|
You already met Noah Landis in March’s Spark Opener page and learned a bit about how he took a passion for fashion and turned it into a hot denim brand. Now, we get more from Noah about where the inspiration for Kent Denim comes from, where the company is headed and who the heck is Kent, anyway? Plus, check out some of the newest Kent designs as seen on cutie Matt.
You say that much of your inspiration comes from the streets of San Francisco. How so?
San Francisco is a city full of individual style. I see what’s going on in the streets and just pull that into my own bucket of design influence and translate it out.
And Kent Denim has grown to offer more than just jeans, right?
We have grown into an entire mens line, which is very exciting. I don’t want to say it happened on its own, but it was, ‘Oh, I did jeans and sold this many and now I want to couple it with some nice button-up shirts. And now I want to compliment that with jackets and blazers.’ It’s really grown, just one step after the other. It was a very natural progression.
Was that always part of the plan?
When I started Kent Denim, I didn’t really see it as more than a denim line. But we’re such a denim culture and everyone wears it, it just made sense to add pieces to it.
Who are some of your design influences?
I have always admired artists from the turn of the century. As far as other designers, I love what Vivienne Westwood does. I hate being cliche, but I definitely admire any designer who has been able to build their own brand and control it. What I do is a little more european sportswear, as opposed to pure American.
Why did you decided upon the name Kent?
Well, Kent is the muse, basically who I design for. The all-around guy. But it is also named after a friend of mine who really was the one to say, ‘Oh, you should do this. You should sell these jeans.’ Because I started making jeans in San Francisco in this little art studio I had. And it really didn’t dawn on me to push this out and make it my living. Making jeans was my hobby. I was making them for friends. But I realized this was a product that I love to make, so it just took a little push from a friend. And the name was the hardest part! I didn’t want to name the brand some silly thing, so this has meaning.
Why do men’s wear? Maybe we’ve watched too much Project Runway, but isn’t women’s wear easier?
I do men’s wear because I design what I like to wear. So in that aspect it’s easier for me. But I’ve done women’s wear in school and of course you can be so much more free design-wise. However men’s wear is so much more interesting to me in respect to quality, construction and details. It’s like architecture to me.
Do you wear your own clothing?
Yes, I pretty much only wear my own clothing. It’s the double-edge sword of being a designer. If you’re not wearing your own thing, people question why not. Once you break in a pair of jeans, especially the jeans I make, they fit to your body and they just become the most comfortable things ever. That’s the amazing part. There’s so much washed denim out there, we don’t really have the opportunity to break in a pair of jeans anymore.
What’s next for Kent?
I’m already working on Spring/Summer 2011. Spring and summer is fun. You can break out the colors, use graphics. I’m gonna do some bicycle-inspired stuff. Imagine a bicycle ride down the Serengeti, but that’s as much as I can say now.
To find out where to purchase Kent Denim, check out the official website here.
 |
