CC Recommends: The Gildan Hoodie
‘Feel Like Pablo’ Without Paying Escobar-Like Prices
Kids started camping out days in advance. Kanye West made a few vague Twitter references and posted one pic, and that was all it took. After only a couple days, the ‘I Feel Like Pablo’ pop-up shop in NYC reportedly cleared over a million bucks in profit. Multiply that by twenty, and you’ve got about the amount of cash Kanye pulled in just on merchandise in a couple weeks. Streetwear is big business.
You could say the same for athletic wear; walk into any sneaker store or outdoor-gear shop and you’ll see hoodies and T-shirts from makers like New Balance or Under Armour everywhere, and usually selling for around $50 a pop. But here’s the catch; all of the things mentioned so far weren’t actually created by Kanye or New Balance or Under Armour. All that gear is actually made by one firm, the Canadian-based company Gildan.
This is (or was) an open secret in the fashion and apparel world; a small amount of manufacturers make a lot of what we as consumers see as ‘branded’ goods. In reality, lots of companies purchase ‘blanks,’ (as they’re known in the industry) and simply sew on or screen-print logos. They then re-sell the stuff. In the case of Kanye, they do so with an 8x or 9x markup.
We say screw that. Logoless, a Gildan 50/50 cotton/poly pullover hoodie will run you $12 or $13 on Amazon, shipping included. It’s literally the exact same thing, from the exact same place, using the same materials. Five or ten times cheaper. And you get the added bonus of a clean and logoless design.
Kanye made waves with his ‘Pablo’ merchandise because his team didn’t even change and re-sew new tags; the Gildan brand stayed fixed to every piece. Kids didn’t care. Neither should you. Pick up 3 or 4 for the price of a halfway-decent restaurant dinner, and be done with hoodie shopping for at least the next year or so.
