The 21st of January saw hundreds of twentysomething year old youths running around London at the hands of Clint (aka Clint419), founder of new streetwear brand Corteiz. ‘For what?’ you may ask, and the answer to that lies in the brands crazy marketing techniques, making it quickly one of the most dominant streetwear brands in the UK.
‘Da Great Bolo exchange’ took place in Wormwood Scrubs car park in White City, a location dropped on the Corteiz Instagram just 30 minutes before the event took place. Its premise was simple, bring an authentic high-value coat of your own and exchange it for the brand new Corteiz bolo jacket. The rules? No fakes, no begging, no exchanging black- owned brands, the jacket must be swapped off your own back and only 50 would be up for grabs.
Forty-five minutes before the exchange, Clint broadcast the nearest tube station on his Instagram, and with just thirty minutes to go, dropped the exact location. Within minutes hundreds of youths were running into Wormwood Scrubs carpark, leaping over metal fencing to get in. then the battle to get hold of one of the limited-edition jackets started, with Clint making best friends and couples go head to head in games such as rock paper scissors to win a coat. Others were selected at random with an intense inspection of their coat before being told to go and swap it. The reason for this later became clear when Clint announced that the coats from the exchange, which amounted to £16,000, were donated to St Lawrences Larder, a charity for the homeless. This is not the first time Clint has got fans doing crazy things. A year ago he announced on Instagram that he would be in Soho handing out free t-shirts in exchange for a travel card. This resulted in a race around the streets of Soho, with fans chasing Clint’s friends in order to catch a t-shirt.
The response to the bolo exchange was extremely mixed. Critics shunned those getting involved in the exchange for downgrading their jackets worth hundreds of pounds, to a devalued, lesser quality Corteiz jacket in the exchange, characterising them as ‘embarassing’ for succumbing to such ridiculous acts in order to get hold of one of the jackets. The concept seemed outrageous, and a violation to these youngers who are just desperate to have the latest garms. However, we must see Clint for the innovative master he is. In just an hour, £16k worth of competitor jackets had been removed from the market, and a huge influx in the hype around the brand had amassed in response to the exclusivity of the BOLO jacket, now one of the most sought-after coats on the scene. Clint walked away from traditional streetwear marketing strategies such as ‘drop culture’, which would see people camping in queues outside of stores such as Supreme in order to get hold of limited edition items, and created a whole new unique aesthetic to the strategic hype of the brand. Knowing the power of social media in the 21st century digital age, Clint uses it as the sole platform for advertising and to turn the brand into not just a clothing company, but an exclusive community that maintains an enterprising buzz around its name. The Corteiz Instagram, the home of the cryptic clues of the next drops, passwords for the sites and location broadcasts for events such as da great bolo exchange, is private, keeping the thrive of exclusivity the brandsmain selling point. It’s this bonafide marketing that has ascended the brand rapidly into becoming one of the most sought-after streetwear brands on the scene at the moment.
So is this violation to us twentysomething year old streetwear fans that should be shunned or is this straight innovation that we should be aspiring to? Its important to remember that streetwear is not just a form of clothing, it’s a culture. Although since its origination in the 90s the evolution has seen styles consistently changing and evolving, the consistency of community culture has always remained the same, and Corteiz embodies this wholeheartedly. Exclusivity in fashion traditionally comes from high prices from designer brands, but streetwear has shown that exclusivity can come from community spirit. Consumers, particularly us in Gen-Z buy into brands that provide cultural credibility. People were willing to swap their high-value coats from established brands for the lesser- known Corteiz bolo because of the cultural capital it possesses.
As Felix Katt, engagement manager at Strategy&, told Vogue; “It’s not about whether you’re wealthy and can afford it, but rather it’s about being part of the community and therefore being in the know”. Streetwear fashion is now personality led, with Guerrilla marketing techniques giving pieces a sentimental value to fans who want to be a part of something deeper than just a brand. Despite celebrities taking interest in the brand, they are only able to get hold of the clothes in the same way as everyone else, through drops on the website, a fundamental notion to the brand that embodies the roots of streetwear being ‘for the people’.
Da great bolo exchange has set the bar high for both youths and aspiring streetwear brands alike.
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