows, along with the viability of ordering online, it is my belief that 66 North will make great strides in becoming a premier outerwear brand in the United States.
Veronica Cizmar, the owner of SomeLikeItVintage.com has written this article exclusively for our Weblog.
Vintage Clothing, an inspired industry
Every year consumer online shopping and spending increases. The average online purchase is now approaching $250 with consumers becoming more confident in buying higher ticket items such as electronics to cars, even homes. Online shopping has no closing time, it’s open 24/7 and retailers have significantly reduced shipping times. Loyalty programs that promote retailers offer incentives for shopping online, such as cashback, gift certificates and point redemption for merchandise.
The vintage clothing sector has benefited from this increased activity as well. Several retailers have simply closed their physical brick & mortar establishments to setup online. A worldwide customer base and less overhead expenses are a significant attraction to running an online website. With the current fashion trend of vintage clothing and vintage inspired clothing being seen on major catwalks, as well as the important efforts for saving the environment, the future for vintage websites is a healthy one!
SomeLikeItVintage.com has been selling vintage clothing & housewares online since 2005, first starting on ebay. In 2006, we re-launched with a brand new website. Establishing consumer confidence and trust is what we have successfully achieved by offering exceptional customer service.
With an online store, customer service must be assured as there is no face to face contact between consumer and retailer. Even a large, well known retailer with an encrypted, secure website needs to be re-assuring their customers. It can still be nerve wracking to make a purchase online. Not being able to actually try clothing on before a purchase is a shift in consumer behaviour and they must be able to trust the online retailer. By taking detailed photographs and listing detailed descriptions of our items, SomeLikeItVintage.com puts a consumer’s mind at ease when making an online purchase. The more information they have, the more comfortable they become while online shopping. A full refund policy also makes shopping risk free. That dress may look great in the photos but not on you! Send it back and receive a full refund, no hassles. Most, if not all shopping websites have customer service phone numbers to call if you just don’t want to key in your credit card information over the internet, but still wish to make that purchase.
During the design phase of our website, we looked at hundreds of other shopping websites. Many websites are simply not easy to navigate with too much information hitting the consumer right away. We wanted to eliminate the rush of information overload and allow our customers to get to what they wanted to see, as quickly as possible. Our filtering system allows customers to choose how they wish to browse: by price, by size, by style of garment, or simply type in a word in the search box. If a store in a shopping mall just threw all their clothes onto the racks without sorting, customers would quickly become discouraged and leave. We found many vintage sites lumping all their clothes into era-specific categories, and while this is helpful, one must sort through all the dresses to find one that would even be close in size. It simply takes too long. Our website was designed to be user friendly, efficient, safe and quick to navigate.
The owner of SomeLikeItVintage.com is a woman who has had over 20 years experience in customer servicee. No request is too small or too big to accomodate and everything possible will be done to fulfill it. She has also decided to donate 10% of all her sales to local women’s shelters in Toronto, Canada. Having been a victim of severe domestic abuse, she survived being held hostage by her fiancé for 18 months whereby he physically and mentally tortured her, trying to kill her dozens of times. He is currently serving a 15 year sentence in a Canadian prison.
As well as monetary donations, Ms. Cizmar volunteers her time at a local women’s shelter, inspiring other women and their children to be courageous and strong in the face of domestic violence. Working toward her black belt in Wado Ryu karate also keeps this busy lady physically and mentally strong!
Vintage clothing has been a longtime passion for Ms Cizmar, as well as the idea of reducing waste. Born to parents who lived through the depression, re-using, reducing and recyling was simply a way of life. Ms. Cizmar currently expands on this philosophy not just by finding fabulous vintage items to re-love, but re-creating stunning garments from vintage clothing. This private label, “Creative Vintage” gives another life to an otherwise unwearable garment. Less landfill, less waste, no emissions. Simple.
SomeLikeItVintage.com ships worldwide, and has several promotions throughout the year. Contests, free shipping days, bargain bin deals and a wonderful, large selection of vintage and retro items.
