X21 has been a specialised streetwear shop for over 25 years already. Throughout the years X21 has developed its own culture with a carefully composed collection of iconic streetwear labels and contemporary fashion brands like Obey, Carhartt, Daily Paper, StΓΌssy and HUF. Together with the Californian skateboard brand X21 now presents a capsule collection as an ode to Rotterdam.
The collection consists of 2 T-shirts and a hoodie and includes a specially written poem by poet Dean Bowen. The collection will be available exclusively at X21 from 30 July at 10:00u. Both in the shop at Hoogstraat 169 and through the webshop.
The inspiration for the collection is concrete. As skaters use the city as their concrete playground, a shop like X21 is shaped by its urban concrete environment. Just like New York (the birthplace of HUF-founder Keith Hufnagel), Rotterdam has a reputation as a concrete jungle: Hard, raw, straightforward but never giving up.
That concrete, as well as the title of a collection of poems by 2Pac: The Rose that grew from concrete, were the inspiration for the design.
On the back of the garments, HUF’s famous letters appear as a concrete foundation where the roses struggle to develop and grow around the established structures to blossom at their peak. This rose is the metaphorical Rotterdammer who fights every day to
develop in its concrete environment. The stump of the rose consists of the words: 010, Roffa and Rotterdam. Different names
for a city with many different cultures. The oval shape of the rose petals is reminiscent of De Kuip and are made up of the numbers 0, 1 and 0.
Unfortunately, not all the flowers blossom; the fallen leaves at the bottom represent the fallen warriors we have lost along the way.
Rotterdam is more than a city
On the front, Dean Bowen’s poem is printed:
Rotterdam is meer dan stad
Meer dan plek om in te wonen
Meer dan bodem van waaruit
De roos door het beton heen brak
Rotterdam is meer dan stad
En de mensen weten dat
We samen sterker zullen groeien
Rotterdam ligt in ons hart
Which translates:
Rotterdam is more than a city
More than a place to live
More than soil from which
The rose broke through the concrete
Rotterdam is more than city
And the people know that
We will grow stronger together
Rotterdam is in our hearts
Another talented local was asked to shoot a video. Stacii Samidin has translated all the above elements into a beautiful short movie.
X21 is very proud to have had the opportunity to make such a collaboration: “We are proud. Proud of our collection and of the service that goes with it. Proud of our team and our customers. Proud of Rotterdam. Together they are X21. And together they create that unique X21 style, which has been leading the way for more than 25 years.”
X21 isn’t the only one
As Rotterdam is a city where streetwear is very popular famous brands have put out specials in the last couple of years. Obey designed two small collections representing Rotterdam. Levi’s presented a special T-shirt acouple of years ago. Woei has presented several products together with Asics, StΓΌssy, and Patta. The Hundreds invited local artist Iwan Smit for a collection of T-shirts almost ten years ago. Even the Kunsthal launched a limited-edition T-shirt in cooperation with the high-end streetwear label Off-Whiteβ’ to tie in with the exhibition βStreet Dreams: How Hiphop took over Fashionβ. And it looks like Nike will soon present a special Air Max BW-model to honor Rotterdam.
