Le Blog by Le Grand Cru

The first step in the physical manifestation of many dreams. Yes, there are the MySpace and facebook pages, but this blog is totally our own. Forget the formalities, the constraints, and the rules of engagement. Here at Le Grand Cru, we feel that one person cannot fully be dedicated to one brand, fashion, trend, or whatever you want to call it. People evolve. Fashion evolves. Art evolves. Things change. That’s why—within this blog—you will find things that we appreciate. This is our alter ego. You may not agree with us, and that is OK. Along with that is this crazy journey we are about to embark on. We want you on board. Free tickets. Just buckle your seat belt and enjoy the ride.

Hello Friends!

For those of you that don’t know, I grew up in Southern California my whole life. Not a usual “risk taker”, I finally realized that I needed to push myself. I’ve always wanted to be a part of a t-shirt company. Actually, before I started working with NO THEFT, a couple friends and I started brainstorming as to what we could create. But, “grown up” life called, and they had to be in school and I had to work. So it was put on the back burner. One day, NO THEFT called me asking if I was still involved with the shirt biz. He told me it was something he always wanted to do too, so I asked him to send me some designs and we would go from there. After the first email, I was floored and decided to try and continue with this as a side project. Thus Le Grand Cru was born. NO THEFT and I enjoyed conversing about printing a few shirts, having friends wear our brand, and maybe having it as a full time job. After countless phone calls, emails, and video chats, we said “why not?” So, I packed up and moved to Seattle and here I am today. Granted, we are still gargantuan leaps from being completely legitimate, but my attitude is that no matter what happens, this has been a valuable experience I will never forget. The journey and lessons have been priceless. Many of you have no idea how much the words of encouragement mean to me and the drive it gives me to move forward. And that is why I want to thank you all for believing, supporting, and pushing for Le Grand Cru. —Mdot

I took graphic design in the middle of nowhere Michigan to have complete control of how the band i’m in was portrayed.

I took graphic design in the middle of nowhere Michigan cuz i was dreading my first choice of theology as my major.

I took graphic design in the middle of nowhere Michigan because i come alive when i create.

Compile these 3 aces as my git go and the rest follows. I uproot to Sea-town to pursue music full time. We release a record and hit the road. I stay with one of my friends in So-Cal on tour and am reintroduced to her brother (Mdot). Couple of phone calls later we share our love for design/shirts/the scene. Mdot had tried the dream with some other friends and the busy-ness of life squandered the flame. I was dying to use my design love for more than the band and i brought up that maybe our visions could unite. I send him a first design of sneakers, chains, & a temp name and it makes it solid. We start brewing names, having phone meetings, spitting out shirt ideas, our love of the currents in the scene. After pondering many names we agree on the first temp name on the first design i sent him. Months later we have 6 shirts ready to print. Mdot flies in, we get the shirts printed, we have a photo shoot. Having our product off the screen and onto thread just made it more gold. Several months later Mdot takes the northbound jump up to Seatown and we pursue Le Grand Cru with greater push and vision. We’re boot strapping and we’re learning more and more that it takes more than just us to pursue this, it’s gonna take a “cru” a posse in and outside of Le Grand Cru to make it flourish and that is the play on our name, ‘it takes a village’ mentality.  Be a part of the village with us, we grow -> you grow.  We want to connect the art scene, develop the needy, and offer a product of quality to the scene. Le Grand Cru will always be bigger than Mdot & i due to the goals being huge, the need great, and the ever enduring flame of art now and arising. That’s the gist for now friends. Stay close, this is going to rise. —NO THEFT