from hypebeast radio I'm Jeff Staples and this is the business of hype,

a show about creative entrepreneurs, brand builders, innovators, and the realities behind the dreams they've built.

Hey, everyone, it's Jeff Staples, and I'm battling a bit of a cold this week, so please excuse this frog that is living inside of my throat.

But alas, the show must go on.

Please send chicken soup if you can.

So every week on the podcast, I try and bring on guests that illustrate different aspects of business and how they use creativity, financial acumen, and marketing to create what we generally categorize as hype.

You could argue that street culture is where the notion of hype was born.

So sometimes I like to bring on guests that are at the true epicenter of the streetwear scene.

And my guest this week are literally ground zero architects of the culture.

They really require no introduction.

If you don't know their names, you should know their brand.

And if you don't know their brand, you probably know some of the collaborative projects that they've touched

and felt the impact that they've made in today's industry.

What started out as a tiny shop in the Lower East Side of New York City has become one of the

key building blocks to today's sneaker and streetwear world. In a time when streetwear,

or whatever term you want to use at this point, has become pretty much mainstream. Many like Virgil Ablo

and interview magazine point back to the A-Life crew as pioneers and an institution. And there's

simply no debating that anymore. So get ready to hear how it all began and the many pitfalls

and lessons that they faced and how they were able to take

all that experience to refocus and pivot for the future. So everyone, please welcome Rob Jest and

Trey Hill from the one and only A-life. All right, so let's begin.

Who do we have in the studio, or actually I'm in your studio today, so who do we have in the house right now?

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