Since this is a lifestyle blog, and you can’t go through life without some dope beats on your mp3 player of choice, make sure to peep this freshness:

www.rankynbass.com

It’s a smooth mix of uk funky, bassline, garage, deep dubby beats and ragga / dancehall. Reminds me of some speed garage and hard soca even. Either way, this one is on loop at the clapback office these days! Get on it!

Street Stealth LA = Hitler’s Personal Army ?

Street Stealth LA clothing

I will keep this to the point and let historical facts speak for themselves. Anyone who has a smidgen of intelligence has heard of Hitler, the Third Reich and the infamous SS. Their logo is one of the most poignant  images ever created by man, and connotes unspeakable horrors and the genocide of millions.

Taken from wikipedia:

The  Schutzstaffel (help·info) (German for “Protection Squadron”), abbreviated SS—or  (Runic)—was a major Nazi organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. The SS grew from a small paramilitary unit to a powerful force that served as the Führer’s “Praetorian Guard,” the Nazi Party’s “Shield Squadron” and a force that, fielding almost a million men (both on the front lines and as political police), managed to exert as much political influence in the Third Reich as the Wehrmacht, Germany’s regular armed forces. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS, under Heinrich Himmler’s command, was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Nazis during World War II, and most of the particularly egregious ones. READ MORE

Here is a clear image of their “logo”:

Here are t-shirt “designs” by the clothing company Street Stealth LA:

As if the intended usage of one of the worst images you could think of is not enough, there is an added elements of drips, which just happen to be red and highly reminiscent of blood (on the white tee). Are they joking ? What kind of perverse and sick person would ever dare to put that on a shirt ? They claim they are almost sold out, so it is even worse that people are buying this. It is beyond disgusting and so hugely offensive, that i call upon all you people with a common sense to not only boycott this company but to send them a stern email on their more than serious “misstep”, granted it is one, and this is not some undercover white power movement. Take a stand and make it clear that we, the people, refuse to accept this sort of fascist propaganda on garments, whether or not it was intentional. This is not a joke!!! MILLIONS of people died at the hands of the SS! It is not any sort of statement besides a symbol of hate and thus completely inexcusable. We are all one people and we have to fight hard to keep tolerance and respect for all creeds, sexualities, religions etc. in our society in order to create a positive world. Do not let people and “companies” step on this vision and misuse images of horrors that actually took place a mere 65 years ago  for a FUCKING T-SHIRT!

Street Stealth Website: http://streetstealthla.com/?page_id=38

Street Stealth Contact: info@ streetstealthla.com

We were sent two tees by this California based company, so here’s the scoop. I want to review this company in two ways: the first one purely fashion based, the second purely based off of their “philosophy” which they tried to convey on their website. Let’s start with the gear: they make 6 t-shirts. This is not a “collection”, sorry!  But hey, we’re in a recession, and everyone’s cutting down. So let’s move forward from that, but it had to be said, that this is nowhere near a complete line. I do have to say though, these are dope designs. I like almost the entire “line”….i wasn’t blown away, but i like them. We were sent these two:

Maybe i’m jaded cause i just watched “Tyson”, an amazing documentary about Iron Mike, so i loved that design. A nice two tone, pixelated, interesting design. Straightforward, clean and simple. Not much more to add. The “Old Dirty Bastard is in heaven” tee is a bit silly, i mean is he really ?, but it’s a cool way to rep for all the fans, ODB as we knew him: dirty. I don’t know what the source was for the original picture and i have to laugh at ODB ever being an angel, but hey, for the fans, this is a cool RIP tee. Both prints were nicely done, on a fairly standard tee, with details being the logo on the left sleeve as well as a printed logo and details inside the neck. Not much more and no prints on the back. All in all, i’d rock either one a few times, definitely the Tyson one.

Since this is a small “line”, i  might as well feature all the other designs as well:

I like the logo, but in general not a fan of rockin’ logo tees, the lion design reminiscent of stukko or ornamental decorations on and inside of old buildings, has been done to death by the likes of Green Apple Tree and similar, but the fishscale design as well as the “Real Men Wear Black” (really?) are very nicely executed. Once again clean and simple, yet geometrically intricate, interesting layouts and classy enough to be rocked with a blazer, these really represent the highlights of the “collection” to me. All in all, there is not one tee that i did not like, it’s a solid start, and i hope they will be able to translate their clean t-shirt designs into a full line of cut and sew and other articles. Best of Luck!

I do have to talk about this company’s mission statement a little, as well as their website. Though it’s layed out quite nicely, the very first picture is a congregation of muslims praying in a mosque. Though the logo is a pretty straight rip from the turkish flag (the owner’s name looks spanish to me so i am not sure what the connection is there), i see the connection to the muslims praying but then again, that is religion you’re bringing into the picture, and that already turns me off right off the bat. Keep that out of streetwear. There is no need for it and nowhere else on this site are you making any sort of religious reference, so this is just completely unnecessary. Another thing: here is an excerpt from the mission statement…

“Produced in California and currently focusing on men’s clothing, the Apollo Kids’ line is a reflection of who we were, who we are and who we what to be (the past, present and future). Each design represents a significant influence on the Apollo Kids, which could be anything from music to the arts to social issues. Admittedly the line is only a tool to support a greater cause.

The Apollo Kids’ main cause is to motivate and support individuals to make the world the way they see fit. Whether that’s politically, artistically, spiritually, environmentally, it does not matter, as long the individual recognizes his/her own strengths and passions and utilizes them to the fullest. In essence…”

So your influences are Tyson and Old Dirty Bastard. Fair enough. But what social issues are you addressing ? And if this line is only a tool to support a greater cause, which cause is that ? Where is my money going ? I’d love it if this was some sort of charity i’m supporting but please don’t spew out big ideas with no support whatsoever. And if your main cause is to “motivate and support individuals to make the world as they see fit, whether it’s politically, (…), spiritually, environmentally….” what exactly are you referring to ? Are you fighting the pollution of the oceans ? Who are you supporting politically ? And what do you mean “it does not matter” ??? Are you out of your mind ? IT MATTERS VERY MUCH!!! The KKK is really only a group of individuals making the world as they see fit. Do you support them as well ? This is such a wishy washy all over the place statement, you’re much better off to just say: “I love design. Here are some cool tees.” Don’t try to make it something bigger without having any details to back what the hell you’re saying. To quote Mr. Chappelle: “When keeping it real goes wrong!”

Last piece of advice: don’t sell one color prints at $32 dollars a tee, and please tell us on your site which stores you’re in. Best of luck, the clapback will keep watchin ya!

Check out:

http://www.apollokidsonline.com/

Keep this company on yer radars, peoples!

We were recently hit up by this NYC clothing company to review some of their shirts, so i finally got around to take some time and check out their new line, website and write ups. I’m gonna start with the website, because right off the bat it gave me trouble starting this article: Their main site is clean, easy to navigate, but a bit unimaginative and bordering on boring. I did want to copy and paste their Brand Statement here, but couldn’t…why ? cause it’s a flash site! Ok here is a quick lesson: when you have a brand, especially a smaller one, you want people to copy and paste things off of your site…text, pics..all of that. It helps your stuff pop up everywhere, and when your site is simple to begin with, why even bother with flash ? Ok so that being said, i quote from their email:

“The Bonafide Icon brand was presented in 2005, based out of NYC. The name “Bonafide Icon” means being recognized and held in honor among the elites. The brand stems from the different elements of the New York lifestyle. Bonafide Icon has adopted the phrase “League Leaders” and uses influences from music, art, movies, sneakers and pop culture and infuses them into graphics with a strong sports emphasis. With this, Bonafide Icon’s hard work results in the mixture of innovative, dynamic concepts and creative graphics.”

Now to say it in a few words: this line is about sports, and sport icons. Basically, if you’re a famous athlete, you’re an icon, and no one can dispute that, and this line appeals to the sport fans who wanna look a bit fresher than simply rockin jerseys or lame fan shop articles.

I was also sent a description of every shirt, but i rarely read them because in my mind, the shirt has to stand on it’s own. It’s like a piece of art: the story behind it should only enhance the impact, not be the meat and the foundation. Especially, because it means something different to everyone and inspiration is the opposite end of result. That being said, this is a line for sports enthusiasts, who like specific sports icons.

When that is clear in the shirt, the shirt ends up working, makes sense and looks dope.

Such as these two tees, which are hommages to the boxing greats as well as clyde frazier:

UNDISPUTED TEE

CLYDE TEE:

I do enjoy these tees, because they’re concise and clear. You know what you’re getting, and it’s either for you or it’s not. And the brand message is clearly reflected.

This is exactly what i’m missing from the other designs. I see the connection but the designs themselves seem hastily put together and just don’t look good. The message is unclear, and the design is poorly executed. A few examples….

Pro Stars Tee: I don’t get it. Lame design

Point Gods Tee: Ok a bunch of great point guards. I guess for the hardcore basketball fans ? Designwise, it’s boring.

Showtime Tee: Now this is pretty cool. Definitely ironic, made me smile remembering the movie….but this is a fictional character…how does this relate to honoring the great athletes above ? This does not fit at all! The design makes sense though, cool ironic tee. Would rock it once, but that’d be it. It’s purely for that instant smile, but gets stale pretty quickly. And peoples: the 80’s trend has passed. You still see it out there, but come on. Let’s keep it moving…

There are some logo based tees and a hat, not really worth mentioning (check website links at the end).

I did save the best for last though! Now this design comes in a tee and in sweatshirt, and it’s fucking dope! A nice stab at the overpaid yankees and really nicely put together (maybe i got that wrong, but that’s how i see it! now if i would’ve read the shirt description it might have been something completely different but hey, i don’t see t-shirt descriptions hanging in stores, so i treat the tees as if they were hanging on a rack someplace):

Salary Cap Tee & Sweater:

Those are fresh! Good times. Would totally rock those to the ballpark….The Mets one that is!

All in all it seems like this company is on the right track. They have a goal in mind and appeal to the sports fans amongst the streetwear heads. There aren’t many other companies doing this. I like that they managed to hit the concept dead on with a few shirts, really making icons of their favorite athletes and allowing their clientele to look fresh promoting their love for sports. Everyone has a favorite team and is a boy / girl at heart with the wide eyed amazement we have for what seem like superhuman feats at times. It’s not quite developed yet though and some of the designs are pretty boring (stop making logo based tees! seriously, what is the point ? branding does not work for small timers, be original! especially during these, often hard, times…).

Check out their site and online store:

http://www.bonafideicon.com/

http://www.bonafideicon.com/shop.htm

Definitely keeping Bonafide Icon on the Radar (great name as well!). And so should yoy!

Clapback out!

Teruo Artistry (awesome name!) is an interesting new brand from the Bay Area. My very first impression is that of a brand that is still somewhat trying to find themselves but are off to a good start. The idea behind the brand is a combination of being rather general, yet also thought out. What i mean by that is that i really liked their story (the name is the first name of the owner’s grandfather, read the whole story here: http://www.teruo.com/company.html) but their mission statement is a bit vague and sounds like some page filler most labels write (we didn’t like what we saw, we made our own, we’re creating something from nothing bla).

Their designs are clean, using nice coloring and a bit going against what is popular right now: their prints are rather small, in comparison with the full front prints or allover prints that flood the market at the moment. I’m a bit torn, since i like the idea, and their designs are simple yet expressive buuuut nothing new. A microphone, a boombox, a grammophone, a tape, a speaker…all elements of design we’ve seen a thousand times over. I guess it’s part of a lot of people’s lives (we all love music, we wanna rep where we’re from) but i don’t see a lot of originality from a purely iconic point of view. I do have to admit though that the colors are nicely put together, the designs are very clean and there is an undeniable Teruo look. I always appreciate lines that are put together well:

SOURCE: http://store.teruo.com/tshirts-2.aspx

They did send us the LIFE IN STEREO shirt though and i must say: excellent printing (very smooth), nice details (inside print, lining, embroidery on the back, sleeve print) and something i have never seen done before…..and i’ll quote “No Two Prints alike, handpicked fabric from around the world uniquely accents each print”. To clarify, there is a piece of fabric stitched into the back of each tee (near the bottom), that is unique with each tee. I am not sure how that would work, especially once you start selling 100’s then 1000’s of units, yet it’s still a really cool idea. I’m sure you’ll find some tees with the same patterns…i don’t really want to spend too much time speculating…still a fantastic idea which has not been done before (that i know of). Here are some pics i took and what i grabbed from their site:

All around dope shirt, interesting approach. Great way to stand out from the pack!

They also make 1 hoodie, which i don’t like design wise, it’s a bit cheesy and the gun design has been overdone, but once again, very nicely put together with printed stitched and woven details, colorful and on a clean dark background. So for those down with that design, this would be a dope hoodie to get, it’s a matter of personal taste, but you simply cannot deny the love for details and quality:

Last but not least they also make hats. One thing i don’t think is effective, is for younger companies to put their logo on hats, without any other adornments or in any other funky way. The brand is not strong enough yet for kids to rock simply the logo, even though it’s nice and clean, it’s smarter to focus more on design and have more interesting hats than just a majority of purely logo based ones. In Teruo’s case, they have too many logo hats and not enough design ones, but the two hats that are not just the logo are DOPE! Pure freshness. Check it:

This also comes in a brown / yellow sun colorway. Very, very nice usage of the logo and japanese influenced design. I was blown away.

In closing, this is a really cool up and coming brand, keep your eyes peeled. I’m interested to see how they develop their designs, and maybe add some more unique symbols. I highly recommend their website, it’s easy to browse, has a bunch of cool info in their blog (regularly updated!) and though i am not too hype on every single item, the line looks nicely put together, makes sense within their mission statement and could easily fit into a highly specialized streetwear shop or simply a skate / record store. Keep it comin’ Teruo! And send us some of those fresh hats

Make sure to hit up:

http://www.teruo.com/blog/b.html

TMTBox Media has taken the time to scour the internet for what’s hot and what’s not when it comes to streetwear and put together a list of the Top 50 Streetwear Blogs on the web and has selected The Clapback as part of that list.

A big thank you to TMTBox Media!

And of course to all the haters, because without them, we wouldn’t roll out of bed in the morning to make fun of them. We’re proud to keep it rollin, and being recognized for speaking the truth and sticking to what’s real.

To check out the list and to read more check out:

http://www.tmtbox.com/50-streetwear-blogs

Recently we were sent a t-shirt from this self-proclaimed “Luxury Fashion” label, called CASSIDA, from Austria. Now to be fair i have to head up this review with the fact that i personally don’t wear high fashion items, and i usually think they are overpriced and overrated. And i still believe that after reviewing Cassida, BUT i must say their stuff is extremely nice.

First of all the Shirt came in a custom box, with a very nice letter on custom stationery hand-signed by the CEO and highly elegant gloss printed catalog. This alone made a statement of quality, care and love for the product. I was impressed right away.

First thing that i was interested in though was the actual shirt.

The garment feels very soft, the printing is extremely precise and i don’t even know how many colors and shadings were employed. The attention to detail and color in printing, including beautiful gold flake ink, was truly stunning. In addition this shirt had sewn in metal parts and the stitching was custom all around. Really a high quality product i must say. Upon inspecting the box and browsing through the catalog, this attention to details is applied everywhere: whether it’s the photography, the design or the coloring, it’s sharp, precise and clean.

My first impression of the actual shirt design was “what is this ?”. I didn’t quite like it, and i’m still not quite sold, it’s a bit too over the top in my opinion. I don’t quite get the concept, Cassida being the latin term for a roman soldier helmet. I get the strife for elegance and maybe nobility, in the choice of colors (the dark red was a sign of nobility in ancient Rome and Gold, well gold is gold) and in adding rhinestones and other physical items to the shirt but all in all it’s missing that certain freshness. That almost undefinable quality that merges regular street clothes with elegance and in your face (or even subtle) “hotness”. It’s hard to describe, what i’m trying to get at is that the impact itself was not as strong as the quality of the shirt.

Also it runs a bit small, not every man can rock this, and to be honest it’s quite metrosexual, almost feminine. Some guys can pull that off, but i personally couldn’t nor would i ever want to wear a shirt in that style. To each their own, but the rest of the collection is quite similar. No man’s man shirt in sight (not that that’s what i am, but sometimes i prefer dressing that way!). I guess the gay pride flag in the t-shirt design should have given me a heads up, and combined with the whole gladiator theme, it seems that this might be their target market, i am not sure. The other designs do not hint at that. Oh well, this is in the realm of speculation at this point so back to the review.

I reviewed their website (http://www.cassidashop.com) which is easily navigable, simple, clean and looks good. BUT then i got to the shop and looked at the prices. Shirts range from 85-120 euros…for a t-shirt. That is definitely excessive, but i can see where the money goes on the shirt. So much quality in the manufacturing has to come at a price, but yeah, still overpriced in my opinion. The brand is not quite strong enough to support that kind of pricing.

Also i was disappointed that there were merely 6 t-shirts for men and 3 for women. That is definitely not enough to be a CLOTHING brand, more a fancy t-shirt company. I would like to see some denim, and more tops, maybe some nicely stitched blazers could round it out. But yeah, definitely not enough.

All in all, if you are into the designs and have the money to spend, you will get a fantastically manufactured product, that is for sure! It’s really a matter of taste, style and pocketbook. Not for me, but the interested customer will get a slightly overpriced, but carefully crafted shirt.

Will keep my eye on them, this could still develop into a great streetwear brand, it definitely needs some time, we shall see.

Stumble It!

I’ve been eyeballing this company for months now. Every time i see these kicks in stores i never just browse over them, but they have made me stop and check them out every time. Since they are a bit pricy (average ~ $130 in stores) i usually set them back down but finally got around to it and picked up two pairs. Both are the Russell model, one grey one with leather / fabric combo and the other all leather:

I have to say as a sneaker enthusiast i was relieved to find out that they fit very comfortably (a bit narrow, so you wide footed people out there: this might not be for you), the leather is treated thus soft so it doesn’t pinch your feet when wearing them and they are somewhat robust against scuffs and regular street dust. They look very clean and classy, and can be worn everyday and look sick with some nice denim. they can easily also fit classier outfits like a blazer / tshirt combo.

I also like the color details, that really enhance the overall color of the shoe, like the purple tag on the black shoe above. i have not tested them for endurance but they seem sturdily manufactured so i see them lasting a bit since all the parts are stitched, not glued together.

After checking out their website (http://www.clae.com) i discovered that they make all sorts of different styles, from slip-ons to low and high cuts, some more sporty, some more elegant but they all share the same attributes: clean designs, simple colors, nice materials and all around sleekness. I think they are better than creative recreation footwear which tends to sometime look too high fashion, too slim and the men shoes sometimes look like women sneakers.

So if you want a classy sneaker that convinces through simple style, get on them clae’s!