The Name Game

A friend of mine once said "a shirt is like a walking billboard" and it's hard not to believe that. 

I've been working at Hennes & Muaritz also known as H&M for a little over a year and it doesn't surprise me that so many of our customers asked if we had a shirt with the "H&M" logo on our clothing. Well, first off, we aren't exactly the most expensive store in the mall, but I wouldn't compare the company to any hole in the wall store either. In fact, we carry names like David Beckham brand underwear and on occasion, feature a collab artist, the most recent being Maison Martin Margiela. Some of you may have heard him from Kanye's lyric "What's that Jacket Margiela?" H&M is an affordable clothing store and people are proud to wear our clothing. So much that they would want to wear a piece of clothing that shows that it is from, just as they would sport their Vans, Levi's, and Nike clothing. Unlike all those other top brands, we really don't show off that a piece of clothing belongs to us outside our door.

Brands have a huge relation to our generation today. Now, not talking about the big name brands since it's already a given, but many local artists have been using their talents and todays technology to get their names out their in the world. The most recent story that automatically popped into my head was how Orly Locquiao, owner of Humble Beginnings Tattoo and Cukui created a shirt dedicated to 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Released just in time for the superbowl, Cukui's little store in San Jose's Japantown was flooded with customers wanting this shirt. With just a few photos of credibility from Kaep himself, Orly was given so much publicity and there were over 1000+ orders made after the release. I'm excited for Cukui and the rate that they're going up in popularity, but at the same time, I'm scared that they may raise the prices of their one of a kind shirts.
Photos borrowed by their instagram @cukui