Building a Brand
Written by Maddy Cronn
Graphics by Kara Sheridan
Today, as the future of the fashion industry is reckoned with and trends change in the blink of an eye, a unique vision is everything. These young designers creativity and individual approach to design has manifested itself into each of their own respective brands. But what does starting a brand entail? I'll introduce you to 3 Portland OR designers to get their take on starting out in fashion, inspirations, and the inner workings of building their brand!
Mattew Li & Archie: Moose
@buymoose
Based out of Portland and New York, Moose came to be while they were in high school and is now a collaboration between Matthew and Archie. Instead of assigning it an aesthetic or the look of a certain label, since they feel like the brand is always in motion, Matthew and Archie would rather you just take a look.
Ruby Webb: FiOT
@fruitfulinterpretationoftime
FiOT was created out of Ruby's inspiration for a new style. With conceptualist and avant-garde pieces FiOT is truly a one of a kind design experience. For the brand's name, Ruby points out that the “I” is not capitalized because for a solid few months, she says, she typed in all uppercase except for the “I”.
Amu Ilavarasan: CHARM
@charm.pdx
Established last year out of his love for graphic design, Amu wanted to take his art further and use it to customize clothing, this eventually turned into CHARM! His influences range from brands like Holiday or GOLF to graffiti and ink art.
What made you want to start a brand? How did it start?
Ruby Webb
“I started sewing because of a designer, her name is Alexa Stark and she held a couple day re-workshop back in August 2019. She reached out and asked me to join and I was like “Oh yeah that would be fun.” When I got there there was this huge pile of clothes on a table in the middle of the room and I just started ripping things apart and piecing them together which is really how everything started. Pretty soon though, if I wore what I had made for myself to school, friends started asking for stuff and once I made it Instagram, it kinda blew up from there.”
Amu Ilavarasan
“I've been drawing since I was really young and I started designing in highschool after I had taken my first graphic design class. Ever since I started designing, I wanted to customize clothing because I think customization and expressing yourself through fashion is really cool. I started a year ago, and I refined my designs over the summer. It basically just came out of my physical or 2D artwork that I transferred onto printed shirts.”
Matthew Li and Archie
“I guess as soon as I started taking my art more seriously I wanted to “start a brand”, but it's really hard to say how that's different than just having a style and being especially good at a lot of things and combining them. In the same sense, after creating my own brand in the most literal sense I became somewhat turned off by the intense commercial aspect of branded creativity. But still, I am now part of Moose with Archie, and I love that… but it definitely feels different in collaboration.”
Thoughts on having a brand while being a young designer? What is the hardest thing about that?
Amu Ilavarasan
“The logistics are definitely the most challenging part, I don't have any delivery services in the area so I have to drive the shirts around which I don't mind, but it's a challenge compared to other brands that can ship their shirts out. I feel like having a team of other designers that share the same aesthetic preferences.”
What are some of the main Inspirations for your designs, like certain artists or styles?
Matthew Li and Archie
“Honestly a lot of my inspiration is from Instagram which I’m not sure I enjoy. Also, lately I am constantly inspired by the grad students at school who are doing the coolest stuff all the time. I guess I’m currently inspired by a lot of people a little older than me and the fact that they have a whole life they’re in charge of. But to name a designer, I guess WAR.”
How would you describe your brand's aesthetic?
Amu Ilavarasan
“I would say, just a couple words that come to mind would be skater and streetwear as the two things I was trying to go for. Also, graffiti art like I mentioned. Really detailed inkwork.”
What would you say to anyone looking to get into fashion or starting their own brand, or advice you wish someone had given you starting out?
Ruby Webb
“Honestly just keep going, things will start to happen even if you don't realize because it just becomes normal. I've done these residencies, it was just my day to day thing. I was going in everyday, but now looking back… Like holy shit, that was crazy that someone my age could do something like that. I would say, just be open. There can be negative thoughts and a lot of confusion and passive wording to younger artists, so try and to not take it personally.”
What is your vision for the future? Where do you see this brand going?
Matthew Li and Archie
“I know Archie has plans on taking Moose all the way. I have no idea what I am going to do, I want to pursue journalism maybe for a few years. I'm currently studying Interactive Media Arts which would lead me to working more as a web developer or some sort of digital fabricator things which I love, but I would hope that I can always find ways to make it a part of Moose.”
More than ever, sustainability is a crucial factor in fashion, how do you want to uphold sustainability with your brand?
Ruby Webb
“It's just crazy sitting down and thinking about our world and its fashion and how fast paced it is. It's this whirlwind of chaos. The industry itself is completely corrupt, so I am hopeful that there will be some sort of change. You could start that with younger artists because we are the new generation and we will be blooming out. I also think it's so cool just to rework what we have, there are so many clothes that already exist in our world that you can pick apart and do whatever with! You can make new from old all day long and it's still as cool as something brand-spanking new!”