That's right. Crooks & Castles have been in the streetwear game for 10 whole years. A whole decade of glamourized edgy west coast street/gang culture and always rooting for the bad guy...because every one knows they've always got the best dress sense.

They sum up their creative outlook perfectly with these words:

"The concept was easy. “Crooks”, criminals, pimps, hustlers, thieves, etc. And “Castles” those who got rich by becoming a crook. From the robber barons of the early times like the Vanderbilts, the Rockerfellers, the Carnegies, to the modern day billionaires-Bill Gates & Microsoft. Those who stopped at nothing to get their “Castle”. We too hope one day to be the next rich crook."

Looking back over previous collections it's easy to see how the brand has progressed and matured while still staying true to their original aesthetic and core graphics.

The first drop from Crooks & Castles in this celebratory year is full of examples of this progression and the strength of their core graphics. Their core logo for one seems to sum up the brand perfectly and is featured on this 'D.O.E' (Decade Of Excellence) tee which we have in loads of colourways. This Surplus Green is a colour which seems to be popping up in lot of line sheets for this year and is going to be big by our predictions...

Each one features this reminder on the back of Crooks' ten years in the busy-ness...

The next thing that springs to mind when thinking of the Crooks after their logo is of course Medusa. This badass, snake-haired chick has been with them since the beginning. Someone told me it was one of the Rook Clothing dudes (Joe King and Jon Garcia) long before they started their own brand. I don't know if this is true but she does fit with their style of illustration. Here, on the 'Paisley' tee she has been adapted so her head piece matches the surrounding intricate design.

A popular source of inspiration for the Crooks boys are the glamourous high fashion labels that have traditionally been favoured by those who like to show off their wealth. Brands such as Gucci and Versace are at the top of the list and this 'Luxe' snapback is a take on a vintage Gucci design from the 80's.The gold,red and green represent the luxurious lifestyle Crooks & Castles are always striving towards...

This 'Horsebit' tee fits the same bill, with the gold replaced by silver. Luxury and glamour with a purely street sentiment...

The words 'CRKS' feature on a few other pieces from this drop. Apparently as well as being a shortening of Crooks it also stands for 'Can't Stop Killing Shit'. This bold, punchy type used on this 'CRKS' snapback is most probably an homage to the work of artist and photographer Barbara Kruger...
 

 

 It also appears on this top quality 'CRKS' pullover hoody, with contrasting panelling and a cool little rubberized logo tab on the kangaroo pocket. Strange as it may seem, it can be tricky nowadays to get really well constructed, and this one is the finest I've tried on in a while. Premium.

Without a doubt the most successful Crooks graphic of the last couple of seasons has been the 'Air Gun' with it Disney-esque cartoon hands throwing up a gun sign. Crooks have clearly noticed this themselves and have put it on this 'Air Gun Spades' tee, a hoody, 2 crewnecks and a snapback for this drop. It has been slightly revised with a spade symbol placed behind it but the effect is still the same. These have been flying out so far, so get yours quick if you're a fan of the Air Gun.
 

 

The speckled fabric tee with a simple design on it has become a regular accurance in Crooks' output. It works and the multitonal effect in the fabris give the tee something to mark it as more premium than your standard blank. This 'Bold Type' tee fills the criteria perfectly, with a textured flock effect on the printed letters...

That's all I've got time to show you today. Check out our Crooks & Castles department for loads more sick pieces that make up this drop.

 

The Hundreds have started the year with an excellent first drop from their Spring '12 line. It's a fine mix of new collaborations and reworkings of tried and tested classics. The snapbacks are, I think, one of the best selections we've had from The Hundreds and that is really saying something. They've been the forerunners of the whole Snapback revival with consistantly strong designs on well constructed hats.

Adam Bomb is, of course, present in a good number of the tees, crew, hoodies and hats as with any line from The Hundreds. The most striking version of his bombness is on this 'Watercolour' crew. This abstract rendition was designed by big-in-the-game illustrator and co-founder of Rook Clothing, Joe King.
 

It's also available on a black crew and on this 'Watercolour' tee...
 

Another excellent version of Adam is on this 'Smoke' tee. It does what it says on the tin this one, with himself made entirely from whisps of smoke...not that The Hundreds are condoning the smoking of any substance... legal or not.

It's not just Joe King who's been putting his creative input into this The Hundreds line. Johnny Cupcakes has also tried his hand at a couple of tee designs and he's cooked up some real winners. Mr Cupcakes , for those that don't know, runs his own quirky LA based streetwear brand that has developed it's own loyal cult following. 

With this 'Recycle' tee Cupcakes is perhaps poking fun at The Hundreds making a play on their habit of reworking old graphics and taking influence from surf/skate graphics of past decades. Everyone takes influence from what has come before them in any creative field. It's what you do with that idea to give it new life and make it current that counts, and I think Johnny Cupcakes is well aware of that, as I'm sure he holds his contemporaries at The Hundreds in the highest regard...He's just ripping it out if them as friends do, that's all. It makes for a really strong design though, that puts Adam Bomb in a slick, retro surround.

His second design on this 'Letters' tee sports the same strong, vintage look with the it's single tone and bold varsity style lettering. There isn't the same tongue in cheek humour this time though, just a brand enhancing message with strong street connotations...

The 'Team' design which was first released as a snapback design has become one of the core graphics in The Hundreds' 'Forever' tee range, so called because they aren't going anywhere, anytime soon.  This subsued colourway of the 'Team' tee is new this season.

...and we've got plenty of banging new colourways in the 'Team' snapback cap, which some would say kicked off the recent resurgence of popularity for the hats with the snaps. This blue and orange one is a fine example, but the rest are just as strong.

Another snapback design which I think deserves as much attention as the 'Team' is this 'Daze' hat. These don't have the contrasting peak but I think that can help bring out the embroidery. It's definitely in the same vein as the 'Team' and The Hundreds have clearly taken influence from the same era for the graphics.

 

Check out our The Hundreds section now to see the wide array of snappy's we've got on offer.

With the recent popularity of the snapback it is easy to forget the good old 59Fifty.  Fitted caps have definitely taken a backseat in recent months but they still have their fans and are bound to come back with vengeance very soon. There are some brilliant fitteds in this last drop, serving as a reminder that in many ways a quality New Era hat can't be beaten. This 'Adam' fitted also shows how it's difficult to beat a timeless core logo.
 

The last piece I'd like to highlight today is this 'Badam' zip up hoody. I don't know exactly what Badam's story is. Is he the troublesome cousin of Adam, who hung around with the wrong kids at school and got into some shadyness or some sort of Jekyll and Hyde style alter-ego. Who knows. He looks like a badman on this top quality, custom fit hoody though.

 

Check out the rest of the first The Hundreds drop here.