For The Homies

(Photography: Chauntelle Roelandts)

Originally posted at http://itsofficial.com.au/

You know your favourite t-shirt? The one that feels so comfortable it’d be harder to let go of than a relationship in tatters.
That’s the kind of shirt Pete Le Chic aims to make. He wants his label For the Homies to supply your favourite t-shirt... and your favourite pair of jeans, and your favourite jacket.
He wants to make you clothes that you don’t just wear, but clothes that you feel.
And do we all feel the same? Hell no, so he makes them bespoke, custom-fit to you.

ROOTS

After starting out doing graphic design for skateboard companies, Pete was asked to design clothes. With no experience he got himself an apprenticeship; and like all apprenticeships it was a glamorous year of fetching coffees, cleaning up, lots of questions and zero pay.
But here’s the payoff, he continues to use those tailoring skills in what he makes today. So it may be a street wear piece, but it’s made with the same technique, and the same deliberation, as a fine suit. And it may be a street wear piece but he’ll do it in leather, using good quality leather and good construction.

MESSAGE

Pete’s first designs were an exercise in venting. From music to failed relationships it was his outlet for life’s frustrations ...and it created some very funny pieces. And although people related to the comedy rather than the abyss it came from, they were relating and that was his purpose: there was an exchange.
As an artist Pete wants to create an experience, not just another piece of clothing. He meets you, he measures you, he designs and makes a garment just for you. And the result is a completely independent piece; a collaboration of designer, item and owner.

INSPIRATION

His inspiration comes from old magazines. In his next range in particular it comes from the zines he read in his early days of skateboarding.
“I was getting photocopied zines from a shop called Snakepit, they used to do their own and I still remember what the paper felt like.”
This influence gave the new line a more punk/DIY feel. Designs were drawn, photocopied, drawn, photocopied and then drawn over again, rather than just artwork done on a computer. They’re tangible, they’re tactile.

And between designing lines for his label, he gave something back to his magazines...

The latest issue of Acclaim Magazine: For The Homies Edition.

After 3 weeks shooting in Japan and 6 months hard work, Pete Le Chic has ticked another box on his to-do list; his contribution to the forgotten art of magazine, that he believes is on its way back. The media you can pick up and experience again and again.
Make sure you check it out; and more importantly ... make sure you feel something.

NB: For more Pete Le Chic deigns hit forthehomies.com