12/14/2023 0 Comments Its a vibe clothing![]() Adrift in their 20s, they traveled around the country in a van starting in 1989 selling T-shirts in college dorms-or, at least, unsuccessfully trying to. Every night at the dinner table, she would ask her family members to each share one good thing that happened to them, a tradition that they still use to open meetings at Life is Good to this day. It was their mother who endeavored to keep things positive no matter what. And they were never upset about it.” Bert and John were the youngest of six, with a childhood shadowed by a traumatic car accident that left their dad disabled and plagued with anger issues. “They were the two poorest guys I knew,” he told me. Steve Gross, who runs their in-house foundation, grew up with the Jacobs brothers in Needham, a suburb outside Boston. (Although the brand prefers to talk about “psychographics” rather than demographics, 70% of shoppers are white.) Customers will often hang onto the same T-shirt for upwards of 20 years. You can encounter the slogans at small beach town stores during your annual vacation or turn to them for a Father’s Day gift, but that same dad could likewise have a whole closetful that he breaks out on the daily. The merchandise straddles novelty and utility. (Ten percent of each sale goes to an in-house foundation that helps vulnerable youth.) They don’t even think of Life is Good as a fashion brand, more like an optimism purveyor that happens to sell clothing. It has never infiltrated the world of cool, nor are the founders particularly interested in doing so. Life is Good may be an unintentional predecessor to today’s positivity-inclined brands, but it exists in its own ecosystem. The other half wanted to leave it as was.Ī drawing of a smiling dog, with the words “A Cold Beer” and, right underneath in slightly smaller lettering: “A High Five In The Mouth.” Half the room thought that the message wasn’t clear enough and could use some extra punctuation. The approval process moved along seamlessly, until one design brought things to a halt. Even high fashion brands got in on the action, from Marni hawking a smiley sweatshirt to Loewe’s upbeat Eye/LOEWE/Nature collection to Gucci's Bob Ross–style happy little trees North Face collaboration. ![]() Gorpcore as far as the eye can see, channeling a similar notion of vague outdoorsiness. The tranquil civic-minded gear from OnlyNY, mysterious Cactus Plant Flea Market smiley faces, “Earth Music” hats and “Frog Present moment” tees from ALLCAPSTUDIO, B4L’s “Just Be a Good Person” sweatshirts. ![]() Justin Bieber in “Just Be Kind” Mayfair sweatpants. LeBron James in a “More Than My Feelings” MadHappy drop. Pete Davidson, and countless other guys, too, wearing “Hunt Mushrooms Not Animals” and “Bee My Friend” tees by Online Ceramics, which has lovingly satirized Life is Good. Ezra Koenig, cranking the personal-style dial from preppy to chill in a floral fleece over an “ Advice From a Blueberry” shirt, then releasing similarly laid-back Vampire Weekend merch. There was Jonah Hill, the lodestar for menswear bros everywhere, frequently seen “ dressing for bliss” in Malibu. ![]() ![]() Until the day I looked around and realized that it was inexplicably everywhere in spirit. When I moved out of New England, I saw less and less of Jake, and eventually forgot about Life is Good altogether. As the child of pragmatic, tell-it-like-it-is immigrants, buying these shirts registered as cloying and naive, a uniquely American outlook. Along with the brand's namesake slogan, Jake had some other sanguine messages to promote: “Today Is a Good Day, “The Best Things in Life Are Not Things,” “Zero Tasking.” Truth be told, I didn’t get it. He was even at my college graduation, where the company’s founders popped up to give a commencement speech. As the cartoon mascot for the Life is Good brand, he was ubiquitous in the small Connecticut town where I grew up: smirking at me from T-shirts paired with khaki cargo shorts and Merrells, then later from new shipments I hung on the rack at my first retail job. I’ve known Jake for as long as I can remember. When he’s not doing any of those, he can be found grilling or strumming his guitar or kicking back on a hammock strung up between two perfect palm trees. And why should he? In lieu of a soul-crushing job, he spends his days pursuing any number of outdoorsy passions, from biking to hiking to kayaking to ultimate frisbee. Jake doesn’t worry about his mortgage or putting his kids through college or his cholesterol levels or microplastics in his blood. He’s got a slim stick figure body, tiny sunglasses, a beatnik beret, and a grin that just won’t quit. ![]()
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