Blonde in H&R Block’s “Never Settle For Less” Ad.
Posted on January 2nd, 2012
We are honored to have our clothing featured in the recent H&R Block “Never Settle For Less” ad campaign.
Shot here in Detroit, the commercial highlights the great (and often unseen) gems of the city while celebrating
giving back to the city’s residents.
The Yorba Hoodie [purchase] and June V-Neck [purchase].
The Space Tee [purchase]
The New City Tee [purchase]
Watch the full video:
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Three New Styles, Out Now
Posted on December 1st, 2011
Today we are pleased to announce the arrival of the first of our Winter 2011 goods. These three new designs,
designed and printed with care in Detroit, are now available for you inside the Blonde web Flagship Store.
The New City Tee:
At the heart of the Blonde business is the belief that the city of Detroit will once again take its place
as a cultural hub and world class city. Over the years, Detroit has seen a good majority of the
creative class and young professionals transplant themselves to New York City. While we at Blonde
have nothing but love for the Big Apple (unless it’s Tigers v. Yankees, of course) we wanted to
make a little something for the new creative class transporting themselves here, from NYC.
Purchase it here.
The DJ Tee:
Give the DJ some. Detroit wasn’t only the birthplace of Motown, it was also the home to the
beginnings of Techno. Regardless of musical backgrounds, the city harbors a large number of
impressive DJ’s. On any given weekend you can fill your ears with slow jams at Woodbridge Pub,
deep house at TV Bar and nu-disco at The Old Miami. When you are out, make sure to give the DJ
the respect they deserve and rock this shirt.
Purchase it here.
The Derby Hoodie:
Established in 1978, the Motor City Rollers were the first in a series of underground derby teams
that would meet in and around the city to practice and perform their craft. The derby meets were
always kept secret and private, those who were there only had stories and memories to pass along
after the night ended (as no photos were allowed). Rumor has it that the last of the derby matches
were held in late 1985.
Purchase it here.
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Blonde No. 5 – K-Fresh
Posted on September 13th, 2011
Michigan slowly works it way into fall, and we are holding on for the ride. To welcome the new season, we offer up the “slowed-down-banger” side of Blonde. Ease back into your books, routines and work life with our Blonde No. 5 mix curated by Detroit DJ/Blogger, K-Fresh.
Kelly “K-Fresh” Frazier has been sort of a “jack-of-all-trades” in the Detroit hip-hop scene for the past decade. As the years have gone by, his focus has been that of a tastemaker for not only the hip-hop scene in Detroit, but of the whole music scene. Reason enough to pick his brain for a minute:
1) Tell us about you and your ties to Detroit?
I grew up in the metro Detroit area right off 8 Mile in Warren, and
had a passion for music in general since about age 6. I was listening
to Jimi Hendrix and The Who. In my teen years after getting into
hip-hop with stuff like Dr. Dre, Wu Tang, Black Moon, Gang Starr,
among others, I started catching wind of Detroit hip-hop. Stuff like
Esham, Natas, and Kid Rock got me into Detroit music, and I just
started exploring it from there. I went to record stores and checked
out the local sections, I talked to people there, and read local
magazines. By the end of the teen years, I was already going out to
hip-hop shows and just seeing what Detroit had to offer, and I’ve seen
some great things in the past 15 years.
2) Give us a little background on The Loop Detroit?
Over ten years ago, I launched the web site Renaissance Soul Detroit
as an unofficial J. Dilla web site. I originally curated the J. Dilla
discography that you see used on the web still, and Renaissance Soul
Detroit was built for it. I tracked down all the new and obscure J.
Dilla productions and songs. Over the years, I expanded to all of
Detroit urban music. Last year, around May 2010, I relaunched the site
as The Loop Detroit. The name came from my old local hip-hop column I
used to write for Real Detroit Weekly from 2003-2006. After J. Dilla
passed in 2006 along with a general shift in my own musical tastes, I
felt that I needed something new. The new site is much more focused
on a balance between Detroit’s hip-hop, electronic, and indie scenes,
along with showing Detroit’s effect on the global music scene by
interviewing non-Detroiters who have a definite love of our music.
3) What local artists would you recommend?
There’s a electronic pop duo called Phantasmagoria that is really
dope. They make this beautiful, yet a tad dirty electronic music with
lovely vocals. Danny Brown is my favorite. He’s the most creative of
anyone in Detroit in the post-Dilla era. Guilty Simpson is epitome of
hardcore hip-hop in Detroit, but he’s very open to doing some left
field stuff. Kyle Hall is the future of electronic music in Detroit.
He’s a young musician from the streets that is open to help molding
others along with continuing to learn himself. Apollo Brown is a
really dope hip-hop producer who is modernizing the boom bap sound of
the 1990s. I could go on and on about people who haven’t gotten their
due yet.
4) Favorite spot in the City?
With places coming and going these days, that’s hard to say. I love
being at a good show at Saint Andrews Hall though. It feels like home
there. Anytime you walk in, memories just fill your mind.
5) Any words of of wisdom?
Learn from people that are actually successful at it, but be yourself.
Everyone successful at it are just being themselves. Its good for
people to be competitive and critical of you for technical reasons,
but anything outside of that is just being closed-minded. Be yourself,
be open minded, and always keep learning something. The consensus of a
group of people isn’t always the right path.
6) Where can we catch you?
These days, I mostly do one-off stuff around Detroit.
Recently, I’ve played nights at Saint Andrews and The Magic Stick.
[More on K-Fresh: http://theloopdetroit.com/]
[tweet: @rensoul]
01. The Black Opera – M.A.S.H.
02. Sally Paradise – Je n’aime Pas Danser
03. Unison – Outside
04. Jonwayne – Grayscale
05. Apollo Brown – Never In A Million Years
06. The Weeknd – Lonely Star
07. Frank Ocean – Swin Good
08. Elzhi – Detroit State Of Mind
09. Danny Brown – Die Like A Rockstar
10. Tyler, The Creator – She (featuring Frank Ocean)
11. Creep – You (featuring Nina Sky)
12. Alpines – Cocoon (Nocturnal Sunshine Remix)
13. Paul White – Dirty Slang (featuring Guilty Simpson)
14. Danny Brown – Pac Blood
15. Random Axe – 4 In The Box
16. Jamie Woon – Spirits
17. Maya Jane Coles – Senseless
18. DJ Harvey Presents Locussolus – Next To You
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Blonde in The Metropolitan Detroit
Posted on September 8th, 2011
The Metropolitan Detroit is the first paper that travelers, workers see when they enter Detroit Metro Airport. It’s mission is to provide these savvy travelers with the “who, what and where” inside (and around) the city of Detroit. Inside the magazine fellow fashionista, Fotoula Lambros answers those questions, highlighting the movers and shakers in Detroit. Our founder, Brad Hicks is featured as one of them.
The article reads:
Born in 2009, The Blonde Collective is the brain child of Detroiter, Brad Hicks. As it’s mission, Blonde is propelling support to a positive Detroit message, and translates that through different mediums of Art. From graphic designs on Tees and Hoodies to music compilations and local events, the Blonde Collective is full of MADE IN USA apparel and designed by himself and other influencing artists around Metro Detroit. Blonde’s, “Head Logo”, is defined by ambiguity. It represents any race, gender, or level of beauty and is clear of judgment.
Browse the digital version of The Metropolitan here.
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Blonde x The Fancy
Posted on July 26th, 2011
The Fancy is part store, blog, magazine and wishlist. It’s a place to discover great stuff, to curate a collection of things you love, to get updates on your favorite brands and stores and share your discoveries. Blonde is happy to be one of those brands. In fact, we are so happy about it that we’ve partnered up with NYC’s The Fancy for a special offer.
When you shop in our webstore, you’ll see click-able buttons for The Fancy. If you have an account with them and “fancy” two or more of our tees, you’ll unlock a special Blonde Badge on your account profile and receive 20% off any purchase in our store.
So now, as you are adding your favorite things around the web to your Fancy account, it becomes a must to add a few Blonde bits in.
Get started now over at TheFancy.com
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