Freshjive Goes Unbranded

While we're still on the topic of Unbranded Brands, I thought it would be interesting to point out another clothing label that has chosen to go "unbranded."


Freshjive, a moderately well-known streetwear label among the hip-hop community, announced a few months ago that they "will no longer be using (their) brand logo or name on any of (their) product, including all labeling and t shirt designs.”

In an interview with The Hundreds, Rick Klotz, the owner and designer of Freshjive, explains:

"Throughout the years I’ve become uncomfortable with this business of branding and brand identity. I’m not the type of person that buys something for the brand name. I’ve also never done a very good job at creating a captivating identity to our own brand logo. Also, within the streetwear culture, the promotion of a company’s brand has become downright silly to me. What’s amusing is I still really enjoy designing gear, graphics, and even logos. But when I see kids wearing company logos it reminds of people who are trying to be a part of a “tribe” or “gang”, as if they need to be part of something, which seems to go against the idea of individualism in style."

When asked by Bobby Hundreds what Rick will call his new line, he responds:

"Well, let’s be practical. The company is still Freshjive. It’s just that none of our product will have any of our logos or even our name AT ALL. Not even in the labels. And after the turn of the year, no promotional material, nor our website will have any logos. It’s really invigorating to approach designing a line WITHOUT the constrictions of how the logo is gonna be placed or used on the garments."

My question is, if Rick is so intent on getting rid of labels and logos, why is there still a black box label/logo on most of his clothing items and on his main website?





As one reader commented, "just because the black rectangle doesn’t have a word mark embedded in it doesn’t mean its not a logo." Rick isn't getting rid of brand logos and labels like he claims, he's just changing his old logo and dismissing this change as a punk move to garner support from his punk fan base, and free publicity from the press, all in an attempt to revitalize a brand that's been stagnant for years. Clearly it's working since the Huffington Post ran a story on it.