10 years of Detroit Hustles Harder: How clothing line became a symbol of pride

Ashley Zlatopolsky | Special to the Detroit Free Press

They weren’t looking for a slogan or a trademark. It just sort of happened.

When Aptemal Clothing unveiled its Detroit Hustles Harder line, it was an instant hit. “There’s a blue-collar mentality in this city,” says cofounder of the company Brendan Blumentritt, 30. He and his business partner Joseph (J.P.) O’Grady, 31, were throwing around ideas, and a then-innocuous one — Detroit Hustles Harder — seemed to stick.

“Detroit is a hardworking city,” he goes on. “It’s not like New York or Los Angeles, where you’re there because you’re somebody. In Detroit, you’re proving yourself through your work here.”

Read more:

That’s why Detroit Hustles Harder — which celebrates 10 yearstonight with an anniversary party at Marble Bar — resonated so hard and so fast. Because Detroiters are proud, and it gave meaning to what everyone was rooting for: an underdog city to shine.

“When we started, there was nothing good being said about Detroit,” Blumentritt recalls. The news was lackluster, and outsiders didn’t pay attention to Detroit’s beauty. “We showed people outside of Detroit that there’s good things going on, that there’s tons of talent.”

With a feeling of city pride woven into the fabric, Detroit Hustles Harder caught on.

Walk around Detroit on any given day, and you’re sure to spot what has since become a trademark look in the city: the bold words of “DETROIT HUSTLES HARDER” stacked neatly atop one another in three rows popping out from T-shirts, hoodies, hats and tank tops.

“The name was knowing the product of the environment,” explains Blumentritt. “From growing up in the city and knowing the grind, people are working two or three jobs and hustling.”

“Everyone has a hustle,” he continues. “Everyone is doing something for the city.”

Founded in 2007, Aptemal began as a screen-printing business. When Blumentritt and O’Grady were at Harper Woods High School, they had friends in bands who needed merchandise. The two pooled their money together to purchase a screen-printing kit to fill that need. “It was a lot of trial-and-error,” Blumentritt remembers, “but then it went full speed from there.”

Just outside Eastern Market, on Gratiot and Russell, they opened their first studio and set up merchandise displays on overpass bridges. Like their token slogan, they were two Detroiters hustling to get by. By 2008 they were able to open their first storefront and flagship, Division Street Boutique in Eastern Market, a hotbed neighborhood for the city’s creative community.

The same year the storefront opened, the Detroit Hustles Harder line launched and dominated the Aptemal brand. “It became so popular that it took over a lot of our time,” Blumentritt explains. “(The slogan) is the truth, so it was accepted very easily.”

From selling T-shirts out of their backpacks at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, to partnering with Detroit leaders in arts and music such as 1xRUN and Movement Electronic Music Festival for limited-edition prints, Blumentritt and O’Grady have come a long way in a decade.

They recently partnered with former Detroit Lion DeAndre Levy for sexual assault awareness. The collaboration — Our Issue — gave 100% of its proceeds to benefit Detroit’s Enough Said, which aims to process a backlog of 11,000 untested rape kits found in storage.

“Through the collaboration, we were able to raise around $10,000 just through T-shirt sales,” says Blumentritt.

“Since day one, Brendan and the Detroit Hustles Harder team has been nothing short of supportive on helping the vision of Our Issue become realized," says Levy. "As partners, we’ve raised nearly $45,000 in six months to support Detroit’s Enough SAID and their effort to process the neglected rape kits in the city. I am thankful for their great work and commitment to Our Issue."

Aptemal also had a collaboration with Detroit-based artist and muralist Ouizi, who is known for her floral designs that express gender and cultural identity. Their limited-edition release of 25 jackets and 25 patches sold out in a week.

Three to four times a year — generally seasonally — the company will do a release. If it’s summer, it will lean in the direction of tank tops; for winter, customers can expect hoodies and jackets. Aptemal often brings in artists for designs, such as Vaughn Taormina, who also performs as Count Mack and is in the lineup at the anniversary party tonight.

"Working with them happened naturally," says Taormina. "We were all friends from the jump."

Aside from collaborating with Detroit’s creative community, Blumentritt and O’Grady share the line's business duties: facilitating, designing, merchandising, screen printing and managing five employees.

“We’re creatives, so we didn’t go to college for actual business,” says Blumentritt. Everything was learned through experience.

Ten years feels like a big milestone, and the pair is already planning for the next 10. At the anniversary party, which will be headlined by Chicago ghetto house producer DJ Deeon, they’ll be giving away free swag all night. The first 25 people through the door will also get a free T-shirt.

“I feel like our clothing line has become more solid over the years,” says Blumentritt. “It’s always evolving, it’s always changing. We’re looking ahead.”

Detroit Hustles Harder 10-Year Anniversary

With DJ Deeon, Count Mack/Vaughn Taormina, Chuck Flask, 100% Halal Meat

Doors at 8 tonight

The Marble Bar

1501 Holden St., Detroit

Tickets: $10