SUMMARY
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MANILA, Philippines – THE Clothing (pronounced “thee” but more popularly referred to as T-H-E), a clothing brand that caters to the urban lifestyle and action sports, threw their first massive “block party” late last June at Cubao Expo, Araneta Center in Quezon City where the store is located.
The event was open to the public and extended its invitation to people from the music, biking, skateboarding and graffiti communities from which the brand derives inspiration. With a mix of art (yes, I consider graffiti an artform), sports, music, barbeque and insane amounts of Red Bull, the party became THE party, making it very difficult to call it a night for us Saturday party-goers.
Other event sponsors were Sari-Sari Sounds, Vans Philippines, SYLV (Support Your Local Vandal) and Team Manila.
The daring youth
Behind the fun and revelry is the passion to promote today’s youthful, creative, daring urban lifestyle.
Jerick Robleza, one of the 3 owners of THE Clothing, talks to RAPPLER about the brand’s history, development and maintenance.
“The owners of THE are Dino Sarmiento, Auggie Fontanilla and myself, all of whom are graff (graffiti) artists, into action sports (skateboarding, biking) and the whole urban lifestyle,” he says. “There are no particular assignments for each one of us as we’re more about helping each other with our tasks to get a collaborative experience, hence the soul and purpose of the brand.”
Robleza describes the brand’s creation and development as “spontaneous.” “We play it by heart. We just go for it, and that’s the best advantage we have.”
THE x Udon
One of the things the three “played by heart” about is their incredible collaboration with Oakland and Taipei-based graffiti artist Udon.
The THE x Udon shirt’s design shows just how “heavy” Udon is on the streets, from Oakland to Taipei to Manila. Pieces that were sold at the party for Php550 sold out. This strengthened THE’s decision to collaborate and share their passion for their art even more.
“Basically, we love graffiti. To describe graffiti is to describe Udon,” Robleza explains. “He’s the best example of a graffiti artist. He is all heart when it comes to his craft. He doesn’t expect more, he doesn’t expect less.”
For Udon, the collaboration with THE goes beyond simply working together. Udon shares, “In addition to being a peer or partner, I’m also a fan and I respect the THE movement and mentality. If nothing’s sold, it’d still be a success because I know this ripples in time.”
THE Clothing’s block party had a skate (skateboarding) session that went well into the evening. It also featured music from DJ Oohchild, DJ D’Tech, Diecast (aka Diego Castillo of Sandwich), Beatbox Philippines, The Mighty Miscellaneous, DJ NIxdamnP, DJ Red-I and DJ Soulflower. – Rappler.com
THE is located at Unit 4A, Cubao Expo, Gen. Romulo Avenue, Araneta Center, Cubao, Quezon City. They are open daily from 5pm to 12mn.
(Michelle Callanta-Toledo is a freelance writer, DJ and mother. She is the former associate editor of Gadgets magazine.)
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