Staple Designs Jeff Staple on Streetwears Past, Present, and Future

Table Of Content

• The Evolving Danger of the New Bird Flu
• Jeff Staple on 20 Years in the Streetwear Game and His Latest Sneaker
• On the current state of streetwear:
• jeffstaple Reveals Release Information for the Nike SB Dunk Low “Panda Pigeon”
• How the New York City Pigeon Became a Streetwear Icon
• The Ultimate Mother’s Day Gifts for Design-Loving Moms, According to Kelly Wearstler
• For the true jewelry lover

When I started Staple I was also designing album covers for a record label in New York called Rawkus. So as a designer you’re sort of far from the artist, but one day I was in the elevator and Mos Def walks in. It was just me and him and I was like, “Yo Mos, I have a clothing line would you be down for a shoot? ” And he was like, “Yeah.” And I was like, “Alright, when?

The Evolving Danger of the New Bird Flu

I don’t think it’s damaging, I think it’s energizing. In the ’70s and ’80s hip hop was super niche and even when I was in high school in the ’90s people were saying this trend of hip hop would die. Now, I think Spotify just said that hip hop is the biggest demographic, bigger than pop music and country music. I think street culture is on its way to being that.

Jeff Staple on 20 Years in the Streetwear Game and His Latest Sneaker

The thinking is that these animals might stumble across a sick or dead bird, eat it, and contract the virus that way. But we’re also seeing it show up in some more surprising places, too. We’ve seen the virus in a bottle-nosed dolphin, of all places. After the deadly outbreak of the novel coronavirus, authorities have now confirmed an outbreak of the H5N1 strain of influenza, a kind of bird flu. It’s what’s known as low pathogenic avian influenza.

On the current state of streetwear:

And as you mentioned back in the ‘90s, a new version of bird flu, a virus known as H5N1, emerged in Asia. And it has been spreading on and off around the world since then, causing periodic outbreaks. The outbreak of bird flu that is tearing through the nation’s poultry farms is the worst in US history. But scientists say it’s now starting to spread into places and species it’s never been before. In 1997 Jeff Ng walked into his local streetwear store in New York City wearing a T-shirt he had made.

But penguins also, of course, are known for breeding in these large colonies. We were hearing about mass die-offs of seabirds in Europe by the hundreds and the thousands. A broadcast of WCW Monday Nitro was held at the arena on January 24, 2000. For the entertainers, you can’t go wrong with glassware. These coupes from my recent collaboration with Serax are perfect to have on hand for special occasions or for a Mother’s Day treat. I love this chunky statement ring—minimal yet bold and easy to work into mom’s existing collection.

And we might also expect it to increase the risk to farm workers, people who might be in contact with these sick cows. And it’s now been reported on a number of dairy farms across eight US states. And that’s just something that’s totally unprecedented. A bald eagle found dead at Carvins Cove has tested positive for the highly contagious bird flu. So, OK, lots of chickens are killed in a way to manage these outbreaks. Crypto.com Arena will host the basketball competition during the 2028 Summer Olympics.

How the New York City Pigeon Became a Streetwear Icon

Now that I have it, and I have an incredible team, it all works out. Many people would say “Yo, why don't you just sign a longtime contract with Nike? That, to me, is the same tag on two different trains. Yes, I slightly get sick of telling the story or answering the question, but what supersedes that is the gratitude that, 15-plus years later, people are still asking me about this thing. That is an incredible honor to have created something that, decades later, people still want to talk to you about. There are parts of creating a brand like this that requires that level of…I like to mix the words tenacity and insanity.

The Ultimate Mother’s Day Gifts for Design-Loving Moms, According to Kelly Wearstler

These are also places that viruses like this haven’t been before. So it’s reaching elephant seals and sea lions in South America that have no prior immunity. Our founder is jeffstaple (born Jeffrey Ng) ... A creative visionary with work encompassing graphic design, fashion design, footwear design, and brand marketing. He is the founder of REED ART DEPARTMENT (f.k.a. Staple Design) and has worked on creative projects ranging from startup brands to Fortune 100 companies. Jeff founded STAPLE in 1997, the NY-based pioneering streetwear brand with the now infamous “Pigeon” logo.

Inside A Homegrown Fashion Label Urging People To Reinvent Their Wardrobe 'Staples' - Homegrown

Inside A Homegrown Fashion Label Urging People To Reinvent Their Wardrobe 'Staples'.

Posted: Tue, 06 Feb 2024 12:28:43 GMT [source]

As an expression of gratitude, Mother’s Day is a moment for families to take the load off moms’ shoulders and cherish them for all they do for their families. It’s a day for quality family time, self care, and yes, gift giving. At the beginning of the brand it was important that I do everything from A to Z, and I quickly learned there’s only 24 hours in a day. So my biggest takeaway is that I wish I had taken on help earlier.

They’re such great touchpoints for inspiration in my own practice. My latest book Synchronicity includes recent residential and commercial projects, a perfect fit for the design lovers. Whether it’s getting her that special bag she’s been coveting, but would never buy herself, or a chic, yet practical gift that will make her life on-the-go a little easier, like my favorite travel pouch. Or maybe it’s something you can do together as a family, like a game, or an everyday accessory–like the ‘Sooo Easy’ hat–for the mom who does it all.

Now I feel like it’s the start, because all these people who only ever bought Louis Vuitton or these luxury brands are seeing this culture for the first time. And now this will spawn, I guarantee, a litany of other high design/fashion collaborations claiming their streetwear connection. But what will happen on the other side of that, I predict, is you’re going to start seeing Costco, Zara, T.J.Maxx, and Marshalls doing stuff like that too. Pop culture “X” streetwear used to mean Nike, Cole Haan, whatever… Now it’s gonna mean that Home Depot could do a collab. And then if we think more expansively beyond what’s happening on farms, there’s another big danger lurking out there.

But any time you see mammal-to-mammal transmission, it increases the chance that the virus will adapt and possibly, maybe one day get good at spreading between humans. To be clear, that’s not something that there’s any evidence happening in cows right now. But the fact that there’s any cow-to-cow transmission happening at all is enough to have scientists a bit concerned. No, that doesn’t seem to be necessary at this point. But the bad news is that it’s starting to look like we’re seeing this virus spread from cow to cow.

That changes the way a culture develops, and it’s really hard for a culture to develop organically now without being scrutinized under the magnifying glass of social media now. Streetwear before, in New York City, was like 100 people, and there were like five stores in the world that supported streetwear. Now, Supreme being valued at a billion dollars and Virgil Abloh going to Louis Vuitton are hallmarks of how big this thing has gotten, but back then it was super small.

And the landlord was like, “These guys are getting kicked out, so if you know of anyone who wants a space like this let me know.” And I was like, “I do, and I’ll live here illegally.” Classic New York story. I was packing my own orders, chasing people who weren’t paying, balancing my checkbook, counting up inventory, handing out little catalogs to stores, getting rejected. I think I learned everything firsthand the hard way. When I started silkscreening shirts I didn’t think it could be a career, that a person of colour, son of an immigrant family, could own a fashion brand in America, that was beyond comprehension for me. If I didn’t go into that shop and get that 12-shirt order, I’d probably be an accountant right now. The balance to a successful brand I imagine as a sliding scale.

We can try to protect some vulnerable populations, but we’re not going to stop the circulation of this virus. So we know that the virus can infect humans, and that generally it’s not very good at spreading between humans. But the concern all along has been that if this virus has more opportunities to spread between mammals, it will get better at spreading between them. And that seems to be what is happening in seals and sea lions.