| Meet DEAN, HENRI & MAX of UK label 'ANTIQUE'. |
| Written by Sacha Young | ||||||
| Thursday, 08 September 2011 16:26 | ||||||
If you haven't already heard of UK label 'ANTIQUE', you should listen up while they're still fresh as fish. The English label have been decking kids out since late June 2011, since their graphic t-shirts and random oddities were on the e-market. Made up of three individually rad guys - DEAN SLOMAN, HENRI PICKERSGILL and MAX HELYER - the label inhales boldness and exhales character, but don't let their effortless style fool you... the brand is made up of 100% perfectionism. Coup De Main had the chance to ask the boys a few questions to flesh out a little bit of what goes on behind-the-scenes of the super fastidious and incredibly ingenious brand...
COUP DE MAIN: Why did you guys come together to create 'Antique'? ANTIQUE: The three of us have a huge passion for clothing and each have our own specific tastes so we got together one day and talked about potentially kicking off a new brand of our own... We wanted to create products that people would feel special wearing and also clothing that we ourselves would wear for the same feeling. The thought process behind each product we create is very long-winded and we have set out from day one to make sure everything we release is perfect! CDM: Can you tell us a bit about your current collection? ANTIQUE: The current Summer collection, which marks our entrance to the fashion world was all about keeping things simple. We didn’t want to go totally crazy with it but we didn’t want to seem boring either! We have the limited edition shirts which are strictly limited to 100 per design and all hand-numbered from 1-100 on the flip tag at the bottom of the garments... We have set out with the intention to make our limited edition items our main selling point, giving our customers the exclusivity when they purchase one of these garments. We also have hoodies, polo shirts and socks for girls! We wanted to try and be as diverse as possible with this debut collection so there’s some smarter items like the polo shirts which are a personal favourite of mine. CDM: What is the best thing about being a part of 'Antique'? DEAN: I’m the art geek for Antique and it gives me such great personal satisfaction to see people rocking my designs and seeing them proud to be wearing Antique! Making people happy is the best part about what we’re doing, as well as watching the brand grow. ANTIQUE: There’s a lot of companies out there so we know we have to be on top form but to be honest, it doesn’t really seem like we’re “working” as such, it’s a hell of a lot of fun creating something from nothing with your friends and we’re aiming high so it’s great to know that this is only the beginning for us! CDM: I loved the behind-the-scenes video of you packing orders... does every order have the same thorough routine? Why is this so important to you? ANTIQUE: Stoked that you like the video! What you see in that video is how we pack every order and it’s important because the packaging creates excitement for our customers before they even open the package... Attention to detail is something we focus on intently and whilst it may be time consuming, it’s very much worth it to make our customers happy! CDM: What did you want to be when you were seven-years-old? DEAN: Batman! That’s no lie either, and that dream probably lasted up until the age of ten when I realised that I couldn’t be Batman. Major drag!
CDM: Time machines are yet to exist... What is the first thing that comes to mind if they were real? DEAN: Personally I’d go straight back to 1969, the Summer of love. Woodstock, Jimmy Hendrix, free love, peace and all that... Hippying out man! CDM: What are three things you can't live without? HENRI: Coffee, Music and Football! CDM: What future projects does 'Antique' have in the works? ANTIQUE: We’re working pretty hard on our Winter line right now so there’s not much time for anything else but we’re constantly looking to branch out... The skateboarding industry interests us so we’d love to get involved in that some way or another. One thing we’re working on is getting involved with artists that we love, not so much endorsing them but collaborating with them to produce some products that can branch the brand out. There’s three of us running Antique so we have a pretty good mixture of opinions when we create new products but it’s always good to get involved with other creative types and see what else we can bring to the table. CDM: What's the best advice you've ever been given? DEAN: The best and probably the first piece of advice I was ever given was when I was young and my Mum said: “Always believe in yourself and you can achieve anything you set your heart on...” I’ve lived my life true to that advice and in the hard times that’s something I always remember. CDM: Do you have any advice for kids that are thinking about getting into something similar to you, or anything creative really? DEAN: Learn everything you can! I started designing merchandise for unsigned bands at the age of thirteen which led to working for some pretty sweet bands and companies... Over a decade later I’m still learning new things every day and that’s the great thing about applying yourself creatively - the possibilities are endless and you can continue growing as long as your mind is always completely open. As far as starting a brand goes, don’t rush it! We spend a lot of time planning our products and nothing is rushed. If you’re 100% happy with what you’re doing then the chances are other people will dig it too, but if you’re not then keeping working at it until you’re completely stoked with it. CDM: Tell me one thing about the other guys in 'Antique', that no one else would know... DEAN: Henri loves breakfast, all different kinds and his face lights up whenever he sees breakfast or knows it’s breakfast time... The other day he had Eggs Benedict and he couldn’t hide the excitement! And Max... I don’t mean to drop him in it but the lad shops more than any girl I know, by the time he’s thirty he’s gonna need a whole house just for his clothes! HENRI: Dean is one of the most passionate Arsenal football fans I know. We are all Gooners at Antique but Dean has been losing his mind this Summer over all the transfer speculations. Go follow him on Twitter for his daily rants, @deanantique
Quick Fire Five: 1.If you were a pizza topping what would you be? DEAN: Jalapeños, all day long! 2. What is your favourite cult movie? DEAN: 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'. 3. If your house was on fire and you only had time to grab one thing, what would it be? DEAN: Probably my cigarettes, if all my stuff was burning I think I’d need to chain smoke myself into oblivion!
4. What is your favourite type of cheese? MAX: Mozzarella! The only cheese I like. 5. Late nights = MAX: When I'm home, hanging out with my mates playing FIFA and writing music. 'ANTIQUE' PLAYLIST RIGHT NOW: HENRI: - The Skints - 'Sociopath'. - Bad Rabbits - 'Neverland'. - We Are The Ocean - 'Follow What You Need'. - The Dangerous Summer - 'No One's Going To Need You More'. - [And I know he is not up and coming but to be honest we are all big Atmosphere fans so this needs to be a definite listen - from his latest album 'Family Sign'] Atmosphere - 'My Notes'.
www.becomeantique.com |
