Checkmate Commerce GmbH

About Checkmate Commerce GmbH

PROHIBITED is a brand of Checkmate Commerce GmbH. In 2021, we, Philip and Patrick, university friends and streetwear lovers, were fed up with the monotonous look and narrative of the streetwear scene. The constant gangster heroization, money-making, and hype creation through fake limiting drops were simply no longer for us. Therefore, we decided to create a streetwear brand that does things differently and founded Prohibited. Deeply rooted in Berlin-Mitte and focused on developing our “Modern-Yuppie” aesthetic, we strived for high-quality styles inspired by sporty and old-money classiness. We wanted to create streetwear that is stylish yet cool. Even today, we firmly believe in doing everything ourselves. We run our own warehouse, create our own campaigns, and operate without investors. Honestly, when we started, we had no idea about the fashion industry. We taught ourselves everything we needed to know, often learning the hard way. Initially, we sold simple t-shirts and hoodies on TikTok and Amazon, which became the backbone of our business. We quickly gained some fans and a certain enthusiasm for our work and began to expand our range until we presented our first collection in the fall of 2023. Today, we are proud to employ 20 young and passionate employees and to be represented in over 150 stores as well as on Zalando, AboutYou, and ASOS. Thanks to our high degree of authenticity, celebrities, from local artists to international stars, have also embraced our styles. However, we are only at the beginning of our mission to equip young city dwellers with high-quality, versatile styles and to make classic streetwear cool again.