PegLeg NYC, Please Come Back, The World Needs You.
January 30, 2012
(READ THE ORIGINAL POST OVER AT THE CLUB.)
As evidenced by the fact that ye olde Americana doesn't seem to be going anywhere, I may be speaking mostly for myself when I say I miss the days when streetwear was streetwear. And when I say streetwear my friends, I mean streetwear. Reminisce with me for a moment back to a time when one could find the youth of the city draped in all-over print hats, jeans in varying states of full blown day glo hues and t-shirts that demanded a particular sort of attention (most often through clever combinations of conventional logo's and that tried and true stalwart of the English language, "fuck"). It was a special moment. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, and when it came to those defining years when streetwear was pushing culture, not a mainstream part of it, nobody did it better than Pegleg NYC.
The brain child of a gang of New Yorkers, Scott Williams, Bobby Waltzer, Nick Poe, and Harry McNally, Pegleg NYC was without question one of the more daring and innovative streetwear lines in a genre that was already seen as something of a loose cannon in a world that was still recovering from 3XL's t-shirts or mainly concerned with SB Dunks and Levi's STF's. The line was a statement of color blocking mastery, with the occasional experiments in ridiculous full body floral, vectorized fruit, polka dot jeans, and towards the end of their storied run, impressive heather's and basics. Basically, it was everything a great streetwear line should be, irreverent, brash, innovative and immaculately conceived. If you saw someone else with Pegleg in 2006, you know they put in groundwork to get their hands on a piece.
I remember walking into Charlotte Ronson behind Broadway, a tiny shop situated below street level by a few steps, and clearly one of those stores where from the outside you know there's a requirement that you be a ninety five pounds, blonde, and a woman to enter, just to get my hands on the few pieces of Pegleg you could buy in person in New York. They had a tiny shelf in the back of the store stocked with all of the latest tee's and a few hangers worth of sweaters. Mind you this is in high school and I was taking NJ-Transit-Bandit-train journeys into SoHo expressly to get my hands on something very few other people had. It all seemed worth it back then, the Pegleg offerings got more and more mind blowing season after season. "Phil, why is there a fucking arrangement of fruits on your tank top?" was something I heard more than once and to date I've probably had more people ask me about this hoody than any other piece hanging in my closet. Supreme was cool and all and thankfully not resting on the head of each passing kid at the time and A Bathing Ape was without a doubt prime if you could afford more than a t-shirt, but there was something about Pegleg and knowing that a few young kids from NY were designing the line that made it seem like it was ours.
Before I get emotional describing how genius it was for Pegleg to be producing selvedge jeans in 2006 with a plaid cuff lining long before everyone began dressed like a J.Crew catalog, or how they moved before the market, flipping traditional oxfords and khaki's into flippant all-over print takes on classic pieces before you all traded your Jordans and Street'd your Etiquette (all due love to the brethren), let me just say this. It's sad to see some of the once dominant streetwear lines reduced to pale imitations of basics you'd be far better off buying at the Gap.
There's a reason we were all attracted to these brands back in high school, and it's not because they could find an innocuous way to sew their logo along the waist line of a half assed, cheaply produced chino pant. Streetwear was glorious when it still knew that it was streetwear, and while I'm not asking for anyone to revive the Retro Kids (God forgive us for that), it sure would be nice to see some of the legends drop the collars in favor of some color blocked ignorance. I'm not saying I'll wear a Chain Gang hoody again, but the thought process it took to put that together is exactly where I wish things still were. So, my Pegleg brethren, I've spoken to you guys about this at just about every opportunity I get, but it's time to remind the rest of the gang where it all started and start throwing around some watermelon print overall's or something. At least re-releases? This "Very Fancy" crewneck is starting to get holes in it.
Applause for one of the best to have ever done it.
