They’ve stocked sex-positive, “Gucci,” and Osama Bin Laden Tees
Deon and Edmund watched Round Two and said: Death Threads! Jon and Justin founded Robin Hood Goodz. Josh, Cause of Death Vintage. Serendipitously, the 3 stores teamed to reinvent Death Threads, now synonymous with Singapore vintage clothes shopping; and a trailblazer for similar stores.
I chat with Jon and Josh.
Vintage clothing.
Jon: Culture stems from thrifting in US. People wake up early, dig bins, charity shops. It’s nostalgic, references the era it was produced in, has a warm reminder of childhood. Wearing gives it new meaning. Sustainable. What money can’t buy.
Now it’s mainstream, celebrity-endorsed, inspiration for designer brands. There are vintage tees for every interest.
Death Threads.
Josh: Sourced band tees. Was an early customer. Then, Death Threads didn’t sell band tees. Messaged them about it. They asked if I wanted to sell in their space. Helped them source tees, then joined permanently.
Jon: Justin and I ran RHG. After we collaborated at a Sole Superior event, they asked us to join their team as equal partners. They changed their [our] logo to reference RHG’s. We’ve plans for RHG to be something else.
Pioneers?
Jon: We open once a month, have commitments. People come to be surprised. The levels of entry for business is low; competition motivates us to reinvent.
Josh: We’ve made Death Threads slides. We’re fortunate to have joined early, contributed enough to be valued as brand-builders. We’re also lucky to be 20-somethings selling to 20-somethings.
Jon: We display tees that have holes, no functionality as clothing, nobody will buy, to build culture, community. Make sure we bring good shit in; people can only buy what we sell.
Josh: Singapore’s culture is trend-hopping. Even when interest starts to wane, we know shoppers who value nostalgia will continue riding with us. We are slowly building personality, which would ultimately makes us more than a “vintage store.”
