Villains Bets on the Dinosaur
Randy Brewer thought he had seen it all when it comes to T-shirts in the more than nine years of working as general manager/buyer for San Francisco boutiques Villains and Villains Vault. But even this connoisseur will admit to being surprised.
Around Halloween he placed an order on a whim for T-shirt line Seibei. He didn’t know much about the Charlottesville, Va.–based label. He had no expectations on its sales. But he liked the label’s grade school–style graphics and its low prices. The line’s Dinosaur Sandwich T-shirt retails for $26 at Villains, and he decided to roll the dice with it.
Once it hit the sales floor of his Villains boutique (where core price points range from $60 to $110), Seibei’s Dinosaur Lunch T-shirt took a bite out of the competition. The graphic of a dinosaur commanding “Make Me a Sandwich” was a hit. On Nov. 28, Brewer reported that he placed his third order of Seibei.
Another top-selling item for the store was the Savage Posse Gang jacket by Santa Ana, Calif.–based Obey Clothing. The Bedford corduroy jacket with fleece lining retails for $120. Brewer’s customers reported liking the layered style of this jacket, which looks like a jeans jacket draped over a hoodie. They also liked how the jacket closely fits the body. “It’s a lot of jacket for the money,” Brewer said. —Andrew Asch
