A great deal has transpired during the 10’s. There was a serious amount of political and social unrest for one. Long form audio content kind of became a wave. Thanks to Instagram, people began to take the phrase “perception is reality” a bit too literally. And now we hop into random people’s cars as our primary form of transportation. But even with all of that in mind, it was 2012 that marked a real paradigm shift. The leader, teacher and guide of “hype” Virgil Abloh slapped “PYREX” onto champion shorts and deadstock polo rugby flannels, charged wild bread and arguably spawned luxury street fashion as we know it. But the real lesson isn’t about fashunnn here. The lesson is more so in a man’s ability to build a movement, create extensions of his brand and qualify his value in the marketplace. 

In 2020, it’s practically common knowledge that an artist is ill-equipped to sustain themselves off streams and record sales alone. We just discussed this in masterfully written, Waves Don’t Die Streams Do. So, how do artists get to the bag? One of the ways is getting deeper into merchandising. CEO of merchandising company Bravado Mat Vlasic put this quite eloquently, “It’s about extending an artist’s brand through a global program of different consumer products. It’s important to learn from other industries where they have tapped ideas around merchandising being a prominent marketing vehicle and being able to help build your brand.” In other words your merch is a tangible product and means of connecting with your fans in a physical way; which is a rare opportunity in an ever expanding digital world.

In late 2018, I recall Chance just humbly mentioning on The Joe Budden Podcast that he made over $6 million dollars in profit off of the revered “3” hat. As he went on to explain in the interview, this was more than enough money to set his daughter up for future financial prosperity. Now this may not sound feasible, but if bro could make $6 mil off this incredibly minimalistic design, I’m sure you could make a living if you put in the work.

The first step would be to select a brand identity mark that best communicates your brand narrative. At the WBC, we have the Wolf. The Wolf is a cunning, ambitious, instinctual and team oriented creature that symbolize our company’s ethos. Treating your artistry like a start-up will benefit you significantly in the long term, so figuring out your logo is an important step. The next step is to invest in the process of research and development. Don’t cheat yourself or your supporters. I’m sure we have all fallen victim to shit tour merch that you accidentally throw in the dryer and the result is a crop top tee. Take the time to pick quality fabrics from reputable vendors to print or embroider your logo on. And the third step would be to create a multimedia digital marketing campaign to promote your product. This can potentially involve different forms of marketing collateral influencers, sponsors, contests, raffles, and even pop ups. 

As the great Skateboard P once uttered on his debut project In My Mind “You Can Do It, Too!”. We’re doing it here at WBC in collaboration with New York street fashion house Controlled Addiction. So look out for the “Brotherhood/Sisterhood” collection to drop amongst other projects. Bottom line, if we can do it, so can you. Subscribe below to learn more about our merchandise design services.

Ishmael Dozier, Founder of Wolves By Circumstance, NY

Follow him on IG @creativecoz and @wbcny.