Purveyr Exclusive: THE Clothing #theend

Prologue

Prophecies will be proven inaccurate as THE, Daily Grind and Vans will celebrate a much awaited collaboration on the date of the said apocalypse. No one, not even mother nature will stop this momentous team up. Remember the THE Block Party? Multiply it to probably 5 folds, and you'll have a glimpse of what will go down on the 21st of December 2012. Ironically named "The End", this is actually a birth of a new era, when the underground big guns can go hand in hand with omnipresent bigger brands. It is a great synthesis of sorts, more so in a creative and distinct sense. It is the niche of niches, a community within a community, bigger and badder.

This will truly end the year in a high note. Let us bring you the journey of this significant intermix of minds and efforts, walk with us. Stay tuned as we continuously bring you news and behind-the-scenes actions here in this page, until we say hello to Two Thousand Thirteen. For now, try consuming the outlandish visual teaser THE produced below.

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Fruition

Are you ready? No, seriously.. are you ready? Because THEy went out of their usual way for this, something not of the regular, but something that is greater. Let us walk you through in the preparation and the important peeks into this so-called rebirth of the brainchild of these three nonconformist-creative minds.

We talked to them, and they gave us their side. As said earlier, this is no ordinary happening. This is a conclusion to what 2012 has become and where their roots have brought them to - this is also the celebration to the rebirth that 2013 has in store. They shared the process and efforts that they put into their product. It is no walk-in-the-park, it is composed of many after-work nights. When everyone else is ready to hop on the sofa and watch some of their favorite shows, they hole up at their Cubao HQ and do their thing. Soaked in sweat, hands stained and while their favorite songs play on speaker, they silk screen-print manually every piece - this is how a typical work-night goes.

It's like one of those manual labor little kids that you hear about, those illegally forced to work. The only difference? They are not forced, and moreover, they are not little, but they live such young lives. Do you remember when you were a teenager, you were a rebel back then, you wanted your own life, who cares what the elders think. Imagine that same drive to be independent, that same rebellious force, then minus the parents and the rules. You get the THE kids.

So now you are a few bits and pieces familiar about them, now just to show you how they function. THE is ran by Auggie, Jerik and Dino. They don't operate like the usual, they don't plan - they don't have a business model. To most this may seem dysfunctional, however, this is how the trio triumphs. Not to literally rebel against the norm, but they find an ally in spontaneity and being organic. They steer the brand to whatever feels right, no pressure should be taken from an outside force. All they do is for the love of their choice, the choice to do what they love. And doing it by themselves remain to be the best way to keep the brand's essence, THE ethos of having low regard to standards and regulation, THEmselves first.

The same as to whatever they are doing or organizing, things come "just in time". The collaboration with Daily Grind has been in the works for half a year already. No final dates until a week or two before the "final date". Which is surprising and probably difficult to pull off. But they have been a fan of Team Manila ever since, a fan of their story to success. So as Daily Grind being a sub-brand of Team Manila, it was a no-brainer great collaboration in the making. They pushed thru without failure and bad turnout in mind. They liked the idea of it, but never really forced it, they waited for the right time. Now that both, them and Daily Grind is set, the only thing that's missing is the idea.

There are so much ideas to use out there. If their collaboration ended up to be pursued at an earlier time of the year, it may not be #theend. It may not be about the kickoff of the brand for the next chapter of their life. It is definitely timely that everything fell into place at this moment. It can't be any more special than having one of their biggest collaborations to end their 2012.. the prophesied last year of humanity.

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Metamorphosis

The second to the last chapter before this chronicle ends is about to unfold. We were given the exclusive look and backstory of what has developed to be the change that many will take notice. Good or bad, it doesn't really matter to them, as we've established from the past chapters, they just don't care what others think. They have their own world, everyone's allowed to be a spectator, but no one can, and will, take it from them.

Look closely at the photos, this will be the last time you will see a black and white picture of their HQ this dark. It is quite surprising to hear that they decided to overhaul not just their retail front, but also their whole take on the brand in the coming year. Think white, and more out there. Change is inevitable, and as hard as it may seem to some, it has something good in store.. always. 

It's probably a hard and tedious work for rascals to fix things up, moreover rebuild something that is not in need of rebuilding. However, as rebellious, carefree and nonchalant as the gang is, they do care. They care for something that they are passionate about, which is for them, their brand. Though not vocal about it, they display it through hard work and nonstop creative efforts.

True also that they are outsiders in this so-called reality, however it does not mean they don't see or know it. Sometimes, being outside of something gives you the better view of it. It is a perspective that a lot fail to see. And, being there, they actually get the clearest view.

This unnoticeable advantage is what keeps the balance. It separates them from those who rebel against the system who is actually engulfed by it. They use it to push themselves to be better in every way they could, but still staying the same and remaining to be deep-rooted. Their ability to revolt and do their own thing, plus that sense of reality makes them unstoppable. Those, make them successful, it's not pure luck or love, and they know that. In doing something you love, there will always be some sacrifice and something more important than just doing it.

These things are the driving force to the overhaul THE will experience. As much as they are accustomed to everything, their life, their brand's, does not end there. For such brand that is getting so much attention and support, growth is certain. And they realized that, "it's time to move on, it's time to still do what we want, but we should take it a notch higher". The start of all those nights talking about it have led to this, a rebirth of the brand. That same brand all loved, but will surely be loved more and by more. It is not actually The End, it's a Metamorphosis.

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The End

Well, it's finally time, it's finally the end.. the end of 2012 that is, and of this exclusive story we are narrating to you. This is the last chapter of the chronicle, the end result of everything they worked on, and the start of new things to come.

On December 21, 2012, the THE gang revealed their new store look, their clean-white everything. On this day too, they celebrated #theend. It's no typical retail celebration, more of a clique festival which involves skateboards, beats, beers, cars, drums and fire. Take our word for it, if you were not there, you probably missed the doomsday courtesy of the Cubao-X locals.

We have probably shared to you most of the story already, the Preparation, Fruition and the Metamorphosis. No new words can explain further what THE is all about and what this journey has in store. But what we know is, they will continue to hustle and grind until they choose to not to. They are the captain of this ship, they steer to wherever they want it to go, keeping at the back of their minds the future of their brainchild. The clique does not mean harm, most of all the drivers of this all, Auggie, Dino and Jerik. We have to admit, they are not conventional, and would not be taken lightly by most. 

But that's how every great person or group standout, they go face the flow and walk through it. It's not an easy task, but when you're decided and passionate for something, like doing what they love as for the THE gang, you will do anything to push through and fight out of the wave.

They proved it right. If you do what you want, in the right reasons, you will have a great pay back. You just have to believe and forget about naysayers, do your thing and it will come through naturally. THE has been doing it for so long already, believers grew and grew until they can be called a community. This community is the support group that keeps the team on their feet, not competitors, other people or brands. If before they do things for themselves, now they do things also for the people who believe in them. And this means to take it a notch higher, bring the previous mentality to the end.. bring the end to a whole new horizon. A whole new THE. THE for 2013.

#theend

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Words and photos by Marvin Conanan