Morning Comrades! Fun fact of the day, on this day in 2005 I started Black Lodges, technically speaking anyhow. I believe the idea behind it all was started a few months before hand but on this day, 16 years ago the first Black Lodges website went live and here we are. Initially, after helping Hypebeast get off the ground I was still relatively invested in streetwear at the time: I was editing a streetwear magazine, publishing/editing art books as well as curating an art show for lodown and streetwear today magazine called “untitled” that travelled between Berlin and Barcelona but realized that I couldn’t wholeheartedly immerse myself into the “hype” and consumption of that scene. Black Lodges was meant to be the antidote to all of that and through an online magazine that included regular interviews, features and a solid crew of over 80 personal blogs that included creatives who felt similar, we set the stage to where we are now with this idea. Truthfully, I have never felt comfortable calling it a brand, predominately because I am not a clothing designer nor have I, or do I have the ambition to follow the traditional trajectory of a brand but just wanted to communicate what is going on in my head with the means at my disposal. T-shirts work really well for that and I will never tire of making them, but over the years I have grown extremely happy adding the additional focus to this here writing again. That’s where it all started for me in the first place and I am currently very happy with the balance. 16 years is a bloody long time and remarkably the best part of Black Lodges is you, all of you. I’m extremely privileged to have met you all, engage with you and share whatever mutual support we can muster. This community is wonderfully aware and selfless, interested and is my home and family. No other way to put it but as such.
So thank you to you all. You are what makes Black Lodges and Black Lodges is all of us. That’s more than I could have ever imagined and it is a privilege. This below was the first ever logo for BL, made by Erik Brunetti from FUCT- and typically for my unemotional attachment of everything I make, I don’t have that shirt, just this age old screen shot. Cracks me up.
Speaking of Black Lodges, there is a new drop inbound this weekend. I’ll be sharing teasers over in our Telegram Group and back here on Wednesday but it’ll one part collab with a dear friend of mine here in Hamburg and a brand new shirt. I haven’t quite decided on which one yet but again, I’ll keep you posted through the regular channels.
You bet, another week another playlist and yet again, universally orgasmic. A lot more rap in here than usually, some great ripping guitar jams, some jazz, salsa and classic soul, this drifts in between rage, bliss and blissed out, if you catch my drift. Click on the above and get to it.
This is one of the best threads I have come across over the weekend putting The Rittenhouse Farce into a historical context and I urge you all to read through this.
With that, here is your selection of Hot Shots to get you going this week and I will remain, yours, without compromise,
V.