is the ghetto an overlooked market?

13129 Views 67 Replies 16 Participants Last post by Buechee, Oct 12, 2006

lousentdreem

Discussion Starter · Sep 24, 2006

Maybe it's my OCD flaring up but, I make a point of bookmarking every teeshirt site I find. I see plenty of the same thing done over and over again
and there seem to be niches missing. With exception of joker brand and something with "playa" in the name I havent come accross any sites selling
selling tees to the gangster set or urban kids. Joker's site mens tees section has been emty for a couple months and the playa thing was clothing which had screened phrases on its items. What I see is (since I live in the ghetto) stolen copyrighted designs reproduced at very low quality- and thug wear that has stupid little phrases and images of guns and dollar bills. These low quality tees sell for $10 and I was told sell emtremely well.
There's gotta be a market that demands better quality, art and I'm sure is willing to pay for it.

Who knows of sites selling tees to this crowd that I may have passed up?

There used to be alot of punk rocks tees everywhere- other than band shirts thems selves- I dont see much focused on that crowd. There are 18 year-olds wearing misfits tees -thus ther must be a new generation of buyers.

those goth kids didnt go away is their little niche market just underground
or are they not being represented?

if anyone knows of sites that are specific to any of the above I'd love to take a look.

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T-BOT

· #2 · Sep 24, 2006

lousentdreem said:
I havent come accross any sites selling
selling tees to the gangster set or urban kids. What I see is (since I live in the ghetto) stolen copyrighted designs reproduced at very low quality- and thug wear that has stupid little phrases and images of guns and dollar bills. These low quality tees sell for $10 and I was told sell emtremely well.
There's gotta be a market that demands better quality, art and I'm sure is willing to pay for it.

There is a market for Hip-Hop and Afro-American legends and you are right, not much Legit goods out there.

However, not just in this market sector but in others too, like the punk goth etc.

Here is whats been happening for the past few years. Teens go to places to make and design their own shirts. They use their imagination, basic letters and transfer designs to create their own one of a kind stuff, this is where the majority of cool hipsters find their place. So not all Teens have fallen into the Knock-off Designs and the Guns.

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ajizzy

· #3 · Sep 24, 2006

It's true, I'm into the urban fashion clothing and the shirts i do are urban style also, and I see tons of shirts all the time and a lot of em look really cheap (low budget) printing on em and a lot of em do have like cartoon charecters on em and i know they do not have permission from companies to use them. I see price ranges from $10.00 -$25.00 and like i said they have (rap artist, cartoons, guns, drug slogans, money..etc.) I have seen just tons of new shirts poppin up all the time because this is rising market that just keep getting bigger and bigger. See im from the hood and i see what people are wearing all the time and that made me think.. i can do this also and make a pretty good profit sellin to local mom & pop shops that carry hip hop and urban clothing and out in the hoods and on the streets. a lot of the time it has to do with the quality of t-shirts you use also..all the PRO-brands like (pro club, pro-5, shakka, saad, hood.etc.) are the ones the people want, because they have really tight necks, tall size cuts to em and are really thick shirts. I have never seen like FROOT OF THE LOOM, HANES, GILDAN etc. i think because there not thick and long enough.(one wash and dry, it's no good anymore) not long enough and the neck isn't the same. previously to getting my heat press i used to go to the swapmeet and buy one of these urban shirts (wich it seems one of the only places you can always find these shirts) i would have someone that does vinyl iron-ons make my shirts but it's not that cheap. to make this long story short, it's a market that is going to keep getting bigger.

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TshirtKing

· #4 · Sep 24, 2006

I personally think that all of the major URBAN fashion trends you see around the globe originates from hoods around the globe. Even the big time fashion houses copy images from the hood for a quick profit. See, I also truly believe that more and more youngsters are feeling the entrepreneur bug and that is good for the industry. They know how to design a shirt from thier talents and bring it to market, and make a nice profit. Fashion has always been a staple in the hood. Fashion does not care if you are broke or rich or what ethnicity you are. You just have some outlandish companies charging crazy prices for their wears. ALL YOU ARE PAYING FOR MOST OF THE TIME IS THE NAME. The hood knows how to improvise and still come out looking tuff. While the majors are asking how do they do that. Name me one big time fashion house that has an office set up in the hood giving back to the youth or community who want to be in the apparel biz. And i mean really giving back. The big timers always steal ideas from the hood everyday. They have the capital to put out a style in a matter of weeks, while turning their backs on the hood where the ideas originated. Who would have known that a 80's inspired girly long sleep shirt would one day be worn by youth from the hood and start up a TALL TEE REVOLUTION AND NEW MARKET. NOW ALL THESE BIG TIME MANUFACTURERS ARE TRYING TO PRODUCE TALL TEES. It was the hood who started that trend and start wearing their tees xxxxxxxtra big and tall. And all of the big timers say it's thugish but still produce them anyway for a profit. THE HOOD IS A STRONG MARKET. THE GHETTO IS NEVER AN OVERLOOKED MARKET. IT IS LOOKED AT HARD EVERYDAY BY THE BIG TIMERS FOR IDEAS. WE JUST HAVE TO CAPITALIZE ON OUR HOOD IDEAS BEFORE THEY DO.

Now as far as bootlegging other desgns to make a quick buck. ASK YOURSELF THIS. YOU START OUT SMALL ONE DAY WITH ONE STYLE AND GROW INTO HUNDREDS OF STYLES A SEASON MAKING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN REVENUE.
THEN SOMEONE COMES ALONG AND BOOTLEGS YOUR HARDWORK FOR A QUICK BUCK. DO YOU WANT THAT TO HAPPEN TO YOU?
FASHION IS ALL ABOUT CREATIVITY, INSPIRATION, AND HARD WORK. THE HARDER YOU THINK DIFFERENT, THE BETTER BRAND IDENTITY YOU WILL HAVE. THE MORE MARKET SHARE YOU GAIN. SO THINK SMARTER, DIFFERENT, AND WORK HARDER THEN EVERBODY ELSE IN THE FASHION GAME. I BET YOU BECOME SUCCESSFUL.

GOOD LUCK TO ALL AND MUCH SUCCESS

PEACE

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Robin

· #5 · Sep 25, 2006

I realized how over looked it was just a week ago. I couldnt find tall t's fast enough and come up with a price to win the customer. I was undersold by $2 a t!! (Im still new at this) Where I walk, there are 8 basketball courts, and of course my mind was reeling trying to figure out how to sell shirts to these guys!

But something I thought Id mention, I was at a tradeshow in indianapolis, and one of the vendors who was selling heat presses, had t's on display. In the "urban" style....every shirt that had bling, was sparkled up! When I asked the guy about it, he said the fella who makes these shirts goes to a local craft store and picks up the sparkly fabric paint, and paints up all the gold, silver and diamonds. Says the guy sells heaps of these shirts, and thats why he had them on display. Pretty cool.

T-BOT

· #6 · Sep 25, 2006

Robin said:
In the "urban" style....every shirt that had bling, was sparkled up! When I asked the guy about it, he said the fella who makes these shirts goes to a local craft store and picks up the sparkly fabric paint, and paints up all the gold, silver and diamonds.

Thanks for the info Robin.

You can also find more info about making your own designs with Glitter Inks on this thread: http://www.t-shirtforums.com/showthread.php?t=5895&highlight=GLITTER

freestyle glitter designs, custom screen printed glitter transfers, deco glitter transfers etc...

Rodney

· #7 · Sep 25, 2006

Name me one big time fashion house that has an office set up in the hood giving back to the youth or community who want to be in the apparel biz.

Have you really researched this? I think there are a few urban clothing lines that do just that.

With exception of joker brand and something with "playa" in the name I havent come accross any sites selling tees to the gangster set or urban kids

I think a lot of those t-shirts are sold more OFFLINE rather than online. When I talk to offline shops that sell urban clothing about their customers and "kids" around the neighborhood, not very many of them shop online. I'm sure there are some that do, but I think the online retailers are catering to the people that are spending the money online.

You can definitely make some good money selling urban/ghetto/hip hop themed apparel, but I think a good part of that market are offline shoppers that don't use their credit cards to buy online.

Sure, there is the upperscale stuff that is selling online. The "urban" brands that are looking to be "high fashion" brands (sean jean, rocawear), but the stuff like you mentioned (stolen copyrighted images with sayings under them, etc) would be shut down much faster if they were sold online. Those big corporations have legal teams whose whole job is to search for people using their trademarks and brands. That stuff just seems to fly "under the radar" much easier in an "offline" market.

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T-BOT

· #8 · Sep 25, 2006 (Edited by Moderator)

Rodney said:
You can definitely make some good money selling urban/ghetto/hip hop themed apparel, but I think a good part of that market are offline shoppers that don't use their credit cards to buy online.

but the stuff like you mentioned (stolen copyrighted images with sayings under them, etc) would be shut down much faster if they were sold online. Those big corporations have legal teams whose whole job is to search for people using their trademarks and brands. That stuff just seems to fly "under the radar" much easier in an "offline" market.

What you talking about Rod ?

http://www.tbible.com/BLACK-400.jpg

....like i said before. The kids on the street in the hood make their own t-shirts for the most part. The knock-offs are a small percentage.
also, this is where stylelists for the celebs get their stuff to dress the stars from, the streets and from the kids. Just like Jully. See the slogan on her shirt ? "Give Thanks". She does give back to the hood in many ways.... this is how it should be.

And by the way, almost everybody has a computer our days, and the ones that dont its because peeps dont give back to the hood like they should.

as for credit cards, how do expect someone who hardly makes a dollar to eat to own a credit card ?

There is a store here in town that on "Boxing Day" (famous Canadian Shopping Day) that sells all the shirts in their store on that day for a Cent/Ea. ...so that on that day everyone in the hood can have a cool new shirt.

Rodney

· #9 · Sep 25, 2006

What you talking about Rod ?

http://www.tbible.com/BLACK-400.jpg

I was following up on the discussion from the original poster:

What I see is (since I live in the ghetto) stolen copyrighted designs reproduced at very low quality- and thug wear that has stupid little phrases and images of guns and dollar bills. These low quality tees sell for $10 and I was told sell emtremely well.

The image you linked to doesn't relate to that at all?

the kids on the street in the hood make their own t-shirts for the most part. The knock-offs are a small percentage.

Depends on which kids and which hoods. Not all kids go in and make their own t-shirts. It's not very common here in the Sacramento areas.

And by the way, almost everybody has a computer our days,

Not true for some of the lower income urban areas.

and the ones that dont its because peeps dont give back to the hood like they should

as for credit cards, how do expect someone who hardly makes a dollar to eat to own a credit card ?

That's a discussion for a whole different forum, but please don't make assumptions about who gives back and how much and to which hoods.

My point is the reality is that there is a segment that doesn't shop online for many reasons, which is why you probably don't see a lot of designs online targeted for that market.

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T-BOT

· #10 · Sep 25, 2006 (Edited by Moderator)

Rodney said:
The image you linked to doesn't relate to that at all?

Depends on which kids and which hoods. Not all kids go in and make their own t-shirts. It's not very common here in the Sacramento areas.

Why Not ???

the picture below shows a shirt that was made the same way kids make their shirts at a Custom T-Shirt Store here in Toronto Canada, in a poor hood. It does not mean the kids here have a poor creativity level though. In fact, i think they are the real designers of this world. They create from nothing about their way of life and not from fiction. If you want to see the coolest fresh t-shirt art ideas, go to the streets that make do with nothing and see how they use their creativity to dress themselfs. That is art/fashion, not a degree with the lastest mac.

Are there not custom t-shirt stores where you at that let kids come in and make their own shirts ? thats terrible.

http://www.tbible.com/BLACK-400.jpg

Rodney

· #11 · Sep 25, 2006

Why Not ???

I couldn't tell you. Not all kids want to make their own t-shirts, so it could be that the people considering that business in the area decided that the market didn't fit the demand.

If you want to see the coolest fresh t-shirt art ideas, go to the streets that make do with nothing and see how they use their creativity to dress themselfs. That is art/fashion, not a degree with the lastest mac.

Yes, that is ONE way to see fresh art/ideas, but by no means the ONLY way.

I would discount art/fashion done by those with a degree and the latest mac just because they aren't from the ghetto.

Again, it's no good to make these overgeneralizations of one side or the other. They both have merit.

T-BOT

· #12 · Sep 25, 2006

Rodney said:
I would discount art/fashion done by those with a degree and the latest mac just because they aren't from the ghetto.

unless you are doing digital type art design experimental t-shirts, a computer is just a tool and a degree is a paper on the wall. This alone does not make you an original trend set.

is the ghetto an overlooked market?

Yes.

Print up some affordable legit Ali, 2 pac, Marley shirts and they will sell anywhere. In the Ghetto or NO Ghetto.

Now where can I find such at affordable prices ? does even wal-mark have these on sale for $ 3.95 ?

Rodney

· #13 · Sep 25, 2006

unless you are doing digital type art design experimental t-shirts, a computer is just a tool and a degree is a paper on the wall. This alone does not make you an original trend set.

I never said that a degree alone or a mac alone will make you a trendsetter.

However, your post seemed to suggest that you can't create art/fashion with a degree and the latest mac, that it only came from the streets.

t-bot said:
f you want to see the coolest fresh t-shirt art ideas, go to the streets that make do with nothing and see how they use their creativity to dress themselfs.That is art/fashion, not a degree with the lastest mac

is the ghetto an overlooked market?

Thanks for bringing it back to the topic

Is the ghetto an overlooked market online? I don't think so.

I think in the offline world the "ghetto" market is heavily tapped. Online, I don't know if it would have the same success.

Print up some affordable legit Ali, 2 pac, Marley shirts and they will sell anywhere. In the Ghetto or NO Ghetto

As long as they are officially licensed

But I don't think affordable urban icon shirts are universal. They wouldn't sell "anywhere" (some people don't like tupac or bob marley), but an affordable shirt printed with designs that match the target market will obviously be a good seller.

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T-BOT

· #14 · Sep 25, 2006

Rodney said:
However, your post seemed to suggest that you can't create art/fashion with a degree and the latest mac, that it only came from the streets.

But I don't think affordable urban icon shirts are universal. They wouldn't sell "anywhere" (some people don't like tupac or bob marley).

well, here we are talking about the street in its contex, are we not ?
What Im saying is that a degree and a Mac alone will not make you an original trend set. Lets not get confused Rodney.

just like there is a street in London where a few Big Retail Chain store buyers go to get a feel for what they will be making and stocking their stores with.

Who does not like Bob Marley ?

.... come on.

"is this love, is this love....that im feeling"

Rodney

· #15 · Sep 26, 2006

well, here we are talking about the street in its contex, are we not ?
What Im saying is that a degree and a Mac alone will not make you an original trend set. Lets not get confused Rodney.

I was confused because that's not what you said originally

Thanks for the clarification.

Who does not like Bob Marley ?

I'm sure there are lots of people in the world that don't care for Bob Marly or reggae music in general. I don't know of any personally, but I'm sure they are out there

Ross B

· #16 · Sep 26, 2006

Rodney said:
I'm sure there are lots of people in the world that don't care for Bob Marly or reggae music in general. I don't know of any personally, but I'm sure they are out there

Just to prove Rodney's point, I, for one, am not so fussed on Marley or reggae. Of course, I have several Marley records/CDs, but rarely listen to them these days. Gotten tired of them - simple as that. (Not so, much of my favourite rock from the 60s, which has stood a lifetime of listening without palling - eg: Love, Standells, Doors, early Neil Young, Stooges...but I'm lurching off track.)

To be completely honest, I think reggae is a performance genre above all. Great to get that thump and buzz in the chest from a massively amped bass, and the space in the music works brilliantly live and loud. Even on state of the art hifi, the recorded reggae experience doesn't get close.

As for Marley Tshirts - about as passe as it gets as far as I'm concerned (and I am anti-fashion).

MotoskinGraphix

· #17 · Sep 26, 2006

BASICALLY ONLY IF YOU OVERLOOK IT!!!! If you love it...sell it!!!!

T-BOT

· #18 · Sep 26, 2006

Ross, but you did not say you DID NOT like Marley.

Just like i dont listen to the Viletones much today (a local punk band i hung out with back in the day).
But when i think of the LIVE dates i was at.... I still LIKE the Viletones.

or even The Joints (an 80's band).

MotoskinGraphix

· #19 · Sep 26, 2006

How about Black Slacks or I got Drugs in My Pockets? Marley and the local punk scene are a bit far removed like a t-shirt and Gucci!!!

T-BOT

· #20 · Sep 26, 2006 (Edited by Moderator)

MotoskinGraphix said:
How about I got Drugs in My Pockets? !!

oh yes, the Monks.

David, i do live a secret rock life you know.

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