Key Takeaways
- Chinatown Market has bought itself back from investors and dropped its MA®KET rebrand, with founder Mike Cherman saying the team wants to regain control and return to what made the label special.
- The LA-based streetwear brand admits it lost its essence when "the money guys" came in and now promises to get back on its "bullshit," leaning again into its DIY roots and the original smiley-face T-shirt that helped build its cult following.
- The move reverses a 2021 name change to MA®KET that followed backlash over cultural appropriation and anti-Asian violence, closing a highly public chapter in streetwear’s debate over race, branding, and accountability.
Chinatown Market has announced that it's reverting back to its original brand name, after buying the company back from its previous investors.
On Thursday (July 30), the LA-based streetwear brand founded by Mike Cherman announced via Instagram that it's dropping the MA®KET name it adopted in August 2021 and returning to its original identity.
"Starting now, Chinatown Market is back," the post began. "When we launched Chinatown Market in 2016, we did it our way and never imagined how far it would go.
"After a long process, we've officially bought the company back from our former investors. At last, we have control of the brand again. We are excited to begin rebuilding the company on our terms again."
Reflecting on its past mistakes, in particular as it pertains to previous ownership, the post continued: "Once we let the money guys come in, we lost sight of the essense of what made the brand special in the first place in the name of profitability."
With a focus on rebuilding the brand in a big way, Chinatown Market told consumers that it promises to get back on its "bullshit" as soon as possible. "The only rule is that there are no rules," the company added, before displaying one of its original smiley face tees. "It all started with a smiley face t-shirt & a dream. Let's have some fun again."
Mike Cherman, a white New Yorker, launched the brand in 2016, naming it after the Manhattan neighborhood that runs along Canal Street. His first choice, "Canal Street Market," was already trademarked, and he settled on Chinatown Market in what he later described as a "split-second decision," according to GQ.
The brand grew quickly, stocking Urban Outfitters and Zumiez shelves and collaborating with the Grateful Dead, Lacoste, the NBA, and Mike Tyson. Its smiley-face graphic became a recognizable streetwear symbol.
The name became a flashpoint starting in late 2020, as a national rise in anti-Asian violence intensified scrutiny of brands with perceived ties to Asian culture. A Change.org petition by Julian Han Bush gathered more than 3,000 signatures, arguing that "the concept of Chinatown is not for sale, especially not by a white person who only uses the word Chinatown as a synonym for bootleg." Designer Phillip Lim, Humberto Leon of Kenzo and Opening Ceremony, and social media watchdog Diet Prada all amplified the call for a rebrand.
In March 2021, less than a month after the original petition was posted, Chinatown Market and Cherman posted an update to Instagram. "The Asian American community is rightfully demanding all of us think and act more honestly," it read. "We should have done this sooner but it is never too late to do the right thing. Today, we are announcing that we are changing our name. We are working with our partners and retailers to donate the proceeds from existing products and work to fund non-profits working with the AAPI community."
That August, after cycling through multiple name options and hitting trademark obstacles each time, the brand officially unveiled MA®KET. The stylized registered-trademark "R" was framed as a deliberate, ironic gesture. Cherman described the mark as a symbol of inclusivity, telling Complex that "for us, that's why we throw events where we bring our fans out and we engage with them."
Manhattan's Chinatown preservation group Welcome to Chinatown, co-founded by Vic Lee and Jennifer Tam, guided the original renaming process alongside Cherman. Lee was candid about early doubts. "We were skeptical — there's so much performance going on between brands [and] social media and it's hard to discern whether this was truly an authentic conversation," Lee told Complex News. The organization ultimately participated, citing opposition to a "cancel culture" that produces no real change.
Under MA®KET, the brand maintained its DIY, community-driven approach through an active Discord, where fans could pitch product ideas directly. The @chinatownmarket Instagram handle was never retired during those five years.
The reversion closes a chapter the brand once treated as permanent. When MA®KET launched in 2021, Cherman wrote on Instagram: "We are now MA®KET. We can't wait to show you all the new products, content, and collaborations we've got planned for ya." Five years later, the sign out front reads the same as it did in 2016.
