BMX tshirt history intro
13 Nov 2015

The Most Influential* BMX T-Shirt Companies of the 80's & 90's - PART 1

*Well, some of them...

Compiled and written by Paul Covey

The T-shirt revolution began as an underground movement in the late 80s and early 90s, going on to become a fundamental component of BMX lifestyle. As a young adult with a limited disposable income, purchasing a T-shirt was a small but significant way for me to support the companies I was into and represent BMX to the world. During this era I remember flipping through pages of BMX magazines and seeing advertisements for dozens of companies whose main product was the simple silk-screened T-shirt.

Originally a one-piece undergarment designed in the late 19th century as a convenient covering for laborers in hot environments and issued by the U.S. Navy for sailors in early submarines during the Spanish-American War, T-shirts eventually became a popular bottom layer of clothing for agricultural workers, due in part to their inexpensive construction and ease of cleaning. Further popularized by Marlon Brando, who donned one in the 1951 film “A Streetcar Named Desire,” by the late 1960s the T-shirt became a common symbol of the modern era and a mainstream method of advertisement, protest, and self-expression.

This overview (part one of two) is by no means meant to be an exhaustive list of all the T-shirt brands that have existed in BMX, but a brief review of some of the more influential rider-owned companies that have graced us with their artwork and innovative designs from the mid-eighties to mid to late nineties. Please feel free to chime in below or on our facebook/instagram with any companies or designs that you feel were left out or worth including, and consider supporting rider-owned brands the next time you make a clothing purchase.

BMX tshirt history 2b 1
BMX tshirt history 2b 4

​2/B Homecooked Garments

2/B Homecooked Garments was the brain-child of and fun-loving East Coast riders Hal Brindley and Steve Buddendeck. Armed with truck stop, bowling alley, and kitchen utensil inspired clothing, Hal and Steve spear-headed one of the earliest well known rider-owned clothing brands. 2B shirts, hats, and stickers could be spotted on riders at NBL (National Bicycle League) events and in tiny, humorous adverts within the pages of BMX Plus! and Go: The Riders Manual throughout the early 90s.

Hal and Steve went to races, organized incredibly simple but fun contests at various skateparks, rode their bikes, ran a campaign to free James Brown (whose imprisonment at the time warranted the phrase “Soul Behind Bars”) all while making some really cool t-shirts that fit the underground BMX scene of the day perfectly. Various Plywood Hood flatland masters in Pennsylvania were noted for rocking 2B gear, which at the time, was a stellar endorsement. Rising east coast vert shredder, Leigh Ramsdell, was on the Pro team and making big moves at national events. At one point Hal and Steve even purchased and re-stickered some overstock BADD & CO race frames to sell under the 2B banner in a very Dirt Bros like fashion.

BMX tshirt history 2b 3
BMX tshirt history 2b 2

In mid-1992, shortly after the demise of Go Magazine, the duo took a major financial risk and printed 10,000 copies of a massive, one-off zine entitled: “The Cookbook.” Every single rider on the TREND (now Empire BMX) mailing list received at least one copy absolutely free. Keep in mind that this was way before social media, and with no real BMX magazine coverage from a rider’s perspective at that point, “The Cookbook” was an encouraging and welcomed DIY effort. An honest appeal was made to raise funds for a second issue, and I distinctly remember sending a few bucks in for support. I swiftly received a hand written thank-you letter from Hal in the mail along with a 2B patch that was sewn onto my favorite hat, (which my friend’s dog later devoured.)

By 1994, Buddendeck had begun working for the NBL, shooting photos and writing articles for the growing racing organization’s newspaper (today he runs Cinema and Verde). Additionally, a name dispute with a hip-hop fashion company from New York forced Hal to abandon the 2B brand altogether and start up his next endeavor: Play Clothing.

BMX tshirt history play 2 1
BMX tshirt history play 4 1

Play Clothing

Play Clothes had some of the same flavor of 2B Homecooked, but with more subtle and refined style. Inside jokes, grin-inducing catch phrases and super-rad designs by Chris “Roni” Hargrave also made Play Clothes quite popular among BMX and Freestyle junkies of the mid 90s. Leigh Ramsdell would become Hal Brindley’s new partner in crime and introduced his own brand, Useless Clothing (see The Crandall shirt below). It’s worth mentioning that Zack Phillips, who had already started a small parts brand known as Kink, was also brought on board to help out at Play’s North Carolina offices. Play also boasted a large roster of incredible riders including Ryan Nyquist, Kris Bennet, Leif Valin, Todd Lyons, and Mike Forney. In the midst of all this, Hal and Leigh put together possibly the best commercial ever in a Props video magazine – a definite high water mark for humor in BMX that reminded us all to have fun and avoid taking ourselves too seriously.

BMX tshirt history play 1 1
BMX tshirt history play useless 3

After a few more years, Hal, desiring to pursue a career as a wildlife photographer, would go on to sell Play to an aspiring Washington D.C. businessman named Rex, and the brand pretty much disappeared after that. Recently, Brindley and Ramsdell launched a Kickstarter funded re-issuing of the more popular t-shirt styles from the 2B and Play catalogue, to an overwhelmingly great response. Hal even uploaded a digital version of “The Cookbook” on Issuu.

BMX tshirt history PB 1
BMX tshirt history PB 2

Poor Boy

Poorboy was based out of the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area, and to the best of my recollection, was introduced to the early 90s BMX world with an 1/12 page ad in one of the last issues of Go: The Riders Manual. From that humble ad, featuring the “Childish Pranksters of America” design in the back pages of Go, Poorboy would slowly become one of the top three most successful BMX T-shirt companies of the 90s. T-shirts, hoodies, number plates, chain wallets, jeans, shorts, shin pads, three acclaimed videos, and the briefly popular gyro hood were among the much sought-after items in Poorboy’s inventory. An all-star team, (that at one time or another included Joe Rich, Chad Degroot, Ed Koenning, Dave Osato and Stuart King) paired with up-beat designs, clever logo spoofs, and bright colors helped move merchandise off the Sandbox Distribution warehouse shelves and into the closets of thousands of BMXers.

BMX tshirt history PB 3
BMX tshirt history PB 4

Finding strong support in their home state of Texas, a mainstay at every single B.S. Contest, and downright en vogue at BMX tracks across the country, Poorboy was a growing brand that showed no signs of slowing down. Magazine guru and all around good-guy, Mark Losey even managed to strategically place some Poorboy stickers near the phone and refrigerator in one of the Real World houses on MTV, giving the brand some mainstream exposure. Once Sandbox Distribution was formed, they began to handle merchandise from other start- up T-shirt companies like Stew Johnson’s Scum Clothing , King Bikes, the new in-house brand, Allied, and would eventually develop Mutiny Bikes in 1998 as a full-on, legit BMX frame and parts company. As big money corporations moved into BMX in the wake of televised competitions, Mutiny raised the pirate flag and went on to produce affordable, innovative frame designs, several highly regarded videos, and support riders like Joe Simon, Danny Hickerson, Neil Harrington, Walter Perringer, Ojay Juarez, and a fearless kid from Tyler, Texas named Morgan Wade. “Penniless and Proud” was the original mantra and Steev Inge was the man at the helm of a tightly run ship before he left it all behind to develop and manage a Christian outreach skatepark/youth center in Missouri and eventually become the pastor of Mystery Church in Downtown Joplin.

(Editors note: Anyone remember that Taj X Poorboy X DIG controversy?)

BMX tshirt history LD 3
BMX tshirt history LD 2

Little Devil

Although officially started back in 1995, Little Devil clothing exploded on the scene in 1998 and had everyone in BMX buzzing. This was due, in no small part, to Daryl Nau’s incredible second video, Seek and Destroy. An unexpected but fortunate collaboration between Nau and Little Devil front man Derek Adams produced a video that is still talked about nearly 2 decades later and helped launch one of the most beloved brands in BMX history into the spotlight. The video itself contained a brief Little Devil commercial and a crazy riot/concert/crash section, but the cast of East Coast trail and rail slayers were the real showcase of this maximum velocity offering that marked the beginning of a new era in BMX. Standout sections came from Garret Byrnes and Van Homan, but the entire video had a great vibe and never failed to get me psyched to go ride. And... I can’t write about Little Devil without also mentioning the next video, Criminal Mischief. Criminal Mischief was another strong offering with an amazing team of riders, and Van Homan’s double song section is considered to be prerequisite viewing for anyone who picks up a BMX bike.

BMX tshirt history LD 1 1
BMX tshirt history LD 4 1

In between producing epic videos, Derek also managed to design and sell a lot of clothing, start a shoe company, Orchid Footwear, and had Nate Wessel build one of the sickest wooden bowls ever constructed inside their warehouse. While all this was going on, a funny MTV program called Jackass was being filmed in the same area, and Ryan Dunn (RIP), longtime friend of Adams, was often seen wearing LD apparel on the show, bringing the attention of a global audience to the Pennsylvania brand. When I think of Little Devil, I think of an incredibly iconic logo, killer designs, irreverent ads, and a team of guys that redefined BMX street riding.

BMX tshirt history LD 6 1
BMX tshirt history LD 5 1

Time marches on, and rather than letting the brand get stale, Derek decided to kill off the Devil a few years ago, eventually deciding to stick closer to home to develop his local BMX scene at a grass-roots level. There have however been verified rumors of the company resurrecting, and new Little Devil designs keep popping up on social media, so keep your eyes peeled.

UNDERGROUND PRODUCTS - UGP

UGP was started in 1986 by Florida’s Ron Bonner who was a freestyler, ramp rider, and early BMX entrepreneur. Influenced by Freestylin’ Magazine, Andy Jenkins and Jeff Tremaine, Ron started Underground Productions in his parent’s garage with $500. He began to place ads in Go: The Riders Manual and BMX Plus! encouraging kids to send in $2 for stickers and information. I still have an early UGP ‘catalog’ that Ron mailed out back in 1991. It was a photocopied and stapled product/price list on plain white paper with a neon green front page sporting the infamous “monkey face” logo that could be seen at races and jumping contests throughout the early 90s. Forgoing the purchase of an automobile, unlike most teenagers, Ron stayed focused and continued to reinvest in UGP.

BMX tshirt history UGP 2
BMX tshirt history UGP 1

In addition to high-quality t-shirts, UGP also produced number plates for racing, shin pads, jeans, shorts, and hoodies that effortlessly incorporated a groovy, artistic aesthetic. Constantly changing designs, cutting-edge artwork, memorable logos and quality materials embodied the brand from start to finish. Their “Disco” knock-off design of the “Crisco” logo became a personal favorite of mine and was always a conversation starter. Every rider I knew in the 90s regularly wore at least one UGP shirt, (even if they were sponsored by another t-shirt company).

BMX tshirt history UGP 3
BMX tshirt history UGP 5 1

Rob Nolli, Taj Mihelich, Dave Friemuth, John “Luc-E” Englebert, Joey Garcia, Chad Degroot, Aaron Benke and even skate legend Jamie Thomas were all on the official team at one point. Ron recruited flatland extraordinaire Kip Williamson, and the two were able to produce a string of promotional videos, including the immensely popular FACE VALUE, which captured impressive sections from all the aforementioned riders. After having held an early dirt jumping contest in 1991 appropriately titled “The UGP Flying Circus,” Ron also started “The Roots Jam,” a DIY contest series held annually in Orlando that became highly regarded by both riders and the industry by the early 2000s.

BMX tshirt history UGP 6
BMX tshirt history UGP 4 1

Bonner, often ahead of the curve, sold UGP around 11 years ago in order to focus on his new parts brand, The Shadow Conspiracy, and the growing Sparky’s Distribution. Sparky’s currently handles not only The Shadow Conspiracy, but also Subrosa, Sputnic, Mutiny, Bone Deth, Tempered, The Make, and Banned. According to their website, UGP is actually still around and still producing clothing for wake boarders and even some generic BMX parts. But the current company shares almost no semblance to the respected brand that Ron once developed.

Check out PART 2 of the article right here.

Previous

ETNIES IN VEGAS - Photo Journal

Hammer Time in The Desert With Nathan Williams and Aaron Ross

Next

The Most Influential BMX* T-Shirt Companies of the 80's & 90's - PART 2

Remembering Lord Clothing, Scum, Anarchic Adjustment and many more...

Related Content

DIG shirts all

DIG Apparel Store

DIG apparel now available!

23 Oct 2015
Legenday-sandm-product-title 1

Re Print: Legendary Products - S&M Slam Bars and Redneck Stem

Legit Influential Classics of the Modern era

21 May 2015
soundtrack -bmx inferno montage use

Soundtrack - VHS Classics - BMX Inferno

Listen again to a classic BMX video soundtrack that is as eclectic as it is iconic...

1 Mar 2015
soundtrack graphic thunder

Thunder VHS Soundtrack

If this doesn't make you want to go and have it then you're dead inside...

19 Jul 2015
BMX videos vhs

Where's The Love? The Disposable Age of BMX

Stuart Fenton talks of fickle times in BMX and dreams of a VHS resurrection

17 Feb 2015
soundtrack -anthem use 1

Soundtrack - VHS Classics - Anthem, Home Of The Brave

Heavy tuneage from the School of Stew Johnson...

29 Mar 2015
soundtrack -bmx wide awake nightmare use

Soundtrack - VHS Classics - Wide Awake Nightmare

This epic soundtrack had a huge part to play in the overall energy of this release.

22 Mar 2015
BMX tshirt history FBM 1

The Most Influential BMX* T-Shirt Companies of the 80's & 90's - PART 2

Remembering Lord Clothing, Scum, Anarchic Adjustment and many more...

20 Nov 2015
soundtrack nowhere fast use

Soundtrack - VHS Classics - Nowhere Fast

Ever wonder why they used to play Slayer at so many contests?

15 Mar 2015
brian blyther fst-blyther-modern

The Brian Blyther Podcast

DIG X SNAKEBITE

27 Oct 2015
BRIAN FOSTER BMX 7RANDOM RD

7 Clues That Brian Foster Should Have Known "BF-it" Was Going Down, But Didn’t

"For the month before it was released, a lot people were acting weird." - BF

30 Jun 2015
soundtrack graphic crandall use

Soundtrack - FBM Video Playlist - Part 1

The first selection of Steve Crandall's Favourite Tunes from over 20 years of FBM videos..

3 May 2015
https://shop.sundaybikes.com/collections/sunday-frames?utm_medium=banner&utm_source=dig

Latest Content

67h Y Ud C Xu E0hqdefault
Play Button

CLUUT JAM BXL

Flat out in Brussels

11 Dec 2024
Ck Vgg V Xw Y ohqdefault
Play Button

Matt Miller - Borough Breaker Rally

The combined strengths of two spot gurus

11 Dec 2024
Id K44 Lzm Y94hqdefault
Play Button

JimmAhNIMAL - James Pease - 2024

Throwing it down in OZ

11 Dec 2024
B Ffe Fj A Pb Q0hqdefault
Play Button

FIDS x S&M 4EVER

Mark "FIDS" Findlay

10 Dec 2024
Eyj S Rd FX Ff0hqdefault
Play Button

133 TRAILS JAM

Lyon, France

9 Dec 2024
8kx P Sy Krk Uwhqdefault
Play Button
BSD Grime Safari Reed Stark Austin 6

Reed Stark - A Photo Safari

Safari Forever...

6 Dec 2024
P1ye57 J1 Ga Yhqdefault
Play Button

BOYD HILDER - NO MORE BETS

BIG MAN COMIN' THRU

6 Dec 2024
6j Ordp SN Btshqdefault
Play Button

ONE MAN SHOW 2 | Township Tour 1

WEIRD & REVERED

6 Dec 2024
Uw Pz UZMD7 S4hqdefault
Play Button

RIXIN BIKES Presents - Jack Hennicke 2024

From NJ to Mexico City

5 Dec 2024
Joe fragments thumb 3
Play Button

JOE RICH - DIG 'FRAGMENTS' - Episode 2

Burning with creativity and D.I.Y. BMX energy

5 Dec 2024
I S Qv Q o Xlqkhqdefault
Play Button

GUTTER GEMS - Full DVD

Upstate New York

5 Dec 2024

DIG Partner stores

More Features

2024 E FISE WOLVERHAMPTON 0009

E-FISE Wolverhampton - In Photos

6 teams and one untapped UK city

3 Oct 2024
KG drone shot

KEEPING IT LOCAL - 20 YEARS OF KELVINGROVE SKATEPARK

Happy Birthday to our local Glasgow park.

18 Sep 2024
Jamie Pipe Tribe

A Brave New World - The history of KHE Bikes, Part 2

Taiwan, a pornstar, and innovation in a can

18 Apr 2024
Dragon Higa gap to manual copy

PROJECT X

This is Project X - This is BMX

9 Apr 2024
WILL JACKSON SOUTHPORT OLDHAM SESSION SHOT BY KANO KANE 2

WILL JACKSON - THE 'MUSCLE MEMORY' INTERVIEW

"I got my first WTP frame at the back end of 2001. Half a lifetime ago."

21 Dec 2023
Simple session 2023 boyd hilder 9

Simple Session 2023 Photo Journal

23 years and counting...

27 Sep 2023
BOH RAIL JAM 2023 47

Battle of Hastings - Photo Journal 2023

From the beach to the basement of Source Park

12 Sep 2023
Trey Jones Pocket Air1 Aguilar 2023
20230804 DIG GLASGOW 0028

30 YEARS OF DIG EXHIBITION & BSD Jam - In Photos

Jammin' and premierin'

11 Aug 2023
20230421 OHIO 0218

Postcards from Ohio - Photo Journal

3 cities, hundreds of spots

9 Jul 2023
45 dig 93 by dolecki LYNN 250 POSH

Trails Closed - The End of Posh Woods

Why the legacy of Posh will absolutely endure

14 Jun 2023
2nd angle Zack Scott DIGBMX 4

The "Full Coverage" Interview

Never underestimate the camera guy!

8 Jun 2023