Fountain of Yus - #011
Bonjour, hope the start of the year has been good for you all so far. How are those resolutions going? Remember progress isn’t linear. We’ve moved to substack now, to build our community!
Streetwear brands get into the festive spirit
Over the festive season, many streetwear brands gave back to their community. Starting off with Trapstar, who had a giveaway in their hometown of Shepherd’s Bush. The brand gave away not only clothing but also essential items including cereal, flour, canned food and turkeys too. I see this as an act of humility and gratitude, giving back to the community that supported them first.
The same goes with Nigerian skate brand Motherlan. Now based in London, the Motherlan team returned to their hometown, Lagos, to give away pieces from the brand, skateboard decks and clothes from other highly sought-after brands like Supreme. Considering these brands are inaccessible in the African region, this is a truly heartful notion and one that reflects the team is still in touch with their roots, remembering where they come from as they were once in the shoes of the people they’re now treating.
Lastly, Corteiz returned to Lagos to give away limited edition Corteiz ‘No Carry Last’ t-shirts, the giveaway proved the brand’s global status as swarms of people chased the Corteiz team around in hopes of grabbing a tee.
Streetwear brands are showing that your relationship with your audience can’t just be transactional nor one-way, there needs to be a value exchange beyond them just buying from you — a value exchange that reflects your awareness and gratitude for their support.
Remember, some of your supporters can't actually obtain your brand, but that doesn’t mean they don’t love your brand. In fact, I’d even go as far as to say that your biggest supporters are those who advocate for your brand even though you’re inaccessible to them.
Let's talk about Alhan Gençay’s P45
Popular internet sensation, Alhan, launched P45 towards the end of last year, a gaming platform. What makes P45 so great is that it is not a platform for the hardcore gamer but rather the casual one, placing a lens on the gamer the gaming industry often ignores. I myself wouldn’t say I’m a gamer, but I definitely play games, operating within that tension point is what makes P45 so good.
Using his cultural kudos, Alhan has attracted a host of well-known personalities for a wide range of gaming experiences, including Potter Payper, Headie One, Lippy Lickshot and Nines to name a few. Through the guests they bring onto the show, P45 breaks the stereotype of what a gamer looks like, as we can see that even the people you perceive through a certain mould game too.
I’m excited to see what P45 has in store for us in 2023 and beyond.
Corteiz Swoosh the World
The day people thought would never arrive just did and it took the world by storm. Corteiz has collaborated with a major brand and it's the major brand of them all, Nike. Having previously collaborated with fellow streetwear brands such as Motherlan and SOHO Yacht club and artists Central Cee and Meekz, many thought these would be the sort of collabs the brand would limit itself to, due to the brand values being rebellious, independent and anti-establishment. Equally the brand has grown without the use of paid influencers and media, so people were somewhat justified in their assumptions. Now that the time has come, we can assume that it happened on Clint's terms, due to the foundational principles Corteiz possesses.
With Nike previously clashing with collaborators over concerns around creative freedom, I doubt the same issues will arise with this link-up.
Simply put, one could argue that the collaboration is more beneficial for Nike than it is for Corteiz. For Corteiz this is a collab that leads the streetwear brand into a new plateau, while for Nike this is a move that ensures cultural relevance with a generation it may have been losing hold of in recent times, due to brands like Corteiz stealing their market share and capturing the imagination of a generation.
It will be interesting to see how the rollout of the collaboration will be executed. With guerilla marketing being one of the primary strengths of Corteiz and Nike investing heavily into building a phygital future after its acquisition of RTFKT, so much mystery still surrounds the collab, so many questions remain unanswered. Who dictates the rollout? Will the drop be released on a site you can only access via a password? Will the collaboration include digital pieces too? Much is up in the air and that’s part of what makes this collab so exciting.
For Nike, this collaboration is a testament to them always being ahead of the curve. While many wondered if Corteiz would ever do a collab with a major brand, Nike just did it. For Corteiz this collab signifies a paradigm shift, as Clint himself once said “you can never grow ‘enough’, especially by yourself”. It'll be interesting to see what comes after this, I personally wouldn’t rule out a runway collab in the future.
STEELO taps into its Lagos community.
STEELO, a cultural creative platform based in London with key hubs in LA, wider Europe and Lagos, linked up with their Lagos community over the festive period, to give away products from trainers to jewellery. This giveaway was unique to others as it incorporated Web3 elements. The event was announced via the STEELO discord channel but members had to use their $STEELO tokens to get the products as access to the event was token-gated via P00LS, a platform for Web3 communities.
Considering STEELO’s magnitude, it was natural that the event had non-token holders or members and it was to their surprise when they found out they’d need STEELO tokens to have access to the products. This served as a great advertisement on the value of not only being a member of the STEELO community but also in being a token holder too.
A wide range of products were on offer including STEELO mercy, Jewellery from Skepta’s Big Smoke Corporation as well as Puma shoes.
The STEELO giveaway was a great example of the value of community engagement as well as the role URL plays in IRL experiences.
Yuseful Notes
Feeling nostalgic: Acne releases Nike Total 90 inspired trainers.
Raheem the dream: Sterling Raheem Sterling launches a youth arts programme.
The Prem on Apple?: Tech giant prepares to enter the race for Premier League broadcasting rights.
Hit or miss?: adidas launch the first kit release of their partnership with the Italian football team.
First look: Wales Bonner reveals adidas-sponsored Jamaica kit at her PFW show.
Feeling Bullish: Off-white announced collab with the basketball team of the founder's hometown, Chicago Bulls.
Drake drops video ‘Jumbotron Shit Poppin’ featuring Central Cee and the gems he’s collected from Pharrell’s Joopiter auction.
McLovin: Quirky designer Nicole McLaughlin drops a collab with Diemme Maggiore.
Yay or nay?: Lil Yachty produces AI-generated album cover.
THAT app: How a daughter used TikTok to get her father’s app to number #7 on the US App Store.
Get the badge in: Stone Island’s deep relationship with Grime.
Unmissable: Louis Vuitton’s Yayoi Kusama installation at their Champs Elysées store.
Again, TikTok’s THAT app: how a restaurant caught life again, thanks to reviews from a TikToker.
Fashion Week: Daniel Arsham unveils his collection.
Hommemade: A$AP Rocky taps into furniture design line, hommemade.
Gone but never forgotten Ed Sheeran releases a song in tribute to the late Jamal Edwards on SBTV.
What Would Yus Do?
Sharing upcoming experiences that I find interesting and you may potentially too.
Feeling active? Give Padel a try, it’s the fastest growing sport in the world.
Visual stimulation: a selection of free exhibitions happening right now.
Fashion inspo: Wearsmytv, a fashion education podcast series you should be watching.
That’s all for now
Until next time,
Yus