The Guy Vernes interview – Twelve questions, one great brand

Today’s feature is an interview with the driving force behind GuyVernes.com.

Before you start reading this article, I’d like for you to check out this link to the GuyVernes website. It will open up in a new window, so you won’t lose your place here. Go ahead, we’ll wait.

*tap* *tap* *tap*

What did you think? When I first saw the site, I was mesmerized. First by the music, then the photography, and let’s not exclude the shirts. I was compelled to know more about the Guy Vernes brand, so I asked if I could get an answer to a few questions and here is what came back:

PCT: What’s outside your window right now?

The remnants of an old glue factory on a pastel background of a grayish Dutch winter.

PCT: Tell us about Guy Vernes, the name, the brand, the vision.

Guy Vernes is a men’s apparel brand established in 2006 in the Netherlands, and is re-launched online in 2010 for a worldwide audience (www.guyvernes.com). The brand offers a range of authentic tees, which are designed, produced and finished to fit the boys of today.

To me, the brand is a platform for a consistent creative delivery; a label driven by an unlimited passion for creation, hard work and an overall love for life. My aim is to make the name “Guy Vernes” a synonym for excellence and originality. I have a small piece of paper fixed on my wall that sums it all up. If you get it, then you get it all. It says:

Guy Vernes is: intangible + intangible + intangible = tangible (t-shirt)

The name is my pseudonym, but over the years it has evolved to a stand-alone denomination for much more, symbolizing everything the brand stands for. My passport reads “Bilal Al Mashta”.

PCT: What does it mean to wear a Guy Vernes shirt?

I’d like to think that Guy Vernes is the documentation of the post-adolescent men of today; men from different backgrounds, with different skills and occupations: focused, skilled, dedicated and pleasured. Guys who stand firmly in this generation, yet live by their own conceptions and through their own obstinate ways. I guess that wearing a Guy Vernes tee simply means boyish awesomeness.

PCT: Before there was Guy Vernes, the clothing line, what were you doing?

Guy Vernes started when I was in law school. So before the brand’s re-launch in 2010, I was an aspiring lawyer.

PCT: How did you get started as a clothing artist/designer?

I don’t consider myself an artist or a designer. I’d like to think of myself as a creator. If there is one thing that I learned about myself during the last couple of years, is that I am on this planet to create.

When I entered law school, I had to find ways to compensate for the rigidity of legislature and jurisprudence. On a hunch overnight, I decided that I was going to unleash my creative hunger on something as personal as a t-shirt.

PCT: Where are you located and how has that influenced your design style?

My office is located in my beautiful hometown of Delft: the city where kings are murdered, history is written and prostitution is illegal as an exception. Yet none of these fabulous events has had any influence yet design-wise.

Dutch design however is renowned throughout the world. I see incredible artists around me emerging on a daily basis. It keeps me on the edge, in the zone. I guess we’re not just breeding K1 champions and tulips over here…

PCT: Walk us through a day in your life. How do you get things done?

I spend most of my time in “The Mansion”; a 4 by 3 meters room on what used to be an old glue factory on the outskirts of town. Every day is different. I could be guiding people through the web shop by Skype, making phone calls or just watering “Boerboom”: my incredible bamboo-like tree. Throughout the day, people come in and out of the Mansion; some to have lunch on my infinite supply of instant noodles, others to get a hair-cut (it sounds ridiculous, but it’s true), but most of them come to contribute. The Mansion also serves as a local shop where people from around the city come for an expert opinion and a shopping spree over a bar of chocolate and Brazilian coffee. It’s a small, but incredible place.

PCT: What would you like to revolutionize?

That’s a big question. I know I want to change things, to do things differently; sometimes through a stubborn vision, sometimes by mere ignorance. But I’m afraid that speaking of revolutions at this stage would be marginal to say the least.

PCT: Tell us about some of the successes you have enjoyed and some of the challenges you have faced with your line.

Right now, the biggest achievement for me is that we’re telling our story, in all honesty, and that people from around the world are feeling it and showing us love for it. It might sound as a small achievement, but in these times, with thousands of lines out there, one of the most important things to me is to get a face in this industry. You make choices everyday but you never know how things will develop. The fact that we’re not forcing a lifestyle, that we’re not constructing anything superfluous, but simply defining a shared momentum and that the message is getting across, is simply amazing. I don’t consider Guy Vernes a movement, but it somehow sparks off an unconditional love with everyone who experiences it. It’s something to be proud of and to cherish and the brand rests humbly and gratefully on the shoulders of these people.

Strangely, the biggest challenges so far were in the very beginning, when I was trying to get the exact product that I wanted with the quality and craftsmanship demanded and expected from a Guy Vernes tee. I never expected that aspect to be that troublesome, especially since we’re not mass-producing in the Far East, but working on small quantities with local ateliers and suppliers. From practical issues to legal problems, the road has been long in trying to create wardrobe favorites.

PCT: What other Tee or non-tee brands are you into right now?

I love the works of our own Piet Parra for Rockwell Clothing. His work is a tremendous example in consistency and brand recognition. I also admire Nigo and what he has established with the Bathing Ape franchise. Although it’s a different branch, I’ve always had great respect and appreciation for Hermès. In a time where a lot of luxurious brands fail to remain exclusive, Hermès shows a phenomenal display in keeping its authenticity. Overall, I love brands that stay true to their origins and that are successful by simply being undeniably good.

PCT: Your website is great. Who’s vision was it and who took the pictures?

Thank you. All credits for the website go to best friend and super designer Niek Dekker. A true visionary, a perfectionist and an incredible go-getter, Niek not only made guyvernes.com an award-winning website, but goes on to be one of the most important people for the brand.

The pictures are the work of another lifelong friend and inspiration named Andrew Howard Wayne. He’s a phenomenal conceptual thinker and a designer who can do anything.

The picture with the girls in the backyard is taken by another friend called Ivar Teunissen. You should check out his work, it’s amazing.

PCT: What are your hopes for the future?

I hope that we can continue doing what we’re doing, that more people join our circle and that more incredible stuff can roll out of The Mansion. Living in these times and in this country is a privilege I’m thankful for and I hope that I can continue on supplying the people with a consistent delivery of pure awe.

Thank you Popculturetees for this interview and for giving us the chance to say all this.

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Closing thoughts

The Guy Vernes brand is designed around the idea of letting a guy be a guy and the website is like a user’s manual. The images are merely suggestions, but the uniform is mandatory. While there is no guarantee that you will have the same experiences as the subjects in the picture, you will definitely have the same sense of style.

It all begins with a visit to GuyVernes.com

Also mentioned in this article:
http://www.guyvernes.com
http://www.delft.nl/webEN
http://www.rockwellclothing.com
http://nigobape.com
http://us.bape.com
http://www.hermes.com
http://www.niekdekker.com
http://www.darticle.com
http://www.iamivar.nl

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