I still run into him, I’ve run into him recently at Jon and Vinny’s with my kids, and he’s very sincere with Ben and I. Before it was kind of big bro, little bro status, and now we all recognize each other as peers and that we’ve made really cool advancements and progress in our individual lives and careers. There’s just a mutual respect and love for each other in a way of, nobody was looking at us back then. Nobody considered us or thought we could be anything, and we fucking proved them wrong.
Tyler, the Creator is now basically Fairfax in a human. He is the best of everything that happened there in an avatar. There are so many parts of Fairfax that I see in the guy. And I’m not saying parts of The Hundreds—I’m not taking credit for that. I’m saying the neighborhood, the vibe, the attitude of everything that happened there in a generation, you can see that in who Tyler became, how he considers his brand, his artistic point of view, the things that he talks about, his emotions. That’s so Fairfax.
When you look back at your memories in the shop, what comes to mind?
The most sensational one was, I remember when Nas and Jay-Z were beefing, the Kendrick and Drake of its time. I think they had effectively ended their beef at that point, but Jay-Z was about to drop an album, and we had a leaked copy. Someone was playing it in the store and I was working in the shop that day. There’s a few kids shopping and Nas came in as we were playing the Jay-Z album.
Nas was just, like, “Hey, is this the new Jay?” And I was, like, “Yeah, yeah, we got a leak of it.” He just dropped his bags and he sat there and he listened to the entire thing. Just stood in the middle of the store. People didn’t want to bother him. Everyone was, like, “This is crazy.” It’d be like if Drake walked in while we’re playing a new Kendrick song about him. Nas didn’t say a word, he just listened. Once the album was finished, he just looked at us and he’s, like, “Huh. Not bad.” And he just walked out the store.
Jonah Hill, the day that his trailer for Superbad came out, he lived across the street, so he walked over and he was just, like, “Hey, the trailer just dropped for my movie.” It was 10 in the morning, and we were just hanging out in front of the shop and bored, and we sat around the computer inside the store and watched the trailer with him. I was, like, “Whoa, man, you’re pretty funny.” We didn’t know. He’s kind of a more serious guy in person.
What comes next for The Hundreds? The brand has the online shop and retailers but what does the next chapter look like?
I am effectively stepping back as far as creative control and oversight of how The Hundreds looks and feels from here on forward. This is the first time that someone else has full creative control, and that’s David Rivera. He’s been with us for more than half the existence of the company at this point. He grew up on the brand as a fan. He started off at the bottom as a photo assistant, and then he became an accessories designer and then an apparel designer. He’s worked every role in design, worked his way up to the point of creative director where we now have entrusted him with the brand over the last couple of years.
Me relinquishing control over it is the best thing that could ever happen for the brand at this point in time. Souls of Mischief, this rap group, has a song called “Limitations” where they say, Emcees should know their limitations. I know my limitations. Do I think I know how to design well? Do I think I understand street fashion well? Absolutely. But am I the one to do it the best for The Hundreds at this point in time? I’m not, and David is. Having to swallow that pill was incredibly humbling.
If it were up to me, we would still have a store on Fairfax and Rosewood, but that’s not where streetwear is at anymore. That’s not where The Hundreds is at. That customer doesn’t even exist. That customer has grown up. [We want to] keep this thing going and see where it takes us. Now, let’s see where David takes us.
I still want to be a part of it, and I want to be enjoying the ride.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
