The Seven80 is an Edmonton clothing brand known for putting things like “Evander’s Can of Whoop Ass” and “Stuck on Henday” on T-shirts. They’re not much for context or subtlety — if you know, you know. Rather, if you live in Edmonton, you’ll get it, as this brand takes the city’s social fabric and sews it onto a potpourri of apparel.
Owner, Operator and Designer Ador Cochingco says, “Everything I do is kind of like the everyday life that we live in Edmonton. But I kind of take it so that it makes it simple, so once you see it, you can relate to it right away.”
Cochingco came to Edmonton from The Philippines as a kid in the ’80s — arguably one of the best times in history to be introduced to hockey, and certainly the best time to be introduced to the Edmonton Oilers. Ador had never even heard of hockey before and was so impressed by players like Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri he thought it was “fake like the [Harlem] Globetrotters. So, I was hooked from day one.”
Looking at the clothes, it’s easy to tell Cochingco is a die-hard fan who keeps a close eye on the game. In The Seven80’s General Store at Londonderry Mall, a corner is filled with merch dedicated to the “Lethal Weapon 5” Oilers power-play. In addition to the T-shirts and hats, The Seven Eighty even has its own Oilers hot sauces, like Connor’s Hot Mustard.
How does Cochingco come up with it all? He keeps it simple:
“Basically, everything we say when we’re drinking, watching the game, I put it on T-shirts.”
Along with hockey culture, there is also an unmistakable hip-hop influence on The Seven80. Cochingco says his taste in music and aesthetics comes from a lot of the ’80s and ’90s hip-hop music like The Notorious B.I.G and Run D.M.C. The iconic NRTH SIDE is a reference to the classic Run D.M.C. logo.
But over everything that The Seven80 has put together over the years, Cochingco’s favourite design has always been The Seven80’s logo which he drew himself with a fat tip Sharpie back in the early 2010s before the brand had been launched.
“That’s the all-time favourite because it kind of just organically came out of me.”
This article appears in the Sept/Oct 2023 issue of Edify
