30. Blow Out
1. He was right. Artists and designers exist because the world isn’t good enough. There’s always an edge to round out, a wrinkle to flatten. If you give creative people a project, they will never be done with it. It’ll never be perfect; they will find room for improvement, even if it’s imaginary. And once a deadline cuts them off and forces a final result, they will be bored of it. Even if the world has yet to enjoy it, to the author the work is dead.
2. A nod to Adam Bomb’s colors.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS!
Thank you for reading my book.
Thank you, God, for your grace and mercy.
Thank you, Marc Gerald. You were the first person to truly believe that I could and should author a book. You gave me permission to give myself permission. That means a lot.
Thank you, Sean McDonald. You’ll never totally appreciate how much you’ve changed my life. It was an honor to work with you and Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Talk about a collaboration!
Thank you, Ben Shenassafar, for letting me speak on behalf of both of us. Our stories are forever intertwined through The Hundreds. The best things we ever made together were our partnership and friendship.
Everybody asks how I accomplish so much with so few hours in the day. There is a simple explanation. My team is superior. Thank you, Patrick Hill, Joey Gonzalez, Ceilidh MacLeod, and Scotty iLL, for your work behind the scenes. You never get the glory and credit you deserve, but you deserve all the accolades.
And thank you to everyone at The Hundreds, past and present. I hope you look back on your life and remember your time with us as significant.
A big thank-you to Anna Shinoda, Holly Madison, and Iva Pawling for your guidance and encouragement along the book-writing process. If anyone hates this book, blame these people above.
Thank you, Alyasha Owerka-Moore, Ben Cheung, and Dominick DeLuca. Big brothers. Mentors. There is no word to express how important your support has been to Ben and me and The Hundreds’ story.
I lost a number of beautiful friends in the two-year span of working on this book. Even if I didn’t name them, please know that they contributed to this story. Rest in power: Jimmy Briggs, CJ Tambornino, Chris Garcia, Merf Osborne, Lauren Ozen, Chester Bennington, Stevie Ryan, and Nipsey Hussle.
Thank you to my parents; thank you to my brothers, Larry and Jimmy. I know I never say it enough, but I love you. Banzai!
To my true love and best friend, Misa, you never doubted me. You just wanted me to be happy, and you trusted everything would fall in place. I am living the life of my dreams because of you. I’m coming home.
Kalen and Barrett, I did this for you. I can’t wait to read your stories one day.
Hey, Abe, I did it.
A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bobby Kim, also known as Bobby Hundreds, is an illustrator, documentarian, designer, and writer. In 2003, he cofounded The Hundreds, a global men’s streetwear brand and editorial platform, with Ben Shenassafar and a few hundred bucks. The two are also partners in Second Sons, a brand-development group that incubates, structures, and facilitates other small businesses. Bobby lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two sons. He also feels like notes about the author are redundant for memoirs. You can sign up for email updates here.
Thank you for buying this
Farrar, Straus and Giroux ebook.
To receive special offers, bonus content,
and info on new releases and other great reads,
sign up for our newsletters.
Or visit us online at
us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup
For email updates on the author, click here.
CONTENTS!
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
DEDICATION
Prologue
PART ONE: Stay True but Don’t Stay Put
1. Welcome to Hell
2. Inspiration. Aspiration. Perspiration.
3. Rivercide
4. Step Out
5. Outside the Box
6. Streetwear: A Brief History
7. Escape to Los Angeles
8. Rising Son
PART TWO: Set Up the Upset
9. Burn
10. Kill ’Em Mall
11. In Good Company
12. Fanning the Flames of Content
13. Get Up Kids
14. Upside Down and Backward
15. Upset the Setup
16. The Hardest Part
17. The Black Tarp Strategy
18. Fight Back
19. Outside the Lines
20. Allover
21. We Don’t Build Stores. We Build Stories.
22. Blow Up
23. Boom
24. Abe
PART THREE: Passion and Patience
25. Big Deal
26. Don’t Get Me Wrong
27. Point Proven
28. Sometimes It Takes Some Time
29. Dear Mom
PART FOUR: People over Product
30. Blow Out
31. End of Daze
32. The Rear View
33. Homecoming
34. Lauren’s Lesson
Epilogue
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
NOTES
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR
COPYRIGHT
MCD
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
120 Broadway, New York 10271
Copyright © 2019 by Bobby Kim
All rights reserved
First edition, 2019
Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to reprint the following material:
Lyrics from “Straight Edge,” written by Ian MacKaye, James Baker, Jeffrey Nelson, and Lyle Preslar, © 1981 Minor Threat Music (BMI), administered by Rough Trade Publishing (BMI).
Lyrics from “Out of Step,” written by Ian MacKaye, James Baker, Jeffrey Nelson, and Lyle Preslar, © 1983 Minor Threat Music (BMI), administered by Rough Trade Publishing (BMI).
Names: Hundreds, Bobby, 1980– author.
Title: This is not a T-shirt / Bobby Hundreds.
Description: First Edition. | New York : MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, [2019]
Identifiers: LCCN 2018056437 | ISBN 9780374275792 (hardcover)
Subjects: LCSH: Hundreds, Bobby, 1980– | Businesspeople—United States—Biography. | New business enterprises—United States. | Branding (Marketing)—United States.
Classification: LCC HC102.5.H85 H86 2019 | DDC 338.7/687092 [B] —dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018056437
E-book ISBN: 978-0-374-71835-0
Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at [email protected].
www.mcdbooks.com • www.fsgbooks.com
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at @mcdbooks
Certain names have been changed whether or not so noted in the text.
This Is Not a T-Shirt Page 27
