RECAP: CROOKS & CASTLES X MONOPOLY TOURNAMENT

Last Tuesday, we headed out to the exclusive Crooks x Monopoly tournament to celebrate the Crooks & Castles’ special edition collaboration collection with the classic capitalist game of Monopoly.

With its mission for creative forward-looking innovation and competition in the clothing industry, it was only fitting that Crooks & Castles teamed up with the game, and brought together the finest names in the music and fashion world to celebrate its release. With attendees like Russell Simmons and Joel Madden, music executives, colleagues, and select friends alike came together to view the new collaboration and see competition done right.

The star-studded event boasted three tables of familiar players, all battling to be crowned the coveted holder of the most multicolored paper dollars.  Table one consisted of street wear figureheads Supreme‘s Javier Nunez, Bobby and Ben Hundreds, and Fairfax neighbor Diamond Supply Co.‘s Nick Tershay — top designers setting trends in the industry and creating wardrobe staples of the streets — while, table two composed of the leading tastemakers, bloggers, and commentators of fashion:  from the beautiful Karreuche Tran, Crooks’ own primary female model for the Monopoly line, to Hellz Bellz’ Miss Lawn, JazzyBelleForte, and JoyfulClaire.

The final table was reserved for celebrity guests, gathered together to steal a glimpse of the new game and show off their luck and skill at property owning and community chests. With Omarion, Jo Koy, Dom Kennedy, Casey Veggies, Rick Gonzalez, and Crooks’ own Dennis Calvero himself, the celeb table was surrounded by buzz from friends watching from the sidelines, and immersed in intense, and joke-filled, competition from within.

Upon arrival, each guest was greeted with an immediate welcoming photo taken at entrance, and was free to explore the store room, with meticulous Monopoly board game tables set up for the competition, and displays of the collaboration collection around the room.  Guests mingled and met while sipping drinks and snacking on shrimp cocktails, ahi tacos, and hamachi-and-pickled-watermelon bites from celebrity chef Thomas Ortega’s Amor Y Tacos.

Yet with all of the artists, food, and talent, the main showcase of the event was the collaboration itself, integrating the two brands into both the game and the clothing collection. Each additional aspect of the game was tailored with some symbolic representation of the brand, as the background centerpiece of the Monopoly board itself donned the iconic Crooks & Castles bandana, while Classic game tokens were updated with quintessential images of street culture — replacing the old-style shoe piece with a stepped up sneaker, and the clean-cut Scottish terrier for the equally familiar pitbull.  Similarly, Park Place and Connecticut Avenue properties were swapped with Ala Moana and Fairfax — a personal homage to the two Crooks & Castles retail locations in Hawaii and LA.

All in all, from the tournament to the talent, Crooks and Castles left us with messages from their collection itself, from the Passing GO Entrance arrow directing us toward that “Go Getter” mentality, to the Luxury Tax diamond ring highlighting all wearers’ personal wealth and royalty — the Monopoly man salutes us off, reminding us to “Make it Rain” on a daily basis.

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Peep more of the photos from the event on our Facebook here.