Madhappy is a lifestyle brand launched six years ago by four young men who wanted to make a statement about mental health and optimism.
In those six years, the company has been on an upward swing with a $1.8 million investment in 2019 by LVMH Moët Hennessey Louis Vuitton, more than 20 pop-up stores across the country, a number of collaborations with food and sports entities and a growing following by men and women between the ages of 18 and 35.
Now Madhappy is collaborating with three big Los Angeles names to create capsule collections that further the Madhappy message. And later this year, the streetwear label is hoping to open its first permanent store in Los Angeles.
“I feel like our collaborations have played a role in what we’re doing by trying to spread optimism and create awareness around mental health,” said Peiman Raf, the company’s 29-year-old chief executive officer, who started the company with his younger brother Noah and two friends. “Being a brand based in Los Angeles, we like to tie back to Los Angeles in the things we do.”
Madhappy’s newest collaborations are with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Roscoe’s House of Chicken ‘N Waffles and Courage Bagels.
A look from the L.A. Dodgers collaboration. Photo courtesy of Madhappy.
With the Dodgers, Madhappy launched the collaboration a few weeks ago by creating five caps and two hoodies with shades of Dodger blue and white. “We created the Dodgers logo with Swarovski crystals just to do some fun and unique things,” Raf noted.
The venture with Roscoe’s started on June 30 with a capsule collection of sweatshirts, hoodies, T-shirts and hats, featuring Roscoe’s logo.
The collaboration with Courage Bagels, a bagel store with lines out the door at its hip Silver Lake location, started Friday. The collection of a hat, hoodie, sweatshirt and T-shirt displays a drawing of a bagel with arms and legs sauntering along the way.
“Food and beverage have always been a big part of the brands we work with,” Raf said. “The message we are trying to spread is that people love eating food and people love the idea of the community around food. It makes people happy.”
Madhappy launched when Raf, his brother and friends Mason Spector and Joshua Sitt decided to build a brand centered around positivity. It was counter to many streetwear brands that took on a dark, sometimes nihilistic vibe. They wanted to change that image.
The mental health message was initiated by Spector, who over the years struggled with uncertainty and depression at times.
Since its inception, the brand has concentrated on basic items including hoodies, sweatshirts, T-shirts and hats, with 80 percent of its merchandise being manufactured in Los Angeles. Pop-up stores have been a great vehicle for getting out the message across various geographic areas in the U.S.
Right now, Madhappy has pop-ups in Aspen, Colorado; East Hampton, New York, and Chicago, and more are planned. But the company’s next big goal is to set up a permanent location later this year. “We’ve learned a lot about the connection between the digital and physical and felt that a permanent store was super important,” Raf said. “So, we’re definitely gearing up for something on the permanent side in our hometown of L.A.”