Their limited edition “hype” releases sell out instantly and are quickly flipped for exorbitant prices on the secondary market. Like Deadhead culture, sneakerhead culture has exploded in recent years, and there is no bigger name in sneakers than Nike. Gone are the days when these kinds of brand deals would be criticized as “selling out.” Today’s pop artists are defined by the brands with which they “collab”, and there are few brands that garner more respect from younger generations than Nike. “These standards remain strict, no matter how big the collaborating brand may be.” “They reject designs that paint the Dead’s skeleton symbols as ‘dark’ or ‘demonic’ or otherwise don’t represent the celebratory, positive nature of the band,” the Input piece explains. In an article published by Input, Pinkus said that Rhino “gives licensees a fair amount of leeway when coming up with designs,” but before they are approved, a panel made up of David Lemieux (the band’s archivist), Bernie Cahill (the band’s manager), and Pinkus himself judge whether the designs “ring true.” Under president Mark Pinkus, who attended his first Dead show in 1973, they have worked with different brands to try and expose the band to a wider audience, especially younger generations, while using strict standards to maintain the authentic character of the band. Since 2006, all licensing for the Grateful Dead, including merchandising and music releases, has been controlled by Rhino Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group. The thirteen-point lightning bolt, “stealie” skull, and dancing bears logos have become recognizable symbols even to those who have never really listened to the Dead’s music, and they have all been licensed in recent years by brands aiming to capitalize on the band’s distinctive imagery and branding. Over time, the Grateful Dead became synonymous with hippie culture, and the iconography of the band has become identified with psychedelia. This move was recently echoed by Dead & Company when they linked up with Online Ceramics, who became known in the streetwear world for their Grateful Dead-inspired designs. Companies like Not Fade Away Graphics Inc., Grateful Graphics, and Club Dead got their start as lot vendors, and some of them were eventually hired by the band to design official merch. This decision allowed the lot scene to flourish, and made it possible for Deadheads to help design the Grateful Dead aesthetic. “Shakedown Street.” Rather than trying to stop the sale of bootleg memorabilia like other artists, the band encouraged it. Deadheads famously produced their own handmade crafts and apparel, including unofficial band merchandise, and sold them outside of concerts in “the lot,” a.k.a. The bohemian style of the time, which incorporated things like imported textiles, vibrant colors, trippy patterns and, of course, tie-dye, never really went out of style with Deadheads, who continued following the band in droves well into the ’90s. The Grateful Dead’s relationship with fashion is rooted in the band’s early history and the psychedelic counterculture of the 1960s. Related: Jimmy Fallon Expresses His Love For Dead & Company On ‘The Tonight Show’ Following First Show At MSG So how exactly did Grateful Dead merch become mainstream fashion? Liking the Grateful Dead is now more mainstream than ever, but the band has become so trendy that wearing their logo doesn’t necessarily mean you know anything about their music. The limited edition sneakers inspired by the band’s dancing bears logo now fetch over $1,000 on the resale market, and you can buy an officially licensed Grateful Dead t-shirt at almost any store in the mall including Gap, Macy’s, Abercrombie & Fitch, American Eagle, PacSun, Free People, Urban Outfitters, Tillys, Hot Topic, and Journeys, to name but a few. Following recent, high-profile collaborations with Nike, Crocs, and streetwear brand Chinatown Market, the influence of the Grateful Dead on mainstream fashion is more apparent than ever.
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