effulgence blog

TAJAI OF THE MIGHTY SOULS OF MISCHEIFS

noreply@blogger.com (effustephen) — Mon, 28 Jul 2014 20:34:00 +0000

Productive meeting yesterday with rapper Tajai of the legendary Hiero crew. effulgence x hieroglyphics part II coming soon...

BEHIND THE PAT CRUZ COLLAB

noreply@blogger.com (effustephen) — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 18:44:00 +0000

6 months ago I attended Pat Cruz's Monday Night Workshop in San Jose. I used to dance a lot back in high school, but never took it seriously post graduation. My homie Vino was dropping knowledge on me about the hip-hop dance scene (trust me, there's much more besides MTV'S ABDC crews) as he was currently participating on a team at his college. I instantly became a fan when he showed me Pat Cruz's work. I loved his conceptual style and knew he danced with much purpose. I didn't want to go to the workshop at first since I haven't danced in years nor taken any classes before, but Vino pushed me to give it a shot (luckily I did). I couldn't keep up with the choreography at all and learning pieces is much harder than it looks. Some things can look so simple, yet be so complex. Admit to fanboying, I approached Pat Cruz after class to take a photo with him. I handed him a business card and told him to hit me up if he wanted some gear.

The next day on Christmas Eve he e-mailed me about my brand. It was awesome getting compliments from a creative I looked up to. He fully understood where I was coming from by having substance and content behind my designs and not creating things unpurposely. I appreciated the fact that he took the time to read my product blurbs to get a sense of what I'm producing mentally. I sent him some gear, but he wanted to keep this relationship going in future somehow. We ended up deciding on making a collaborative t-shirt. After a few phone calls, a meet-up and numerous video chats, we nailed down on a design that fits both our work ethics, Complexity Through Simplicity.

It's crazy to think that one business card and one interaction with someone can not only lead to working together, but making of a new friend. Pat is one of the dopest guys I've ever met. It was a truly humbling experience to have had the opportunity to work with Pat since our minds really clicked on this one. I'm still in awe at the fact that Pat wanted to collaborate with me on his official t-shirt knowing he has other resources in the industry. He told me he could've worked with any one of those other companies, but the purposeful mindset we shared and our love for the bay made effulgence the right choice. Our collab tee is now available on our online shop. Read the tee's blurb to learn more about the design.

BE YOUR BRAND

noreply@blogger.com (effustephen) — Wed, 28 May 2014 09:19:00 +0000

I spent the day helping print the collaboration tee for hip-hop choreographer Pat Cruz. I find it important to be involved in your brand as much as possible. I don't get discounted for lending a hand, but I find it more rewarding and special to contribute to every part of the process. Yes it's easy to pay someone to do any job and saves time, but having a do it yourself mentality and experiencing the journey to the result is more valuable. More details to follow on the collaboration...

PAT CRUZ X EFFULGENCE

noreply@blogger.com (effustephen) — Wed, 14 May 2014 06:35:00 +0000

I'm very humbled to have had the opportunity to design a t-shirt for my favorite hip-hop choreographer, Pat Cruz. More info on the tee release and the behind the collaboration soon. Until then, get familiar with this man's talent below:

HIP-HOP & YOU DON'T STOP!

noreply@blogger.com (effustephen) — Thu, 08 May 2014 06:02:00 +0000

It's always refreshing attending Berkeley's Hip-Hop In The Park as they bring back the good ol' vibes of the culture. You can participate in a break dancing session, spit in cyphers on stage, showoff your hand skills on canvas or head bob to positive vibrations. I was only able to attend the latter half of the show and saw the main act perform, Souls of Mischief. Jamming out to You Never Knew, Cab Fare and 93 Til' Infinity will never get old. I know y'all wanted more than a bucket from our collaboration, but we might have something else cooking for this years' Hiero Day...

ameriKKKan

noreply@blogger.com (effustephen) — Fri, 18 Apr 2014 18:15:00 +0000

The "ameriKKKan" tee was by far the worst selling piece from our latest "Paying Dues" Pre-Spring drop. It's understandable why a controversial statement and having "KKK" on a tee wouldn't appeal to the masses. I was majorly contemplating printing this tee, but the artist side took over the business side in me. I couldn't let this concept and design past by. If y'all don't know the background of the tee, it began with a leisure stroll through the Financial District. There was grim reaper like statues at the top of a skyscraper and it immediately caught my attention. The abnormalcy of multiple faceless draped figuers over looking the city streets questioned me. Over the years they've been coined as "The Corporate Goddesses". Nobody knows why they exists, not even the sculptor or architecture revealed the purpose. Many locals weren't appealed to them at first, but got over it and accepted the statues being a new symbol for the city. The irony of faceless statues overlooking SF's Financial District has to have a purpose. I believe the artists' intentions were that working in the corporate world will only leave you faceless. "Faceless Corporate Society" is a reminder for myself and others to keep striving for your effulgence and not work in the corporate world strictly for the payroll. I've witnessed the end of the day in the Financial District and no one has a smile on their face and robotically going back home. It's a corrupt system we live in. We devote all our adolescent years in school and over pay tuition for unhappiness? Go for that job you wanted when your were in grade school. Whether it's a firefighter or a movie star, you can always find alternatives in the industry if it doesn't work out. The system molds us into us wanting professions like being a financial consultant or an economist. This is ameriKKKan Korruption. Not only I wanted to spread this message, but to honor the late Capital Steez. The world needs to be aware of the messages he had for us, only if it's through one mixtape. I wanted to spread his story, even if it's through a small outlet. Please read this article and you might connect with this young man and why he took his own life. It's crazy to believe he was the same age as myself...

BLUE SCHOLARS & TALIB KWELI

noreply@blogger.com (effustephen) — Sat, 29 Mar 2014 06:45:00 +0000

I couldn't turn down a free Blue Scholars and Talib Kweli show. Big thanks to SUPERB and UC Berkeley! It was a pleasure rocking to Sabzi's Pho Anthem and Kweli's classic joints from Black Starr and Reflection Etneral to his Get Em High verse and Get By.

FONGSTARR IS HUGE

noreply@blogger.com (effustephen) — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 08:19:00 +0000

The fellow pictured below is probably an ordinary tatted sleeve asian man to you. He may not have thousands of Instagram followers or celebrity status, but he has been a big influence on why I started effulgence. I stumbled upon Fongstarr's Myspace blog back in middle school and I was instantly inspired by this so called "streetwear lifestyle". After 8 years of communicating with Mr. Fong through e-mails and social media platforms for photoshop and design tips, it was nice to finally thank him in person at The Hundreds' SF Street Meet. Peep his amazing photography work on his IG @fongstarr and The Hundreds blog. Expect some collaborations in the future.

The Hundreds' SF Street Meet was my first photo meet up event. We basically mobbed through the streets of Chinatown and loitered at spots longer than anyone anticipated as Bobby, Ben and Van Styles had their paparazzi moments. Chill vibrations all around though.

Choppin' it up with Bobby Hundreds about our Hiero collaborations.

STAY WAVY MY FRIENDS

noreply@blogger.com (effustephen) — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 08:35:00 +0000

EVERYBODY IS A PHOTOGRAPHER NOWADAYZZZ

noreply@blogger.com (effustephen) — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 09:22:00 +0000

Follow us on Instagram @effulgencesf. Hashtag #effulgence and #effucrew. I'd love to see your pick ups and fits! Get updated more frequently and we'll also be running giveaways very soon. Don't worry, I'll back into the blogsphere soon enough to share quality optics and my nonsense inner thoughts.

YO!

noreply@blogger.com (effustephen) — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 08:22:00 +0000

What's up effu crew?! Sorry for the lack of updates on the blog. I'm sure you are tired of my excuses, but Michael, Trevor and Franklin have been occupying my time greatly along with higher education BS. I have some designs cooking up in the kitchen so stay tuned! I'm currently prepping a new pieces for my homies store opening, another possible Hiero collaboration, restock on our Golden Era Coach and hoping to expand our headwear collection. In the mean time, it's been long overdue, but I finally got a smartphone and an Instagram! Follow my travels and get update more frequently @effulgencesf.

I HAVEN'T BOUGHT A NEW BACKPACK SINCE MIDDLE SCHOOL

noreply@blogger.com (effustephen) — Sat, 21 Sep 2013 08:23:00 +0000

T-LEVEL, my new man purse.

KNOWLEDGE IS GOLD

noreply@blogger.com (effustephen) — Sun, 08 Sep 2013 09:56:00 +0000

Benny Gold is the man! A thank you on an invoice has lost it's value and Mr. Gold understands that completely. He took the time out of his busy schedule to hold a intimate Q&A session for his fans as his thank you. I had opportunity to ask some questions and would like to share some interesting information I acquired at the gathering.

- Benny Gold only produces 2 seasonal lines and is always late. It's manageable to keep up with wholesalers schedules without doing it the "right" way.

- He uses the same screens for bigger sizes. Save your money, keep screen sizing on whatever looks best for you. If you're a 2XL, size the image accordingly.

- We all make mistakes! Benny Gold spelled San Francisco wrong on a tee (I coincidentally did the same on our Niner tee) and took on a $20,000 order then the wholesaler went out of business. Keep going, things happen for a reason.

- BG has yet to booth at a tradeshow. Need I say more (Agenda rant below).

Note to Benny: I sincerely thank you again for hosting this event. Already been a fan, but even a bigger fan now after getting to know some of your human qualities. You are truly a humble gentleman, down to earth and I'm sure a great father. You better keep our deal and come to my Q&A session if it ever happens! Thanks for the compliment saying he knew my stuff and already on my way with my brand. It truly means a lot coming from you.

Mr. Gold supporting effulgence proudly!

Thank you for the complementary paper airplane pin!

HOW (ALMOST) EVERYTHING WENT DOWN WITH HIEROGLYPHICS X EFFULGENCE

noreply@blogger.com (effustephen) — Fri, 06 Sep 2013 18:09:00 +0000

My goodness, it's quite refreshing to process my thoughts into digital words. (Again excuse my grammatical errors or my poor sentence structure, I have feeling this is going to be a long rant). My lack of updates consisted of a up to no good Summer, a change of academic scenery, pequeño effu drops and of course the Hieroglyphics collaboration. This collaborative effort marked our first collaboration ever in our brand history and its truly a blessing. I've been a Hiero fan since the hooligan days. I first discovered the legendary crew from Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3, the video game with the best soundtrack to date. "If You Must" was my track to go HAM on with my custom skater or with Darth Maul. From then on, I've been fans of Hiero and Souls 'til.

For effulgence, I always intended to make my first collaboration memorable. But a few years back, I caved for marketing reasons and decided to link up with another smaller brand and a local designer. Ironically those works didn't fall through. Drop 4 and Drop 5 were later born, personally my proudest work. So I wanted to restock on my oh so popular 3030 tee from Drop 4, but thought to myself how great would it be to make it an official collaboration with Del. I played a scenario of Del and I taking a photo together rockin' the collaborative piece. My brother quickly turn down the idea saying "Don't get your hopes up." My friend used to be homies with the Adapt founder, so I decided to contact him. A weeks passed and no response. So instead of waiting for connects for this dream collaboration to happen, I decided to take the risk and go straight to the source, message Del. And to my surprise he responded a few days later really digging my gear and directed me to his personally brand, Del Hiero. Del Hiero didn't seem interested into collaborating with me from the lack of e-mails. So I remember I e-mailed Hiero's management company a year back for a Dom Kennedy press pass. Igor of Ineffable Music seemed to be more responsive from past experiences. He happened to responded a week or so after and the process was born.

I have to admit this collaboration wasn't the smoothest process in the world. I know I wasn't a huge priority on their to do list. But I stayed persisted since Igor never said no to me and knew this would be a milestone personally and for the brand. A couple months passed and I finally had a meeting with Igor. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to meet up with the Hiero crew during the design process. Management company played as the middleman. I know a lot of effu supporters were disappointed with the outcome since it was just a bucket, but you have to understand this was a collaboration. The crew didn't want a t-shirt or hoodie because they have done many of this before I wanted something different. I figured a bucket hat would be the best choice of garment to utilize their infamous logo. But I was pushing for other pieces all summer but they never went through. After the meeting with Igor, he kind of disappeared on me. For every 3 or so replies I sent, I received a vague reply back. Again, not a huge priority which was understandable. But literally 2 weeks before Hiero Day, I got the official word on the pushing the order with the buckets. I couldn't believe this was real. Although it was only a bucket and I couldn't incorporate much of my effulgence style in the design, I still had an official piece with the legendary Bay Area crew.

My boy Jimmy came through quick on the bucket order and dropped them off the Friday before the big event. The Ineffable crew were really digging the buckets. I had a short meeting with Igor as the rest of the management team went out to get coffee. Pep Love happens to walk in to pick up gear and Igor didn't have any photographers, but noticed my camera. So I had the opportunity to take snaps of Pep with the new bucket. Half of the buckets were sold on Hiero Day at Hiero's merch booth and sold out within in hour. This hectic 5 month process frustrating and time consuming, but was worth it in the end.

In other news, Hiero Day was once again, epic!!! It was much bigger this year with multiple of stages, more vendors, tons of beer and a skateboard spot. I mainly stayed in the front of the main stage to get good shots. I witnessed Kev Choice, Black Opera, Mystic, CMG, Keak Da Sneak, Craig G, Venice Dawn and Hiero perform. You could tell Hiero's performance was emotional for the crew. Pep even started tearing up. Thanks for everything you guys have done to the Bay. Unfortunately Del wasn't in attendance.

I couldn't even imagine having a collaborative piece with Hiero from last year, but it happened and I'm still in awe. There's still a few buckets left on our online shop if anyone is interested. Again a special thank you to the fans that have been holding effulgence down before this milestone. Without you guys this would've never happened. Thanks for supporting my passion and continuing to make my dream become a reality (cliches are the truth).

Pep Love rockin' the bucket on stage during Hiero's performance.

I had the opportunity to thank some new supporters.

Kev Choice, his rendition of Black Skinhead was too dope.

Black Opera, they gained a new super fan. Mixing a theatrical performance with hip-hop.

The old school Craig G. He went to down in crowd and started freestyling with props from the fans.

Keak Da Sneak's medley was nostalgic to the middle school hyphy days.

Venice Dawn aka The Weeknd.

Legendary.

IT'S OFFICIAL Y'ALL

noreply@blogger.com (effustephen) — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 04:49:00 +0000

REPOST: AGENDA CREATES AN UNEXPECTED AGENDA

noreply@blogger.com (effustephen) — Sat, 20 Jul 2013 10:57:00 +0000

My apologies, but I really suck at this blogging stuff. My lack of updates are due to my selfish enjoyment of summer rather than sitting here in front of a computer screen. Well Agenda season is here and I would like to share my experience from last year to all my clothing brand rookies or aspirations ones. This rant can be a useful read to your future encounters with trade shows and the business side of the culture. Enjoy!

(These are some my thoughts, opinions and experiences, so don't let your decision be based on what I say. Everyone always have different outcomes at shows and different ways to success. I understand if you guys disagree, they're always mixed views on any subject. I'm ranting on this topic because I couldn't find any other Primer brands who talked about their Agenda experience when I was see-sawing when I was trying to make the decision. Some may think it's a bad business decision to reveal this, but it's my blog, so whatever. More Agenda pictures probably tomorrow as well. ) Everyone I've discussed to about deciding to booth at Agenda or not thought effulgence's trade show debut will have a great outcome. It has always been a dream of mine to booth at a major streetwear trade show, especially Agenda. Seeing many industry vets, celebrities, your favorite brands future products and people who understand the culture would be such an awesome feeling. Ultimately, the expected goal was to take the risk and investment and bring effulgence to the next level. Unfortunately, sometimes expecting too much can only lead to disappointment and unexpected plan Bs, but that isn't always a bad thing.

Maybe not attending the show first before having a booth could have been a mistake on my part. But the owner of Agenda really liked my brand, so it was convincing and worth my while to go for it all (In current slang, I decided to yolo it). I'd say 25+ brands and I were part of the Primer Section of the show. The Primer Section is intended for bringing Agenda back to its roots with upcoming brands pushing to be the next breed of the streetwear generation. A part of me before the show thought this was a gimmick and it partially was. They put all of the Primer brands off to the farthest end of the convention center. I even heard the show before that they put the Primer brands in a separate room. I was constantly looking up and down the row and from my perspective, the Primer hosts all had disappointment on our faces and most buyers were disinterested. It was literally a party on the other side. People were drinking, partying, socializing, playing ping-pong, dining and ultimately making deals. I felt having a huge Primer Section banner right above us drove buyers away. Why would buyers take the risk on a new brand when they can get guarantee sales on established brands? Don't get me wrong, Agenda would've been worth it if thePrimer section didn't exist and put us on the main floor as well to join the party. Even all of the coverage I've seen on blogs didn't highlight the Primer Section once. That huge Primer banner just says loser to everyone else.

From the trade show, I realized many buyers are flat out selfish and rude. They would slowly walk past your booth and glance, but not take the time to stop and check out what you're all about. You would even approach some right in front of your booth, but make excuses from, "I'll check it out later" or "I just got here, so I'll walk around a bit." And the few select buyers that actually stopped didn't even let me explain my brand or my designs. They seem to only care about if your "stuff" looks cool and would sell in their shop. That's where I was very disappointed. I thought what was missing and lost in streetwear and clothing in general was having graphics that actually have creative meaning behind them. I want to create dope apparel to wear, while having a intimate connection to the customer purchasing it. Apparently brands and buyers don't seem to care, it's all about money these days. I sat in on a couple of appointments where brands would show their future collections and not one explained the concept or inspiration behind any of their pieces and buyers didn't seem to care. Sales rep would explain their products like "3-D logo in black, blue, red, green" or "Bringing back a popular design in new colorways." Seriously? How boring! Do people still care about what they are actually wearing anymore? Or maybe it's just me. I personally care about what graphics stand for and the inspiration and relation to the brand. Each piece is unique and has a lot of passion put into it, so it's always cool to knowing that knowledge and what the brand is all about. You're not only buying t-shirt, but supporting what the brands stands for.

Many people I've talked too and other Primer brands explain that getting connections and making a few sales is having a successful show. But honestly, the time and money I put into this show wasn't worth it. I could have made deals myself and tried to work my way into the show for connections. I definitely appreciate what Aaron has done with Agenda. He gave this culture it's own trade show. But now, there is just too many brands and there is a hierarchy between them all becoming like any other trade show. Don't get me wrong, I think Agenda would be something I do in the future once I'm more established, on the main floor and buyers are chasing me than the me chasing them. I know all my negatives explained above is basically a taste of business for me, but I feel like it doesn't have to go down like that. Money is obviously a part of it, but it's not everything. I'm definitely still going to push for what effulgence stands for and not let this be a set back. Yes I was disappointed of the outcome, but it was a great learning experience as well. It confirmed a lot for what I wanted in effulgence. As long as my customers believe and appreciate what effulgence stands for, it makes me happy and grateful for the relationships that are and will develop. I ultimately want to create a brand where it's a true culture and anyone wearing effu can potential be friends. The struggles continues, but that's the best part of it all. I admit I was lacking during the preparation of Agenda. I apologize for that, but I'm more motivated that ever. I'm going to keep pushing my passion as the grind continues with no shortcuts and not settling for less or caving in others ways just for the money.

FOLD, PACKAGE, SEAL, LABEL, TAPE, REPEAT.

noreply@blogger.com (effustephen) — Sat, 06 Jul 2013 12:14:00 +0000

Your order is on its way. Thank you for all the love and support effu crew!

SMELLS SO PURRRTY

noreply@blogger.com (effustephen) — Sun, 30 Jun 2013 17:06:00 +0000

effulgence has grown some freshly bloomed 100% cotton tees. Some of our favorite designs to date, the Floral Logo and Rose in heather grey are seeing a restock! These flowery goodness designs are essentials to the Summer essence. Available on our online shop on July 1st at 12:00PM PST.

BROTHER SUMMER

noreply@blogger.com (effustephen) — Sun, 23 Jun 2013 22:32:00 +0000

CARNE ASADA FRIES FETISH

noreply@blogger.com (effustephen) — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 09:12:00 +0000

Carne Asada Fries Verdict: La Victoria Taqueria < Santa Fe Taqueria.

La Vic's orange sauce, equivalent to Ed's Sauce in Good Burger.

ON A MISSION IN THE MISSION

noreply@blogger.com (effustephen) — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 00:39:00 +0000

SKULLS AND SWORDS

noreply@blogger.com (effustephen) — Fri, 24 May 2013 09:00:00 +0000

Yutaro, Lango, Grime and Henry Lewis, need I say more...

FERRIS BUELLER WOULD APPROVE OF MY BEHAVIOR

noreply@blogger.com (effustephen) — Tue, 21 May 2013 07:53:00 +0000

This is how I spent my day before finals week...

MY IDOL

noreply@blogger.com (effustephen) — Sat, 18 May 2013 10:16:00 +0000

Pharrell is a Neptunian. His creative genius was teleported from the galaxies onto us Earthlings. We hear ignorant homosapiens label the Star Trak captain as only "caramel sauce to our ice cream" or "just being a face of a product." But give credit where it's due, P has served up some of the best caramel sauce I ever heard (and then some) and embedded my cranium space with a unique intellect. I honestly don't recall my first time I discovered P. Either my ears being devirginized of N*E*R*D's Wonderful Place (I had a fetish for switch ups from there on out) or inspired by the BAPE fad fit on TRL, his tunes and outfits rooted a foundation for my middle school discovering-who-i-am years. Yes, I have a man crush on Williams and I'm okay with that (don't act like you don't have man crushes too).
I stumbled upon his book titled, Pharrell: Places and Spaces I've Been, over the interweb and immediately knew this needs to be possessed. With a $55 price tag, I hesitated and searched for book reviews if it was really worth my purchase. All of them seized to fail me. Simply, there was a lack of information and images on what I was actually getting. To top it off, the local book stores that did carry the book had it shrink wrapped. So what the heck, I bought the book and wanted to share my thoughts with my readers.

As bias as I am to the 40 year old man, my expectations were unfortunately not met. My first petty complaint is I wanted the mint green color book, but received blue (when you purchase the book online, Pharrell purposely wanted all of the suppliers to deliver the colors at random). More importantly, there was a lack of content throughout. I was really hoping for intensive interviews from the overwhelming interviewee line up. But most of the interviews seemed rushed and fairly short. Although the conversations had an one of a kind subject matter, discussing under the surface topics that you might not receive anywhere, they could have been lengthier. You'll find more graphics and photos than text. The visuals are appealing, but being an avid Pharrell fan, it was more of visuals I'm seen before compiled together. I'm sounding quite negative, but I'm overall happy I purchased the book. A great addition to your coffee table and a nostalgic trip down P's successes and thoughts from his idols. I think any P fan will appreciate it.

STREETWEAR 101 PART 2 (KIND OF)

noreply@blogger.com (effustephen) — Thu, 09 May 2013 08:55:00 +0000

I know I said before in my previous Streetwear 101 post that you should always make business cards. Well I continue the 101 series by countering this promotional method (sorry, running a business is a trial error process). Yes it's professional to hand an industry executive a business card, but after my attendance at Agenda and personally handing some out in my encounters, people do not get excited over a piece of paper stock. Heck I rarely save the business cards myself. A free paper card simply doesn't have any usage afterwards. And business cards can be pricey nowadays if you want yours to stand out. I suggest producing stickers and printing your information on the back. Everybody loves free stickers! In most cases, business people and random people will actually use the sticker and not recycle it. So it's safe to say that Streetwear 101 part 1 officially is Stickers > Business Cards.