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10 Issue 72 / 2015 FASHION guestlist.net thfkdlf are an independent clothing brand based in Shropshire, designing, printing and sewing everything themselves. We caught up with one of the founders, Dan Tomley, to find out what they've been up to recently Tell us a bit about how you got started? How did it all kick off for you? The two of us who started this had been in a band together, so we'd been through the process of ordering merch, getting designs ready and finding good quality tees to use. It got to the point where the ideas started to go further than what we felt we could with band merch so we started a brand. We made a Tumblr page, posted a few images on there and things really took off. So I understand the name came from you fucking around with pieces of clothing - has design and fashion always been something you wanted to get involved in? It was never something we expected to turn into full time jobs but it's obviously an interest. The majority of people care about fashion to a certain degree, so we were always switched on to stuff, but when the brand started taking off we just decided to dive straight in. We didn't have any experience but we felt like we could learn as we went along. What's the key inspiration behind your designs? It can vary from collection to collection. We'll maybe see an image we like and look to recreate something similar, or we'll just try something out. Our first XIII Collection came from just having a vest on a hanger and then putting a shorter length tee over it - we loved the layered look so we built a collection around it. We'll normally just take one idea like that and build around it to turn it into a collection. You design, print and manufacture all your collections from Shropshire. Can you tell us a bit about why you made this decision and the impact it has on the brand? Coming from a musical background and being in a hardcore band, we always had that DIY ethic and that just carried on through, it gives us full control. We aren't having to go back and forth with manufacturers trying to explain what we want. We can have an idea and by the end of the day it can be a fully made garment. It gives us a massive opportunity to explore and try new things. Strong photographic prints are prominent across all your collections, how do you choose the images you feature? We have a lot of friends who are photographers. If we don't have a specific image or look we're after, we'll just scroll through their Flickr or Instagram and see if anything catches our eye. Normally there will be something we're looking for, be it certain colours or moods. Photography will always be key - we use sublimation for the majority of our prints, so we wouldn't be taking full advantage of the technology behind that if we weren't using full colour images. You established thfkdlf in the UK fashion scene quickly, what was your secret? Do you have any tips for anyone looking to start something themselves? It really did feel like we just got lucky, but maybe we made our own luck in that we were doing something we weren't seeing much of. We took advantage of all the social media sites we could, especially Tumblr, where things really took off quickly for us. The main tip I'd give would be start small, really do your research and find companies that will allow you to do small runs of tees, so you can learn about your audience and see what they respond to. That way, if stuff doesn't work you're not stuck with hundreds of units you can't shift. What can we expect to see from upcoming collections? We've got some of our favourite prints coming soon. It's a massive collection we're calling The Great Outdoors, and it's the first time we'll be releasing printed shorts. We'll also be adding phone cases, bucket hats, notepads and more accessories into our collections. We'll be extending our essentials range to include hoodies, sweatshirts and more colourways. We've got plans to release our first women's collection too. We're really excited about what we've got coming up this summer. If you could collaborate on some designs with anyone, who would it be? There's a whole bunch of photographers who we'd love to be able to work with, guys like Trashhand who are just travelling the world creating amazing visuals. What music are you listening to right now? We're addicted to the Rae Sremmurd album. Also Joey Badass' new album and we constantly play Odesza, so anything by them is good with us. What are your main goals for thfkdlf? What would you most like to achieve? When we set out we were saying to ourselves, if we could sell about 10 t-shirts a week and take an extra £50-£60 home each to add to our money from other jobs, we'd be happy! We've gone a little past that now, to the point we have our own small factory where we make everything, which is already way more than we ever expected to achieve. We have a team of 8 workers now, and we just want to continue to grow the company at the rate it has been growing. So a continuation of everything we've already done and throw in some Range Rovers for good measure too! What does 2015 have in store for you guys? Just loads more cool prints, more cut&sew collections. A much more varied range of products. We'll be hitting up trade shows later in the year too and just growing the company! INTERVIEW: Thfkdlf