DE-BRANDING

The Hundreds has an interesting interview with the founder of the brand formerly known as Freshjive, Rick Klotz regarding his recent de-branding of his label Freshjive.  Read the whole article here. Klotz has decided to forego using any logos and branding starting spring 2010.  According to Klotz:

“Within the streetwear culture, the promotion of a company’s brand has become downright silly to me. What’s amusing is I still really enjoy designing gear, graphics, and even logos. But when I see kids wearing company logos it reminds of people who are trying to be a part of a “tribe” or “gang”, as if they need to be part of something, which seems to go against the idea of individualism in style.”

While this may come as a surprise to some, the de-emphasis of logo identity has been around for some time. Rob Walker wrote about invisible badges in Buying In and high-end luxury brands like Christian Louboutin and Bottega Veneta have made a name for themselves by focusing on distinct patterns and materials to build brand affinity for years.

At the high-end of the market, brands have always been intended for small affinity groups rather than mass markets. These companies have created brand undergrounds where consumers need to be fully indoctrinated in the brand cultures to fully understand their subtle signalling.

Streetwear brands are similar in this sense, but until now have primarily been dominated by big logos and brand names.  Just as Klotz realized, brand preferences are becoming more individual marks of style, tied to personal expression rather than logo size. The true mark of style is the fit, cut and ability of the wearer to give life to what is being worn.

This is important because we will begin to see brands like Rick Klotz’s begin to standout by reducing their visability.  He will also begin to co-op existing brand marks into his nameless identity much the same way hip-hop borrowed from other music genres to tell more authentic stories.

(George 3.0)