Aug/09
All eyes on: Kneedeepinsleep
Kneedeepinsleep, as some of you will know, is a clothing brand which focuses on the core principles of quality and exclusivity. Despite being founded two years ago, business has only very recently picked up for KDIS, with a flurry of attention on the web and interest from a stateside musician. Headed up by artist and photographer, Ben Thomas, the brand is perhaps a very good representation of what many designers set out to achieve when they begin their own brands. We sent Ben some questions, and were fortunate enough to receive some great responses from him. Read the interview after the break.
It's obvious from looking through both the KDIS store and your own personal portfolio that you have a very distinct design style. Have you always had an affinity for the use of geometric elements in design, and has anything specific in your life influenced your design style?
Thank you very much! I've always had a fascination for patterns and of course geometric patterns, especially old school Japanese geometric stuff. It seems to be a trend that has become quite big recently in design, but certainly I absolutely love using stuff like that in my work. As far as influences go - there are probably too many to even begin to list. It's been a long old journey really finding my style, that's why its only been this year that I have put my work out there on the internet. I've always wanted to wait until I felt I had nailed it before putting it all on the line!
When you started KDIS what were your aims for the brand? Did you have an idea for where you wanted the brand to be positioned after it had become established?
KDIS until recently has never really been pushed to its full potential. I started the brand about two years ago very, very casually. We had barely enough money to print up 3 designs. The aim was always to try and create a brand for people that couldn't stand buying from the mainstream brands. People who appreciated something different and didn't want to be seen out and about in stuff that had been seen a million times in the high street stores. There is nothing worse than popping down the pub and having your mate stood next to you in the same design - but a slightly different colourway!!
What was the catalyst that made you decide to turn your design work into consumer fashion?
I've grown up with fashion - my dad is a pattern designer for a very large British clothing brand, so its always been something I've been interested in - I started collecting fashion mags before I had even got into photography or design. The artwork that I was developing and the clothes that I loved led me to really want to design t-shirts for myself, and like other designers the idea that there could potentially be people out there wearing my designs over their chests was a big buzz - it's just another medium to put my artwork onto, so setting up a label was obviously something I wanted to do.
What are the key principles and ethos behind KDIS and how do they correlate with naming and branding of the company? Is there any particular reasoning behind the name 'Kneedeepinsleep'?
The core principle of the brand is really quite simple - it's all super limited stuff, with a collectable vibe - something for people who don't like wearing the same stuff as the mainstream! All of our T-Shirts are supplied in a nice box and the garments are numbered with embroidery so you know exactly where it is in the print run. Really the name itself has absolutely no link to the idea behind the brand. 'Knee deep in sleep' literally means being tired - totally knackered and broken. We were knocking heads for a long time as to what it should be called. And as anyone else who has ever tried to come up with a good original name will know, it's incredibly hard! At the time I was working long days and had just gone freelance. I wasn't really making much money, and I couldn't even get a loan from the bank to get the thing rolling. We had heard a friend of my father's use the term and with everything that was going on it just seemed to make sense!
What is the purpose of the 'lovehonourrespect' tag that you use in your work, and how are these values reflected in your day to day handling of business?
I don't think there are many brands that promote a message as such. Certainly not in a positive way. I think there are a lot of throw away designs, lots of streetwear and bling bling stuff. There's not always much meaning behind the artwork and the brand and that's something we wanted to do with the brand ethos and the artwork for the shirts. War, religion and man's destructive nature crop up a lot in the artwork and I think 'Love Honor Respect' kind of ties into that nicely. So we had the words translated into some hindi scripture and its been something we've had printed inside the garments ever since. People reading this are probably thinking I'm some idiot who lights incense/candles around the studio and encourages his staff to drink their own piss, but no, I'm nothing like that!
Would you consider repositioning your brand to better suit distribution on a larger scale, or is the exclusivity associated with limited edition prints too fundamental to the identity of KDIS?
No definitely not. We are going to do a few designs as of next season that will be a little cheaper and produced in larger quantities - still not massive amounts though. Mainly because we have started to get a lot of interest from retailers overseas and with each design being produced in such limited quantity it's actually quite tricky having enough stock to send them. I like the fact you have to go looking for the gear to a certain degree - the fact that they are hard to get hold of sometimes. If anything I see us simply producing a bigger range, but keeping the same limited nature of the product. I would certainly rather set myself on fire than start churning out 'mainstream' or high street friendly designs just for better coin - that's definitely not what we're all about.
Can you provide any insight as to the direction in which you wish to take KDIS? In terms of both a business entity and a fashion brand, how do you see your business methods and design evolving?
To be honest the season we have now is the first I would actually consider to be a step in the right direction for us. Currently we only produce t-shirts - that is 100% down to the finances though. Sales have been good recently with the press we've had and its starting to give us the extra capital to start getting some cut and sew garments produced. For our next range later in the year (around September/October) we'll be bringing other fresh artists in to design for us. As mentioned previously, the funds simply haven't been there to do it before, so that's something I'm excited about too. It would be nice to get their take on the brand, collaborate with new people and help to broaden the appeal of the artwork. I think the trouble with my design is - it's a bit like marmite - you either love it or you hate it on a garment. So getting new blood on board is very important to me.
An item of your clothing is worn by a celebrity; making KDIS popular amongst a more mainstream audience. Disregarding the boost in business, is this a good thing or a bad thing for your brand?
It's a tricky one really. Bizarrely though, it's something that has cropped up for the first time this week. Kneedeepinsleep has been cropping up all over the net in the last month and it has attracted the interest of a stateside musician. We've just shipped a load of products out for a video shoot in NYC and should have something sent over in the next few weeks. I think realistically people will always moan that stuff like that is selling out, but at the end of the day we're running a business and to get big breaks like that with product placement with a celebrity is obviously going to be excellent PR. So really from my perspective its got to be a positive thing. It's a hard old slog getting your product into the magazines and getting brand awareness - so anything that helps has gotta be good!
What is the biggest challenge you've faced so far in running KDIS?
Quite simply - money! It's a seriously expensive old game getting into producing your own garments. Especially as we work into ours so much and package them up. When we first started out all of our stuff was made in the UK, but we simply can't afford to get it done here now. Also as I said previously, it's hard getting your product through to the magazines and getting the PR, we're still learning as we go along, I definitely think we're at the start of something good though - or at least I hope so!
I'd like to thank Ben for such an interesting and insightful read. Kneedeepinsleep has a very promising future and we can't wait to see what new designs are in store! We love the exclusivity that KDIS embraces; from the boxes their products ship in, to the editioned prints. All for a very reasonable price. You really must check out the KDIS store, and if you love the designs as much as we do then please support Ben by purchasing a tee!
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