How’s it going Andrew? I’m sure you guys are super busy as of late recently doing tradeshows and the like as well as working on Self Edge project for New York. Your developments and growth with 3sixteen has always captivated me since you took an active stance in changing up your aesthetic and re-branding yourself. What was the catalyst for change? When did you figure that graphic t-shirts weren’t how you would want 3sixteen to continue on its present path… was it your first cut&sew collection?
To answer your question, the transition you speak of intrigues me as well. On our end it happened pretty naturally, so we don’t have much perspective on what it might’ve looked like to the general public. I should temper that by saying our choices on our brand direction have definitely been intentional – but it was also a natural outpouring of Johan’s and my desire to make wearable, long-lasting clothing that reflected where our fashion tastes are. We never sat down and said “we are leaving graphic tees behind” – rather, we knew that our wardrobe consisted of much more than tees and we wanted our brand to reflect that.
On your quest to make timeless apparel, did you map out a specific roadmap and time-frame? Did you prepare yourself financially for the change at hand as you found yourself in a transitional period? Were you under the assumption that you perhaps weren’t as relevant for your current accounts at the time and other accounts you wanted to be in felt you were still a prototypical streetwear line focusing on graphic tees with select cut&sew?
We didn’t map a specific timeframe out. Going into our first full collection, we tried to keep price-points reasonable. It’s something we always have on our minds; But the materials, detailing and construction standards we were after yielded a higher price than many of our accounts were accustomed to having in their store. I don’t know that we really prepared ourselves financially for the change at hand… obviously when you start making clothes, it requires more money upfront to manufacture so cashflow was definitely a problem we faced. When you factor in the few seasons where we were shifting accounts and numbers were always up in the air, it was not an easy time for us. The problem you mentioned about other accounts making assumptions about 3sixteen’s roots was not as prevalent as one might expect. Sure, there were a few stores that asked if we were a streetwear brand, but we allowed our product to do the talking. It definitely took a few seasons to land some of the better doors that we’re in now, but I attribute that to the time it took for us to prove ourselves as a worthy brand amongst many choices in a crowded market (and not to where we came from brand direction-wise). A select few shops from our earlier days have been able to continue on with us which we’re thrilled about and we’re able to sell to some solid retailers that understand our brand vision and direction for the future.
At the customer level, Johan and I both knew that we were going to lose some fans but were going to gain some, too. You can’t design for everyone. We made the choice to create what we liked with the knowledge that some customers were growing up with us and that we could attract a new fanbase that had not heard of 3sixteen previously.