We at The Black Sheep Store are proud to announce that we will be stocking the godfather of Streetwear ...Stussy. It started in the early 1980s in Orange County, California by a bloke called Shawn Stussy and this originally based surfwear has taken over the world! The early success of the brand was helped by the popularity of it in the Dj and hip hop scene! At the time hip hop was growing by the second and more people were starting to catch on, as this new underground genre of music. Not only were they interested in the music but also the fashion that followed and Stussy being popular with many famous artists lead to a huge demand for the brand. This iconic image of one of hip hops greatest J Dilla who sadly passed away in 2006 due to a blood disease was one of many to rep it hard! J Dilla was a classic rapper and producer that worked with so many legends such as
A Tribe Called Quest, Del La Soul, The Pharcyde, Mf Doom and many more.
On August 6, 1988 the world changed Yo! MTV Raps debuted on MTV and back then hip hop not being as popular as it is today challenged the current pop music of the time. Yo! MTV Raps allowed millions of homes to be able to witness the greatness of the Hip Hop when it was really hard to see videos and listen to it elsewhere. The language of Rap began to influence popular culture and when the show left the air in 1995, the genre was no longer the best kept secret. Rap music had grown to being the biggest and most popular genre of music today, a lot of this is due to Yo! MTV Raps.
Stussy produced a 2 part documentary called '
We Were All Watching' in conjunction with Stussy/Yo! MTV Raps collection with the first part looking at the history of MTV's groundbreaking music program called 'The Importance of YO! MTV Raps'. Then part 2 looked into the trends, styles and influence that Hip Hop had in the fashion world 'Fashion in the Golden Age of Hip Hop'. It's a really good watch so make time to have a look and I guarantee you'll be stoked on it. Here's a bunch of the T-shirt collaborations that Stussy and MTV did...
It wasn't just MTV that
Stussy did a collaboration with, they have also done collabs with huge brands like Adidas, Nike, Vans, Timberland, Fred Perry, Herschel Supply, Supreme.... the list goes on! The one they did with Timberland was amazing because it wasn't expected and came completely out of the blue. Although I found it fitted perfectly as Timberland was also worn in the hip hop circles so was a suited. Doing collaborations like this has also opened peoples eyes that would have generally never have heard of Stussy. Always been a sly fan of Timberland and can for sure see myself buying a pair of these navy bad boys below..
I have to give them credit from the graphics they have brought out too, especially the design of the logo! Such an easy and recognizable logo. It's not to complicated and can easily be read, simple but effective! You instantly know when someone is wearing it as it attracts your attention with the bold lettering. It has pretty much defined the brand and the story behind it! It originated from Shawn Stussy scrawling his surname onto his surf board with a broad tipped marker. He then started to use this same idea on T-shirts and various clothing which he sold out of his car around Laguana Beach, California, a popular destination for surfing. From that it has turned into what it is today and Shawn Stussy deserves huge respect for making a brand that stood the test of time over 20 years, here's the face to probably the most famous signature in the world....
After a couple of years of Shawn selling it out of his car in 1984 he decided to partner with Frank Sinatra Jr and in case your thinking he has any relation to the singer he doesn't. They started to sell the apparel and after a few more years the company expanded into Europe, things were moving fast! Because of the success they decided to open a store in Soho, New York. Many more stores followed and it was reported that revenues reached highs of 20 million in the early 90's. Hats off to them both, that is incredible! In 1996 Shawn Stussy decided to resign from the brand he had created and sell his shares of the company to his partner Sinatra who has still kept the brand moving and it is currently still a firm favourite worldwide.
To this day you find many people with different styles/interests wearing the brand. From skaters, hipsters, graffiti artists, break dancers, hip hop artists to the older generation that have repped it since day one or generally people with good taste! It has been around for over 30 years now and to be honest I can see it going for 30 more. If you would like to see some of the latest Stussy product pay a visit to our city center store, we currently have a mint range of hats, beanies and T-shirts. This is the start of something great, so join the hype and grab some fresh Stussy garms and keep your eyes peeled for further amazing product dropping over the next few months.... DON'T MISS OUT PEOPLE!
