Twin Cities streetwear scene facing big changes
By Eamonn Walsh
The term streetwear is not easily definable. It’s not hip-hop fashion, but it is inspired by the music. It’s not luxury wear, but it pushes the prices and exclusiveness of luxury brands. Its shoes of choice are Nikes, yet most of the clothing companies are independently owned. Whatever the definition, the streetwear scene in the Twin Cities is about to see some major changes.
6Twelve Premium , 153 N. Snelling Ave., is the premier streetwear shop in St. Paul. The shop carries streetwear giants like The Hundreds and Crooks and Castles. Founder Rob Yang said people in St. Paul are still trying to understand what streetwear is. “It’s not pushing drugs or violence, it’s pushing independence. We follow our own passion to be different and the clothing becomes an extension of ourselves.”
Yang will not be running 6Twelve for much longer as it is being acquired by the owners of Mindstate Distribution. Mindstate is located in the Dinkytown area of Minneapolis at 319A 14th Ave SE. Mindstate is owned by Mike Thone and Arthur Jons. The two plan to continue running 6Twelve in St. Paul, and also build a new 6Twelve around the corner from Mindstate. Thone and Jons hope to have the new shop open in June. “With a new 6Twelve right around the corner from Mindstate we can hit sidewalk shoppers going both ways; it works out perfect for us,” said Thone.
With the building of a new store the Twin Cities streetwear scene looks to be thriving, but Thone and Yang insist that is not the case. “I’d say we’re about three to five years behind Los Angeles and New York,” said Yang. Thone put it more simply, “The scene sucks.” However, both see hope in the future and with the purchase of 6Twelve, Thone is banking on it.
Thone was not the original owner of Mindstate when it opened in 1998 as a small pipe and music shop. From its beginnings, the store grew into a clothing and local hip-hop music store. Last year the shop went bankrupt after having store credit cards stolen. Thone said he saw a chance to save a store he loved and had to jump at it. “I was always just one of the homies, you know, and then I saw a chance to save the shop so I had to.”
To buy the store Thone got a loan from his uncle and Jons threw in the rest. The beginning looked bleak. They had literally no inventory and their accounts with clothing companies had been strained from the bankruptcy. “We were selling $50 worth of product a day in September, but now we’re up to $300 to $400 a day,” said Thone.
One of the most difficult tasks in building the streetwear scene is talking companies into opening accounts here. Yang said it was difficult at first because no one thought their products could sell here. “I’d call a company based out of LA and want to carry their gear, but they didn’t know anything about the Twin Cities or if their products could sell here,” said Yang.
Mindstate’s largest account and highest seller is the company LRG. Rather than selling LRG a sales pitch over the phone, they tried a different approach. One of Thone’s friends bought some LRG clothing and fell in love with what LRG was doing. He didn’t know anything about the company and looked up its address online. “After finding the address he just flew out to LA. “He didn’t know it was the company headquarters,” said Thone. “When he walked up they were all playing basketball.”
The trip paid off as Mindstate soon got an account with LRG. The difficult part for Thone now is mending alliances with old companies and expanding into new ones. “The bankruptcy was difficult because we couldn’t pay for the clothes we had. Now I’ve got to get these companies to trust us and come back and also expand to carry more lines.”
Yang doesn’t plan on expanding the lines he carries and Thone doesn’t plan to change the shop when he takes it over from Yang. Thone trusts in what Yang has done because he considers him a mentor. “He really knows it all when it comes to streetwear; he really schooled me on the ways and taught me what I know,” said Thone.
With so many streetwear brands out there Yang said it’s best to find your niche and stick with it. From the beginning he started his shop because he was looking for brands no one else carried or wore. “It was all built off my personal taste, and now that I have the accounts I want, it’s about sticking to those core lines throughout their seasons.”
Mindstate and 6Twelve each carry several different brands and when Thone takes over he wants to keep it that way. When the new 6Twelve opens around the corner from Mindstate, Thone can send shoppers to one store or the other based on their tastes. He hopes that each store will fill a different need.
One area Thone does hope to expand at both 6Twelve and Mindstate is the women’s clothing. Both Yang and Thone agree that they need to cater more to the female buyer. When Yang first started 6Twelve he thought he would need to carry more large sizes than small, but over time the small sizes have been the hardest to keep on shelves. “The ladies come in and snatch those up immediately. The scene is changing and we need to adjust to it,” said Yang.
Mindstate only recently began carrying Luxirie, the female line by LRG, and Thone plans to expand from there. He wants to cater to females because they spend more money on clothes than males. Thone’s been doing his own research to find new brands. “A hot girl walks in the shop and she got some style, I just ask her what she’s wearing or what she want to buy.”
With the expansion into more female lines and the opening of a new 6Twelve Premium, the future of streetwear looks bright. While Yang and Thone both agree that the market is down right now, they also see a bright future. Due to so many streetwear brands, Yang sees niches that can be filled. “Even with the economy down and the Minnesota market behind, as long as you carry different brands and don’t over saturate, then more shops can survive here,” said Yang.
Thone is already looking beyond the Twin Cities. With an expanding Mindstate, the purchase of 6Twelve, and the opening of a new 6Twelve, he wants to go bigger. Thone eventually wants to take Mindstate nationally with a shop in Los Angeles and New York. “Nationally, people are slowly starting to take notice of Minneapolis, and I want Mindstate to be a part of that.”
With Thone’s purchase of 6Twelve Premium, St. Paul will lose a shop owner in Yang, but he may not be completely stepping away. Yang has been working on his own label that he had planned to sell in the shop. The label itself may give better meaning to the word streetwear. “It’s called Black Sheep Goods, because that’s what streetwear is, the black sheep of fashion.”