Read the interview after the break!

Most people will only know Eio as a fashion brand - however there's also a creative agency which shares the same name. Which came first, Eio as a clothing brand or Eio as a creative agency, and what were the reasons behind each?

Eio Clothing was the first to be started. I started the company about 5 years ago. After a couple of years I joined forces with a talented web designer called James Hyatt. Through the quality of our own website we were approached by various individuals and companies to work for them. Through completing several successful jobs we decided to form another company and expand the Eio brand to include Eio Clothing and Eio Creative. This is a graphic and web design agency.

Why the name 'ExcessIsOk'? Does it have any meaning with regard to your branding or make any deeper references to modern culture?

The excessisok term refers to the bold designs and colours used whilst also partly applying to cultural ideas of living for the moment, enjoying life and generally making the most of it. The brand is heavily inspired by music and this has been a big influence on the designs produced and the philosophy behind the brand.

When did you first have the idea to launch a sister brand for Eio and why did this idea come about? What's the reasoning behind the name 'Rakes & Strays'?

We found that some of the artwork and garments that we wanted to produce didn’t quite fit with the idea behind Eio. We were interested in producing a range of more tailored garments with hand drawn and painted artwork. However we knew this may compromise the ethos behind Eio and so we decided to create Rakes & Strays in order to keep Eio’s identity as distinct as possible. The name Rakes & Strays basically means what it says, a Rake is a ‘fashionable person with dissolute morals’ and a stray refers to a person who deviates from the established or normal route taken by others. We wanted to create a name that almost sounded like an established or traditional company whilst containing references to modern culture. We see that the person that wears Rakes & Strays is someone who isn’t taken in by all the shit that’s out there, is an individual with their own ideas on what style is, music they’re into etc etc. I hope you get where we’re coming from?

What are your aims for Rakes & Strays, and to what degree have they been achieved thus far?

I don’t think we’ve gone anywhere near where we would like to be with Rakes & Strays yet. We’ve set out a philosophy behind the brand and released the first range of Tees. However the brand will properly be distinguished once we start to release the garments that we have in development. Eio and Rakes & Strays may seem a similar to some at the moment but they will be more distinct as time goes by. We’ve really just set out the idea and are now developing it.

Do you consider the market you are targeting with Rakes & Strays to be completely separate from that which Eio targets, or do you expect most Rakes & Strays customers to also share an interest in Eio?

No I don’t think so. The brand is really just allowing us to continue to develop our own interests in design and garments without blurring what Eio is about. I don’t think they’re a different market necessarily. It’s similar to music; you can be into band based music whilst still liking electro or drum and bass, whatever really. We know we’re interested in a multitude of different things. We see Eio as being more inspired by electro music and a bit more towards, clubs and DJ’s. Whereas Rakes & Strays is rockier, has a more distressed and vintage look and leans more towards bands.

You have a pretty big gallery of some rather well known celebrities on your site. How do you feel about bringing your clothing to the mainstream, and would you ever consider distribution on a larger scale (even on the high street)?

We’ve tried distribution several times before and on each occasion we’ve had a bit of a bad experience. There can be some unscrupulous people in the fashion business! We now try and keep it simple, keep control of how our products are framed and create something that is more exclusive, limited and higher quality. I couldn’t say whether we would ever do distribution again. Regarding bringing the brands into the mainstream, yeah why not. Eio was started so I could get more people to see my artwork, the more people that can see your work the better in my opinion. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to change what you’re about or compromise your philosophy. Having a lot of celebrities wearing the designs is great, they must get sent so many pieces of clothing that to pick ours out and wear them on big occasions onstage etc. is a great endorsement that we’re doing something good.

What's been your biggest challenge so far?

I think it’s really difficult making a brand work when you start from quite humble beginnings. So many brands have a huge budget and to compete in the market requires a lot of visibility. I think it’s difficult when you compete with a multitude of different online stores, high street stores etc. There’s so much choice available that you have to have quite a distinct brand personality to stick out from the shelf and in people heads. I think that’s just something you always struggle against, but if you can get to a certain size then I think the task becomes a lot easier. I still don’t think that many people know about us yet, so we’ve got along way to go.

Another struggle is people actually recognising the quality of the materials that you use and the attention to detail in the garments. We don’t want people to see us as just another T-shirt company that only puts regurgitated prints on bad quality Tees. As we design all our garments ourselves with the highest quality materials possible and a huge amount of time is invested in the artwork.

Can you give us any idea of what to expect from the new collections and when they might be available?

We launch a new collection for each company every 6 weeks. This means that there are new products coming all the time. The best way to find out when new designs are available it so sign up to our mailing list, then every time we launch a new tee, you’ll be the first to know!

What about even further into the future? What's in the pipeline for both Eio and Rakes & Strays?

We don’t like to rush into things too much. We like to make sure if we’re going to add or extend our product range that we can do it without compromising quality. At the moment, although we’re testing different products and requesting samples, nothing is set in stone. But once again, it you join our mailing list you’ll be the first to know of any additions to the family.

We really dig both Eio and Rakes & Strays threads and can't wait to see more of them in the future! The look, fit, styling and values involved in the brands' designs are really appealing, and we hope they continue to produce more excellent designs for a long time to come. James has done great work in developing two very successful brands which we're certain we'll see continuing to grow for the forseeable future!

Eio Clothing

Rakes & Strays

Eio Creative

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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!

Kneedeepinsleep

Ben Thomas