2024 Is Literally 424's Year (EXCLUSIVE)
424 founder Guillermo Andrade earned a holiday. I mean, with April 24, 2024 on the calendar, wasn't the timing only too perfect for a 424 celebration on 4/24?
"I didn’t really have a choice with 424 Day," Andrade tells Highsnobiety. "The universe put the perfect date in front of me and I felt compelled to make it happen."
424 Day is more than a party, though it also is that. "It's a celebration for those who are still here and continue to follow along with us on this crazy journey."
This is a well-deserved fist pump, a long overdue acknowledgement of 424's resilience and prescience. But it's also a frill-free reminder that 424 is here, has been here, and will always be here.
"Doing anything for over 10 years gives you enough time to fall out of love and fall back in love with it again," Andrade explains. "I love 424. It has come with its challenges, don't get me wrong, but at the end of the day, the spirit of the brand, the community, the shop, all of these things — I keep pushing and always want them to continue to grow and evolve."
Evolve 424 has.
What was once solely a fiercely independent boutique evolved into a comprehensive in-house line that mutated beyond a physical space — the original 424 store shuttered in 2022 — and only found its way home by 2024.
Because this is the year that 424 opened its new store, a post-industrial cavern that's thematically better-suited to its wares.
"As we’re now located at Melrose Place, this really showcases the intention of our ambition," says Andrade, pointing out that his clientele tends to frequent the well-heeled boutiques of Bottega Veneta, Marni, and The Row.
"We want to be seen as a contributor to Melrose Place and that we’re working towards delivering a quality experience and service at the same level as our neighbors on the block."
Andrade's stylistic touchstones are still rooted in punkishness, gothishness, modishness (though Andrade is fluent in counterculture, he cannot comprehend trend) but his design language has developed.
424's tailoring loosened up — once cut trim, blazers now pool over the wearer's wrists — and its homages to militaria shifted from printed shirts to raw-hemmed camo culottes.
But some things never change: leather is still so core to 424 that hero pieces now include artisanally-faded cowhide sets, while its heavy-duty footwear fixation has matured from general combat boot intrigue to a mastery of serious shitkickers.
424's clothes remain rooted in the no-brainer staples one might wear to a show at 924 Gilman but they're refined by years spent absorbing garment-making craft and cut from fine cloth imported from Europe.
It's good stuff, Great stuff, even, a tangible manifestation of what real people really wear on the street today.
But nothing good comes easy.
"The last couple of years were difficult, but we’re here now," Andrade says.
"The business is developing and managing our growth is super important to me. Ensuring that people who’ve supported us throughout the journey are continually able to access the brand is a major mission and goal."
424 Day, while also a toast to the brand's contemporary vitality and future success, is equally indicative of its egalitarian intent.
Aided by adidas — "In 2024 and beyond, I see nothing but opportunity for [424 and adidas] to continue to partner in new and interesting ways" — 424 hosted a hyperfaceted (and likely annual) event that's a sale but also much more.
"We were planning an archive sale and my immediate thought was to use this as an opportunity to celebrate," Andrade explains. "Growing up, this format (archive sales) was really the way to be able to obtain the brands I coveted. So I wanted to provide our customers with the chance to shop our true archives of mainline items that are one-of-a-kind. "
We're talking music, we're talking a party, we're talking clothes, community, a comingling of cultures coming together for 424 and then some.
424 Day is all of the above. It's also a crossed-arm assertation that what couldn't kill 424 only made it stronger.
2024 is 424's year but 2025 will be, too. And 2026. And 2027...
"When you look at the industry as a whole, and after doing this for a decade, you understand the ebb and flow a little bit more," reflects Andrade. "You can have peace in knowing that everybody goes through it and be prepared for the next cycle when you hit your upwards trajectory again."
