When we first started planning the LiFE AFTER: SPiFF (Pop-Up), it was literally just that– a pop-up shop for you to come through to see and cop the new gear I’d been working on all summer. But with every ube latte chugged at Nirvana Soul, more and more ideas came to light from the fusion dance of creative minds powered by caffeine, turning this into the most ambitious event our brand has ever hosted. Since there’s so much going on, we figured that we should break down the top five reasons you should be at our first ever interactive Pop-Up shop.
I never felt comfortable celebrating a new year of my life when I was younger because as sad as it sounds, I couldn’t really see what there was to be so excited about. But the past few years, I’ve decided to treat my birthday as a time to reflect on how far I’ve gotten when it comes to reaching my dreams—specifically how far I’ve taken SPiFF Passé.
“I understand now more than ever, that even if you see the path of success in front of you, you still have to take the steps to get you on your way. For years now, I’ve seen the right moves. I made the right calls in my head, but I was stuck in the sidelines, satisfied with just seeing someone else win. But now I am confident enough to understand that I could win too. I don't have to sit and watch as the days go by; I owe it to myself to play the game and take my L or dub gracefully.”
I went all in for this collection and bet on my art and work ethic for the first time in what feels like ever.I put my heart into these designs, my mind into the marketing and distribution, and my soul into this drop.
I’ve released clothes for years now, but it always felt like I was holding back. After the initial high of starting a streetwear brand, I began to feel jaded by my lack of success and started to believe people who thought that nothing amazing happens here. The LIFE AFTER: Naota collection is my way of saying once again to all those who didn’t believe in my vision that it doesn’t matter to me whether I fail or succeed.
This fundraiser was run by the youth. I took a step back and played the role of facilitator and pushed the SPiFFterns to take over because I wanted them to represent the people their age and inspire those in their generation to take action. Through their efforts, I hope that they’d grasp that there is always something that can be done to fight the injustices of the world and realize there is never a reason to feel like your actions don’t make a difference. We simply can’t afford to give up.
Being given the label “Hero” simply isn’t enough; there are a ton of essential workers out there who need to be given appropriate wages and benefits. But one thing we understand is that a hero is what all you essential workers are. Thank you for doing what you’re doing to keep society afloat. We truly hope the world is able to recognize the importance of your efforts and give y’all the compensation you deserve ASAP.
I always grasped that things could not stay the same as badly as I wanted them to, so I held on to the tees, cards, toys, journals, and more that would give me the illusion that nothing has changed. These things that I promised would make me feel like I could turn back the clock to the moments that I’d rather be living in acted as the safety net I needed to fight my dark reality in the past, but now that I appreciated the current lifestyle I’ve adopted, what was keeping these items in storage really doing for me?
The following blog post can be broken into two parts.
PART 1tells the story of all the things I went through to turn this hoodie into a wearable piece of art.
PART 2breaks down the artistic choices I made when designing the piece.
Not gonna lie, it kinda feels like a bunch of word vomit because I couldn’t decide exactly what I wanted to say. If you make it to the end,I literally love you.
The Behind the Spiff read about the moments that led to this drop are important, but I figured you’re probably curious about the design choices I made when it comes to the Hidomi Hoodie. At first glance, this piece may look very similar to the other hoodies we’ve dropped, but each detail is actually packed with purpose. TheLife After:collections are tailored to be authentic representations of me, so this explanation might seem a bit cheesy.
But that’s how you know it’s truly an extension of myself-- the cheese. lol
Our obsession over social media makes us feel like we aren’t allowed to take an L. Instead of willingly putting ourselves out there, we naturally only want to share our successes because that is typically what our confidence allows us to do. Why would anyone want their community to know that they did something wrong or took a risk that didn’t pan out the way they wanted it to? Because of these Big Head Bucket Hats, I remembered the answer.
In the process of just trying to make one song, I ended up stepping out of my comfort zone multiple times, anxious sweating more than I ever wanted to, and surpassing what I had expected I was capable of. I went from being the kid who was too embarrassed to freestyle in front of his friend through a video chat to the former wannabe that’s going to make it if you trust. All I had to do wastry.
As a kid, I didn’t quite understand why that tattoo was so important to him and something he was willing to get an earful for, but the older I get and the more life experience I gain, the more I comprehend the feeling. We don’t get to choose a lot of things in our life-- the circumstances we are born in are determined before we can even smile or open our eyes. The family we have, the home we live in, the way we look, and more are essentially out of control. Hell, the shit that happens to us rarely feels like it was our own doing. But with tattoos it’s different. With tattoos, we get to choose.
This 3-hour class was meant to be an easy A, and you could tell from the number of people leaving at the halfway point that only ¼ of the students were actually serious about getting better at crafting stories. I entered this class as the type of guy who wanted to improve but acted too cool to give a damn. However, every once in a while we were assigned a topic that got me to care about what I was writing and document my honest thoughts. The following essay was written 5 Decembers ago and focuses on my fear of the future I was paving for myself.
