Handsome Clothing Co.
“[Our] inspiration comes from an amalgamation of music, design, philosophy, and anyne creating original art in the various forms that it reveals itself in” –The designers of Handsome Clothing Co.
At Queens University, in their dorm room aka “the dungeon” the idea, ambition and birth of Handsome Clothing Co. occurred. Their collection is simple, revolving around the basic graphic-t but their designs are anything but customary. What I love most about Handsome (other than the t’s of course) is that they’ve created a Handsome community. Their website not only features their lookbooks, but an updated blog with musicians, designs and art that they are currently feeling. For me, this makes their designs mean that much more.
"Fckn hndsm" graphic t, summer 2009
MFE virtually caught up with the three handsome men behind the line with a little Q/A.
Who’s behind this Handsome line?
Christian Rice, Matt Richling and AJ Jamani
How did you guys get into designing?
Making t shirts in our dorm room (AKA The Dungeon) at University .
Who or what has inspired you?
Lots of things have inspired us. Trying to start a clothing brand requires a lot of various skills and, because of that, we try to draw inspiration from the best of everything.
If you’re looking for brands and people: Ed Banger, Fools Gold, Dim Mak, Dust La Rock, Diplo, Benny Gold, FFFFound, A.P.C., Justice, Soulwax, A1 Bassline, YYZ Records, TMDP, So Me, and anyone else who is living their dream.
Describe your collection?
Our collection right now is mainly made of graphic T’s that are cooler than everyone else’s graphic T’s. This is where we are at right now but we’re growing rapidly and will be making a variety of clothing in the coming months so stay tuned.
Why T-shirts?
It’s a clothing staple in everyone’s wardrobe. Everyone owns a t-shirt and we noticed that a lot of the shirts people chose to wear were wack. We’re updating a classic [item] and impressing people with the basics.
What are you working on currently?
Currently we are working on our Fall 2009 Line and a collaboration with YYZ Records. YYZ is releasing the straight hotness in the music scene right now and we’re very excited to be working with them.
Who wears Handsome?
People with actual style. There’s always that one kid at school, at work or on the street that is working on a different level from everyone else around them. We make clothes for that kid.
So far, what would you say you’re most memorable experiences are (in designing etc)?
Definitely one of them would be our launch party with YYZ Records. We had a club for the night and we decked out the place in Handsome gear where Christian –aka DJ underpants- was spinning. We had all a mixture of our close friends and people we’ve never met all coming out to support our dream.
We’ve also had a great response to our website and blog which has been nice. We really like connecting with our fans so it’s always nice to have people telling us they follow our blog and appreciate the work we put into it.
Where can we find your collection?
www.handsomeclothing.com
What can we look forward to from Handsome Clothing Co.?
Firstly, we are going to be collaborating with YYZ Records on some mad exclusive shirts for the record label and their artists. This is a big honour as YYZ is definitely one of the most exciting labels out there and we love supporting our beloved Toronto. All of the shirts will be released as we team up to takeover NXNE and show SXSE where the real music is happening.
Secondly, we will also be putting up our online store on June 1st! No longer will you have to beg and plead and sacrifice endangered animals for a Handsome hook-up. A simple credit card will suffice.
--Where do you see this line going, where will it be 5 years from now?
Being Handsome is a lifestyle so there are no limits to what we think will be doing on 5 years from now. We hope to infiltrate more than the fashion industry and cross over into art and music. Who knows!
Check out the fabulous collection below or at www.handsomeclothing.com
*a very special thanks to Jena for introducing MFE to Handsome! love it*
