The truth about the hundreds:
- it looks a lot bigger on the blog than it does in real life.

The power of blogs is the ability to create your own hype. You can make something seem so big, so happening, so legit just by taking the right photo, at the right time, posting it, and then talking about it. You can create your image, a certain lifestyle through being selective of certain content. You chose how the people who read your blog see you.

Even though I bet the hundreds are just as successful in the independent label world as they describe themselves through images, interviews, and product i just had to laugh because I literally thought that THE HUNDREDS was HUGE. Like, physically big.

By seeing the shop for the first time I was able to realize what Bobbyhundreds talks about when referring to THE HUNDREDS as something one-of-a-kind because being no bigger than a Manhattan studio apartment, and blogging daily it sparked the Alife, Diamond, and other plethora of shops to open posts that didn't exist in the Fairfax / Melrose neighborhood before THE HUNDREDS. Word got out, something was going on in East LA.....

TH are relevant to the blogculture because their blog is crucial to their brand's development. Showing the lifestyle everyday. Showing their world play by play. Their blog is just as strong as the product and is just as important to who they are. It is the whole picture- with the blog included. To date, I don't know of any other brand like them.

Thus proving, no space is too small, no hype is too large. THE HUNDREDS IS (kind of) HUGE. Or, however huge they want to be. 

Like the annoying saying, "The grass is always greener on someone else's lawn"  I live by, "the brand is always better in someone else's industry." For example- if I were into fishing I might read hunting magazines.  Why? Just to see what they were all about. Why? Because its fun to look at the other side. Especially because most of the time your counterpart is doing exactly what you are not doing.  There is no pressure.  No competition. You can be a fan.

Even as a fan - sooner or later you will see something you like and want to make it your own.  Like if i were a fisherman and I loved these trousers the hunters were wearing- I'd go out and get ones just like them- or make some just like them only just for fishermen. Lately there has been hints of similarities between the graphic tee sneaker world and the high end luxury fashion world. You can call it "copying" but in such a public world someone is bound to be inspired and eventually make moves.

I salute these similarities because it represents an openness that the creatives in each brand has towards other styles. Designers, creative directors, art directors, even merchandisers, redefine and tweak certain characteristics of one brand and make it their own for their brand.   The examples are everywhere if you are open to them.  Whether it be the Head of Communications Worldwide for Yves Saint Laurent rocking a flannel buttoned up high (hipster buffalo plaid influence number 1zillion), our new boutique in Paris with shelves similar to sneaker boutique merchandising (shirts folded minimally on shelves), or The Hundreds incorporating Redbull tabs into their summer tees (like YSL's tab inspired accessories from F/W WRTW) the relations are present.  Whoever did it first doesn't matter. People are getting inspired by things outside of their world, and at the end of the day a great brand is a great brand.

 "distinctive trapezoidal frame spoke a non-verbal language that hinted at unstable dangerousness, but one nicely tempered by the sturdy arms which, according to the advertising, gave the frames a 'masculine look.'"-Wikipedia

When I saw my friend Marina's picture of a boy in Xhosa, South Africa wearing Wayfarers it kind of made me stop and think about how far these glasses have come. We see them on the street today worn by kids and adults and we automatically identify them by their shape and then know their name. Like when we see the McDonald's Arch, Hello Kitty, or I <3 NY signage the wayfarer frame represents and the name Ray-Ban follows. Call it brand identity, call it a cultural icon but the wayfarer got to where it stands today because of its flawless cut, comfort, cross-gender appeal and the big push our media gave it when it was about to die.

The Wayfarer's beginning was strong. They were cutting edge when they first came out in 1952 as the first pair of shades to break away from the traditional metal and tin frames and use new plastic technology. (Plastic was new- crazy). Soon pilots trusted them an they became in high demand on airbases because of their comfort and stability.  Hollywood grew to love them because Marilyn and Audrey just looked so good in them.  The magic behind the Wayfarer is in the cut.  The old ones, like the ones Audrey Hepburn wears in Breakfast at Tiffany's, with the larger frames were made for men.  When women started to wear them, the large frames did something a bit different and bit more edgy than the classic cat-eyed frames of the 60's. They looked masculine.  Like how a woman looks sexy wearing a man's shirt the masculine cut and the clean lines of the wayfarer worked on women. And it sold.

Cut to the 70's and the Wayfarer was being out-shunned by Pucci wearing hippies. Even in the 80's the hit film Blues Brothers could not resurrect the numbers Ray-Ban was pulling.  Only  18,000 units were sold in 1981 (retail suicide) and they were on the brink of being discontinued. Then Ray-Ban signed a deal in 1982 with Unique Product Placement to push the sunglasses into movies and TV shows. Then came the title-wave of now cultural references like Tom Cruise in Risky Business, that creeper in Miami Vice, Debbie Harry, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Morrisey and even my favorite Anna Wintour wearing the chic black rims. 

Today you see Ashley Olsen, Brad Pitt, and EVERY HIPSTER IN BROOKLYN wearing the sunglasses that started as a innovation, developed into a necessity, fell into being a trend, fell out of being a trend, and back into being cool again. By following the life of the Wayfarer you can't help but love the American consumerism of it all and how a pair  of sunglasses became one of the most recognizable icons in the world.