This Is Not a T-Shirt

May 20, 2019
Hundreds (aka Bobby Kim), the cofounder of streetwear brand The Hundreds, serves up brand advice and life lessons in this savvy and sincere memoir. Kim’s rebellious spirit began early (kindergarten fights were recognized as a sign of boredom); discovering skate culture and hardcore punk in his teens in Glendale, Calif., led him into streetwear and shaped his idea of community. His company’s motto is “people over product,” and he writes, “We’ll sell you a t-shirt, but not before we tell you about the artist behind it and his or her message.” He recounts growing from a hotheaded 20-something to a family man able to make sound business decisions: early on, he deprioritized a wildly popular line of clothes in favor of passion projects, but eventually he realized that “reflective corduroy pants gingham cargo shorts” weren’t going to sustain a business and retooled accordingly. Hardcore fans of The Hundreds and those starting out in the streetwear industry will delight in behind-the-scenes intel (Kim notes that there’s a craze for allover print every few years, and describes the less-expensive method he discovered for creating it). But what will most impress the average reader is the zeal with which Kim writes about both his product and his people. That makes the book less a marketing tool than a heartfelt statement.