Streetwear Brands Are Looking To Chinatown For Inspiration, But At What Cost?

Four servers at Wo Hop, the 80-year-old below-ground noodle shop located at 17 Mott Street in New York City’s Chinatown, huddled around my phone, heads bent down to peer into the screen. Displayed was a picture from Los Angeles-based brand Hubble’s Instagram account that showcased its limited drop for the summer: a couple of now-sold out graphic tees with the Wo Hop logo stamped prominently across the back—a design that had been available for $90. One of the servers — the first to recognize the branding — immediately pointed to the restaurant’s takeout bags, which featured the same layout and the same font that was seen on the T-shirt. “That’s not our shirt,” another said, almost accusingly, as if by showing them the tee, I was somehow responsible for its existence. None of them had prior knowledge of the shirt or of the studio that had completely ripped off their shop’s logo and printed it on a tee for profit. (Wo Hop actually sells its own souvenir design with a panda printed across the front; a request for a comment from Hubble was never returned.) Read more at Fashionista.