By all logic, a blog page that was last posted on in 2015 should have long been forgotten about. But despite Gwarizm’s 11-year hiatus, it’s one of the most talked about, visited, and fondly remembered resources in existence. Whatever you’re wearing now, Gwarizm’s founder Gary Warnett was probably wearing fifteen years ago – but in his own words, that doesn’t really matter: ‘Life is about discovery and evolving tastes.’ And no one, before or since Gwarizm’s departure, discovered more than Gary.”
For the uninformed, Gwarizm was a blog rooted in streetwear started in June of 2009. By his own admission, Gary never intended for Gwarizm to become a fashion blog; it was simply a place for him to share whatever came into his mind ‘on a Wednesday or Sunday evening.’ But while most of us spent those allotted periods thinking about what to have for dinner, Gary’s brain was swimming with old Nike ACG scans, never-before-seen Japanese streetwear catalogues, grainy clips of streetwear documentaries and everything in between.
By all accounts, Gary was a serial archivist, and Gwarzim was his ever-expanding exhibition.
I’m not entirely sure when I first stumbled upon Gwarizm – possibly when I was trying to sus whether a suspiciously cheap pair of eBay AirMax 95s were counterfeit – but it was a page that I bookmarked instantly. And it’s remained my most clicked bookmark ever since. Simply calling Gwarizm a blog page is nothing short of slander – it’s closer to a treasure chest, one that has taught me and countless others more about outerwear, footwear and culture than any other resource on the internet.
For all of Gwarizm’s broken links, missing images and generally hideous 2010s web design, it’s a site you can never pull yourself away from, flicking endlessly through old scans, YouTube snippets and images of New Balance trainers you never knew existed. But the real reason you keep coming back isn’t just the images – it’s the words that accompany them.
People have often described Gary as an encyclopaedia, but I’ve never come across an encyclopaedia that has simultaneously educated, humoured and entertained me within the space of 30-words. Gary had a knack for turning what most would’ve made boring, the most interesting subject in the world, and although he didn’t consider himself an industry journalist, Gary was vastly more credible and knowledgeable than most of the people who do.
So if not a journalist, what?
Well, in a 2010 text exchange with eugenekanlol.com, Gary described himself as ‘an elevated fanboy. Well, only elevated in that occasionally I get interviews passed my way, which is always odd. Odd but flattering.’ And it’s this outwardly proud fanboyism that makes the posts on Gwarizm so readable, and authentic. Unlike others within the industry, Gary never acted cool; he never gatekept anything. He wasn’t writing to show off – he was writing to catalogue his discoveries. And even if no one was reading, he would’ve continued writing anyway.
Which brings us back to the point of Gary being a serial archivist. Where some archivists hoard for their own egotistical merit, Gary did so out of a hunger to never stop learning and to unearth the stories that everyone should know. Whether that was tales of Peter Fogg designing the Nike Humara or the origins of sneaker reselling, Gary was determined to know it all, and even more determined to share it.
But Gwarizm didn’t just spin stories of nostalgia; it promoted countless other resources, figures, publications, blogs, websites and stores. It was probably one of the first places I ever heard about Proper, which is the publication I now write for. So if I hadn’t stumbled across Gwarizm all those years ago, there’s every chance I’d be stacking shelves at Sainsbury’s – so I personally owe Gary a beer for that one.
But the sad reality is I’ll never get to buy that beer. I never met Gary, and unfortunately, I never will. I was 15 when he passed away, and only just beginning to become obsessed with everything he was the oracle for. Since Gary’s untimely passing, a void has been left that feels like it’ll never quite be filled – even with information spinning around the internet faster than ever before.
But while that void will never be filled, Gwarizm will never be forgotten. The 584 comments on Gary’s last Instagram post prove it. A photo of a Pendleton Columbia Bugaboo jacket that acts as an obituary for everyone who knew, or was influenced by him, to share their stories, sentiments and admiration for everything he brought into the world.
Gwarizm and its hundreds of blog posts have immortalised Gary, and it remains one of the greatest industry resources on the entirety of the internet. So take a visit, have a look, be prepared to stay a lot longer than you originally intended, and above all else – learn something.
Find Gwarzim here.
