"Who are those guys?"
I line I seem to hear a lot. Whether inadvertently associated with Hoey Inc. or another company, group brand or even band. Whether popular or still on the cusp of excellent growth and development; There is always an immediate speculation of who, what and why a company exists and what it is they are trying to accomplish. I was perusing through my e-mails, sometimes scarce, sometimes through a considerable amount asking just that particular question. "Who are we?"
These days, for any company to stay alive in a lucrative business, you must establish a firm identity and a solid relationship with the consumer. Why would anyone wear a shirt label they don't trust? Certainly not to impress their friends. Posed with the question "Who are those guys;" How would you respond to your buddies inquiry? "No idea." Very doubtful. Thus creating the enigma which is a brand.
There is The Hundreds: A sturdy built, well branded, undeniable blogging machine. Being an educated bunch, They push they're LA lifestyle brand like a Heavy Weight boxer pushes a title fight. They live and breathe the industry. They influenced the newest influx of "Streetwear" brands, but lead the pack as one of the more influential Streetwear companies today.
Crooks 'n' Catles is another prime example of Well constructed branding. You can recognize a Crooks 'n' Castles shirt, if you are familiar with their brand, with just a seconds glance. And with their missions statement, you can relate with their "From the Streets" mentality, heavily influenced by the lackluster life of a crook, and the rise to unobtainable success, hence the name "crooks 'n' castles." Always on their hustle.
Or Johnny Cupcakes. The Boston clothing phenomenon. His limited runs, unique novelty items and excellent branding through a yummy treat, the cupcake, He has gone from selling shirts out of a beat up honda accord, to lecturing students and local universities and now pushing revenue into the 7 figure bracket (millions). His brand has been so successful, his stores develop two block long lines and 15 minute sellouts to acquire a Johnny Cupcakes shirt. All stemming from a nickname, a clever marketing scheme and a deep hunger and passion for his trade. We look up to Johnny Cupcakes, his story is inspirational.
These 3 companies alone are pushing multi-million dollar business's through proper branding, fresh designs and a solid identity which never yields off the integrity in which the brand was built. All three of these companies, as most do, start from nothing.
These days it isn't necessarily sink or swim. I've seen companies tread the industry waters and still manage to stay afloat. With the advent of myspace, the proverbial viral community which are blogs, sometimes built with keen insight, other times an opinion pit stuffed with sentence fragments and professional fibbing; Our generation was tailor made to succeed by any of these means with a little motivation, a solid skill set and a courageous passion that won't allow you to stop.
I have personally witnessed success from both sides of the spectrum; As a close associate and friend of a company owner, to a fan watching the rapid climb of an up and coming brand. They all of one thing in common; They're ability to push an idea, a belief, a lifestyle, a brand and to push it with genuine passion.
Just like a majority of companies in the industry, Hoey Inc. had its humble beginning's being initially born in a garage with a lot of passion and little idea of what we were doing, producing the first line of products stemming from an 11 o'clock conversation on a cold 4th of July night in 2004.
It isn't fair to those who don't know us to properly identify who we are and what we are about, although our personal agenda holds deep meaning. As opposed to friends and people in the industry who do know us, they can make a proper assumption; being associated with us for the past couple of years.
Hoey Inc. was initially started as an argyle design based company. To incorporate the pattern and the material into different design concepts and compositions. Whether it be a sweater, or a shirt; inner lining of a jacket, or on a shoe. We believed we could develop a brand that mainly used argyle as template for our line.
However as many trends start and fade out. It was almost immediately apparent to us that a different approach was evident due to the fizzling out of the concept as well as the material in general. It is easy to have a trend killed if you don't capitalize on it immediately. As young kids with an unyielding passion, and a hunger that was undeniable, we had to move forward, but from a fresher stand point that needed more substance. Thus Hoey clothing was born.
Hoey Clothing was the birth of our company. Being from the culture rich city which is San Diego, it is hard to not be influenced by the San Diego lifestyle, sub-culture and way of life. "The Finest City" in the United States was stapled with that name for a reason. Growing up in this city skateboarding, surfing, eating a breakfast burrito at one of the hundreds of chains; it is hard not be inspired by the beautiful waves, friendly people and the rich history of San Diego's inception as a city at every corner of the Gaslmap quarter. We are all a direct product of our environment, irregardless of where we are from; And loving our city, and living in such a culture rich environment, we had a beginning of a movement derived from our personal relationships with our upbringing in this town. Giving us inspiration...just little knowledge of how to take action. We all know where we want to go, but we can NEVER forget where we are from.
Living in horrible conditions with little money, food and support - but a lot of heart, we constantly conspired on how to develop such a brand that emphasizes where we are from, who we are, and what inspires us. At the time, almost completely alienating ourselves, we were forced to live on our own and learn.
Steve's main means of travel for sometime, we named her "Phantom.":
Having many heart to hearts, developing new and old relationships, as best friends we were broken down in every way possible; both emotionally and through our company.In the end, we all came to find a common understanding. Only separated by our eclecticisms, our passion for life as well as passion for our city and as far as a passion for more, it was uncanny how we felt uneasy in this world not pushing for more and settling for less.
After years of developing this common bond and seemingly putting Hoey clothing on the back burner, we had our personal epiphanies and growth, and decided we wanted to be here to stay. It gave us a reason to wake up in the morning...and still does. As we went through fallouts, mistake after mistake; we grew more mature as a company as well as people. Then, Hoey Inc. was born. The reinvention of not only ourselves, but the company in general.
Our first package of promo shirts circa 05.'
Hoey Inc. is no longer a group of individuals, it is a company that stands for a passion, a purpose, for our city, for our friends and family, and for what we believe in. There is no face of Hoey inc, just a common bond and a like minded understanding of our purpose and our presentation.
Our passion for our product, the industry and fashion and it's appeal will always be relentlessness and we are determined to make it contagious as we continue to grow as individuals and as a company. There are is no cleverly developed psychology here. No word play or stories. We stay mysterious to avoid direct acclaim for something we equally produce. We are a family, a bond. We stand behind a brand and share our passion with you. We don't label you as a consumer. Each new purchase adds a family member to our extended family.
We wouldn't be here if it weren't for hard work, hard lessons and constant determination. We encourage you to do the same, work hard and have little complaints; this life is too short to not take advantage of your passions. You will always find a heart behind our company because we genuinely care...we've been there - we persevered. We will never neglect what it took to get us here and never take it for granted. Thank you for supporting us, we look forward to the future with our new found respect for the game.
To walk the walk and talk the talk, feel free to email any of us for any questions, concerns or inspiration. Like you, we wish we had an outlet for advice when we started. We are all here for you. Here is our emails:
ianhoey@hoeyinc.com
theexecutive@hoeyinc.com
asprigle@hoeyinc.com
info@hoeyinc.com
Email us anytime. We're always here for you whether you like it or not.
There is no looking back for us....just for personal reference : )
Inspire. Aspire. Conspire
- Hoey Inc.
