So I associate Hot Topic with finding my identity.” Her collection of shirts “integrates serious topics with entertainment” with sayings like “Soft Emo” (which she says redefines the ...

T-shirts on display at the Westfield Garden State Plaza shopping center’s Hot Topic. The store, now in its 30th year, has become a haven for merchandise tied to a wide range of fandoms.

Hot Topic, which was founded in a garage in the late '80s before becoming a chain with over 600 stores, used to be known for its loud punk music and an overwhelming amount of band T-shirts ...

That’s where Hot Topic came in. Founded in 1989 in the back of Orv and LeAnne Madden’s garage, by the early ’90s the counterculture retailer became the go-to for emo kid clothing, band T ...

Let's take a brief saunter down memory lane to the items we all owned in the time of Hot Topic, allowances, and being dropped off at the mall in a so-not-emo minivan. 1. Band T-Shirts ...

Then, for some people, emo isn’t so much a sound as a time machine back to Hot Topic’s heyday. It takes them to when the store specialized in band shirts and Tripp pants instead of Marvel ...

Many associate the stores with goth, emo, punk, or grunge. But Hot Topic has grown to become much more than its ‘90s persona. It’s evolved into a pop culture fashion leader and one of the most ...

I grew up as an emo as a kid." The theme of Shot Topic, a play on the emo style and pop culture mall apparel store chain Hot Topic, is dripping with emo from its slogan ("It was never a phase ...