D.A.N.K Clothing Interview

Clothing Line Name: Drowning All Nemesis Kindly aka D.A.N.K Clothing
Established: 2011
Website: www.drowningall.com

Tell us about your brand. What’s the name? How did it come to be?

Drowning All Nemesis Kindly is a street wear brand influenced by the culture of Washington DC & San Francisco. I created this brand in 2011, when I was 19 years old. It represents taking care of situations with positivity. Scheming about what you really want to do in life.. no matter how impossible it seems, and then going for it 100%. It’ll take dedication, but eventually you’ll surpass whatever your nemesis is! I’ve known since High School that I wanted to create my own brand, but I didn’t want to rush into it. One day, I thought of Drowning All Nemesis Kindly and noticed how it spelled DANK. It was super natural, and I just schemed a vision from there.

How would you describe the style of your brand? Who do you see wearing it?

The style of my brand is street wear. Street wear uses simple t-shirts, crewnecks, and hoodies. But the designs on them are far from simple. It has that chill California vibe to it, but it also has the rawness of DC. A lot of our colors match current sneakers, such as the South Beaches & Military 4s. Our colors also match our theme of drowning. I believe sneaker heads, and skateboarders will be our top supporters. Athletes & artists have also shown a lot of love.

Everyone today seems to have a clothing line; how do you make yours better or stand out more than others?

A lot of people make clothing lines for the wrong reasons. They want the money and the fame. I started a clothing company, because I love fashion. I spent all my high school years studying The Hundreds, Crooks & Castles, and Diamond Supply Co. I want to be relevant years from now, instead of having designs that are only temporarily current. A lot of brands tend to mimic other brands’ ideas, but that can only work for so long. I barely look at other brands’ collections, just to make sure they don’t influence my designs.

Since the start of your clothing line, what has been your favorite piece? Why?

My favorite piece would be our Goon Heather Hoodie from Spring/Summer 2012. That design is just hard as hell to me!! I love the way heather hoodies look with black ink. I can see myself doing a lot of different patterns with that design, and it’s our most popular piece as well.

Speaking of favorite pieces, who designs the clothes and comes up with the concepts?

I came up with all the concepts. My homie did most of the Illustrator side of things, but I actually designed my default website page. I’m stoked on how clean that came out. I’m actually going out to San Fran to design Fall 2012 with a group of graphic designers. I get my brand printed by one of the top printing press companies in the US. They do work for some of top brands that I’ve looked up to. I would never think this certain printing press would even bother hitting me back. I’m still tripping over that.

What was your day to day before starting the brand? Did you always think you would do what you do now?

Sneakers, street wear, women, college, and Entourage. I’m a huge Nike SB & Jordan head, so I spend a lot of time looking at blogs online. I did think I would be in the fashion world somehow. But back then I really didn’t have the ambition that I have now. I was set on having a normal job, and not trying to achieve a dream of mine. Rest is for the weak. If you don’t give 100%, someone else will & take your spot. Once I understood all of those aspects, everything else fell in place.

What is the biggest challenge you have ran into while running a clothing brand?

The biggest challenge would have to be getting other people to believe in your movement. A lot of people don’t want to invest in something until it’s popular. Everyone goes through this though… it isn’t like you get popular right away. I’m thankful for the positive feedback I’ve been getting. No one knew of Diamond Supply Co or The Hundreds during their first years. They put in hard years of work before getting noticed. All the current artists right now had to hustle their way to the top… It takes years. There’s so much inspiration everywhere.

What’s the best part of running a clothing line?

I love how many unique individuals I get to meet throughout this process. Normal jobs just have you stuck in one place with the same people.. In the fashion industry you go all over the world to interact with different types of people. I design clothes for a living.. It doesn’t get much better than that. It opens a lot of doors too… I can see myself doing photography, and music videos. I’m ready to see what else I can get my hands on. Women love entrepreneurs too hah

What’s in the near future for your brand? Anything special coming up?

We just discounted our Spring/Summer 2012 collection. A lot of our items sold out within the first two weeks, so I wanted to do something special for the remaining items. Those orders come with our Wavy Sticker & Wavy Lighter. Go check it out & see what I’m talking about ! We have a HUGE snapback collaboration coming out with Fal Trel & the Slutty Boyz. You’ll see that snapback in a lot of music videos, and all over DC. Fall 2012 is definitely something to look out for too !

Where can we find more about your brand?

Hit up www.drowningall.com for our blog & online store. Follow us on our brand new Twitter & Instagram: @DrowningAll for both