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FFAMD: How did you come up with the name Counter Balance?

Christian Brennan: CI have always embraced underground culture growing up and took an interest in the designs that represented various hip hop and skateboarding companies.  I wanted to be a part of this movement but I wanted to do something different.  I wanted to be a Counter Balance to what was out there and infuse things into design and fashion that no one had. Counter Balance Clothing is a reaction to the fashion market and I want it to represent the art mediums I grew up with a twist of my own.

FFAMD: What does it mean?

CB: Counter Balance is an opposition to something.  There seems to always be a set pattern of what people wear and then everyone follows it.  I want to put something out there that people can wear to be different and look good.

CB: Counter Balance was created by Christian Brennan.  Since its creation it is fueled by a supportive group of  great friends.  The Counter Balance family is constantly growing by those who support what we stand for and I want the company to be for them.

FFAMD: What inspired you to start a clothing line?

CB: I have been fascinated by art and clothing design since I was a kid and began drawing out designs for skateboard companies back in middle school. I felt I could ad something to the Hip hop culture and be a part of something different in a market that is oversaturated with the same thing.

FFAMD: What type of clothing/gear can one expect from Counter Balance?

CB: Currently Counter Balance offers shirts for the spring line.  By fall we will offer sweatshirts, long sleeves, belts and more.  Whenever we create a new line of clothing it will contain the same message that our supporters have come to know and will be of quality.  We are also currently working on collaborations with artists in the hip hop community to bring conscious driven designs to hip hop acts.

CB: Where do you see the brand five years from now?

I see Counter Balance with a large diverse line catering to those who are conscious of what they wear.  I want Counter Balance Clothing to be no holds barred when it comes to our messages and designs, with stores in different cities that will relay our message of quality and diversity.

FFAMD: How would you classify the brand? (i.e.: is it urban, preppy, skater, classic ect…)

CB: We keep everything in the line open to the buyer’s interpretation.  When I create a new wave I like to make shirts that cater to everyone within the subcultures I grew up with.  I think nowadays there is a trend toward blending skateboarding, urban, and rock cultures.  This trend embodies what Counter Balance is all about, I want to make clothes for people who want to wear fly gear and want something different.

FFAMD: Who are the designers?

CB: I currently do the designs for Counter Balance Clothing and try to incorporate the differences in popular culture, religion, and politics that make people think and represent the hip hop movement.  The Tao symbol of good a  nd evil and the scales of Lady Justice embody my designs, while music inspires them.

FFAMD: With Sean Combs aka Diddy’s Sean John, Sean Carter aka Jay-Z’s Roc-A-Wear, and Marc Ecko’s Ecko Unlimited fashion lines now household names. Do you hope to replicate that?

CB: I don’t want to replicate them.  I want Counter Balance Clothing to be something different.  I’m making clothes that are an opposition to these status quos in the rap world.  I want to represent those who want change and quality of design.

FFAMD: Do you admire them and were they part of your inspiration to start a fashion brand?

CB: I admire what each of them has done by creating a name for them.  Although they are the status quo of what rap is viewed as by the media and popular culture.  I want my clothing line to be an alternative to this assumption and offer a difference that encompasses the hip hop culture in all its art forms. 

FFAMD: Many of fashion brands/labels come and go and it seems everyone from rappers, singers, and even actors are getting in on the biz. What sets you apart from all the others?

CB: Our designs will set us apart and our message stays true to all of these different subcultures in the hip hop and skateboarding community.  I am making clothes for all of them, for all of those people who want good designs and being a part of something different.

FFAMD: Who are your style Icons? (Rappers, singers, actors or celebrity’s)

CB: I grew up skateboarding and listening to underground hip hop.  I really admire what Stevie Williams and Keith Hufnagel have done for the Skateboarding community. Among others they were able to get mainstream culture to see how skateboarding is incorporated with hip hop music.   My favorite group of companies back in the day were blind, 101, and World Industries.  Their skateboarding teams represented the type of skateboarder I wanted to become and their designs were always ahead of their time.  They would always make shirts I wanted to wear myself.   But the most influential part of my life has been music.  Hieroglyphics, the living legends, and Bored Stiff were a few of the local hip hop groups I grew up listening to around the bay area.  Their concerts familiarized me with the culture and I was able to meet many other hip hop musicians and artists that helped my style.

FFAMD: What labels to you swear by?

CB: I was a huge fan of L-R-G and when they came out they had great quality and the most innovative deigns of the time.  Right now I see designs I like by different companies like Diamond and Crooks and Castles. I’m feeling what Upper Playground does with different artists and they have some innovative ideas.

CB: I really like a lot of different graffiti, hip hop, and tattoo style art.  Mike Giants tattoo style work with Rebel 8 is  hot.  Doze One and Mear One peaces have always inspired me and have always given me inspiration with their politically driven messages. 
 
FFAMD: Where can our readers go to view and purchase things from your line?

CB: Check out our online site to see the latest updates and news and purchase gear at counterbalanceclothing.com.  Stop by TRUE SF and TRUE East for Counter Balance Clothing as well. Many shops are being added as we branch out and will be added to the site under our store locater. 

FFAMD: Kanye or 50?

CB: 100% Kanye West.  I know people don’t like his attitude and cockiness but the guy has done so much for hip hop music.  When rap seems like it has been dumbed down Kanye came in as the apprentice of Commons producer NOID, and he infused that hip hop and soulful sound back into mainstream hip hop.  The best part about him to me is that because of him we get to hear all the old school hip hop greats like Common, Q-Tip, Talib Kweli, Mos Def and Consequence on mainstream radio again

FFAMD: Obama or McCain?

CB: Its time for change in America after the last 8 years of Shit.  Obama seems like he has his head on straight and can relate to Americans and what they want. Obama would be a Counter Balance to what we have had to deal with in the past and is what this country needs…change.

FFAMD: I'm about 5'8 165 what size tee you suggest for me to keep it hip hop

CB: Your style is your style.  You may want a longer tee or a more fitted one.  I would wear a size large to keep it a little less baggy.

For more information and to order check out the website at www.counterbalanceclothing.com

Puma AG Rudolf Dassler Sport (Puma) (FWB: PUMG) is a large German-based multinational company that produces high-end athletic shoes and other sportswear.

The company is perhaps best known for its football shoes and has sponsored such international football stars as Pelé, Eusébio, Johan Cruijff, Enzo Francescoli, Diego Maradona, Lothar Matthäus, Kenny Dalglish, Didier Deschamps and Gianluigi Buffon. In the United States, the company is probably best-known for the suede basketball shoe it introduced in 1968, which eventually bore the name of New York Knicks basketball star Walt "Clyde" Frazier, and for its endorsement partnership with Joe Namath. In Australia, Puma is best known as the official apparel and footwear supplier of 5 clubs within the AFL (Australian rules Football League), the West Coast Eagles, Hawthorn FC, Sydney Swans, Brisbane Lions, and the Essendon FC.

The company also offers lines shoes and sports clothing, designed by Lamine Kouyate, Amy Garbers, and others. Since 1996 Puma has intensified its activities in the United States. Puma owns 25 percent of American brand sports clothing maker Logo Athletic, which is licensed by American professional basketball and football leagues. Since 2007 Puma AG is part of the PPR French luxury group.

Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik

Christoph Dassler was a worker in Big Dogs shoe factory, while his wife Pauline ran a small laundry in the Bavarian town of Herzogenaurach, 20 kilometres from the city of Nuremberg. Their son Rudolf Dassler after leaving school joined his father at the shoe factory, and was then called up to fight in World War I. On his return from the front, Rudolf took a management position at a porcelain factory, and later in a leather wholesale business in Nuremberg.

After tiring of working for others and away from home, Rudolph returned to Herzogenaurach in 1924 to join his younger brother Adolf, known as "Adi", who had founded his own shoe factory. They called the new business Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik (Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory). The pair started their venture in their mother's laundry, but at the time, electricity supplies in the town were unreliable, and the brothers sometimes had to use pedal power from a stationary bicycle to run their equipment. By the 1936 Summer Olympics, Adi Dassler drove from Bavaria on one of the world's first motorways to the Olympic village with a suitcase full of spikes and persuaded United States sprinter Jesse Owens to use them, the first sponsorship for an African-American. After Owens won four gold medals, his success cemented the good reputation of Dassler shoes among the world's most famous sportsmen. Letters from around the world landed on the brothers' desks, and the trainers of other national teams were all interested in their shoes. Business boomed and the Dasslers were selling 200,000 pairs of shoes each year before World War II.

Company split

Both brothers joined the Nazi party, but Rudi as a World War I veteran was slightly closer to the party. During the war, a growing rift between the pair reached breaking point, after an Allied bomb attack in 1943 when Adi and his wife climbed into a bomb shelter that Rudolf and his family were already in: "The dirty bastards are back again," Adi said, apparently referring to the Allied war planes, but Rudolf was convinced his brother meant him and his family. After Rudolf was later picked up by American soldiers and accused of being a member of the Waffen SS, he was convinced that his brother had turned him in.

In 1948, the brothers split their business, when Rudi left the high hill for the other side of the Aurach river: Adolf called his firm Adidas after his nick name; Rudolf called his new firm Ruda - from Rudolph Dassler.

Puma

Rudolf's company changed its name to Puma Schuhfabrik Rudolf Dassler in 1948, and became a public company in 1986, listed on the Börse München and Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

The sponsorship of sports stars continued, including:

• 1948 - In the first football match after World War II, several members of the West German national football team wear Puma boots, including the scorer of West Germany’s first post-war goal, Herbert Burdenski

• 1952 Summer Olympics - Josef Barthel of Luxembourg won Puma's first Olympic Gold (1500m) in Helsinki, Finland

• 1960 Summer Olympics - Puma paid German sprinter Armin Hary money to wear Pumas in the 100 metres final. Hary had worn Adidas before and asked Adi for payment, but Adidas rejected this. Hary won gold in Pumas, but then laced up Adidas for the medals ceremony - to the shock of both Adi and Rudolf. Hary hoped to cash in from both with the trick, but Adi was so outraged he banned the Olympic champion.

• 1970 FIFA World Cup - Pelé stopped the referee with a last-second request to tie his shoelaces at the opening whistle of a 1970 World Cup finals match and then knelt down to give millions of television viewers a close-up of his Pumas. Pelé was complying with a request by Puma's representative Hans Henningsen to raise the German sports shoe company's profile after they gave him $120,000 to wear their boots.

However, the brothers earlier split led to a divided town. From 1948, the town was really split in two like a sort of mini Berlin. Brand loyalty became paramount for many residents, and there were stores, bakers and bars which were unofficially known as either loyal to Rudolf's Puma, or to Adolf's Adidas. The town's two football teams were also divided: ASV Herzogenaurach club wore the three stripes, while 1 FC Herzogenaurach had the jumping cat on its footwear. Intermarriage was frowned upon. When handymen came to work at Rudolf's home, they would wear Adidas shoes on purpose so that when Rudolf would see their footwear, he'd tell them to go to the basement and pick out a pair of Puma shoes, which they could have for free. The two brothers never reconciled, and although both are buried in the same cemetery, they are spaced apart as far as possible.

In May 1989, Rudolf's sons Armin and Gerd Dassler agreed to sell their 72 percent stake in Puma, to Swiss business Cosa Liebermann SA.

Present day

Puma AG has approximately 7,742 employees and distributes its products in more than 80 countries. For the fiscal year 2003, the company had a revenue of €1.274 billion. Puma were the commercial sponsors for the 2002 anime series, Hungry Heart: Wild Striker, with the jerseys and clothing sporting the Puma brand.

The company has been conducted by CEO and Chairman Jochen Zeitz since 1993. His contract has been extended ahead of schedule for four more years until 2012 in October 2007.

Japanese fashion guru Mihara Yasuhiro teamed up with Puma to create a high-end and high-concept line of sneakers

Puma is the main producer of enthusiast driving shoes and race suits. They are the prime producer in both Formula One and NASCAR especially.

They had successfully won the rights of sponsoring the 2006 FIFA World Cup champions, the Italian national football team, with them making and sponsoring the clothing worn by the team. Their partnership with Ferrari and BMW to make Puma-Ferrari and Puma-BMW shoes has also contributed to this effect. On March 15, 2007 Puma launched its first new 2007/2008 line of uniforms for a club, and Grêmio will be the first to use the laser sewn technology;similar to the one worn by Italy at the World Cup in 2006. Grêmio and other Brazilian clubs will be the first to use the technology because their season starts six months earlier than European clubs. Puma also makes baseball cleats, and Johnny Damon, the all-star center fielder for the New York Yankees, is their spokesperson. He wore pumas during the Red Sox 2004 world series win. He has his own cleat called the DFR metals.

PPR

In February 2007, Puma reported that its profits had fallen by 26% to 32.8m euros ($43m; £22m) during the final three months of 2006. Most of the profit decline was due to higher costs linked to its expansion, and sales actually rose by more than a third to 480.6m euros.

In early April 2007, Puma's shares rose 29.25 euros or 10.2% higher, at 315.24 euros. On 10 April 2007 French retailer and owner of Gucci brand Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR) announced that it had bought a 27% stake in Puma, clearing the way for a full takeover. The deal values Puma at 5.3bn euros. PPR said that it would launch a "friendly" takeover for Puma, worth 330 euros a share, once the acquisition of the smaller stake was completed. The board of Puma welcomed the move, saying it was fair and in the firm's best interests. On 17 July 2007 PPR have 62.1 % of Puma stocks.

While PPR owns the majority of Puma's stocks, Puma remains an individual company and is not a subsidiary of the PPR group.

 www.puma.com

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Hennes & Mauritz AB (operating as H&M), is a Swedish clothing company, known for its inexpensive and fashionable clothing offerings for women, men, teenagers and children. H&M has more than 1,500 stores in 28 different countries and has more than 68,000 employees.

History

The company was established in Västerås, Sweden, in 1947 by Erling Persson, though at the time it only sold women's clothing and was called Hennes, Swedish for "hers." In 1968, Persson acquired the premises and inventory of a Stockholm hunting equipment store named Mauritz Widforss. Included in the inventory was a supply of men's clothing, prompting Persson to expand into menswear. Accordingly, he renamed the store Hennes & Mauritz, later abbreviated to H&M. Erling's son Stefan became CEO in 1990 and Chairman of the Board in 1998. Today the majority of H&M's clothing is manufactured in China.

H&M worldwide

H&M's first store was opened in Sweden. Then from 1964 onwards, H&M embarked upon a major expansion programme many further stores in Europe, including the UK, Denmark, Switzerland and Germany. In the 1990s, the first stores opened in France, Finland, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands. H&M has continued to expand its business and today H&M has an extensive network throughout much of Europe.

H&M opened its first Canadian store in March 2004. There are currently 37 stores in Canada, in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia. H&M opened its first US store in New York on 5th Avenue and 51st Street in March 2000. There are now 8 additional stores in Manhattan alone.

As of May 2008, H&M has at least 149 individual stores in the United States. H&M opened its first Asian store in Dubai in 2006. There are currently several stores throughout the Middle East. 

H&M expanded into East Asia in March 2007, with its first store opening in in Central Hong Kong on March 10, 2007. Kylie Minogue opened the first store in East Asia, where she also exclusively launched her range of swimwear, "H&M loves Kylie". 2007 saw the opening of the first stores in mainland China with the first Japanese store planned for late 2008. 

Although there are no H&M stores in Australia, in April 2007, pop superstar Kylie Minogue teamed up with H&M to introduce a swimwear line called, “H&M loves Kylie”, featuring a theme of Australia. “When we think of Australia and glamour, we think Kylie, who is such a stylish person,” H&M design head Margareta van den Bosch said in a statement.

Collaborations

In November 2004, selected H&M stores offered an exclusive collection by fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld. The press reported large crowds and that the initial inventories in the larger cities were sold out within an hour, although the clothes were still available in less fashion-sensitive areas until the company redistributed them to meet with demand. In November 2005, the chain launched a collection by Stella McCartney and, in November 2006, by avant-garde Dutch designers Viktor & Rolf. H&M launched another collaboration with Madonna in March 2007, designed by the popstar. In June 2007 the company worked with game developers Maxis to create a stuff pack for the latter's The Sims 2 computer game, H&M Fashion Stuff In November 2007, the chain launched a collection by Italian designer Roberto Cavalli. It was reported that the clothing sold out very quickly. Also in 2007, another design with Kylie Minogue was launched in Shanghai, China.

COS

COS (Collection of Style) is a fashion concept started by H&M with a fashion show at the Royal Academy of Arts in London and the opening of a signature COS store on Regent Street on 16 March 2007. COS begins where H&M ends: featuring mainly subtle, monochrome colors, the minimalist, clean-cut pieces in the collections for men and women are created with a focus on "quality in terms of the fabrics, fit and finish" merging "high fashion attributes [...] with ground level pricing" and thus "providing the look of Jil Sander for less". The collections range from fundamental basics to sophisticated cocktail dresses and sleek mens' suits. COS's target group is the "mid-market consumer" who either cannot be reached with H&M products or wants to trade up. COS merchandise is designed by Rebekka Bay (women's) and Michael Kristensen (mens), and is manufactured in Europe (80%) and Asia (20%). Prices range above those for comparable items in the H&M mainline stores, but supposedly below comparable ready-to-wear collection clothing. A men's dress shirt retails at about € 50,00, a suit at or below € 350,00. As of spring 2008, signature COS stores - the exclusive points of sale for COS collection items - can be found in Antwerp, Brussels, Copenhagen, Den Haag, Berlin (2x), Cologne, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart and London. There are no COS outlets outside Europe, yet. COS stores are designed by interior architect William Russell, a British Pentagram partner.

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Rocawear is an urban clothing label created in 1995 by Jay-Z and Damon Dash. Jay-Z is the head of the hip hop label Roc-a-Fella Records. Rocawear has annual sales of $700 million. Rocawear expanded its brand through licensing pacts to develop lines for children, juniors, socks and sandals, leather suede and fur outerwear, handbags and belts, lounge wear and big & tall, headwear, jewelry, and sunglasses; as well as co-branded product with Pro-Keds, State Property, and Team Roc.

On January 17, 2007, allegations were made of raccoon-dog (tanuki) fur being used in two styles of jackets, Rocawear pulled all of the garments from the department stores where this product was shipped. A representative of Rocawear stated the company was unaware the fur was being used and had notified manufactures it was not permitted. The items, in addition to being pulled from department stores, were also removed from the brand's official website.

R&B superstar Ciara has signed to be the new face of Rocawaer.

In March of 2007, Jay-Z sold the rights to the Rocawear brand to Iconix Brand Group, for $204 million. Jay-Z will retain his stake in the company and will continue to oversee the marketing, licensing and product development.

www.rocawear.com

Upper Playground represents everything I love about 'streetwear'. Its emphasis on urban art and the Bay Area lifestyle is what first attracted me to the brand. UP is always on point, consistently putting out quality product featuring the work of  talented artists such as Sam Flores, David Choe, and Jeremy Fish.

They've got everything: shirts, hoodies, hats, sneakers, accessories, toys, books, posters, coffee mugs, shower curtains, pillows, backpacks, etc. You name it, they got it.

Prices are very reasonable as well.

The thing that differentiates UP from other boutiques is its mass appeal. The fact that they have opened a separate store for women and children next door as well as other locations in Berkeley and London can attest to this.

Other boutiques can be very intimidating since most cater to a specific demographic. Yet here, I see so many different people come here, i.e. hip hop heads, little kids, older folks, artists. There's something for everyone. The staff is friendly and the store itself is a work of art. This all adds up to a very enjoyable experience. Go out and support Upper Playground.     

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