Da Great Bolo Exchange
Suppose you're familiar with Corteiz RTW. In that case, you will have come to expect a serious level of hype associated with the brand, with new releases regularly selling out in minutes. So, it's no surprise that hysteria struck the UK streetwear scene last week as the London based brand hosted 'Da Great Bolo Exchange' pop-up. Clint (founder of Corteiz) let his Instagram followers know he would be giving out 50 unreleased 'Bolo' Jackets as long as the following conditions were met
The jackets were from high-end brands like Canada Goose, Moncler, North Face and Supreme
The jackets were authentic and in good condition
You must be wearing the jacket that you're exchanging – "It's a straight swap from the jacket on your body."
Besides exchanges, part of Clint's strategy is not sharing the location of his pop-ups until minutes/hours before the scheduled time. Last year Corteiz used a similar approach in Soho, giving out their signature 'bun the rest' slogan t-shirts in exchange for a travel card. From this event, we saw a glimpse of what was to come at the Bolo Exchange as fans made their way over in hopes of securing a t-shirt. This YouTube video illustrates the frenzy of the Soho pop-up. Since that pop-up, the brand has only grown, receiving co-signs from the likes of Virgil Abloh (RIP).
On the day of the Bolo Exchange, we witnessed the influence of Corteiz as videos surfaced showing fans making their way over to the location of the pop-up in their designer jackets, hoping to be one of the lucky 50 to get their hands on the Corteiz Bolo jacket. The response on Twitter was a mixture of support for Clint and Corteiz, confusion and mockery as the timeline wondered why anyone would be willing to trade jackets worth around £1,000 for a "topman quality jacket," according to a Twitter user. Darnell Vlogs vlogged the events of the Bolo Exchange pop-up. We can see fans eager to get their hands on the jackets.
Clint posing with jackets collected from the exchange
After the event, Clint tweeted a picture of him standing in the middle of a pile of jackets collected during the day worth around £16,000. The reaction on Twitter quickly changed from an even split of supportive and negative tweets, at least according to my timeline, to primarily negative responses. People were in disbelief, accusing Clint of finessing his fans and scamming them into exchanging high-end jackets so he could resell them. Not knowing Clint's intentions with the swapped jackets, reselling them for profit never crossed my mind. He doesn’t need the money, and I don't think that owning designer items would do anything for him in the same way it would for someone who isn't in that world to the extent that he is, especially when you consider that Virgil Abloh gifted Clint with 1/1 Louis Vuitton Jacket.
1/1 Louis Vuitton Jacket gifted to Clint by Virgil Abloh
As it turned out, Clint had been planning Da Great Bolo Exchange since November 2021, donating the swapped jackets to London-based charity St. Lawrence's Larder, who provide meals to the homeless. One of his followers inspired this idea and asked him to switch his North Face Nuptse for a Corteiz Bolo. This interaction showed that fans of Corteiz associated the brand with the likes of North Face, Supreme, Moncler, etc. Clint realising this contributes to explaining why the brand has grown as quickly as it has since it began releasing clothes back in 2018. In a Twitter space hosted by 9bills, Clint and his team explained that the larger-scale corporate brands are the ones they're 'competing' with. Going on to explain their refusal of accepting exchanges from Black-owned UK brands such as PLACES+FACES and Trapstar, indicating their support for these brands and showing that is room at the table for Black-owned brands to succeed in this industry.
I think what Clint and his team are doing is great. They have a cult-like following behind them, almost guaranteeing them success in the future. The brand has grown by 100,000 in 100 days from the 15th October 2021 to 28th January 2022. Long may that continue. I genuinely believe what Corteiz is doing is inspiring many UK-based brands, especially Black-owned streetwear brands, to dream big!
Written by SuNom Bawa
Hi, I'm SuNom. Born in Nigeria and raised in the UK. I studied Economics at undergrad and Political Economy at Masters level. My interests vary and I hope you like them as much as I do.
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