HOMECORE puts old school hip-hop principles into timeless styles. Unable to find the type of clothing to fit the culture, Alexandre Guarneri began taking trips to New York in the early 90’s to find sneakers to resell in Paris and expanded quickly into everything hip-hop related that France didn’t have. The initial success grew into buying trips throughout America and Alexandre Guarneri and Steph Cop opened a storefront in central Paris called the Dobble Source.
But with success came copycats, retail outlets content to carve up the market and capitalize on a growing streetwear trend. For Guarneri and Cop it was something different - a lifestyle commitment to hip-hop’s burgeoning scene based on peace, love, unity, and having fun. Making graffiti tees for the scene since high school, the pair started HOMECORE in 1992 to further explore hip-hop style and boost the homegrown DIY ethos of the Parisian scene. They started with one jacket and a pair of pants and quickly added sweatshirts and baggy jeans. There was nothing else like it in Paris and every piece sold out.
This lasted until 1996 when the scene began to shift and became categorized, stereotyped, and homogenized by the record industry. HOMECORE began its own slow evolution into a more timeless style aesthetic. In 2000 Guarneri created the “Bourgeois Racaille” jacket that would start the development of the brand as it’s seen today. Using the cut of a banker’s suit jacket and the cotton jersey fabric of the street guy, the jacket was a statement about more than just fashion.
Connecting these disparate, conflicting worlds in a meaningful way, Guarneri had an epiphany about human connection in 2002 and took a hiatus from designing to pursue what he named “GUMJO” - exploring the levels of human sensibility. Through that exploration, Guarneri returned to HOMECORE with a spiritual concept to his design, incorporating yoga-like alignment principles - a signature red stitch on the spine and leather cord at the center of gravity. A focus on sustainability and connection to nature brought together the finest fabrics of France, Italy, and Portugal with Portugese manufacturing and through his study of anatomy and movement, Guarneri began to emphasize the inner structure of the body. It’s all about natural movement - lots of raglan sleeves and softly tapered sweaters and shirts, nothing too tight or too baggy - easy fitting favorites with hidden details and messages.
Today, HOMECORE is about freedom, lasting quality, and style.
