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1 - ghosts by your bed
ghosts by your bed
by qzoioi - 4 September 2023
“Imagine if you will being on your death bed, and standing around your bed, the ghosts of the ideas, the dreams, the abilities, the talents given to you by life. And that you for whatever reason, you never acted on those ideas, you never pursued that dream, you never used those talents, we never saw your leadership, you never used your voice, you never wrote that book. And there they are standing around your bed looking at you with large angry eyes saying ‘we came to you, and only you could have given us life! Now we must die with you forever.’ The question is – if you die today, what ideas, what dreams, what abilities, what talents, what gifts, would die with you?”
Les Brown
Happy Birthday to us!
For four years we’ve meticulously crafted small batch, certified dope apparel for our community. As humbled as we are to see our apparel represented with pride, oizoioi means more to us than just dope threads; it’s about legacy.
It’s the stories, the people, and the culture that inspires our brand. It’s about living your life as a ghostbuster and discovering the boundless possibilities when you don’t play scared and give your ideas, your dreams, your abilities, your gifts and your talents life.
As we celebrate another milestone with the introduction of our new website, we’re also pulling back the curtains and taking you behind the seams with blogzoioi – a space where we can share the deeper narratives that inspire us and our creations.
Lesssggoooooo!
gang gang
Origins
Sitting at work feeling sorry for myself the umpteenth time, my inner voice is doing its best Stacie Orrico impression getting me DEEP in the feels……. ”there’s gotta be more to life”.
I’m no punk this time just wallowing in my misery though, I put on my big boy pants and devise a brilliant solution to escape the rat race. Make shirts with slogans. PLOT TWIST…. translate English slogans directly into Vietnamese. Eg, người chơi sẽ chơi (players gon play), đó là nó (dassit), người ghét sẽ ghét (haters gon hate), thêm tiền, thêm chuyện (more money, more problems).
It’s hilarious because, IYKYK.
I hit up Chong, my brother, on WhatsApp. “Bro, you wanna make t-shirts?”
Before I can explain the best thing since sliced bread, Chong’s replied…. “let’s do it!”
Onto the next, I blow up a group chat with some of the homies – “Yo! Me and Chong are gonna make shirts, who’s in?” My neph, Dave is keen and in an instant, a new group chat has spawned. Thumbs furiously typing – we’re hyped, goofing around throwing down slogans in Vietnamese like Oprah handing out cars. Within half an hour, we’ve settled on “oizoioi” as the brand name.
‘Ối giời ơi’ (pronounced similarly to oi zoi oi) is a common expression used in North Vietnam in the same vein as ‘oh my god’, ‘what the fuck’, ‘for fucks sakes’ etc. Down in South Vietnam, where our parents left their lives behind, water seeping into their wooden boats on the high seas as they make their escape would elicit cries of ‘trời ơi’.
What better way to honour our parents' sacrifices, risking their lives to provide us with abundant opportunities they could only dream about than to disregard their heritage and go with the more aesthetically pleasing option.
packing orders for our first run
More than threads
A month passed since the concept was spawned and we’ve grown by one. Tin, a family friend from way back has joined the team for his IT expertise – he too barely needed convincing.
So there we were on 9 September 2019 giving birth to oizoioi at our very first meeting. Fuelling ourselves with Korean fried chicken and beer, our unbridled enthusiasm slowly subsides as the discussion progresses and the magnitude of the task is dawning on us.
We didn’t know it then, but what began as a seemingly simple idea has evolved into something bigger than we ever anticipated. We started clueless, wanting to make shirts with slogans with the fams having a laugh. We didn’t appreciate the profound effect oizoioi would have on our lives and the lives of those who would join us along this wild ride.
Far from seamless, the challenges we encounter as we travel further down this track don’t diminish, the speedbumps just vary in height and length. As we navigate these, compromise in our purpose, our character, our relentless pursuit of quality is absolutely not an option. After all, the fabric of oizoioi wasn’t merely woven from threads.
Fast forward to today and we never made those hilarious shirts with slogans (maybe one day) but we're still having a laugh while embracing the journey. We pivoted in a different direction, created small batch, certified dope apparel we’re immensely proud of and learnt so much along the way. I’m still at work but “there’s gotta be more to life” is no longer a black depressing hole of wonder it once was. Rather, it’s an affirmation to don’t play scared and live a life worth remembering by giving life to my ideas, my dreams, my abilities, my talents.
the community showing big love
The Collective
Undoubtedly, one of the greatest joys of oizoioi has been the people who’ve experienced the journey with us and showed incredible love along the way. Our squad, our supporters, our community – they are truly the heart and soul of oizoioi.
I’ve said it many times before – if it all ended today, oizoioi would have already been an unqualified success. At the very least, spending more time together with the fams was a W worth doing a million times over. Taking an idea, nurturing it to life and pouring our blood, sweat and tears to witness it thrive together is truly an oizoioi moment.
This blog invites you to join us on that journey by sharing oizoioi’s highs and lows while shining a vibrant light on the incredible team we've assembled. Chong, Dave, Day Know, Divads and Kaf are truly special individuals whose creative minds and passionate souls have made oizoioi what it is today – their contributions have been immeasurable and it's an understatement to say that none of this would be possible without them. Special shout outs to our homie B from Team Bliss for enabling us to elevate to the next level and Michael H for joining us during a challenging transitional period for both you and oizoioi.
We’ll of course also highlight the amazing support we’ve received during our journey and the profound impact our community has had on shaping our ethos, which inspires us to strive for more.
So fams, big ups if you've actually made it to here and stay tuned as we continue to unveil the story of oizoioi. 4 years young, we’re just getting started and we’re inviting you to be part of our legacy and celebrate it, together.
we take ourselves very seriously
Xin mời | Welcome to oizoioi. Let's create a legacy and celebrate it, together.
#dontplayscared
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