All young Jews can agree that most Jewish-themed clothing is corny. A t-shirt might have “Let’s get lit” printed on the back with a menorah in the center. They’ll buy it for a Purim party at best, then ship it off to Goodwill, along with the many Bat Mitzvah sweatpants they’ve worn for over a decade. Merch for Judaism hardly exists, and when it does, it doesn’t feel representative of the modern Jew.
Kevin Abner envisioned something different.
Abner grew up in Los Angeles, where fashion, music and Judaism all carry strong presences. Pharrell Williams’ “Billionaire Boys Club” and 50 Cent and Marc Ecko’s “G-Unit” were just a few celebrity-made streetwear brands that Abner was drawn to as a kid.
“2016 was an era of different Renaissances of streetwear, with people creating their own brands,” Abner said in an interview on Thursday over the phone.
Through the eyes of a Jewish artist who appreciates hip hop and popular culture, and at just 22 years old, he imagined combining LA’s urban streetwear style with his Judaic roots. He envisioned “Los Angeles” being spelled out in a Hebrew-English font.
“I went to a local Whole Foods,” he said, “and hand-drew out every single city that was mixed with Hebrew and English.”
Abner went to the mall and printed a small batch of plain tees with his hand-drawn Hebrew-English font reading “Los Angeles.” He wore it out and began drawing positive attention on the street, at bars and parties.
“Fuck it,” he said, and he made a collection of 12 hats, 12 black tees and 12 white tees, all saying “Los Angeles” in his font. He sold out the pieces, mainly to his family and friends.
Despite the success of his LA Hebrew collection, what really skyrocketed Abner’s success was the celebrity attention he gained– all because of a meme.
“I did a spin on the Arthur fist meme. It said ‘When it’s Shabbat and you’re about to get lit’” with a Manischevitz wine bottle in his hand.” Abner tagged Drake, Drake’s cousin Ryan Silverstein and model Chantel Jeffries, telling his brother that Drake would see the meme and like it.
After a few hours, all three of them had liked the post.
“I’m going crazy, because I fucking visualized this happening in advance.”
Abner decided to further this connection by directly messaging Silverstein, offering him and the others exclusive merchandise. Silverstein messaged him back, and Abner sent them all a “Members Only” jacket– a piece that remains his favorite.
Jeffries was photographed by the Hollywood Fix wearing his jacket, and soon, Abner noticed other models wearing Chantel’s jacket, including Alissa Violet, who at the time was famously dating Jake Paul.
Hamsa Club began growing naturally from there, and Abner expanded the brand. After his LA collection, he created designs for New York, Miami, Chicago and more.
“The whole plan was to plant a flag in each of these cities that have a lot of Jews in it,” he said, and targeting specific audiences caused popularity through word-of-mouth. His grassroots approach to the brand isn’t limited to the marketing– Abner has also designed every Hamsa Club product himself.
Abner’s designs for the brand vary in style. From a shirt with “Jalen Brunson” written in his Hebrew-English font, to a hoodie with the Powerpuff girls dancing at Shalvata, a popular club in Tel Aviv, Abner knows what young Jewish people like.
Now, nine years after the inception of his brand, 31-year-old Abner is still designing clothing that speaks to recent trends. His most recent collection features the word “חי” spelled out in bows, which have been repopularized from the “coquette” trend, an ode to the early 2000s.
Beyond regular merchandise, Abner also created a college collection featuring popular universities spelled out in his font. He’s even gone on college tours, selling his merchandise and exposing students to Hamsa Club. While this is great news for the brand, it also connects popular fashion with Jewish identity, allowing students to display their religious pride in a stylish and modern way.
Hamsa Club’s breakthrough as the first popular Jewish streetwear brand built a new market in fashion, and other Jewish designers are following suit. Smaller streetwear brands have emerged, but Hamsa Club remains the blueprint of modern Jewish fashion.
The originality of Hamsa Club motivates Abner to constantly create new designs.
“I know that in order to create new ground, you have to break ground,” he said. His ability to create something out of nothing continues to drive him, and he’s not slowing down anytime soon.
