Give us the Arran Studios elevator pitch.
Arran Studios is a approach for me to inform tales that matter to me via trend. Pulling inspiration from American nostalgia and motifs, we weave these tales into distinctive items and story-driven campaigns. There’s no set system—simply an ongoing exploration of curiosity, heritage, and reminiscence.
Arran Studios
Arran Studios
Arran Studios
Arran Studios
Arran Studios
Arran Studios
Arran Studios
The 5 Ws
Who’s sporting Arran Studios?
Maria Garcia, I’ve a PR bundle for you.
What’s Arran Studios’ important message?
The factor I actually take pleasure in about Arran is its lack of listing or messaging. It’s primarily only a visible diary—tales about my life, heritage, ambition, reminiscence, and so forth. In that sense, it kinda lacks path as a result of I by no means actually know what story or theme will encourage what’s to return.
I really feel prefer it’s simple for manufacturers to outline themselves, however when you do, it’s exhausting to interrupt out of that. You slowly fizzle out, pushing in the identical path you’ve been pushing because the begin. I benefit from the freedom Arran has given me. It serves as a car for me to inform tales about my life. Proper now, quite a lot of these tales relate to my household and those I’ve been lucky sufficient to soak up and now have an outlet to inform.
When did you launch Arran Studios?
We launched our first product, the denim hoodie, in late 2023.
The place are individuals sporting Arran Studios?
Practically 50% of our prospects are exterior of the U.S., which is basically cool. It’s been wild to see how our themes join with so many individuals exterior the U.S., particularly when quite a lot of our messaging and motifs stem from American tradition.
We received an order from Greenland the opposite week. That was fairly cool.
Why was Arran Studios created?
I’ve been making garments and dealing with totally different manufacturers for the previous decade, however I at all times felt a type of disconnect with trend as an artwork type. With different visible arts like video and photograph, the storytelling at all times felt speedy—it felt like an environment friendly solution to categorical one thing. However trend by no means actually resonated in that approach for me.
My relationship with trend at all times felt extra like enterprise, it was about promoting. However I used to be impressed by manufacturers that did each—commerce and storytelling—rather well. Arran was my problem to myself, to see if I may personify totally different private narratives into bodily objects and inform tales via clothes.
I don’t assume I’ve executed it to its full potential but, however I’m excited to maintain evolving it.
Arran Studios
Arran Studios
Arran Studios
Arran Studios
About The Model
What was the spark that catalyzed the creation of Arran Studios?
My grandma Pat—aka Sweet Bar. A one-legged, 350lb stripper from New Orleans. Married eight occasions, divorced 9. Limitless tales there.
When did trend design change into a ardour for you—and on high of that, an meant profession path?
I don’t assume I ever meant to do it. I by no means aspired to be a dressmaker. However I believe my love for different artistic mediums and my ardour for product simply made sense collectively and led me to creating garments.
It’s simply been one thing I’ve executed since I used to be a youngster and by no means stopped doing. The extra I do it, the extra I be taught, and the extra excited I get to maintain doing it.
How would you outline Arran Studios’ model in your personal phrases?
Bible Belt Retro-Futurism
What do you assume makes Arran Studios stand out in right this moment’s sea of rising trend manufacturers?
I’m happy with our means to create attention-grabbing clothes that also really feel intentional, private, and genuine to me.
I at all times attempt to method new items with the intention of pushing my very own limits, difficult myself to make one thing I haven’t seen earlier than. Plenty of occasions, it seems fairly dangerous. However the experimentation has led to a really curated launch of distinctive, wearable, and story-driven merchandise that I’m happy with.
Arran Studios stands out for its significantly putting visuals. What function do campaigns—and the visible narratives you create round your clothes—play within the model?
After I began Arran, I knew I wished our campaigns to really feel like an extension of the items—one thing that rounds out the thought behind them. Visuals give that additional layer of context, and with out them, quite a lot of what I’m attempting to get throughout wouldn’t hit the identical.
Movie and video have at all times been the best approach for me to speak an concept. I received suspended in 4th grade for making YouTube movies, so it’s been a fairly large a part of my life for so long as I can bear in mind. It simply made sense to deliver that into the model. I’m particularly happy with our marketing campaign “Anyplace, However Right here” from this previous summer season. We deliberate a full quick movie, shot throughout three days all via northern Georgia, and it’s in all probability the factor I’m most happy with making. The marketing campaign was meant to help some t-shirts we made, however it ended up feeling greater than that—it set the tone for upcoming collections and have become an integral a part of our model narrative.
For this final assortment, I attempted to step again from {that a} bit—to let the clothes stand by itself. I’m nonetheless unsure if it totally labored, however it was an attention-grabbing problem.
Arran Studios
Arran Studios
Arran Studios
Arran Studios
Arran Studios
Arran Studios
Arran Studios
Arran Studios
Arran Studios
Arran Studios
What model codes or eras do you draw inspiration from?
It’s principally simply issues I like:
“A Boy Named Sue” by Johnny Money
Billy Howard’s Love, Lust, and Loss
William Christenberry
George Lucas’ American Graffiti
Elvis
Rob Hann
The American rural South
This dude on Flickr who drives down outdated Southern highways and takes footage of every thing
Evel Knievel
Ed Ruscha
Earl Sweatshirt
On the style aspect:
I like the experimentation of trims and building from the ‘80s and ‘90s, however I like the character and texture of clothes from the ‘40s, ‘50s, and ‘60s, particularly traditional sportswear.
What was the largest problem you confronted when constructing Arran Studios?
I believe simply getting in my very own approach. With one thing so private, it’s exhausting to not be a perfectionist. I take pleasure within the particulars—items, campaigns, packaging—however typically that very same consideration to element slows issues down. Overanalyzing could make it more durable to simply let concepts movement, and I’ve realized that’s when one of the best work occurs.
Final yr, I caught myself holding again, attempting to make every thing too good. As a substitute of pushing issues ahead, I used to be freezing them in place. I don’t need the model to get caught like that once more.
What’s subsequent for Arran Studios?
This yr, I’m attempting to give attention to letting issues go extra naturally—worrying much less about perfection and extra about simply getting the concepts on the market in a rawer approach.
Now we have a handful of items dropping/restocking this month and within the coming months. Engaged on some new merchandise and some ardour tasks, like our most up-to-date lookbook.
Largely simply items I had enjoyable designing—this assortment was a problem to myself to not overthink issues. I’m happy with that, and I’m excited to do extra of it.
