For the launch of the Dickies X Hideout line, I asked hypebeast.com to do an interview with the two guys behind the project, Michael Kopelman and Andrew Bunney. The full interview can be read here.
Interview by Edward Chiu: Without any conscious effort, Dickies has made itself a mainstay of streetwear for many generations. Given its rugged construction and timeless aesthetics, its popularity doesn’t come as much of a surprise. However, without a directed effort until recently, the Dickies brand has seen itself ripe for a new angle from a contemporary fashion standpoint. Two of Britain’s most formidable members of the so-called streetwear community, The Hideout’s Michael Kopelman and current Dr. Martens creative director Andrew Bunney undertook the task of creating a new capsule for Dickies with the goal of re-inventing classic Dickies-wear from a modern angle while maintaining the essence of Dickies. We took the opportunity to delve deeper and touch upon what exactly has become of the collaboration, what The Hideout for Dickies collection entails and the importance of Dickies’ Americana roots.
Hello Michael and Andrew, nice meeting you guys. First off, how did you end up in your respective professions and how long have you been in this industry?
Michael: Before The Hideout, I was really into DJing with a fond love for Stussy. Eventually through Shawn Stussy I got involved in the industry. It was amazing when I met Andrew because I would see him in different cities around the world… Tokyo and in New York just by coincidence. Also, the staff at my shop would groan about him as he would ask about products that weren’t out and had more knowledge regarding them as well. So that’s when I asked Andrew to consider working for me. I couldn’t believe that someone could be so well informed without working in the industry.
Andrew: I started as a buyer for skateboard shops, which is how I met Michael. Then I moved into vintage clothing and went on to study fashion and production. After that, I started working with Michael again and that’s how it got started.
How did this project come about?
Andrew: Many years ago we were doing some projects with Stussy and very few people in the market were doing collaborations. If you were to ask companies out of the blue on collaborative projects, they would be very confused, at that time companies weren’t set up for that method of thinking. Obviously now is a very different situation and quite the opposite. We spoke with Dickies a long time ago, but nothing really happened. Until recently, we felt there was a gap in the market and we could fulfill it at an appropriate price point.
There are many cynical ways of why it’s much easier to approach brands now for collaborations. For a marketing perspective, it can generate sales very quickly. Also, I suppose back then, it was the time when the blog boom started, so companies could really see how many people had lined up to buy their sneakers.
Michael: The companies we approached back then were Dickies, Alpha Industries and Levi’s, as both of us were into utility products. You can put these together and wear it so effortlessly and it’s very accessible. The collection’s goal is to explore a different side to Americana. Both of us love the ivy and work wear looks that have been popular over the past few years. And a lot of my heroes and movies that I like, such as Animal House, The Outsiders, Rumble Fish, those kind of movies have all these references in it. I was born in the 60s, so I love that era/style. While we liked the way many Dickies’ products were currently designed, there were certain aspects of the clothing, which would be better and more accessible with correct adjustments. I always read blogs, and people are always complaining when something is changed for a collaboration and it doubles in price. Therefore, I wanted to do something where you make some really basic changes, such as the fits and stay more or less true to the original specs and price.
Read the rest of the interview here: hypebeast.com
Interview by Edward Chiu: Without any conscious effort, Dickies has made itself a mainstay of streetwear for many generations. Given its rugged construction and timeless aesthetics, its popularity doesn’t come as much of a surprise. However, without a directed effort until recently, the Dickies brand has seen itself ripe for a new angle from a contemporary fashion standpoint. Two of Britain’s most formidable members of the so-called streetwear community, The Hideout’s Michael Kopelman and current Dr. Martens creative director Andrew Bunney undertook the task of creating a new capsule for Dickies with the goal of re-inventing classic Dickies-wear from a modern angle while maintaining the essence of Dickies. We took the opportunity to delve deeper and touch upon what exactly has become of the collaboration, what The Hideout for Dickies collection entails and the importance of Dickies’ Americana roots.
Hello Michael and Andrew, nice meeting you guys. First off, how did you end up in your respective professions and how long have you been in this industry?
Michael: Before The Hideout, I was really into DJing with a fond love for Stussy. Eventually through Shawn Stussy I got involved in the industry. It was amazing when I met Andrew because I would see him in different cities around the world… Tokyo and in New York just by coincidence. Also, the staff at my shop would groan about him as he would ask about products that weren’t out and had more knowledge regarding them as well. So that’s when I asked Andrew to consider working for me. I couldn’t believe that someone could be so well informed without working in the industry.
Andrew: I started as a buyer for skateboard shops, which is how I met Michael. Then I moved into vintage clothing and went on to study fashion and production. After that, I started working with Michael again and that’s how it got started.
How did this project come about?
Andrew: Many years ago we were doing some projects with Stussy and very few people in the market were doing collaborations. If you were to ask companies out of the blue on collaborative projects, they would be very confused, at that time companies weren’t set up for that method of thinking. Obviously now is a very different situation and quite the opposite. We spoke with Dickies a long time ago, but nothing really happened. Until recently, we felt there was a gap in the market and we could fulfill it at an appropriate price point.
There are many cynical ways of why it’s much easier to approach brands now for collaborations. For a marketing perspective, it can generate sales very quickly. Also, I suppose back then, it was the time when the blog boom started, so companies could really see how many people had lined up to buy their sneakers.
Michael: The companies we approached back then were Dickies, Alpha Industries and Levi’s, as both of us were into utility products. You can put these together and wear it so effortlessly and it’s very accessible. The collection’s goal is to explore a different side to Americana. Both of us love the ivy and work wear looks that have been popular over the past few years. And a lot of my heroes and movies that I like, such as Animal House, The Outsiders, Rumble Fish, those kind of movies have all these references in it. I was born in the 60s, so I love that era/style. While we liked the way many Dickies’ products were currently designed, there were certain aspects of the clothing, which would be better and more accessible with correct adjustments. I always read blogs, and people are always complaining when something is changed for a collaboration and it doubles in price. Therefore, I wanted to do something where you make some really basic changes, such as the fits and stay more or less true to the original specs and price.
Read the rest of the interview here: hypebeast.com
