We’ve been printing personalised T-shirts for four years now and in that time we’ve run into quite a few clothing brands. Designers from all over the world and all walks of life have contacted us to promote/work with them. And while some are really cool, there are others that — let’s just say — leave a bit to be desired.
Which is why we think that we have nurtured a pretty good understanding of what makes a good clothing brand, or at least what looks cool in our opinion 😉
To kickstart 2018, we’ve decided to highlight some of the streetwear brands that we think will make it big in the oncoming year. The following are listed in alphabetical order.
Note: Don’t forget to check out some of the coolest Streetwear influencers based in the UK.
Apathy Threads
Apathy Threads is a clothing brand that mixes the latest streetwear trends with universal images such as the Celtic tree of life. These unusual pairings, which could go awry pretty easily, work here because of the designers’ attention to detail and commitment to make this brand stand out from the rest.
Tell us about you, what’s your name? Where are you from? What do you do?
We are Tyler and Ash; we run Apathy Threads. We felt mainstream clothing companies have lost their original spark; now as consumers we buy into brands and not designs. We seek to re-emphasise the importance of design and attention to detail in our designs.
Our influences are worldwide which can be seen in our Caesar jersey (with clear Roman overtones), our Arabic white T and our Celtic Tree of Life T. This is a unique niche where no other clothing company is working on.
Additionally, our work on creating a movement is just as important to us; we release weekly music. Lately, we just attended a poetry jam in West LND and donated 20% of our sales to Poetical Word from that night.
Our focus on the customer service is second-to-none; even our packaging is personalised with a handwritten note about us and a packet of sweets. As consumers ourselves we seek to perfect every step of the customer experience.
Describe your brand in three words:
Attention to detail
Which is your all-time favourite design?
Nike Air Max 95.
If you could design a T-shirt/accessory for anyone who would it be?
A black turtleneck for A$AP Rocky.
What’s the next step for your brand?
To continue doing as many pop-up shops as possible, do as many collabs as we can and continue to release weekly music.
Note: Want to learn how to set up your very own pop-up shop? Then check out our blog post on the subject.
Diffuser
We often hear that it isn’t necessary to quit our day job to chase our dreams of a creative career, but we seldom see real examples of it. Stacy is one of those rare success stories. In her spare time, this self-made designer creates iconic pieces inspired by today’s youth culture.
Tell us about you, what’s your name? Where are you from? What do you do?
My name is Stacy, and I’m an engineering student from London. I’m currently interning at a firm but I became bored of the 9-5, office lifestyle (it felt quite slow and I enjoy being challenged) and decided I wanted to do and learn something more.
What is your brand’s name and how did you come up with it?
My brands name is Diffuser. I love essential oils, and how each oil has a different purpose. I decided that my brand would draw inspiration from that – different styles that reflect different people and what they see and do in life. One of my first designs I based on myself to reflect my style and heritage.
This hat is part of a trend on Twitter that a lot of people can identify with.
Describe your brand in three words:
Fresh, relevant, cool.
If something isn’t working out right now, if we keep grinding it will eventually come to fruition.
Which is your all-time favourite design?
My all time favourite is my Work In Progress hat, it reminds me that everything in life is an unfinished product – including ourselves. If something isn’t working out right now, if we keep grinding it will eventually come to fruition. And even if it becomes successful, you can always work to improve.
If you could design a T-shirt/accessory for anyone who would it be?
It would have to be Rihanna, she is so elegant and classy and can pull anything off.
What’s the next step for your brand?
I want to start creating collections for specific groups of people. My first set is for classical musicians as I used to be a classical pianist and something I used to strongly identify with. (Now I play every now and then for fun)
Limebox
Tired of the creative limitations being a graphic designer for hire can impose, Paul decided to start his own brand. LimeBox is a T-shirt line that features good-quality prints with a cool vintage vibe that can appeal to a variety of audiences.
Tell us about you, what’s your name? Where are you from? What do you do?
Hi! My names Paul, I’ve been a graphic designer for over 20 years but late last year I became a little disheartened working on projects I didn’t believe in for clients who didn’t want to listen. Having moved from Manchester to a small village in Cambridge and having two children under seven, I was eager to get my spark back.
What is your brand’s name and how did you come up with it?
Our brand is Limebox Tees, we originally worked as freelance designers under the same name but after moving into the T’s business we decided we’d port it over and it’s worked really well for us.
Describe your brand in three words
Individual, Quality and Growing!
Which is your all-time favourite design?
I love Olly moss, his interpretations of classic posters are stunning… see link…
If you could design a T-shirt/accessory for anyone who would it be?
If I could design a T-shirt for anyone and was trying to be cool, it would have to be Che Guevara. Not that I’m overly political but I’d love to see him wearing it on a poster : ) if not him then Simon Peg as Tim Bisley in Spaced (the TV show).
What’s the next step for your brand?
We’d like to get a little bit more bizarre, now we have a reasonable size following, I’d like to create a new line of tees, still under the brand Limebox but just something to mess with peoples heads a little. Designs that make people look twice and smile…
Skully & Friends
We consider children’s creativity to be boundless but unlike most, that just limit themselves to put their kids’ drawings up in the refrigerator, Hrvoje decided to immortalise them — on T-shirts. The result is surprising, not only are the final designs endearing but also funny and, sometimes, even a little creepy.
Tell us about you, what’s your name? Where are you from? What do you do?
My name is Hrvoje and I’m a founder of Skully & friends, a T-shirt company based out of Zagreb, Croatia. What’s cool about our T-shirts is that they are designed by kids. Their job is to do their thing; draw, doodle, have fun making art and my job is to collect their masterpieces and transform them into comfy cotton T-shirts.
What is your brand’s name and how did you come up with it?
Skully & Friends came about as I was observing my son, my nieces and my friends’ kids draw. They were so immersed into their playful work I wondered what was going inside their brains, their skulls. That’s how I got an idea of Skully, a freaky friendly creature, reminding kids their creativity is awesome no matter how weird it seems. We at Skully & friends believe that we all have that inner child-like weirdness deep inside us, but most of us have buried it to become adults. Skully & friends’ mission is to unleash our quirks and reclaim fun as the only rule of creative process.
Describe your brand in three words
If we can pretty please use an extra word: Dare To Be Weird! If not: Weird, Genuine, Fun.
Which is your all-time favourite design?
One of my favourite designs is the Mermaid. Firstly, that is one of our first designs, and it was made up from the drawing that my son worked for me. On the other hand, this is a typical S&F design: spooky, weird, and yet so friendly and funny, because it is only good, old mermaid.
If you could design a T-shirt/accessory for anyone who would it be?
It would be great to make ‘Skully & friends’ T-shirts for Prince William and Catherine. The most amazing thing would be to see them in our cool T-shirts with their kids’ drawings. Why not spread ‘Skully & friends’ spirit into their kingdom?
What’s the next step for your brand?
We’re looking for ways to engage kids and adults in collective art projects we’d facilitate. Creativity promotes positivity and celebration of life’s simple joys. That is what the world needs and Skully and friends is here to do our part.
T-shirt Printing for Fashion Designers
Thanks to our five years of experience in the apparel-printing industry, we are able to offer a service catered towards the needs of fashion designers and creative directors. Printsome’s T-shirt printin services are perfect for streetwear collections, T-shirt lines and merchandise, among many other possibilities.
From the moment you get in touch, one of our printing experts in either London or Glasgow will answer all of your questions and find efficient solutions to your needs. It is our mission to help you reach your goals.
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