Crazy.

The Hundreds turns 20 years old today. We never imagined it could be like this.

It seems absolutely crazy.

Two kids from Los Angeles,
starting a T-shirt brand when there was already a zillion out there.
Without experience, backers, or industry connections.
No clue as to how it worked or if it was even possible.
No YouTube videos to guide us. No social media to find answers.
All we had were ideas, hunger, and ego.

We didn’t know how to do it better.
But we knew nobody could do it like us.
And our biggest advantage was our disadvantage:
We were nobodies.

Nothing to lose.
Everything to prove.

20 years from now, I’ll be saying the same thing about today.
It seems absolutely crazy.
That we woke up every morning and made something out of nothing.
That we took the risk. A leap of faith. We bet it all.
That this thing is real and that others see it too.

People ask me how we’d build The Hundreds if we were to begin now.
You’re watching it, friend.
We start over with the sun.
Like a daily crossword puzzle, it’s always a different game.

In a business that turns on accidents,
in which momentum comes and goes as it pleases,
you write new rules every day.
And go mad trying to make order of it all.

This morning is not unlike that morning.
In the sweltering heat of July 23, 2003.
Ben and I were 23 and our website went live.
We dropped off a cardboard box of T-shirts to Fred Segal.
And we were off to the races.

We made it up from there.
Told stories, hit deadlines, traveled the world, influenced trends,
built relationships, burnt bridges, gave people something to remember.
Imagine if the world looked however you drew the map.
It seems absolutely crazy.

But the truth is
we’re crazier today.
Because now, we have

Nothing to prove.
Everything to lose.

And still, we say, “I do.”
To this messy, ridiculous, soul-starving, beautiful beast of a business.

It’s absolutely crazy.

Thank you for showing up for The Hundreds for 20 years and 7,305 sunrises.
The days have been filled and each one of them an adventure.

We’ll be here in the morning.