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killer brandGrow a

Whoever you talk to, from one-manindependents to leading global brands,the same thing lies at the heart of a

successful streetwear operation: thecustomers. Weve spoken to three labelsof varying sizes to find out how they gotstarted, and each one emphasises the

vital importance of tapping into yourcustomers loyalty in order to builda mutually rewarding relationship.

In the following pages, LewisBoyce of artist-driven brand Suffocaexplains the importance of grassrootsmarketing and word of mouth (plus alittle help from your friends); Benny Goldreveals how his eponymous apparel linewent from a few T-shirts and stickers tobeing sold in 100 stores worldwide; and

the brains behind long-running cultskate brand Zoo York tell you what setsit apart from its competition.

From the initial concept to theshop floor, via production prototypes andsewing in labels, whatever stage youreat, theres plenty here to inspire you.

How do you take a streetwear brand from pipe

dream to production?Anne Wollenberg gets the answers fromthree established clothing labels whove got it all sewn up

Illustration

ZOMBIEcorp

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30 Project one Build your brand

Computer Arts Projects _December 2010 www.computerarts.co.uk

The clothing I was seeing in shops wasso mass-produced, says Lewis Boyce,who founded the London-based brandSuffoca in 2008. It felt like the norm.I thought I could come up with somethingthat could really attract the customer andgive them something unique and excitingto be part of, he explains. The result wasan artist-driven brand with a focus onhand-drawn illustrations, sold online via

www.suffoca.com. Boyce had been drawingcharacters under the name Suffoca longbefore he ventured into apparel, and hecites strong support from friends as ahuge motivator in being able to get thebusiness off the ground.

I built Suffoca up from nothing,with no previous experience or funds, justan idea and a strong passion, says Boyce,revealing his determination. Financially,I got started by doing a number of jobs andthen just kept reinvesting. If you have thetime to take up a job while working on yourcompany, its extra money you can put intoyour business to produce more, or betterquality, products for your customers.

The biggest challenge, he says,is sticking with it. A lot of people expectthings to blow up overnight, or they cut

corners. You need time to learn and growyour company. A brand with history willseem a lot safer and interesting to newfaces, and will let you improve yourproducts and processes.

Suffoca is virtually a one-manoperation, though Boyce has some helphere and there. I do all the tasks I canwith what I have: designing, printing thepackaging, sewing in labels, folding andposting out orders, he says. What I cantdo myself, I outsource to the highestquality I can. I also have great customers,who help out with spreading the companyname and the stories.

Suffoca endorsed some friendsbands at the start, but business growthhas mainly come from word of mouthand great friends helping, plus a lot of

social networking and interaction withcustomers via Twitter and Facebook. Takenote: its this kind of relationship-buildingand grassroots interaction that can reallyhelp you to get your fledgling clothingline off the ground.

The best thing Ive found thatcan help with getting your company togrow is just speaking to people about it,says Boyce in his final nuggets of advice.Spread the word by mouth and keep yourfeet on the floor. Be creative and enjoyyour surroundings, and spend time andmoney on the things that are importantnow youll benefit in the long run.

Suffoca

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Suffoca initially endorsedsome of Boyces friendsbands,but this messedwith thefirst come,firstservedbasis I run with thelimited amounts I make.

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Suffoca started witha single line of hand-drawn T-shirts.Severallines later,the label hasdeveloped and refined itsartist-driven aesthetic

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Founder Lewis Boycelaunched Suffoca in2008 without priorexperience or savings,and runs the brand withnext to no outside help

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Boyce says that stayingpower and patienceare two of the mostimportant things neededto launch a successfulstreetwear brand

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Boyce mixes traditionalanddigital designtechniquesto keepthings from looking toocontrived,and tries tokeep the process varied

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The idea twitch

This idea cameto me while I was

drawing.I kept gettinga twitch in my eye,butcarried on until it reallystarted to bug me.WhileI was itching it with therubber on the tip of mypencil,I started thinkingthat it would be funnyif Beanman popped out

after having a quick napin my eyelid.

Time matters

I drew this andlet it sit in my

sketchbook for a while I like to leave a lotof drawings to sit andthen I go back to them.Eventually,while lookingat this one idea,it mademe think back to thattime.I thought it wouldfit well if it was cropped

in the same way as aphoto would be.

Digital baselines

I took the pencilsketch I was happy

with and scanned it into redo the baselinesdigitally that way Icould get some nicethick,constant lines.Then I printed out thedesign and worked onthe shading of it byhand.Then,when I

was done,I scannedit in once again.

Mixed media

I mix traditionaland digital,as it

allows you to makethose slightly wobblylines or intricate detailswithout making thefinal design look tooclean-cut.I dont thinkyou should pin yourselfdown to one finish,though,so I play with asmany materials as I canand it keeps it all fun.

Hidden details

Once everythingis back from the

printers,I finish theproducts with sewnlabels,hidden detailsand the extras that gointo the clothing withthe custom hand-printed packaging,to make not just awearable product,butalso a cool collectableitem in its own right.

Group efforts

What happensnext is that all my

close friends cometogether to help meproduce a photoshoot,movie and lookbook,which gives a greatinsight into how I runmy company and howI want my customersto feel when theyrepurchasing,wearing orthinking of my brand.

Collection piece

The Beaneyeddesign was part

of my most recentcollection so,onceI was happy,I preppedthe files digitally for thescreenprint process.I work with a printer whoI keep a close bond with.He keeps me updatedon his side,and hell alsogive me his advice froma printers point of view.

Blog connection

Through keepingthe whole process

documented on theblog,the customers getexcited when I do things,and learn alongside me.This encourages them tospread the word abouteverything new,fromthe latest collectablereleases to the placesIll be visiting where theycan come and hang out.

Grow a killer brand 31

Subscribe at www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/CAPP12 or see page 36 December 2010_ Computer Arts Projects

SuffocaBeaneyed shirt

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Company founder and artistLewis Boyce explains howone of his designs makes itfrom pencil sketch to shirt



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Slick though it may sound, Statesidestreetwear label Benny Gold wasntplanned, exactly. It just happenedorganically, says Gold of his eponymousbrand. Theres no master plan. I was

trying to do the best artwork I could, andit turned into something I never expected.

Golds artistic background liesin graphic design. He moved to SanFrancisco after graduating from college

and worked for design agencies until herejected the corporate grind in favour ofcreative freedom and satisfaction.

The more I worked, the moremy name started getting attached to theproducts I was working on: Benny Goldfor this, Benny Gold for that. I thoughtif other people were marketing my nameand selling it, I could do that on my own.And thats how it turned into a brand.

The clothing line is now aroundfive years old. I had always put outrandom T-shirts and stickers. Five yearsago, I figured Id have a real go at this. The

projects I was getting were starting to bemore T-shirt based, so I started puttingout my own T-shirts more consistently.

In those early days, Goldcollaborated with local clothing line HUF

(www.hufsf.com). I helped him with hisline and he said I could sell in his store.Then more stores were interested. NowIm selling in over 100 stores round theworld, but its still an independent brandand its still pretty much only me, thoughI have people running the store for me,and my wife quit her job to help out.

Located in San FranciscosMission District, the first Benny Goldretail store also came about withoutmuch prior planning. I rented a buildingin my neighbourhood to work out of andwarehouse my products for shipping.

I looked at the space one day and realisedI had a pretty good location, so I openeda retail store on the ground floor.

It took financial investment,though, and hiring a firm to do the build-

out didnt come cheap. By the time Goldhad realised this, I was too far investedinto it to turn back, he confesses. Imglad I put the money into it, though.

Like Lewis Boyce of Suffoca,Gold believes in the power of word ofmouth and enlisting help from yourfriends. If you want to start your ownbrand or market your own designs, thenstart locally. Give [your clothing] to yourfriends, he says. The best advice I cangive is not to rush things. Start small andlocally. People who follow your brand willbe even more loyal if they were with you

right from the beginning.

Benny Gold

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Benny Gold opened hisown retail store in April inSan Franciscos MissionDistrict and says heneverreally stops working.Mywife makes fun of me.

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Benny Gold has amasseda loyal following:Mystickers have beenaround and a lot ofbands and rappers haveworn my stuff,he says

But the beauty ofworking for yourselfis that it doesnt reallyseem like work.

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Peoplepush stuff toofast,Gold advises.Itslike when you graduateand expect to land a hugejob you have to start atthe bottom,he explains

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In-house design

All the designhappens in-house.

I get stuff producedoutside,but everythingalways starts here.Ima designer,so everythingis design-heavy,andeverything I work onbegins on paper.I usuallystart with lists.I writedown things that inspireme,and then circle thepieces that I like.

Production-ready

From there,I startsketching those

ideas out.As they grow,I trace them,redrawthem,clean them up,ink them and then bringthem to the computeras a last step to cleanup the artwork and get itproduction-ready. I workalmost entirely with penand ink on paper,andAdobe Illustrator.

Made in America

I do tend to usedifferent people for

everything,but I try tohave a lot of stuff madein the States.My denimis made in America,asare all my hats and allmy T-shirts.Im a realperfectionist,and liketo oversee everythingand make sure thequality of the line isas good as possible.

Quality checks

The next stage ofthe process is to

send the design off tothe printer with myT-shirts and my labelsfor the inside of theneck.I check everythingand make sure it comesout the way I want it toturn out.If Im gettingthe printing done locally,then Ill go there andsee it all on press.

Printer trust

Once youveworked with a

printer long enough,they know what yourelooking for.How do youspot a good printer? Itsall about trial and error.I have outgrown variousprinters along the way,for example,as I gotlarger and they couldnthandle the quantitiesI needed anymore.

Schedule juggling

Production isthe hardest part.

It actually comes easilyto me because its mybackground and mypassion,but its beena learning experiencealong the way.I try tostart as early and as faraway from my deadlinesas possible,but thingsoften happen and thework piles up.

Error limitation

If Im printingremotely,theyll

send me a TOP (top ofproduction) prototype,which is the one rightbefore they send it forproduction.Patternsand colours can comeback wrong,prints aretoo big,ink is too thick thats why its better tostart with a local printerand learn what works.

Self promotion

We get the finishedgarments at the

office,sort them out andsend them out to stores.I do all the marketingand PR myself.I put blogposts on my site anduse social networkingas much as I can.Im likean open book with mybrand I let everyoneinside every workingaspect of it.

Benny Goldproduct lifecycle

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The growing San Fran brandsnamesake maintains controlthroughout the process toensure top quality



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Sidewalks, traffic and chaos, is howZoo Yorks art director, Brian Mackin,describes the city that inspired theskate brand. The Big Apple didnt just giveZoo York its name its the creative force

behind everything it does.The inspiration for our adverts

and marketing is New York-driven, and wetry to draw on the riders personality, heexplains. Consumers understand the

difference between Zoo York and the restof the industry, which is mostly California-based and a bit darker and heavier.

Though it takes its roots fromthe 1970s graffiti and skateboardingculture that thrived in New York City,founders Rodney Smith, Eli MorganGessner and Adam Schatz officiallystarted the brand in 1993. It was mainlya skateboard company, but apparel waspart of it from the beginning, says brandmanager Seamus Deegan.

We started on the simple side,with T-shirts and sweatshirts. We still

make plenty of skateboards, but wevegrown our clothing collection. Productsinclude denim, fleeces, knits, bags andmore, with watches and sunglassesarriving in 2011. Its a business you

want to grow it, but everything hasto be as authentic as possible.

Zoo York turns 18 next year.As a name, its so strong, it has its owntrajectory more than a lot of upstartbrands, says Deegan, who reveals thatthe company saw a growth spurt in thelate 90s and really took off around 2000.Its only in the last couple of years that itsreally grown to the large-scale worldwidebrand it is today, he explains. From astaffing and crew perspective, its stilla very small company. A lot of people areinvolved in production and so on, but the

number of people at the main heart ofthe brand is in the high 20s.

Around 90 to 95 per cent of thedesign happens in-house. There are somecreative collaborations too Zoo York has

worked with musicians such as GhostfaceKillah and recently teamed up with Frenchgraffiti artist and rider Gorey. Outsourcedwork is kept consistent with the Zoo Yorkaesthetic, which takes its creative cuesfrom skate culture, graffiti, art and design,and what we see on a daily basis in NewYork and cities around the world.

Deegan says: We have a veryactive fanbase who love the products. Itsnot just a brand its got a lot of history.Weve learned to do what makes sense tous and not just follow other brands in ourindustry. But we also need to stay relevant

and real to our customers and ourselves.

Zoo York

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Zoo York is firmly rootedinskateboarding,graffitiand youth culture.Youdo need to know whatmakes sense within your

fanbase,says Deegan

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Zoo York started withT-shirts and branchedout into other areas suchas footwear.Watchesand sunglasses are

being added from 2011

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While experimentationworks sometimes,othertimes its more self-gratifying.We want tocontinue pushing it and

doing something unique.

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Zoo York is a small brandthatcasts a big shadow,reflects brand managerSeamus Deegan.In termsof staffing and crew,its

still a very small company.

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Market trends

At the beginningof every season,the

whole team goes out.Well shop locally,or welltravel wherever wehead out to well hit allthe stores and maybesome art galleries justto get an overview ofwhat is going on in themarket,both on thegraphic side and theapparel side.

Info overload

During ourresearch were

looking for a lot ofinformation.We need anoverview of the currenttrends in the market,as well as to figure outwhere things will be ina year because you arealways designing for thefollowing year.Well endup buying samples,e.g.of new materials.

Concept boards

We come back withtears of different

references and well putthose together and seewhere trends are goingand what fits.Maybewell see something cooland take a photo,thenwell figure out how ittranslates into beingsomething very ZooYork.From there,wellbuild concept boards.

Spec and tech

Tech packs are puttogether and sent

to our factories detailingall of the trims on eachgarment,the weight ofthe fabric,all of thecolours and everythingthat goes into makingthat item.The spec sizeis standard across theboard, so we dont haveto worry about doingthat every time.

Sample time

Well makecomments at the

factories.By the end ofthe trip,theyll have thesecond prototypes doneand well approve thembefore we leave.Thefactory then makes1,000 samples.Wedivide those up andsend them out to oursales reps,and they goout and sell the product.

Season themes

We usually dothree deliveries

each season.In each,well have a theme,which fits more forgraphic tees thananything else.They hitthe shop floor abouta month apart andrefresh it with newcolourways,newgraphic themes andnew apparel pieces.

Factory visits

The factories makeprototype samples

based on our tech packs.We deal with differentfactories for differentthings,depending ontheir specialities andwhether they can handlea specific garment.Wedo travel to them werejust about to travel toAsia so that we cansee the prototypes.

Hometown brand

One thing we havehere is a street level

of advertising thatdoesnt exist in a lot ofother places.In a citylike New York, youreconstantly surroundedby it on billboards,andwell also paste thingsup onto walls aroundthe city.Theres a reallove for hometownbrands here.



Zoo Yorkgraphic T-shirts

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Inspiration comes from allover the world, but the finalproduct must always havea New York state of mind


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