Tribal Gear

Last updated
Tribal Gear
TypePrivate
IndustryFashion
Founded San Diego, United States (1989)
FounderBobby Ruiz
Headquarters
San Diego
,
United States
Key people
Bobby Ruiz
ProductsApparel and Accessories
Website www.tribalgear.com www.tribal-streetwear.com

Tribal Gear, Tribal Streetwear or simply Tribal was launched in 1989 by Bobby Ruiz and his brother Joey as a Southern California lifestyle-inspired clothing brand.

Contents

History

Bobby Ruiz started Tribal Street wear on November 20, 1989, with his brother Joey. When Bobby was looking for sponsors for a graffiti art/benefit show in San Diego, Carl Arellano, who had a silk-screening business offered to sponsor the show. "It was at that point when we became friends and started to talk about him getting involved with Tribal", says Bobby. [1]

The process started with blank white T-shirts which were given various graphics including tattoo-style designs from Joey. Inspired by his graffiti background Bobby wanted to use bold graphics. [2] Most graphics were Aztec and Mayan influenced. This is how they came up with the name Tribal. They started working with graffiti artists who made hip hop-style graphics. Tribal expanded from T-shirts to apparel and accessories. [2]

Influences

Latino community

Tribal Street wear is a lifestyle clothing brand that has made an impact from West to East U.S.A. and even overseas. [2] [3] Tribal became popular in countries like Germany and Japan where the interest in Latino culture has paved the way for California designers to sell street wear. [4]

Bobby wanted his clothing to appeal to a wide customer base. [2] “We never boxed ourselves in by using one thing that we are into”, explains Bobby “We have a skate team, b-boy team, graffiti artist, and ultimate fighters”. [2]

Breakdance

Tribal is a supporter of breaking, b-boying or commonly known as break dancing all over the world. The tough style of Tribal matches the Breakdancing aesthetics. [5]

Over the years Tribal has sponsored breakdancing events and dancers such as Lil Rock, Moskito, Ruen, Crumbs, Lil Bob, Rainen, Franky Flav, Nabil, and Anthrax. [6]

Graffiti

Tribal Streetwear has carried designs from popular artists including OG Abel and Mr. Cartoon from the Los Angeles lowrider scene, Daim and Seak from Germany, and Hasl, Brisk and Persué from San Diego. [7] Over the years the lifestyle brand has provided work for as many as 200 graffiti artists. [8]

Tribal artists

OG Abel

Abel, grew up poor in a rugged section of South Central L. A. and lost a brother to street violence. [9] He attended Los Angeles Trade Tech to take courses in graphic design and he's turned his hobby into a business, which has him working alongside some of the world's most power brands. From Fiat, Lowrider Magazine to Tribal and Converse. [9]

Mr. Cartoon

Mark Machado, better known as Mister Cartoon, is a Mexican American tattoo artist and graffiti artist based in Los Angeles, California. Machado designed the logo for Cypress Hill. He has tattooed the bodies of Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Eminem, Method Man, Gabriel McDonald [ who? ], Scott Raynor, Justin Timberlake, and Beyoncé Knowles. [10]

In addition to tattoos, Machado's work has been used by Nike, Tribal, Toyota, T-Mobile and in Grand Theft Auto. [11]

Munk One

Munk One a.k.a. JoseMercado is a contemporary American illustrator and fine artist. He is most noted for creating artwork for bands. [12]

Celebrities

Tribal enjoys support from artists such as Rock Steady Crew, Korn, Delinquent Habits and Linkin Park. [2] Other famous supporters of the brand include Snoop Dogg, KRS-One, Gotti, P.O.D., Limp Bizkit, Staind and Los Lobos. [13]

Distribution

The Tribal collection is sold in selected stores in Europe, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Philippines, Russia, Mexico, Colombia, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the United States of America. In each country, there are also exclusive local designs. There is also a partnership Tribal Gear Tattoo Parlour in Hong Kong, Tribal Gear Barbers in Manila Philippines called 'Tribal Cuts', Tribal Gear Surf Fashion Shop in Yokohama, Japan, and Tribal Gear Fashion Store with Tattoo Ink department in Mexico.

See also

Related Research Articles

Hip hop fashion

Hip hop fashion is a distinctive style of dress originating from Urban Black America and from inner city youth located in New York City, followed by Los Angeles, then other US cities. All have contributed various elements to the overall style seen worldwide today. Hip hop fashion complements the expressions and attitudes of hip hop culture and has changed significantly during its history. Today, it is a prominent fashion worn across the whole world and popular with all ethnicities.

JNCO Los Angeles, California-based clothing company

JNCO, short for "Judge None Choose One", is a Los Angeles, California-based clothing company specializing in boys' and men's jeans.

Von Dutch

Von Dutch is an American multinational fashion brand posthumously named after Kenny Howard, a.k.a. "Von Dutch", an American artist and pinstriper of the Kustom Kulture movement. After Howard's death in 1992, his daughters allowed Ed Boswell to produce items using the Von Dutch. The trademark rights were sold in 2000 to Mike Cassell and Bobby Vaughn. French designer Christian Audigier helped popularize the brand in the early 2000s. Von Dutch was repurchased in 2009 by Groupe Royer S.A., through its Luxembourg subsidiary Royer brands International S.a.r.l.

Kustom Kulture

Kustom Kulture is a neologism used to describe the artworks, vehicles, hairstyles, and fashions of those who drove and built custom cars and motorcycles in the United States of America from the 1950s through today. It was born out of the hot rod culture of Southern California of the 1960s.

Mark Machado better known as Mr. Cartoon or more commonly just Cartoon, is an American tattoo artist and graffiti artist based in Los Angeles, California. Since the age of eight, Mr. Cartoon realized he was an artist and went on his first paying art job at the age of twelve. Having grown up in the Harbor area of Los Angeles County, young Cartoon began airbrushing T-shirts and Lowrider cars before adopting the "Fineline Style" tattoo art style, which was developed in the California prison system.

Streetwear Style of casual clothing

Streetwear is a style of casual clothing which became global in the 1990s. It grew from New York hip hop fashion and Californian surf culture to encompass elements of sportswear, punk, skateboarding and Japanese street fashion. Eventually haute couture became an influence. It commonly centers on "casual, comfortable pieces such as jeans, T-shirts, baseball caps, and sneakers", and exclusivity through intentional product scarcity. Enthusiasts follow particular brands and try to obtain limited edition releases.

FUCT or Friends U Can't Trust is a clothing brand founded in Los Angeles in 1990 by American artist and designer Erik Brunetti and partner at the time, professional skateboarder Natas Kaupas. Brunetti has said he choose the name "FUCT" because it was a homophone of the expletive "fucked" and he wanted people to question its pronunciation. FUCT has been referred to as one of the pioneering brands of modern streetwear, often incorporating various elements and icons of pop culture alongside anti-government and anti-religious campaigns into their designs including the use of parodied logos.

Mark Vanco American designer

Mark Vanco is an American designer and artist, associated with the cyberpunk aesthetic. He is the creator of Rotor, a clothing company.

Stüssy American clothing brand and private company

Stüssy is an American privately held fashion house founded in the early 1980s by Shawn Stussy. It benefited from the surfwear trend originating in Orange County, California, but has since been adopted by the skateboard and hip-hop scenes.

Erik Brunetti American artist

Erik Brunetti is an American artist, designer, director and founder of the lifestyle and clothing brand FUCT.

Chicano art movement

The Chicano Art Movement represents groundbreaking movements by Mexican-American artists to establish a unique artistic identity in the United States. Much of the art and the artists creating Chicano Art were heavily influenced by Chicano Movement which began in the 1960s.

Mishka NYC is a streetwear company and record label currently headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was established in 2003 by Mikhail Bortnik and Greg Rivera in Brooklyn, New York. Featuring bright colors and grotesque but playful cartoon imagery, the brand designs T-shirts, hats, sweaters, and accessories. Mishka NYC's most notable design is the "Keep Watch" eyeball and the "Bearmop" logo, a cartoon bear.

Wood Wood is a contemporary fashion and lifestyle brand founded in 2002 and based in Copenhagen, Denmark. It has stores in Berlin, Aarhus and Copenhagen, and an online store. Wood Wood is directed by co-founders Karl-Oskar Olsen and Brian SS Jensen.

Austin Babbitt, known mononymously as Asspizza is an American fashion designer, artist, and internet tastemaker best known for his eponymous clothing line.

X-Large is an American streetwear brand and clothing store based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded by Eli Bonerz and Adam Silverman in 1991, based on an idea from Mike D. Since then, the company has expanded the business in New York City, Tokyo, Seattle, and Toronto, among others.

Online Ceramics

Online Ceramics is a clothing company founded in Los Angeles, California in 2016 by Alix Ross and Elijah Funk. Many of their designs are tie-dyed by hand, and feature images and sayings associated with the musical act the Grateful Dead. It is located at 1500 S. Central Avenue.

A cholo or chola is a member of a Chicano and Latino subculture or lifestyle associated with a particular set of dress, behavior, and worldview which originated in Los Angeles. A veterano or veterana is an older member of the same subculture. Other terms referring to male members of the subculture may include vato, and vato loco.Cholo was first reclaimed by Chicano youth in the 1960s and emerged as a popular identification in the late 1970s. The subculture has historical roots in the Pachuco subculture, but today is largely equated with anti-social behavior, criminal behavior and gang activity.

Keith Hufnagel was an American skateboarding professional, entrepreneur, and fashion designer, the founder of the streetwear brand HUF.

References

  1. ↑ Interview Bobby Ruiz
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Tribal Streetwear, American Latino TV, December 8, 2007
  3. ↑ American Latino TV Shines the Light on Latinos Online, Latin Heat Online, March 12, 2007
  4. ↑ Clothing with a culture, Los Angeles Times, August 20, 1999 by Jose Cardenas
  5. ↑ Circle Sensation 2006 Archived 2006-08-27 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ Tribal Gear Killafornia Breakdancing DVD
  7. ↑ Tribal Gear art scene by Marco A. Patino
  8. ↑ Conference Views Graffiti’s Creative Side, October 03, 2003 by Los Angeles Times
  9. 1 2 "SHOCK MANSION INTERVIEWS OG ABEL" Archived 2013-04-19 at archive.today , 2009, Shock Mansion
  10. ↑ Mister Cartoon's Growing Tattoo Empire, January 1, 2003 by Michele Norris
  11. ↑ Mister Cartoon Draws Brand Interest, Brandweek, February 13, 2006
  12. ↑ Munk One's Homepage
  13. ↑ Bighouse clothing: Tribal Streetwear
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.