Joe, Hamish and Gus are a really interesting group of guys giving the NZ fashion industry a good crack. Getfrank was lucky enough to score an interview with Joe, here he gives us some insight into their label, GUS.

Tell us about why you decided to get into fashion; I understand you have no fashion background?

Yeah, that is true. We all have different backgrounds and the most common factor is a lack of real fashion experience! We decided to start the company acouple of years ago after Angus had a brief foray into clothing design throughhis design degree. We all saw potential and realised there was no time like the present. We have a collective passion for design and independence and the company seemed like the ideal outlet for us to express it. The rest is gradually becoming history I guess.

What does a usual day entail for you?

Well being a baby of a company, we all work other jobs. So most days involve going to work and constantly trading calls and emails as we can. Work on GUS starts during the evening where we often annoy our flatmates with banter about all that is going on. It’s developing quite a night-owl look about it but it seems to be working out at the moment.

Have you had mentors along the way that have helped you out along this journey?

Certainly, it’s pretty hard to cut a path with only our little bright eyes. There haven’t really been any constant mentors, but through our families and friends we have gained a wealth of knowledge and advice on a large number of subjects. A lot of which has been invaluable. Everyone has been very eager to help too, which has been a huge bonus.

What is the first thing you designed personally or professionally?

Well, Angus has been interested in design and art for a long time now and Joe has been working on Photography and art for a number of years too. The first landmark that springs to mind is probably Angus’ (in)famous leopard skin singlet that was supposed to be the pillar of our first collection. Unfortunately, like leopards, the material we wanted turned out to be too elusive so we had to leave it as an enigmatic prototype. Though Angus still reps it on special occasions.

What inspires you / your work?

We draw inspiration from a tonne of places. We are all really excitable by art,
music and culture in general. Our inspiration comes from so many people and places it’s hard to pin anything down, but our ghetto K road flat does end up being quite a melting pot of inspiring people and interesting ideas quite often.

What are some new trends in your Winter 12 collection we should watch out for?

We’ve kept the new collection pretty simple, using subtle details to add to the simple silhouettes that fit with our brand. We’ve used some eclectic textures throughout like thick corduroy and crushed velvet to give it a bit of flavour, we’ve also carried on some ideas from Summer 11/12 such as pleating, which is working really well in the collection.

What’s next for the label?

Hmmmmm, Summer 12/13…We are just going to keep doing what we’re doing.The next few ranges in the works have some interesting ideas coming through, and the plan is to keep our under-stated aesthetic up, but to continue adding on what we’ve created so far. Mainly we want to keep on making clothes we love and work hard towards creating a company that everyone stoked to be a part of.