5 Reasons You Are Not Getting Free Clothes from an Independent Streetwear Brand
1. Who are you?
We know you think the gear is dope and by rocking it it will make you look awesome in your video but will it help the brand's image? Are you more than just a pretty face? Do you have something positive to say? Are you making an impact on the community? Some brands don't care and only look at followers and your assets but we actually care who you are.
2. Your followers are funky
We live in a new world where when we meet someone we exchange Instagram's instead of numbers's. If you have less than a decent amount of followers it may be difficult to equate the value of giving you free gear. Also if you have 100k followers and we see that your photos only get 10 LIKES we know you purchased those followers to "Fake The Funk".
3. Your photos look like 💩
The moment you contact an independent streetwear brand and ask "do you sponsor?" If the brand doesn't delete your e-mail and possibly consider. The first thing we do is look at you and the type of photos you take. We think to ourselves "If we give this person $20,$50,$100 worth of gear will it be worth it.?" If your photos look like 💩 don't expect 💩.
4. Bad time of the month
You may just have picked the wrong time. Independent clothing brands are a dime a duzin these days. There is a lot of them. Everyone has their own brand. You may reach out to a brand and they may be having a tough week in sales. Imagine not moving any product all week and you get an e-mail from someone you barely know saying "Do you sponsor? I would love to model for you". You picked a bad time of the month.
5. You weren't with us shooting in the gym
You may have heard the quote from Drake but it really hits home. A lot of independent streetwear brands work really hard. Spending tons of designing product, photoshoots, marketing, trade shows, fashion shows, events, social media, networking and market research. This is before any product sells. Then out of nowhere comes someone that wants a free shirt with 220 followers and horrible looking images. The best advice we can give you is "support local". Support the brand and the artists you respect. Don't just roll up on them the minute you get a chance to talk to them and ask them for something. It's worth more having a good relationship with the person who runs a brand then just scoring a couple of free pieces of gear of moving on. And if that's your mission when you meet a brand don't be surprised when that clothing line you never supported in the beginning doesn't give you a free hat.
We are grateful for everyone that has supported us over the last 7 years. Thank you.
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