JONDEUS & THE CLICHE PROJEC

Cliché is an idea. It is not a brand. It is not the newest, latest hip-hop trend. At some point it might be billed as such, but don’t be confused. This leather medallion is an homage to an item that was popular both as a staple in the hip-hop community and also as an expression of culture & identity in the 80’s. I call the project “Cliché” because of my observations on popular retro culture. Retro style is based on fashion items that are easily recognizable as something that was popular from an era that the culture of today deems cool to emulate at the moment (retro is ALWAYS changing). In the 90’s, people were obsessed with 70’s retro. So I figured that pop retro culture usually celebrates the style from 20 years back (give or take a couple of years). Right now, obviously, the retro culture just loves the 80’s. People are calling shit “crack” instead of “dope”. Gold rope chains are back in e-f-f-e-c-t. But this generation interprets the 80’s as a bouillabaisse of childhood memories, photos, music videos, and sitcom repeats. So me being the super-scientifcal that I am, caught a mental monsoon to do these leather medallions. We flipped the colors, textures & packaging. We killed it. There are only 150 of each style in each color. It comes hand #’d on a sticker that seals the cellophane envelope that the medallion and braided leather rope comes in. It sits lovely in the sexy-ass box that it comes in. Brooklyn writers like Gnome and Gemini of CWK fame made this specific Cliché logo’s style popular. For me that was the flyest way to do the logo for this installment. That is how we are flipping the bigger “Cliché” idea this time around. You feel me?
Ultimately I want to instigate trend and inspire creative growth with this project. I want to see how the people of today’s culture interpret the leather medallion as an expression of culture and identity, no matter where they are from or how they rep their shit. As trends grow and evolve, I will catch more mental monsoons. I will partner with people of like mind to bring these ideas to fruition. These too, will be called Cliché projects. And hopefully, they too, will instigate trends and spark creativity with the people.

Cliché is JonDeus’ concept. This Cliché project was conceptualized, designed, and developed by Anthony Trinidad Jr (Trin One) & JonDeus