Bobby Hundreds

Duh, Bobby Kim, this is a book! And that’s a good thing, because I’m far more likely to buy a book about streetwear than a t-shirt from The Hundreds (or most streetwear brands, for that matter). Not only was I extremely far away from The Hundreds community/style back when they were establishing their game, but their artistic style is still not one that jives with what I want to wear. That being said, Bobby Hundreds’ (Kim) voice as a writer is pretty engaging, and within a few chapters I could see why so many people picked up on his blog and followed the pipeline back to the stores and the community that the brand built around themselves. It’s rare that a company is that ingrained in the real world, and not just in selling product, and Kim paints an engaging and personable story as we tread the chapters of his book. Telling the story of the Hundreds in a slightly haphazard manner, Hundreds’ stream-of-consciousness narrative jumps from their OG Rosewood Avenue headquarters to Hong Kong and back, reading like the blog stylings that painted the original story behind their t-shirt designs and bringing to mind the heady early days of internet blogs – where people were out there just telling their stories and connecting with the other internet weirdos, before social media took the “social” out of the platforms to be replaced with branding and marketing. Integrate some pictorial content (give me half-processed rawness, overly simplified Tumblr/Wordpress layouts, and the amusing “filters” of scrambling-to-learn Photoshop) and we’re sold. But Hundreds’ words do speak well on their own, and in contrast to the other shiny coffee table books being schilled by the other streetwear companies (I’m looking at you Supreme, Palace, and Huf - even though I adore the results), showing that the Hundreds continues to march to the beat of their own unique style. Do I have any sort of buy in to the Hundreds and their credo after reaching the final pages of the book? Or an itch to start my own clothing company (or whatever)? Thankfully, no - I have too many things on my plate to go chasing a dream that isn’t mine to begin with. But I appreciate the raw story that Bobby Hundreds has conveyed, and the place that the brand holds in the streetwear community.… (meer)

This book is everything you want it to be and more. I don't know much about streetwear and the only reason I picked this book up was because, it passed through me before getting to the intended owner (my cousin). I have no idea what I expected going in, but I do know I got way much more than I bargained for. This was my first introduction to The Hundreds and I have to say, I am a tiny bit embarrassed that I didn't know of it's existence. It was a great story about the brand, the people behind the brand (both the community and founders) and so much more! I loved it so much After I'm done with this review, I am definitely headed to the hundreds website and digging through their sales section.… (meer)