This past week, JoeFreshgoods brought history to Chicago, connecting with Congruent Space to launch a pop-up installation. Here, he has recreating classic elements of the beauty supply store, revamping the concept and flipping it with classic t-shirts, along with hoodies made from towels such as Stone Island among other designs. The clothes at this shop will be available online this upcoming weekend so be on the lookout. Peep his mission statement below, and be sure to check it out on 1216 W. Grand in Chicago.
Beauty Supply stores have always been a staple to the hood, almost anyone would go there to get "fresh" for the low. Obviously, women can go grab any affordable essentials needed to get gorgeous at the beauty supply. For guys, it was everything from fake diamond earrings and du-rags to white t-shirts and wave grease. Before entering that era in life where I frequently shopped at the mall, I found items at my local beauty supply to remix and add to pieces that I already owned at home.
There used to be days as a teenager when I could only afford white Air Force 1's but no fit to go with them, so a simple white shirt for $2.99 and some fake earrings did the job for me. Sometimes, the bootleg shit in the beauty supply even looked better than the authentic stuff in retail stores. I remember buying knockoff Nike headbands fully knowing that they were fake but still just being happy I was able to find that rare colorway that no one else had.
With this Beauty Supply concept, I really wanted to capture a moment in time on the Westside of Chicago where I used my local resources to look good and make due with what I had.
