‘Gangsters Buy Flowers’ Highlights the Dual Nature of Men
While scrolling through social media I stop on a tough image with a soft message; ‘Gangsters Buy Flowers’. The message is in a vibrant old english font, sprawled across the back of a mystery man who turns out to be GBF founder, Maxime Hilaire. After researching more I’ve discovered an episode of the podcast Value Plus Contrast hosted by Luther Young. The host, who also created the GBF logo sat down with Hilaire who detailed his journey from humble beginnings to where he sees the brand heading in the future.
In his crown heights basement Maxime has produced sample after sample which has slowly but surely transformed into what is now the ethereal universe of Gangsters Buy Flowers. What started as a single t-shirt design, that was suggested by a friend, has now transformed into a lifestyle. The GBF CEO began his blend of streetwear and menswear after getting his first job in New York at J. Crew. “(It was) my first real introduction to menswear, but on the days that I’m not working I’m mixing and matching. It was bringing the worlds that I was a part of together.” Hilaire agrees with Young on every stage of the process being a space of reinvention while, at the same strength, not losing a sense of the past.
They say the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, but for Maxime, it began with one shirt. While continuing to balance the culture’s influence and this new world of menswear, a friend suggests Maxime put what’s now the brand name on one tee. He wore it out and received an immense amount of positive feedback. The designer was without a job at the time and questioned just how many of the tees he could sell to make rent or afford his next few meals. Within a short period of time, the shirts were selling out and the streets started talking. “It didn’t start off as something I was going to do continuously,” he says “but the streets gon’ dictate what they want.” The brand name is certainly what drew me into finding out more about where this creativity stemmed from. When speaking on how the name connects to his community Maxime says it’s “something people can resonate with and flowers are involved. It’s hard but then it’s soft at the same time. I feel like with my presentation of the brand it’s intentional that it’s not overly masculine but at the same time, I want to show that men have their soft side. It’s like the duality of man.“
When you follow the brand on social media this duality is shown with great taste. The idea of horticulture being not only for a physical garden but also the spiritual shows with each post that has surely graced your explore page a few times by now. “I might show you a loft space and its just furniture and flowers. I know guys who just buy flowers for they apartment. That stuff is never highlighted. I know guys who are very much into interior decoration, that’s never highlighted. So I want to make that point the highlight of the brand.”
The process of the now recognizable logo came on the 3-year anniversary of the brand. When speaking on how the symbolism came to fruition, Maxime reminds listeners “It wasn’t supposed to be a brand! I was like ‘this is a design I made for the other brand, the umbrella brand’ so to speak, but (GBF) took off. When it took off I’m looking at the design, I’m like ‘if I wanted to make it a brand, this is not the logo I would want.’ When I think of a logo I think of something I want on everything. I’m like aight If I’m gonna approach it as a brand, it’s gonna have its own logo.” The brand CEO collaborated with Luther Young on the brand’s imagery. “Because you had created such a rich design direction already, it was hard at first,” said Young. “To your point of what you said about the duality, I realized that nothing had actually put the old English and the flowers together. The logo became this moment for the duality to exist in one.” With the new content Hilaire has been putting out, Young speaks facts when saying, “It’s a clothing brand now but there’s nothing to say it won’t be something else in the future.”
Keep up on how this brand and creator continue to grow via Instagram @Gangsters.Buy.Flowers and the brand’s website, here. Listen to more inspiring stories of entrepreneurs bringing ideas to life on Luther Young’s podcast, Value Plus Contrast.
