2009 Year in Review: Loud& Obnoxious
I've ran with the Loud& Obnoxious dudes since day 1. From the days where we'd print in the Apostol's garage through the night up until the time of morning where most people actually start their day. So it's safe to say that I've got a good grasp on what kind of work and effort it took to get Loud& Obnoxious where it is today, as well as a whole lot of knowledge on the product they've put out over the years.
In 2009 Loud& Obnoxious kicked it into high-gear. 2 successful warehouse sales, 4 great collections, new faces added to the family, many new retailers, Karmaloop Kazbah, shirts, pullovers, crewnecks, and FITTEDS. And it's already looking like 2010 is going to be another big year with Cut& Sew apparently on the way. It makes me excited just to be a part of this family, but before we move forward I've got one more entry looking back to the past. These are my personal favorite pieces from the 4 collections Loud& Obnoxious put out in 2009.
SPRING '09:
The "Never Dead" Tee. I love this shirt because it reminds me of simpler times, reminds me of being a kid. It also is the first appearance of my favorite L&O saying, "Never Dead." Which, as you'll see later, is incorporated on some of the coolest L&O pieces there are. The writing on the tee is hand-written by my best bud @BrianObnoxious and it too has been incorporated in a couple other pieces L&O has released.
The "Loud& Theory" Tee. A Tribe Called Quest is one of my favorite hip-hop groups and their album "The Low End Theory" helped shape how hip-hop was in the early 90's. I believe that L&O and Tribe are a perfect match because in the way Tribe fused hip-hop and jazz to create their own sound of music, Loud& Obnoxious tries fusing elements of music, skate, childhood, and streetwhere to create their own brand of clothing.
SUMMER '09:
The "BRB" Tee. To me it's the classiest and cleanest 'exclamations tee' ever done. I absolutely love wearing this shirt because literally EVERYONE knows where it's from. It's one of the hottest selling shirts this brand has ever had as well. Funny story, I was probably the most excited to hear of the re-release of this tee because I slept on it big-time the first time. In fact, at one of the sales I had put one aside to pay for later; when a friend that shall remain nameless accidentally sold it not knowing that I had put it aside for myself. Feels good to finally have one.
The "Slimesclamations" Tank. The design itself and just the fact that 'slime' is in the name brings Nickelodeon to mind. I also really like the tank version of this design because I can take credit for the colorway. I suggested a sunset-like colorway because what came to mind for me was in the old school versions of Microsoft Word they had these colorful fonts named "Word Art" and I always used to use a sunset one for my title pages on reports I'd do in elementary and middle school. And because of that cute little story, it's one of my favorite pieces of '09.
FALL '09:
The "Kills" Tee. An oldie but a goody remade with drastic improvements. Let's face it, re-makes fucking blow. Movies re-made always suck more than the original, songs re-mixed or covered usually aren't as good, and by calling something a "re-interpretation" instead of a re-make it cheapens it even more. However this is one re-make that is much better than the original. The design is great and it actually looks even better in person. The details in the cigarette are an added bonus to what an awesome tee this truly is.
The "No Good" Tee. It's a really cool simple design. I'm a sucker for patch designs especially since Modern Warfare 2 is one of the most awesome videogames in recent memory. Looking at the back just makes me want to 'melee' a motherfucker.
The "Branded" Pullover. This is honestly the softest hoodie that you will ever own! What makes this pullover great are the details. A nice little box logo on the chest, "never" on one sleeve and "dead" on the other, then L&O's signiture exclamations on the back. It's clean and soft, what else could you really ask from a pullover hoodie?
The "Never Dead" Fitted. Alas, the prize piece of the Fall line, L&O's much anticipated debut fitted hat. This hat literally goes with any outfit and once again it's the details that make this fitted a must-buy. The sickest of all being the deep-purple satin on the inside of the hat, it's a nice little surprise.
HOLIDAY '09:
I know if you skipped ahead a little bit you'll notice that I listed more pieces from Holiday than any other line. It's not because it just dropped in the online store and I'm trying to get everyone to buy it, it's because I truly believe it's Loud& Obnoxious biggest and baddest line.
The "Jackson" Tee.
I'm not going to front; I'm not too familiar with Jackson Pollock's work. All I know is that he was an abstract artist and he struggled with alcoholism throughout his life.However I really like this shirt. My favorite part is that it's just not his art inside the exclamations, but there are paint splotches around the exclamations making it more true to his art.
The "Madness" Tee. This is the return of one of my favorite shirts and it definitely is back and better than ever. I think it's a real testament to the strides L&O has made as far as the quality goes. The exclamation print in the front is much more clear and the back has got to be one of the coolest things L&O has done! I love the back, when @BrianObnoxious sent me a picture of it, I couldn't wait to rock this tee. And now that I have it, it's definitely one of my favorite L&O shirts to rock.
The "Lomoeba" Tee. It's no secret that I love music, 90% of the posts on my blog have to do with music. Amoeba was my favorite place to buy records back in the day and it's still a complete joy to go over there and look for albums I haven't seen in years. Amoeba is also a California institution. At first I was skeptical of this idea because I wasn't sure if the Amoeba logo can translate into a cool L&O tee, but boy was I wrong. When I finally saw the finished product I was pleasantly surprised. All three of the colorways are hot, I'd buy all three if I could.
The "Cursive" Crewneck. Crewnecks are the new hoodies and this crewneck is simple and clean. Not much you can say about it, I just like it a lot. One of the "classier" pieces L&O has ever put out.
The "Loud&" Fitted. If I were only going to buy one piece this year this would be it. The hype surrounding this fitted was just insane, more than any other thing, people constantly asked me when the "Loud&" fitted was coming out. And I believe all the hype is justified. It's the details that make clothing to me and not only is the red bill and pin dope, but I love the vintage green athletic underbill and how the yellow satin lining just sets it off. Top to bottom this is all you could ask for in a fitted, so don't sleep!
Finally done looking at the past, now it's time to look to 2010. Making '10 the biggest year for Loud& Obnoxious yet and hoping to get life in general out of these "recession blues." There's a lot to be excited about and I feel hope in the air.
Stay gold.
-Juicy Justin.
In 2009 Loud& Obnoxious kicked it into high-gear. 2 successful warehouse sales, 4 great collections, new faces added to the family, many new retailers, Karmaloop Kazbah, shirts, pullovers, crewnecks, and FITTEDS. And it's already looking like 2010 is going to be another big year with Cut& Sew apparently on the way. It makes me excited just to be a part of this family, but before we move forward I've got one more entry looking back to the past. These are my personal favorite pieces from the 4 collections Loud& Obnoxious put out in 2009.
SPRING '09:
The "Never Dead" Tee. I love this shirt because it reminds me of simpler times, reminds me of being a kid. It also is the first appearance of my favorite L&O saying, "Never Dead." Which, as you'll see later, is incorporated on some of the coolest L&O pieces there are. The writing on the tee is hand-written by my best bud @BrianObnoxious and it too has been incorporated in a couple other pieces L&O has released.
The "Loud& Theory" Tee. A Tribe Called Quest is one of my favorite hip-hop groups and their album "The Low End Theory" helped shape how hip-hop was in the early 90's. I believe that L&O and Tribe are a perfect match because in the way Tribe fused hip-hop and jazz to create their own sound of music, Loud& Obnoxious tries fusing elements of music, skate, childhood, and streetwhere to create their own brand of clothing.
SUMMER '09:
The "BRB" Tee. To me it's the classiest and cleanest 'exclamations tee' ever done. I absolutely love wearing this shirt because literally EVERYONE knows where it's from. It's one of the hottest selling shirts this brand has ever had as well. Funny story, I was probably the most excited to hear of the re-release of this tee because I slept on it big-time the first time. In fact, at one of the sales I had put one aside to pay for later; when a friend that shall remain nameless accidentally sold it not knowing that I had put it aside for myself. Feels good to finally have one.
The "Slimesclamations" Tank. The design itself and just the fact that 'slime' is in the name brings Nickelodeon to mind. I also really like the tank version of this design because I can take credit for the colorway. I suggested a sunset-like colorway because what came to mind for me was in the old school versions of Microsoft Word they had these colorful fonts named "Word Art" and I always used to use a sunset one for my title pages on reports I'd do in elementary and middle school. And because of that cute little story, it's one of my favorite pieces of '09.
FALL '09:
The "Kills" Tee. An oldie but a goody remade with drastic improvements. Let's face it, re-makes fucking blow. Movies re-made always suck more than the original, songs re-mixed or covered usually aren't as good, and by calling something a "re-interpretation" instead of a re-make it cheapens it even more. However this is one re-make that is much better than the original. The design is great and it actually looks even better in person. The details in the cigarette are an added bonus to what an awesome tee this truly is.
The "No Good" Tee. It's a really cool simple design. I'm a sucker for patch designs especially since Modern Warfare 2 is one of the most awesome videogames in recent memory. Looking at the back just makes me want to 'melee' a motherfucker.
The "Branded" Pullover. This is honestly the softest hoodie that you will ever own! What makes this pullover great are the details. A nice little box logo on the chest, "never" on one sleeve and "dead" on the other, then L&O's signiture exclamations on the back. It's clean and soft, what else could you really ask from a pullover hoodie?
The "Never Dead" Fitted. Alas, the prize piece of the Fall line, L&O's much anticipated debut fitted hat. This hat literally goes with any outfit and once again it's the details that make this fitted a must-buy. The sickest of all being the deep-purple satin on the inside of the hat, it's a nice little surprise.
HOLIDAY '09:
I know if you skipped ahead a little bit you'll notice that I listed more pieces from Holiday than any other line. It's not because it just dropped in the online store and I'm trying to get everyone to buy it, it's because I truly believe it's Loud& Obnoxious biggest and baddest line.
The "Jackson" Tee.
I'm not going to front; I'm not too familiar with Jackson Pollock's work. All I know is that he was an abstract artist and he struggled with alcoholism throughout his life.However I really like this shirt. My favorite part is that it's just not his art inside the exclamations, but there are paint splotches around the exclamations making it more true to his art.
The "Madness" Tee. This is the return of one of my favorite shirts and it definitely is back and better than ever. I think it's a real testament to the strides L&O has made as far as the quality goes. The exclamation print in the front is much more clear and the back has got to be one of the coolest things L&O has done! I love the back, when @BrianObnoxious sent me a picture of it, I couldn't wait to rock this tee. And now that I have it, it's definitely one of my favorite L&O shirts to rock.
The "Lomoeba" Tee. It's no secret that I love music, 90% of the posts on my blog have to do with music. Amoeba was my favorite place to buy records back in the day and it's still a complete joy to go over there and look for albums I haven't seen in years. Amoeba is also a California institution. At first I was skeptical of this idea because I wasn't sure if the Amoeba logo can translate into a cool L&O tee, but boy was I wrong. When I finally saw the finished product I was pleasantly surprised. All three of the colorways are hot, I'd buy all three if I could.
The "Cursive" Crewneck. Crewnecks are the new hoodies and this crewneck is simple and clean. Not much you can say about it, I just like it a lot. One of the "classier" pieces L&O has ever put out.
The "Loud&" Fitted. If I were only going to buy one piece this year this would be it. The hype surrounding this fitted was just insane, more than any other thing, people constantly asked me when the "Loud&" fitted was coming out. And I believe all the hype is justified. It's the details that make clothing to me and not only is the red bill and pin dope, but I love the vintage green athletic underbill and how the yellow satin lining just sets it off. Top to bottom this is all you could ask for in a fitted, so don't sleep!
Finally done looking at the past, now it's time to look to 2010. Making '10 the biggest year for Loud& Obnoxious yet and hoping to get life in general out of these "recession blues." There's a lot to be excited about and I feel hope in the air.
Stay gold.
-Juicy Justin.
posted by justin xavier enriquez at
6:59 PM
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