The buzz over the Young JeezySnowman shirts has not gone unnoticed by the fashion world. However, after some get hip to the meaning behind Frosty, they aren’t always still down for the movement.
Miskeen Originals owner Yaniv Zaken even got in on the trend, when his company provided Jeezy with two hand-painted shirts to wear during appearances. Zaken says he’s never “witnessed the streets react so strongly”, but was hesitant to keep pushing the shirts after finding out the real meaning. “And then they told me the snowman is actually the guy delivering ‘snow’ on the street,” he says.
For those still in the dark about “snow”, Erik Smith, vice president of Critical Mass Consulting breaks it down even further.
“The snowman is the dope man,” says Smith, whose firm specializes in hip-hop market research. “Frosty the Snowman is probably one of the most mainstream figures in popular culture. If you take that figure and make him ‘hood, with snow representing ‘caine, it creates a totally different dynamic and makes it cool.”
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Cool or not, Zaken weighed the option of having his brand associated with the image, and stopped production of the shirts.
“I like the buzz. Of course it gives us an edge,”Zaken, who was out of the country when his company began producing the shirts, says. “But if I was here, none of this would have occurred.”
Initially, Zaken thought of a compromise, requesting that the phrase “SAY NO TO SNOW” be added to remaining shirts that had not been shipped. After further consideration, he ceased production completely. 1,000 Snowman shirts were originally produced, half were shipped out to several major cities including Chicago and New York.
The initial 500 tees retailed for $68.
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“Whatever we shipped before I came to the country is shipped,” Zaken says. “But if you come here right now, you’ll see 500 shirts folded. We’re not sure what to do with them.”
There is also speculation that Zaken is not the only voice behind production coming to a standstill. Coincidentally, the same day production stopped due to Zaken’s request, Young Jeezy himself spoke to Miskeen marketing director Jasmijn Rijcken, who says that the cancellation “both had to do with the conversation and didn’t.”
Jeezy who is also persuing his own clothing line was disappointed at the low production of the shirts, but also noted that he did not want the image associated with him forever.
“He definitely doesn’t want the snowman to get stuck to him, because he’s much bigger than that,”Zaken says of the Trap Star.
While Miskeen has terminated their role in the Snowman craze, there’s no denying the popularity of the concept. Bootleg shirts have shown up all across the country and now come in a variety of colors.
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“Bootlegging is a sign of the popularity,” says Smith. “If it’s not hot, why would you buy the copy?”
Zaken says he will not pull the remaining unsold shirts from retail stores.
Source: Philadelphia Weekly
