In a farewell letter published on Hypebeast outlining exactly why he is ending the Benny Gold brand and handing his SF retail space back over to HUF, Benny Gold (the person) outlines the situation successful artists often get in when their “brand” becomes bigger than themselves — better in one paragraph than many have been able to do in 30 page Keynote projects. He explains exactly how it feels when the beastly machine begins driving the master and creating its own reality. Here is the paragraph from Hypebeast.
We have a beautiful flagship location in San Francisco and an outstanding staff that has helped me realize my full potential. The brand has become bigger than myself and I am forever grateful for this. . . But with this success comes it’s own set of challenges. I now find myself growing less creatively as my days are spent managing people, budgets, and production issues. I am feeling increasing pressure to follow trends and go more “urban” in the attempt to capture more market share. A brand becomes a living, breathing thing and every brand has a life cycle -— well it’s become increasingly clear to me that the Benny Gold brand is nearing its end. I would rather bring it to a close and celebrate it’s life with integrity rather than push it to become something I no longer believe in.
How’s that? It answers so many questions we’ve had about other emerging clothing brands. How do you keep doing the same thing over and over? Season in, season out? It’s nice to see someone admit it straight up — you can’t. Not unless you change everything that got you there in the first place.
Congrats Benny. Well done. We look forward to seeing what you’re working on in the next phase.
[Link: Hypebeast]
