Cultizm Celebrates 20-Year Anniversary
Cultizm is a Germany-based online retailer that started its journey back in 2004. This means that they’re celebrating their 20-year anniversary this year. A true milestone for the online store that is the cult of denim and iconic clothing and footwear brands for men. Carrying timeless pieces that are carefully curated and fly out all over the world each and every day. Seven days a week. From that classic five-pocket jeans and denim jacket to hand made pair of shoes, to surplus military styles and dandy clothing silhouettes. Cultizm got you covered!
The Start Of Cultizm
The founder of Cultizm, Dejan Milenkovic, was his time ahead when he opened his online store. It was a time when shopping online wasn’t as common as nowadays. There were just a handful of pioneers that were focusing on high-quality made products on the internet. Luckily, with the right strategy and mindset, they grew fast and became a true destination store. Soon they outgrown their workspace which was just a simple garage and moving into a big building was needed.
The first brands that kicked off Cultizm were Levi’s Vintage Clothing, Levi’s Red, Nudie Jeans, and Red Wing. After 20 years, they still work actively and successfully with these first partnerships. After releasing the first brands in the store, soon other brands noticed their appearance on the net and followed with their collections. With the active business of Cultizm, they made it possible for everyone around the globe to get their hands easily on the most special items. The fanbase of the store grew fast and even people from The States began to order the unique Levi’s Vintage Clothing pieces. And not to forget the impressive fashion market in South East Asia became aware of Cultizm.
Serving A Strong Heritage Community
The large community that is strongly attached to the raw denim and heritage clothing scene became regular customers at Cultizm. These customers exchanged their ideas and experiences about their bought articles in forums and Cultizm became a big part of this community from the very first beginning. At a certain point, there was even a physical Cultizm store in Seoul (franchise) as their fame and popularity grew so quickly in Southeast Asia.
During all these 20 years, Cultizm collaborated with their partners to launch special exclusives. There are too many to highlight them all, but here are a few as a trip down memory lane;
- In 2014: Cultizm x Nudie Jeans: 100 jeans and 100 jackets were made with an 11oz organic cotton selvedge denim from Nihon Menpu Mills in Japan.
- In 2016: Cultizm x Edwin Jeans: Edwin’s Rainbow Selvedge denim was used on the classic ED-47 straight leg cut.
- In 2019: Cultizm x Merz b. Schwanen: Special henleys and t-shirts were made in a limited run with the bandana/paisely.
- In 2020: Cultizm x Momotaro: Limited edition jeans made of 15.7oz Japanese raw selvedge denim, made of Zimbabwe cotton.
The Special Contests
Next to these one-of-a-kind collaborations, Cultizm organized many special contests for their fanbase. In 2009, they worked together with SuperFuture on a Levi’s Vintage Clothing wear contest. The winning jeans are in the hands of Cultizm again, which is proudly on display at HQ.
Another highlight is the fading contest with Nudie Jeans in 2016 – 2017. This was another successful jeans fade contest where many participants joined to achieve the best-faded pair of jeans.
Even now, the biggest Cultizm denim fade contest is running at the moment. This contest started last year and will end this October. There are many prizes to win, and the number one king of fades will win a trip to Kojima, Japan. The birthplace of denim in Japan and the denim mecca in the world. Each month, Cultizm is sharing a Top 5 of the most beautiful fades so far to keep you up to date on the participants. Keep an eye on these updates on their Instagram feed here: www.instagram.com/cultizm
Shipping Worldwide To The Farest Regions
Nowadays, people can order easily at Cultizm with just a few clicks. The orders are flying out the same day to the furthest regions in the USA to the outbacks of Australia. Even Christmas Island and via small detours to Distant Islands in the middle of the Pacific are receiving carefully packed orders from the online store.
That hard work pays off can be seen as many grateful customers of are sending them letters and photos of the purchased outfits. Shown is a small selection of letters from Japanese customers who were celebrating the Cherry Blossom Festival with their new outfits from Cultizm. Sharing their joys and experiences of their clothes to the online retailer.
All images in the article are made and provided by Cultizm.
The Future Plans
Cultizm is working hard behind the scenes on new developments and exciting future steps. One of the projects they’re working on is to create their own denim brand. And, new collaborations will be released to celebrate the 20-year anniversary.
Another highlight is that they are going to open a local store in Münster, Germany. On top of that, they’re always visiting trade shows to get their hands on new labels to extend it’s brand portfolio. This year they proudly started to stock brands such as Rivieras, Samurai Jeans, FOB Factory, Wingman, and Oldblue.
And even more brands are coming in the near future, so stay tuned! In the meantime, explore their latest collections: www.cultizm.com
