I was always big for my age. When I was a very young child the doctor told my mom I would be well over 6’4”. She scoffed at this given that my dad, who is 5’11”, is the tallest in his family and has a sister who is 4’11” — and my mom is a pretty average 5’7”. My dad took this and ran with it, giving me man-sized portions and threatening to call the ‘Manners Police’ if I didn’t finish all the food on my plate. He, of course, wanted a “big, strong son”. This eventually morphed into me cleaning my plate and my sister’s plate and snacking uncontrollably. At 17 I maxed out at 6’7” and at the time I probably weighed 285-300 lbs — but it’s impossible to know for certain because I didn’t weigh myself. Despite being overweight, I carried myself well, was athletic, and reasonably popular. I was captain of the basketball team. I got recruited to play football at university. I did well in school. I had girlfriends. I was outwardly confident. But I wasn’t happy.
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Three gals. Two garment bags of Clam Dunk Surf Club. One mini van.
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Curating your lock screen can be like curating your wardrobe, it's all about expressing yourself and hopefully picking something you won't get sick of fast. Well luckily for you we have some amazing eye-catching options for you to choose from, and possibly match your outfit too...
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Full disclosure, I am a Kardinal Offishall fanboy, and have been since high school, so some hyperbole might infiltrate this introduction, but I feel like I can safely say without exaggeration that there wouldn’t be a Drake as we know him without Kardinal. While I’m at it, we might never have collectively adopted T.Dot as a nickname for Toronto, Sean Paul might not have blown up when he did and the world certainly wouldn’t know as much about the ‘Screwface Capital’ as they do.
Kardinal kicked down the door for hip hop in Canada, and did so with a unique blend of charisma, style, bravado, and humility that has yet to be duplicated. He personified the polite chip we have on our collective shoulder as Canadians who are sick of explaining that we have a summer, don’t ice skate to school, and aren’t just Americans with funny accents. His track, ‘BaKardi Slang’ properly introduced the world of hip hop to Toronto and by the time his song ‘Dangerous’ made it all the way to the top of Billboard’s Hot 100, Kardinal had worked with everyone from the Wu-Tang Clan, to Pharrell, to Pusha T, to Busta Rhymes, to Timbaland. He even appeared alongside Lady Gaga on the Red One Remix of ‘Just Dance’ from her limited edition Hitmixes album. Bradley Cooper, eat your heart out.
Along with Vince Carter he was part of the period in the early 2000s when people started paying attention to Toronto as a uniquely diverse hub of activity, and a burgeoning world power in terms of influencing global popular culture. Today he is the Senior Director of Urban A&R at Universal Music, and continues to perform, DJ, host and educate all while ensuring his family comes first. Kardinal came through HE HQ in downtown Toronto and sat down for an interview as well as modelling some pieces from our SS19 collection, Clam Dunk Surf Club, and our collab with fellow Toronto brand, Elsaesser x Get Fresh Company.
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Playing on the concept of the parallel consumerism of the fashion and food industries, Clam Dunk Surf Club finds itself in the fictional city of Trash Cove, USA. Hayley was inspired by the concept of trying to be conscious in an industry that is propped up by over-consumption. Combining food-inspired imagery with nods to consumerism, Clam Dunk prints present a visual narrative against thoughtless consumption.
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Over the last couple years, the fashion industry has witnessed the rise of streetwear and the convergence of popular skate brands like Supreme and Palace with luxury fashion labels like Louis Vuitton and Comme des Garçons. This has coincided with a re-emergence of sportswear stalwarts like Champion, Nike and Adidas and the canonization of a new batch of young, superstar designers like Jerry Lorenzo (Fear of God) and Virgil Abloh (Off-White, Louis Vuitton). Despite recent runway trends suggesting that more formal tailoring is making a comeback, the comfortable, oversized ‘anything goes’ streetwear aesthetic has been the prevailing force in millennial fashion of late. Young men are a driving market for cutting edge clothing for possibly the first time ever, there are low barriers to entry for emerging e-commerce brands and choreographed ‘fit pics’ dominate social media feeds.
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