Words By Dante Ross
Photos By Colin Michael Simmons
Preceded by the Dave’s Quality Meat store, DQM the brand is a uniquely cultural and amazing line with real roots in New York City’s downtown community. Straddling the fence between skate and streetwear, the designs reference everything from classic metal to the blackout of ’77, and never cease to amuse.
The brand began in 2003, founded by infamous pro shredder Chris Keefe and “Crazy” Dave Ortiz, the former minister of fun at the legendary brand Zoo York. Since then, the
line has gone on to collaborate with Huf SF, St. Alfred’s in Chicago and Kicks Hawaii,
not to mention Nike, on the now legendary DQM Air Max 90. With a helping hand from brand manager Kyle Demers, and the team of Massan Fluker, Asa Turner, pro skater John Igei and Carl “Sweet Pea” Williams, DQM has grown in leaps and bounds.
More recently, the brand has expanded, dropping new collections four times a year
with classic starter style jackets and sweatshirts, T-shirts, beanies, five-panel hats,
incredible New Eras and inarguably, the best socks in all of streetwear. As DQM becomes more active as a full service lifestyle brand, the team has conjured up collabo’s with
Vans, G-Shock, Trackstar, UXA, Situation Normal and several other brands that are sure to blow your mind. The line and store are also synonymous with the growing fixed bike scene and these cats are part of the reason why. With innovative and original designs,
an unsurpassed hat game and an uncanny focus on irreverence, it’s only a matter of time before DQM is the new buzzwear among the cool guy cognoscenti.
Besides an amazing visual aesthetic, Dave’s Quality Meat is one of the funnest boutiques you’ll ever step foot in. Dave’s butcher shop motif is so authentic that last summer it actually got him a ticket from the health department for not properly cleaning the front of a store selling perishable goods!
Stocked with the most exclusive brands under the sun and no holier-than-thou attitude, DQM quickly became part retail space, part clubhouse. When I’m not lurking on the store’s bench, conducting business calls of all sorts, or hanging with Dave’s mascot, Squishy the pint-sized pug, I’m scouring the racks to cop some of the latest and greatest from hard to find brands such as Huf, Reigning Champ, G-shock, Anx and Verte. Next time you’re in the LES, stop on in and tell ’em D. Ross sent you!—Dante Ross
