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HS: What are some of the challenges of stamping your own identity onto "classic" items? Be it a pair of jeans or a M-65 jacket. As a designer, is there a great give an take between letting the silhouette speak for itself and wanting to act on a new vision?
NB: I try not to stamp my identity on to anything. I stamp Stussy's identity throughout the Stussy Deluxe collection. Stussy has a rich 30-year history to draw from for direction and inspiration. When redesigning classics, it's important to realize that some things are "signature" items while others are not. Signature details are the elements that have made the piece a classic in the first place. The key is to identify what those details are and to make sure you don't overdesign to the point where you start to lose the signature itself. For me, denim is the hardest classic to redesign because after over 100 years of history almost all its design details are "signature" and so it takes real discipline to get it right. The answer to the second part of your question is no...... I let other brands mess with new visions. The Stussy heritage has always been to let silhouettes speak for themselves
HS: You mention the difficulty of denim, which is totally understandable. Are there any other silhouettes that present problems? Any that really get you excited and are a joy to work on?
NB: After the 5 pocket jean, the next most challenging silhouette for me is the white oxford shirt. Shirts, and in particular white shirts, are really just shapes. The smallest details define it. What's hard is that everything on a one pocket white shirt is function -- it's a front, back, sleeves, cuffs, collar, buttons and pocket all held together by thread. Nothing there can be lost, there's not much to flip and everybody makes one but if you get it right, you can build a business on its reputation.
HS: Tell me a little more about how Stussy heritage influences your decisions on the deluxe line. Obviously, with Deluxe, there is a bit more of a stripped aesthetic (graphically), so how does it connect?
NB: I've been at Stussy going on 11 years now, and never when Shawn was here but on occasion I would bump into him in Laguna where we both lived. In conversation with him it always struck me what a strong connection he had with American heritage product in many different fields, particularly clothing, furniture and architecture. He would get all stoked by even the smallest details that made up the language of a product. So although Stussy as a company made it's mark primarily with it's graphic handle, that attention to detail established a design language at Stussy separate from the graphics. Stussy Deluxe is hopefully another part of the line that reflects that.
HS: I want to shift directions and talk a little about your youth. Growing up in South Africa what were you into, what global subcultures influenced you, and what has lingered in your approach to design?
NB: South Africa was, to put it mildly, isolated from cultural happenings. It was a long way from NY.L.T.LA and there was little influence from those cities to speak of. The way we got most of our culture was through music and I had a huge collection of Soul and Blues vinyl by the time I left for the UK when I was 20. My fashion influence and interest didn't start till I was in my late teens when a friend of mine and myself used to make regular visits to the Supply stores in Downtown Johannesburg that were primarily owned by old Jewish traders who stocked gear for the African market. The Africans had mad dress style and were into buying clothing way more than all the white kids were, even though in the South Africa I grew up in they didn't have the same disposable cash. They would make a visit to their favorite store to put down the smallest deposit on a pair of Florsheim Shoes, Onitsuka high top sneakers or single pleat wool gabardine pants. The store owner would put the item away on hold for however long it took these guys to come up with the money for the full price.....depending on what the guy was earning that could be months. They weren't interested in buying the throw away gear from the bigger department stores but would spend any amount on the classics. That commitment to buying only quality, no matter how hard their lives were and how little money they had, was pretty impressive and has always stayed with me.
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