Nikita Clothing

New Spring 2009 Nikita clothing is here! Look for new styles of hoodies, swimwear, and other rockstar accessories!



Buy online in the States here and here

Neff headwear 09'

NEFF was started by Shaun Neff, in Southern California during the year 2002. Growing up in California surrounded by the skate, surf and snow culture and active in those sports he always had the dream to be apart of the business side of the industry. Originally starting out as a clothing company Neff made a couple shirts and hats and the adventure began. Shaun hustled the product out of his car buying 99 cent headbands marking Neff on them with paint pens then giving them to friends as the Neff vibe began. Shaun then moved up to Utah to attend college at BYU where he then met several key individuals in the industry. The first and vital character to the NEFF story is Nate Bozung who Shaun met at the TRUE LIFE video premier and the neff-bozung relationship began. Shaun and Boznutz would buy target beanies and headbands and give them the Neff touch then give them to the biggest, dopest pros in the snow industry. Chilling with Bozung and other pros such as: Travis Rice, IIkka Backstrom, Laurie Heiskari, and skaters Lizard King and Adam Dyet he realized to get them apart of the program and not conflict with clothing sponsors the company would have to focus on headwear. NEFF HEADWEAR was born being the first authentic core snow and skate headwear company in the game. That was the genius of our move at NEFF that really allowed us to go global under a unique niche of headwear.

Neff today is supported by some of the biggest snowboarders and skateboarders in the world as well as key personalities and DJ’s across the globe. NEFF is currently located in Ventura California and is sold in most key core skate and snow shops in the world. At Neff we are all about having fun and bringing new vibe and steeze to the game. At NEFF we are always the company that shows up at the tradeshows and gets instant buzz from our product and unique style it throws out. Shaun Neff describes Neff Headwear in his own words, “we are like a gumball machine spitting out endless flavors for the World to consume.” Neff has huge plans for the future and will continue to focus on the core roots of the brand meaning HEADWEAR, which has always been and will continue to be the focus in spreading the Neff love. Thanks for the support and love
- Shaun Neff

The Benjamin Bear

The Benjamin Bear is a premium PROGRESSIVE streetwear brand that was started in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2003. This brand has a style of original uniqueness, using vivacious colors to convey the motto of “A Cultivated Mindset through Premium Progressive streetwear.” The Benjamin Bear gathers inspiration from cultivated thinkers within a given environment rather it be music, art, movies, science, or even technology. Some of those cultivated minds we have gathered consist of W. E. B. Dubois, Mahalia Jackson, and people of The Greek Period. The Benjamin Bear was started by two college friends Patrick Hill, and Brilton Berry, whose main theme was “getting money the hard way”. This theme derived from the fact that many people struggle to make it through college and have to come up with a more difficult way to make ends meet. This theme eventually molded into a model of A Cultivated Mindset. The vision of The Benjamin Bear is to sell a mindset and to redefine the style of luxury streetwear. The Benjamin Bear will create a common standard of living that illuminates ideas through personal lifestyle and culture. Therefore it is embodied no matter whether it's the clothes they wear, the magazines they read, or their entertainment enjoyments of everyday life.

Thebenjaminbear.com will take this lifestyle to a new and exciting level. We will provide clients an avenue to online wardrobes, custom, and exclusive design straight from the minds and hearts that Benjamin Bear thrives from. Once you have entered the gates of Benjamin Bear Online you will find yourself in a world of great products. As we continue to grow at an expedited rate, you will soon find exclusive product collections for yourself, your home, and learn about the Benjamin Bear style and culture. I rest assure the Benjamin Bear brand will have no boundaries when it comes to creating an street wear atmosphere of original classic luxury.

Bean Dip

Druks Paris

Dope Gear

T.I.T.S. [Two In The Shirt]

Two In The Shirt is a fresh new company with a focus on bringing tastefully provocative clothing to the forefront of fashion. The name 'Two In the Shirt' is derived from the acronym T.I.T.S., which is quite fitting considering the nature of the clothing itself.

T.I.T.S. merchandise consists of men's and women's apparel printed with original designs. Each design showcases classy prints of nude or nearly nude women.

"Like a training bra, support T.I.T.S."

Hot Air Brand On The Scene

Established in 2007, the concept of Hot Air was birthed from the creative vision of Chike Ozah (one-half of directing team, Coodie and Chike - credits include: Kanye West, Mos Def, Lela James), alongside partners Bee Nguyen (Marketing Maverick from Grand Tactics / Sound In Color), Diego Carlin (Record Executive / Creative Director -credits include: Miles Davis, Fishbone, Spacek, and Sa-Ra), Louis Yakich (Record Executive / Entrepreneur), and Duke Wu (The Meat and Potatoes Company). This quintessential group of enterprising business and design trailblazers push the envelope with Hot Air's unique and rich color palette, influenced by the tradition of air travels via ballooning.

ONLY NY SHOUT OUT

ONLY NY INC. is an independent brand based out of the West side of Manhattan that offers quality goods, released in limited quantity. By combining innovative design with quality apparel, ONLY NY strives to create classic, timeless clothing. Since 1997 we have been heavily involved with NYC's underground street culture. From years of skateboarding & writing graffiti, to sporting old school Polo and North Face, ONLY NY Embodies our roots and has been 10 years in the making. Our brand represents the hood to Park Ave. and everything in between. If you're down with New York, your down with ONLY NY.

Are The Hundreds Selling Out?

The Hundreds wants to sell but not sell out
The street-wear brand has stores in L.A. and San Francisco, a strong online presence and a solid buzz. But its clothes are aimed at skater and hip-hop subcultures, which loathe overexposure.
By Nathan Olivarez-Giles

May 26, 2009

When the founders of the L.A. clothing brand the Hundreds first met, they were unhappy law school students looking for a way out.

Six years after they started designing T-shirts to ease the boredom they felt in class, 29-year-old Bobby Kim and Ben Shenassafar are running a humming business, complete with a website, blog and their own mini-subculture out of a storefront in the Fairfax District and a warehouse near downtown.

With a second store in San Francisco and a growing buzz about their products, the pair are now confronting a classic small-business dilemma: They want to expand, and experts say they should. But they don't want to lose the hip edge that made them popular in the first place.

The Hundreds employs 30 people and sells logo T-shirts, shoes, shorts and accessories including mouse pads and wallets. The brand is a part of a fashion movement known as street wear, which typically consists of casual clothing aimed at quasi-underground subcultures such as skaters and hip-hop fans.

The company's strategy shows how word of mouth combined with a strong -- and edgy -- online presence can lead to success, especially when the target audience is young adults and teenagers.

Key to the viral nature of its marketing is the Hundreds' blog, at thehundreds.com, which Kim and Shenassafar started when the clothing line launched in 2003.

The idea, Kim said, was to create a way for young customers to feel connected to the company.

"We said, let's have it so the kids interact with us and they feel as much a part of it as we do," he said.

Updated daily by Kim, the website recently registered 1.8 million monthly page views, according to traffic-measuring site Quantcast.com.

The Hundreds shop is one of a cluster of street-wear stores to open around Fairfax Avenue, helping produce a small renaissance in the district's faded commercial area. Street-wear boutique Brooklyn Projects, near Melrose and Fairfax avenues, was the first to open in 2002.

In 2004, the New York brand Supreme arrived, followed by the Hundreds' first store in 2007. When John Earle wanted to open a West Coast store last year for his Boston brand Johnny Cupcakes, the Fairfax District was the first place he looked.

"We're making it a destination spot with these other brands popping up around there," Earle said.

On the blog, Kim writes about the bustling scene: visits to other street-wear stores, celebrities who stop by the shop, or his favorite place to get a burrito.

A blog post from Thursday features photos of model and disc jockey Anna Dang skateboarding in front of the Hundreds' warehouse.

"Young brands like this use social media to do a much better job of speaking to the customer than older, more traditional companies," said Eli Portnoy, a Los Angeles brand strategist and marketing expert. "Their blog creates a forum for exchange, which is what younger people want out of their brands nowadays."

When the Hundreds started in 2003, most street-wear brands with decades on the scene didn't have websites or blogs.

"People thought I was just corny and it was pretty nerdy to have a blog you wrote on every day," Kim said.

But as the Internet became a cultural force and blogging's popularity grew, Kim and Shenassafar seemed less and less like the odd men out. Other brands started to take notice, said Dominick DeLuca, a former VJ for MTV's "Headbangers Ball," who owns Brooklyn Projects.

"I never even heard the word 'blog' when those guys started talking to me about it," DeLuca said. "Now I blog. Everybody has a blog. You can't have a successful street-wear brand without having a blog anymore. It just doesn't make sense not to."

Propelled partly by the success of its blog, the Hundreds' sales have been growing rapidly. The company made $4.8 million in sales in 2008, up from $1.8 million in 2007 and $900,000 in 2006, Shenassafar said.

Like other street-wear brands, the company's lines feature T-shirts with bold graphics, layered pieces, strong colors on baseball caps and shoes, hooded sweat shirts and dark denims. The Hundreds products are meant to reflect a Los Angeles sensibility rooted in the 1980s and '90s, when its founders were growing up.

In the Hundreds stores, one on Rosewood Avenue and the other on Post Street in San Francisco, bright red and yellow T-shirts, green shoes and purple caps are displayed against black wooden shelves and flooring.

The Los Angeles store is small and narrow, with an art installation of a hill topped with trees and a blue sky by Los Angeles artist Tofer tucked along a wall.

The year-old San Francisco store is almost three times larger and painted black, with shelves set into Batcave-like rock walls and pillars embedded with fake stacked skulls.

Other street-wear brands have grown quite large: Irvine-based Stussy Inc., which started in 1984, has 15 stores in eight countries. Supreme started in 1994 and has seven stores: one in L.A., one in New York and five in Japan.

But the question of how far to expand is particularly tough for a company such as the Hundreds, because its success is predicated on the notion that its products are somewhat underground.

Ilse Metchek, a retail analyst and president of the California Fashion Assn., said the company faces a tough balancing act: The Hundreds needs to grow enough to remain a viable business, but not so much that it loses its street cred.

"If they focus on their core customer base, they could create long-term credibility based on the loyalty they seem to have," Metchek said.

"That limits just how big they can get. But getting too big would ruin the allure of their brand, so they have to grow and stay small. That's hard to do."

She offered as an example the Ed Hardy brand, which expanded into mainstream stores and is no longer as popular among the underground crowd.

"Street-wear brands come and go, and very few show a streak of longevity," Metchek said. "Ed Hardy started as a street-wear brand, and they expanded and they were everywhere for a while, and they're already yesterday's news. They diluted their brand."

Shenassafar said the Hundreds had been approached by department stores but had decided not to go that route.

Still, when Walt Disney Co. came calling, the partners responded, designing T-shirts, caps and hooded sweat shirts with the Lost Boys from Disney's "Peter Pan" dressed in the Hundreds gear.

"Everyone's like 'Doesn't that go against everything in your ethos?' " Kim said.

"If we can use it to our advantage -- to where the man is not using us, but we're using him to gain exposure and to make it look like we're beating Goliath -- I'm going to do it."

New Brand - Soapy Laundry

Their Manifesto:

Our best guess is that Soapy Laundry was established in the 80's and we just didn't know it at the time.

You grow up with aspirations to be the next Michael Jordan on the basketball court or the next Jerry Rice on the football field. Yet not until a person gets a few years under his/her belt do you start to realize what it took for those type of players to become elite in there respective sports.

Yes, we grew up in the 80’s playing on our Nerf basketball hoops in our rooms and riding our “BMX” bikes down the block, and throwing as many “Thrasher” stickers on our skateboards as we could find. Yet, we always had a passion to try something new and different regardless of the risk. It could have been as simple as deciding to spread sand on the cement garage floor so that when we drove the Powerwheel bike around corners, it would slide like we saw on TV. Maybe deciding to skateboard down hills in our new Nike Dunks’ and Jordan’s’ because they looked FRESH wasn’t the wisest decision (who knew they would become “Collector Items”). We were no different than any other kids in the neighborhood, videogames, pizza, strikeout baseball, tackle football, and riding BMX bikes. We never thought in a million years that when you got older the fun would suddenly stop.

Working hard in the standard 9-5 is a “Different World” so to speak. It’s like every Monday you start a countdown to Friday. Don’t get us wrong, homework, school projects, test, they were definitely hard, and at the time, we felt they consumed our entire life and sucked out all our fun. Yet compared to the adult life that was a breeze. So we decided to step in and turn up the fun again and with our powers combined (yes we watched “Captain Planet”) we created “Soapy Laundry Clothing”.

When two people with different styles have the same dream, reality sometimes can be just a phone call away. In a generation filled with collaboration we felt it was time to join together and make this happen. The garments you will see released by Soapy Laundry will be a combination of two minds creating a style for the masses. We started from the ground floor in a sense….. No… we started from the basement we weren’t even on the ground floor to start. It takes a lot of time/effort to cross all your “T’s” and dot all those “I’s”.

Thankfully we have decided to dive in head first in order to see where it leads us and have some fun while we’re at it of course. Some may feel like this is just another clothing label trying to find its way. We feel that this is more than clothing, its life telling us it’s time to be true to ourselves. Failure is not and option. We are going to stay hungry, stay motivated, and turn these 80's dreams into realities. So how SOAPY is your LAUNDRY?

“Trying to keep a dream from fading is tough; allowing a dream to fade would have been even tougher.”~ Soapy Laundry

D.I.P.T. NYC - Who's Got Beef With Kobe?

I figured I would drop a little D.I.P.T Dime on Kobe with a new design while watching the games last night. What's more exlusive that Kobe Beef? Right! Nothing!

The Hundreds Summer 09' Drops

CLAW Money - Women's OG Of Streetwear

“I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR TRENDS YOU SEE JUST EMERGING NOW- THAT I HAVE BEEN REPPING FOR LONGER THAN I CAN REMEMBER!" CLAW MONEY

Graff girl Claw Money was profiled in the two-part feature Girls on The Street in Issue 16 of the print mag. With roots in the art scene, Claw cruised into fashion putting her trademark throw up on everything from Tee’s to Sunnies.



Start by telling me who you are and how you roll?

I’m Claw Money, watch and learn bitches. I am sporty at 40, from Fresh Meadows, Queens NYC and I now reside way, way uptown! I guess graffiti propelled me into the spotlight, but I have been around forever.

How did you get your start in fashion and what led you to do your own label?

I have been working in fashion for over twenty years; I always knew I would be in this business. I have the nose for clothes! I’ve worked as a designer, stylist, costumer, fashion editor, brand consultant – I did all of this before designing and owning my own label. When you buy Claw Money, you get all this expertise! I am responsible for trends you see just emerging now- that I have been repping for longer than I can remember! I think that finally I just had to sign my products to finally get the credit due.

Historically girls streetwear labels haven’t been as popular as they are now. Did the lack of choice in the market play any role in your creating your own label?

When I started my line there was no one doing anything cool for chicks. Now we are over saturated with female brands catering to the growing, and once non-existing new women’s market. But they are not Claw Money. I think it’s a good thing because it creates a market place for our category of clothing and I no longer stand alone in the store!

So what’s Claw Moneys history? Tell me the story.

I put my first Claw on a tee-shirt at the request of friends right after 9/11. I did it as a goof, just to do it, but the demand grew. The stores couldn't keep them in stock and I thought: "I could really make a go of this!"

There's just no other brand with a point of view like mine, and I began to realize that people were interested in my vantage point.

My first collection was in 2002, now it’s 2009- seven years going strong. I do three collections a year so Spring 2009 will be my 21st collection! Holler!

Where does your inspiration come from when you’re designing? Do you scour the streets, or markets, or magazines or do you just dream?

Everything and everyone inspires me...the homeless man wearing a cool, weird hat, the little baby wearing a crazy, printed blanket, and of course the fabulous people who walk around with fancy clothing on. Nature and art influence me too – it is hard to say something does not.

What’s up for your next collection?

The brand is about morphing my claw into unexpected applications. This collection is all about fun and being in your face – the same as all the others, but with a modern twist.

What has been your fave piece you’ve ever made?

I get sick of stuff so easily, as soon as it catches on – I am on to the next thing. I love all the stuff I do, so I have no favorites! I love that I help mold this industry and have made a viable avenue for women in this market.

Do you see your label still producing rags in 5 years? Or do you think your current success is a product of the present wave and popularity of womens street wear?

I was here before it was a trend and will be here when it ends. My brand is not confined to streetwear. I make artist products and that will never change. I have about ten different jobs, some bring in money and some bring in none. I really like to do different things. Today I might be making clothes and two years from now I might start making furniture – or designing house wares. I consider my life a journey of artistic endeavors and am luckily to have a fan base that wants my products, whatever they might be... so stay tuned!

How do you handle the demanding timetable of being an international fashion designer? Is it all that you expected it to be?

My life is exhausting. I am preparing for a big art show this summer. There are not enough hours in the day for all that I do. I need a clone, and fast! I have always been a hard worker so this is not new to me. I am an OG.

What’s your fave part about designing as well as your most hated?

Favorite part is actually making something awesome and most hated is paying for production! Being an indie brand keeps you broke! Fun but broke.

What do you see as street fashions most pressing issue moving forward?

Too many wack brands popping up and flooding the streets with eyesores.

Do you think that the competition is thick out there? Do you not look at what others are doing?

What competition? There are other brands but they are not Claw Money, don’t get it twisted. This is the real deal, not a marketing strategy. I might be the only “female” brand that makes clothes for dudes too!

How do you measure your own success? Runway shows, a sell out collection, international press or just seeing your threads on a missy on the street?

I experience all those things on a daily basis but they are just part of the job.

I say do what you love and let the rest follow. Do it to do it and not to make money. When you are doing something just for financial gain (particularly in street art right now) it smacks of fraudulence. If someone had told me fifteen years ago that I would make a living off my graffiti throw up, I would have laughed in their face. My attitude was like: "I do this because that's what I do." Now the world is a different place. When I started there was a small female voice - in both graff and streetwear, that voice is getting louder and I am continuing to carry that torch.

There was a bit of a hiatus of fresh womens labels prior to ‘06. Comment? Historically, what brands were you into before this nu wave of female street wear hit the racks?

I guess I am not up on it. I live in a bubble. I think there is room for everyone and hope that more girls will feel inspired to do it themselves. Ladies stand up.

What other brands are you into? Is there any particular labels that you think are creating particularly dope threads right now?

Fashion is kind of boring right now. This recession is killing creativity! I love so many brands – too many to name! Some are Jeremy Scott, Brian Litchenberg, Cassette Playa – the trend setters.

What’s your personal definition of style? What makes you turn your head on the street when you see a hot girl or guy?

Style is something that is natural and not contrived. You can buy all the latest fashion in the land but still have no style. My style is downtown trying to CLAW uptown! Ghetto meets Couture, Dirty vs Clean, Expensive vs Cheap. Funny, loud and pretty all at once!

Do you have a particular affinity for colour, or fabric, or cut? Were you college trained or self taught?

I love color, the brighter the better. Why would you want to blend in and look like the rest? I love natural fabrics such as cotton, linen and wool. Cuts change as often as fashion does. And I might change my mind about all this later!

I am a fashion college drop out and was raised on the street by wolves! I learned by working, watching and being mentored by some very talented people. I have been working for a long time and I am no kid - but still feel like one. I am too young to be old and too old to be young – shit!

What sort of clothes did you wear as a kid? And who in the world would you most like to dress?

My parents were not into fashion at all. They forced me to wear things I didn’t like which turned me into a fashion junkie. Coveting things I would never have and obsessing over them. When I started making my own money I had to have everything that my heart desired. Now I have all these things and could really care less. They were right all along. It’s just stuff!

As Claw Money go from strength to strength make sure you keep ahead of the 8 ball on their movements by bookmarking their website clawmoney.com. They also have a blog titled blogue which stays fresh on the daily.

Toy Machine - Spring 09'

DROPPPPPPPPP

Hot Chicks On Wolves T-Shirt

It does not get much better than this! Just like a Tarantino movie, it's bloody, tacky, sexy, and inexplicably awesome. The Hot Chicks On Wolves T-Shirt ($18) is everything you wish your weekend camping trips were like. Bikini-clad women, riding rabid wolves while destroying the forrest and killing helpless animals. Pass the smores and watch the show.

Lil Wayne Contest Winners - Design By Humans