Pinoy ‘Crooks’ behind hip hop’s fashion scene
04/20/2011
WEST HOLLYWOOD, California -They’re one of the most popular brands in hip hop fashion worn by the likes of Jay Z, Kanye West, Outkast, and Drake. They’re rapped about by Nas.
High-end street fashion brand “Crooks and Castles” is founded and run by Filipinos.
Many of the designs incorporate the gang lifestyle. It was part of their environment growing up in Cerritos during the 80s.
Design Director Emil Soriano said: “A lot of the guys, they go to the gun range and stuff so we try to be relevant with the stuff that we’re into. You know hobbies and what not, and relate it to what we do in the brand.”
"Crooks and Castles" was created by former Marc Ecko designer Dennis Calvero. The name was inspired by hip hop lyrics, and they say it has a deeper meaning as well.
“We started building more meaning towards it like behind every castle there’s a crook. Behind every empire there’s someone that did something dirty to get there,” explained Calvero.
The brand has been around since 2002. Jay Z wore one of their shirts in 2005 and made the t-shirt brand popular. Since then, the brand has been seen on other hip-hop and rap artists like Rick Ross, Drake and Big Boi.
Manny Pacquiao’s co-trainer, Buboy Fernandez, was seen wearing one of their patches.
“They understand the lifestyle we’re talking about, the clothing that we’re displaying so, it’s an amazing feeling especially coming from a minority race in the States and making a name for ourselves,” explained the company’s vice president Bryan Jay Calvero.
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