Brand? No. Or, more honestly: Brand No.

Check out an article on The Hundreds ("now in its 6TH year, The Hundreds is a 2-part lifestyle project that houses both a clothing line and online-magazine") on the no brand brand. It's a little much for me. You know, one of those things that makes me feel like a crotchety old lady since my patience for hip and irreverent seems to be quickly fading with age.

Here's an excerpt of the interview with Rick Klotz, who the author labels as the "owner/designer of some of our generation’s most iconic brands, including Freshjive, RMK, and Warriors of Radness." What Rick says here makes me think making t-shirts is getting too serious (a feeling I often have about design, in general):

"Throughout the years I’ve become uncomfortable with this business of branding and brand identity. I’m not the type of person that buys something for the brand name. I’ve also never done a very good job at creating a captivating identity to our own brand logo. Also, 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."

This strikes me as the definition of biting the hand that feeds you - a dis on the people who wear your stuff. In addition, this interview is on a blog that self-defines as "a lifestyle project" which sounds suspiciously like a very branded life that involves a lot of careful dressing and posturing.

I get tired thinking about the constant quest for cool, but it drives an industry and something has got to keep capitalism alive.