Misfits.

No not those useless super powered vagabonds on E4.
these horror punk kings forming in 1977 are one of the bands that I have enjoyed since a young age, sat in my bedroom giving myself a crash course in all things punk at the age of 11. So obviously the announcement of the Supreme Misfits drop hit me and put me in two minds.

Looking at the PCL (power, corruption, lies) release, there was a huge hype around the floral hoody which features the album artwork from New Orders 1983 album: Power, corruption and Lies. The problem was no one who bought the release really got the reference, bar a select few. Then came the re-sales all those skinny little white kids wondering why it "didn't suit" them. Perhaps they should have thought about it before buying what they saw as just another supreme floral.
I did commend Supreme in an earlier post for being an extremely diverse, yet thorough representation of counter culture but does this excuse it? I'm not sure that New Order really constitutes or embodies counter culture in the same way Futura 2000, Bad Brains or Public Enemy do. Even if the glove did fit it is abit like placing A Bathing Ape G-Shock on my Great Nans wrist. Perharps a more modern and fitting brand would have been a better call. But we'll never know, and with how nice the chukkas were its also not worth worrying about.

The misfits.
The questionablity of age is also present with The Misfits, being older than PCL. Comparatively speaking Supreme do seem like a more fitting collaborator given the history of the brand.
It goes without saying this release was far from groundbreaking. In fact given the amount of Misfits Merch floating around and the likeness to SSUR's Misfits inspired cap. This was also an extremely safe option given the impact of street goth slowly falling from high end fashion and slowly seeping dowards to more accessible items.

This posts back and forth approach means you probably don't need this conclusion. However both releases I am completely unsure about but leading strongly towards the Misfits release, for personal reasons alone. But with roughly £75 resale on the tee shirts its unlikely I'll be jumping at the chance to buy what is essentially high quality band merch.

Lifestyle Brands

What on earth is a lifestyle brand?

"A lifestyle brand is a brand that attempts to embody the values and aspirations of a group or culture for purposes of marketing"

Thank you Wikipedia. 

My first case study in answering this question is Diamond supply co.

All you need to do is to go onto the Diamond website to see that Diamond do offer items and designs that embody the skate culture which they have always firmly anchored themselves in, offering skateboarding hardware and even selling bolts in a Cannabis grinder. Delving rather deeply into skateboarding's culture and offering solutions that are helpful, whilst still letting skaters buy into Diamond in all aspects of their life.

let me reiterate: ALL ASPECTS OF THEIR LIFE.

Where does this stop being lifestyle marketing and begin being a case of selling just about anything and bumping the prices up because it has a name on it.prime example Diamond's rugs and cushions, just in case you forgot that you skateboarded in the few hours you reside in your home. One clear example of this is the "simplicity is the key to brilliance" rug costing roughly £229 (after conversion) lets have a look...

Pretty ironic given the design is far from simple.but what really hits me, is that this is a nice rug and I would happily have it in my living room however if Simplicity 
really is the key to brilliance surely a plain, simple rug would suffice.Like this extremely soft high pile rug from Ikea. The same dimensions but for next to a quarter of the price.

Carhartt

Also another brand that I feel falls into the category of lifestyle brand is Carhartt. Carhartt, especially Carhartt WIP (Work In Progress), has a maturity about it unlike many other under the vast umbrella of skate/streetwear. whilst offering a lot of simplistic designs that include various types of fabric they also use loud and deep camo prints in there design.

So lets delve deeper than the standard tee shirt or ever-increasingly common thick cuffed beanies. Carhartt offer many solutions to everyday problems. Carhartt actually offers solutions to every problem you may face to, from and in: College, school or work...

That annoyingly loud pre-adolescent on the bus? Headphones.
Need to take notes? Notepads and Pens.
Not quite finished that project? USB that'll fit on a lanyard or phone
Dreading taking your mom's floral Cath Kidson stool while you camp out for the next big drop? Camping Chair.
Fallen asleep on your ever so comfortable $350 Diamond supply co. rug when you have somewhere to be? Alarm clock.

See... any problem, its also worth noting that many of these essentials that Carhartt offer are at an affordable price. My wallet was the cheapest I could find after my favourite Obey Posse wallet fell apart after 6 years and I must admit it's already looking like it'll last much longer.

I suppose they really are the "Rugged Urbanwear" like they occasionally claim.

Pictured: (left) Carhartt Jetlack Alarm Clock, (right) My £18 Carhartt Wallet.