CLOT® is something more than just a clothing brand - it's creative movement reflects the company's foremost mission statement: bridging the East & West.
Asia's passion for all things Americana has exponentially grown over the past 30 years. Dating back to 1990's trailblazers like Hiroshi Fujiwara, Nigo, & Jun Takahashi paving the way. They interpreted Americana through their own lens, & created a cohesion of their own identities, passions & culture.
ORIGINS
CLOT® is formed in 2003. The brainchild of childhood friends Kevin Poon & Edison Chen. KP studied finance at Pepperdine, & interned at Interscope Records whilst in California. Between the studying & interning, KP was importing/exporting sneakers for his friends in the US & Hong Kong - as many kicks were not available in either area respectively. Possibly unknowingly to himself at the time, but Poon was already building relationships & creating his own sneaker community. Paired with his internship at Interscope & his already embedded love for Hip Hop, the concept of CLOT® naturally evolved to be what it is today.
Edison Chen had been initially cast for TV commercials in the late 90's & developed into a widely recognised actor & musician in Asia. Chen was cast for multiple roles in Japanese films. Expanding his artistry further, Chen's passion for music landed him a record deal in the year 2000. In a lot of ways, EC became one of the most prominent figures in streetwear in China. His love for streetwear & hip hop is synonymous with his identity & public persona. All of these influences outside of fashion only add to the makeup of CLOT®. It becomes clear to see how the brand's vision has come to be.
JUICE STORE
(Clot's first store in Hong Kong)
Kevin & Edison first open JUICE STORE in 2004. Juice acts as an extension of CLOT®. Juice Store became the first home for a lot of American labels in China. The concept of the store certainly broke a lot of ground in the early to mid 2000's. CLOT's physical home became a space for more than just clothing. Juice held events, product launches, book signings & the like. Something which had not been explored much in a retail sense at that time. Clot's merging of cultures, concepts & ideas however becomes truly realised through their collaborative products.
FABRICS, TEXTILES & PRINTS
From the mid 2000's & onwards, CLOT® begun developing original fabrics & prints. Embarking on this creative process is not a decision that every streetwear label chooses. It requires a far greater deal of work to execute, but smartly allowed CLOT® to continue to stand out from their counterparts. Two of most recognizable prints developed were the "Silk Royale" & "Alienegra".
SNEAKERS
CLOT® x NIKE AIR MAX 1 "KISS OF DEATH"
In the early-to-mid 2000's sneaker design was still fairly restrained & overall quite subdued. Nike SB was still arguably in it's adolescence. The world was yet to see just how crazy SB designs could really be. So in 2006, when CLOT® released their infamous "Kiss of Death" Nike Air Max 1 - sneakerhead's around the world felt some sort of way..
(CLOT® x Nike Air Max 1 "Kiss of Death)
(2021)
CLOT® x NIKE AIR FORCE 1 "CANDY BOX"
One other project that rose to a similar level of infamy was the "Chinese Candy Box" Air Force 1 between Nike & CLOT®. This sneaker continued to push beyond the limits of what CLOT® had already done in the past. It is quite an achievement to consistently break the mould, and to one-up yourself time & time again. Fusing elements of traditional Chinese history with an American icon, but this time adding a few major twists. CLOT® utilized their Silk Royale print for the first time on a sneaker, but secretly created a underlayer alongside the red upper. This, to our memory, is the first time a "tear away" upper was utilised on Nike footwear. Fun fact, a lot of sneakerheads struggled to wrap their heads around the tear away aspect of the Candy Box AF1. Partly destroying, burning or tearing away your deadstocks was a hard pill to swallow for many shoe lovers. Clot's creativity is undeniable though.
For almost 20 years CLOT® has been an exemplar of "the best of both worlds". Pioneering vision & consistent excellence have established CLOT® as a major player in not only the streetwear realm, but also the collaborative, sneaker & retail spaces also.
USG is proud to be stocking CLOT®! First delivery is available online now.
