“Music is the Message” is a statement that appears on the front of one of 101 Apparel’s many shirts and it serves as all-encompassing prose to define their growing retail line.  Owner and designer, Eric Crandell, sought to meld the various facets of design and music by channeling them through fashionable garb.  After all, for many musicians, creativity and self-expression not only dwell in their respective musical compositions, but also in their attire.  Prior to starting 101 Apparel, Eric was the Art Director at Ubiquity Records, a record company specializing in rare grooves.  At Ubiquity, he developed many of the company’s eye-catching designs for album cover art, silk screens, logos, and clothing.  After becoming well equipped with the knowledge and skills to create an apparel line, Crandell developed 101 Apparel in 2005.

The driving force behind 101 Apparel designs stem from music and its many denominations.  Whether it’s hip hop, funk, soul, disco, Afrobeat, jazz, reggae, and bossa nova, 101 Apparel generates a design that parallels music lovers’ tastes.  If your propensity to consume music lies in funk and soul 45rpm records, there is a design just for you.  If your proverbial cup of tea rests in listening to the sweet, melodic, tonal resonance of a bossa nova beat, a design exists for you as well.  The depth of musical coverage is extraordinary when browsing their designs–it’s akin to a vinyl record enthusiast rummaging through dusty LPs of varying musical genres.  While the art forms of music and design can certainly operate as their own entities under the creative umbrella, Crandell’s goal is to fuse the two into one cohesive unit through 101 Apparel.

Crandell supplants this notion saying, “We hope to further bridge the gap between Music and Design culture by bringing sound and vision together into one seamless package.”

Aside from providing the masses with the freshest of threads, 101 Apparel is working with the music industry’s top brass djs, producers, musicians, and artists.  Currently in the works are musical compositions created exclusively for 101 Apparel such as mix CDs coupled with a limited edition T-shirt that corresponds with the mix.  Noteworthy collaborations include mixes from Nightmares on Wax, Kon & Amir (Wax Poetics), and the multi-talented Will Holland aka Quantic.  In the meantime, much of 101 Apparel’s focus will remain on expanding their clothing line, which already boasts premium retailers as close to home as New York and as far internationally as France, London, Japan, Spain, Australia, Israel, the Netherlands, and other countries around the globe.  In addition, they also have an eco-friendly collection called Colors In Rhythm, which feature designs printed on 100% organic cotton apparel.  

So indeed, design and music can exist naturally.  Music is capable of creating its own designs with silence serving as its preferred choice of medium and like music, design is created through carefully crafted, audibly-pleasing musicianship.   101 Apparel is certainly where music and design collide, creating a combination that exudes artful dexterity and impeccable taste–just like their clothing.

For more information and to peruse their designs, check out 101 Apparel