Blog number two is officially here, and for this one, I needed to give you all proper introduction to all of this. So I will tell you about Bungalow, what it is, where we are right now, and where I want to be in the future.
What is Bungalow?
I often get this question and say, "Oh, it's my brand," without going into more detail, which ends the conversation. But I'm here to tell you it's much more than that!
Bungalow is a multi-brand online retailer I'm using to curate a webshop of clothes, home goods, books (in transit right now from England! Whoo Hoo!!), and other cool things I see along the way. Not to toot my own horn, but I feel like I have interesting taste, and I wanted to find a way to curate that into something for others to enjoy.
I spent many years bootlegging shirts, which got old quickly. What didn't get old was seeing my friends continue to grow, push the envelope, and find their wings in the rat race of having a brand on Instagram. I've also had the incredible honor of meeting people from all walks of life and creative backgrounds. From vendors on Phish/Dead Tour to people with real brands that are in other highly curated boutiques around the world, I wanted to create a world where these two could coexist.
Virgil once spoke about how the environment in which something lives is the most crucial element. An old beat-up candle in a garage looks like an old beat-up candle, but if you put that same candle in an art gallery, you have a piece of art. All of this is to say I apply that same approach when I think about items I want to purchase and sell in the shop. A lot of thought goes into what is in the shop because if something looks out of place, it will jump off the screen at you.
Where are we right now?
Right now, we are at square one. As I said in the previous blog, I've just been throwing products up on the website and Instagram with no storytelling, and that isn't the way I want to proceed with all of this. I obsessively think about the stories my favorite brands tell me as a consumer, but I have yet to do that for you, and that's a disservice to everyone.
I started this blog because when I was starting out and learning about streetwear and its culture, I spent an incredible amount of time on my favorite brand's websites, consuming their thoughts, photo sets, lookbooks, etc. This would transport me to these places with them, allow me to put myself in a world I didn't live in, and make me think about how cool it would be to be there.
The community tab on our website will function as this escape from the fast-paced scrolling of social media and instead be a centralized section where you can consume content at a slower and more digestible pace. It won't disappear like a post you swipe by and forget about. Instead, it will always be there for you to reflect on and come back and see when you need it the most. This tab is currently broken up into 3 sections: Mood board (a curated selection of photos that visually represent the brand), Sound System (Music, podcast, etc. recommendations), and blog (self-explanatory); these will be surfaces you can always return to and reference when needed.
This is also a way for me to be completely transparent with my business and tell you all how everything is going. As of right now, business is slow. It's scary buying products I'm passionate about, and they're not converting to sales, but under this new direction and consistency, things will get better.
On the flip side, as cool as purchasing something from the shop is, I'm more interested in building this foundation. Tell your friends about the blog, Instagram, etc. When we have an event, pull up and bring your friends. We can build this together through word of mouth and get to that end goal.
What is the future?
The future is simple. I want to open a storefront.
Let's paint the picture for you: You walk off the beach and remember that there is that little shop on your way home that always plays good music. The whole place smells like incense, and the staff is happy to talk about your day, and they even pick up the conversation you had the last time you decided to stop by.
We watch your kids grow up; soon, they become the ones hanging out inside the shop, making friends, and getting inspired to think, "Hey, this is what I want to do," because, after all, that's what I did and how I got here in the first place.
I want to create a cultural hub for our local area that is something to be proud of and inspires the next generation to express themselves creatively in whatever way flows through them: music, art, fashion, writing, whatever it is I want to be the place on the block all those people can go to meet likeminded creatives and foster a community that has each other's backs and keeps passing the torch again and again.
Connor