This cult L.A. brand is a major positive-energy emitter
Plus their logo's super dope
Bike riding: It’s joyous as hell. Contemporary swag lords have been telling you this for years from coast to coast, whether it’s A$AP Ferg mobbing w/ a BMX squadron in Harlem, Chloe Sevigny cruising hither & thither on a Citibike downtown, or Tyler, the Creator and Shia LaBeouf practicing the handlebarred arts in L.A.
But bike rides are even tighter in the quarantine era, allowing you to escape coughing dweebs pronto and get some exercise / bliss out with fewer cars on the road than ever.
Maybe you just read that airtight argument and still want no part of 2-wheeled glory. That’s cool ‘cause if yr reading BLACKBIRD SPYPLANE, chances are good that you are nonetheless the type of garment appreciator who thinks deep thoughts such as:
“I don’t want to wear clothing with logos on it unless the logo is indecipherable to hypebeasts and 99.9% of the general population,” or…
“Hmm I regularly rock the shit out of beautiful accoutrements derived from skater & hiking culture — what is the next-frontier athletic pastime whose swag I can appropriate ??”
In either case you should know about Team Dream, a sunny-vibed Southern California cycling brand that built a global cult-following among bike riders but is 100% UNKOWN to trend chasers & wave-riders. And along with serious gear they put out universally rockable “civilian” clothes — caps, *excellent* socks, sweatshirts, t-shirts — in small runs made mostly in L.A.
They also have the most popping logo in the bike-apparel game and, real talk, one of the most popping logos period, which they call the chubby bobcat (here at BLACKBIRD SPYPLANE we practice body-positivity across all species, but this bobcat is objectively substantial):
Team Dream’s shop, the Cub House, is in a former gas station between L.A. and South Pasadena. It’s only open for bike maintenance right now, but their webstore is open, and copping joints there is a good way to:
support a small L.A. maker
hype yrself up to get off the couch and out for a damn ride
add a new and mysterious flavor to yr fit-check spice rack.
Last summer BLACKBIRD SPYPLANE popped into the Cub House and the friendly staff looked healthy as hell from breathing so much high-altitude Angeles Crest Highway air. We copped the last-available beautifully washed-out pink / yellow Arabic-text long-sleeve above. They still have it in a green short-sleeve — $28, made in L.A., here — and there’s a Japanese kanji version, too — 4 colors, including that same faded pink, $28, here.
Side note: Pas Normal Studios — the Danish cycling brand founded by Wood Wood’s Karl-Oskar Olsen — recently launched a line of “off-race” apparel, i.e. joints intended for the growing market of drip-conscious non-spandexed riders. END carries a bunch of it, and it’s cool in an austere Scandinavian Acne / Our Legacy kind of way.
Team Dream’s U.S.-made socks are especially good
Michelin Man & Bart Simpson themed Team Dream patches…
Recently Team Dream got TOM SACHSY with it and did a NASA collaboration that sold out near-instantaneously, meaning you can unfortunately *not* buy this dude’s Astronaut Bobcat neck gaiter and simulate his airtight facemask look…
The bobcat manifests in other forms across the brand: as a skeleton in this Dead Head-ish, George Melies-referencing tie-dye longsleeve, $48; as a very good $28 Big Dogs homage here…
Team Dream’s corduroy snapbacks are great, too — they come in 7 excellent colors, L.A. made, $28. The bobcat shapeshifts here into a vibey spiral…
… which is a motif that recurs Keith Haring-ishly on this tandem-bike tee, $28. It fits in perfectly in this ping-pong scenario, which come to think of it is another fire way to spend socially-distanced quality time w/ a homey…
-Team Dream’s tees and sweatshirts are here
-Their socks are here
-Their patches and caps are here
-Follow Team Dream on Instagram here
Share this newsletter with 10-30 of yr friendliest / most-respected homeys. You can follow us on Instagram and Twitter and find archival knowledge darts at BlackbirdSpyplane.com