This article appears in our March print issue. You can pick up a copy on newsstands around campus, or at our newsroom in room 520 in the University Center.

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Thug District is a streetwear clothing brand and an artistic community that’s aiming to redefine racial stereotypes and promote emotional expression through fashion, music and art.

 “Thug District is an artistic collective that I founded about a year and a half ago,” said Justin “Yung Freeza” Hebrard, a second-year Product Design major at Parsons. “It was created in my three-room apartment, housing at least six to ten people at all times,” Hebrard said. “We all united as outcasts, from certain societies that we were brought up in, and we were always striving to do better and be our best selves. But that didn’t necessarily mean being accepted by the groups that brought us up or different people that we originally felt like we had to belong to.”

As Hebrard settled into The New School community, moving to a building in the East Village from Oakland, CA, he observed that he was surrounded by a group of artistically talented people. While his circle was comprised of creative people, these friends all had something else in common: a troubled and sometimes violent past. 

“We had some people who were citizens of the United States, some who weren’t, people of all different colors, people who were born to all different types of backgrounds,” Hebrard said. “And everyone in the house had made mistakes before, which was one of the biggest things that we all united on. We had all messed up.” Some of the members had experienced being in the foster care system, been faced with homelessness, and had to combat racial stereotypes, according to Hebrard. 

The idea of uniting in hopes of redefining their difficult upbringing through art inspired Hebrard’s development of the Thug District motto and logo. The letter’s “T” and “D” in Old-English font depicting a submachine gun, otherwise known as an Uzi, is the iconic symbol of the brand. The logo is paired with the collective’s motto, a poem written by Hebrard. 

“From the gates, we were all

Dealt different cards.

It is true, that we have done wrong and continue to beat the odds.

This district is comprised of THUGS.

A unit, united by LOVE.

Although we used to tote guns,

We are no longer on the run.

From all walks of life,

We have gathered here for fun.

We compose beautiful art

To be praised in the light,

Not to be hid in the dark.”

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The Thug District clothing line includes handmade, screen-printed hoodies, crewnecks, t-shirts, shorts and more, including repurposed denim. The hoodies come in black, neon-orange or pink, with the Thug District poem on either side and the logo in various spots. The development of the logo expedited the creation of the clothing brand. The profits from the clothing were spent on further creative endeavours for the group. “We started paying for studio time and buying canvases financed through our clothing sales,” Hebrard said.

Thug District also makes custom clothing orders, available through direct messages on their Instagram @ThugDistrict. They currently make most of their sales through Instagram and events such as pop-up stores, parties with live performances and gallery shows. They have a website in development, according to their Instagram bio.

Brooklyn resident and rapper, Isaac “Yung Rugrat” Smith, who is friends with the reporter, is one of the original artists in Thug District. The sales of clothing he made through Thug District allowed him to produce a professional studio album last year, titled “Smoke Bomb”and an EP released in 2018, “IN Zeus We Trust,” available on SoundCloud under “Yung Rugrat”. 

Thug District was founded with Hebrard’s mission to promote healthy emotional expression through art in order to avoid conflicts in one’s community, as well as redefining stereotypes and racial assumptions. “I have a belief that raw emotion can produce some of the best art that the world has ever seen,” Hebrard said. “But raw emotion can also be the cause of some of the most horrendous crimes that we see in society. So Thug District focuses on direction of energy, and trying to direct our energy in a positive way, rather than a negative way resulting in violence.”

Justin Hebrard founded Thug District in 2019 as a creative support system for the diverse struggling artists in his community. “As we continued to live together, it was easy to practice art within the household because it was a place free of judgment with a lot of support.” Hebrard no longer resides in the original apartment where Thug District was born. “It got to the point where I was sharing my space with more people than it was designed to have.” 

Smith was one of the first struggling artists that Hebrard lived with in his initial apartment. “I decided to move in with Justin because I lived with my family at the time, and there were a lot of family problems,” Smith said. “They didn’t think that me pursuing music was really going to get anywhere, they wanted me to do other things and I didn’t want to. So I just decided to become an adult and move out. I was on the streets for a while, until a mutual friend introduced me to Justin and he took me in.”

Smith soon became involved with a community that developed into Thug District, where he was able to express his artistic passions. “I really want to do this,” Smith said. “I’ve always wanted to make clothes and I just never found people in my life in my experience that really want to.”

Thug District is also aiming to combat racial restraints by redefining the definition of “thug” through the name of their collective. “It’s definitely a word that I feel as if needs to be redefined. The word “thug” to me is someone who doesn’t necessarily fit in with the norm, or the masses, and that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re bad, right?” Hebrard said. “I feel like as long as you’re going through all the trials of day to day life with other people that are going through similar things that care about you and help support you, it makes it a lot easier, and it makes it a lot easier to continue to do right and to do good and try your best when you don’t feel as if you’re alone in this world.”