What comes to mind when you hear abour a Hero? What is it that you can tell about a Hero’s son? All that you need for this discription is translated into the collections of the brand Sons Of Heroes, a contemporary label that is constantly winning ground. Muse, Rihanna and 50 Cent are a few among their numerous supporters who have the attitude and confidently seek the way to express it.On the pursuit of style, anyone?
Why Sons of Heroes? Is the new generation going to be better and improved?
The brand itself was established out of a passionate desire to break away from those self-indulgent, money driven machines out there that are currently killing any integrity left within the affordable fashion industry. The name Sons of heroes was an obvious choice allowing ourselves to pay respect to all the sacrifices that parents make in order to provide for their families, along with recognizing the heroic figures that have helped shape the country as we know it today. The new generation will be whatever we choose it to be – more options but more decisions needing to be made – through all dark nights do come bright days.
Who do you design for?
Anyone who values integrity with the personality to make statements whilst fighting for what they believe. I suppose that is reflected in our aesthetic, which is characteristically very bold and confident with a hard-edged sensibility. Each season has a rugged masculinity about it and there’s just enough – but not too much, androgyny in there that won’t send male customers running for the hills. Whilst men are more in tune with their feminine side and androgyny is becoming more and more accepted in the male realm of contemporary fashion, you still have to think commercially about what’s going to sell to the male demographic in the mass market. At the same time, whilst SOH is currently a menswear label, many of our garments crossover into womens and we have seen girls looking great in some of our leopard bombers – Rihanna was rocking it the other week! But generally we like to design for someone who is happy in their own skin and who dresses for themselves and not for others.
What do you want your label to be recognised for?
Integrity, attitude and personality.
While designing, what keeps your brand’s vision intact?
Belief, stupidity, honesty and personality
Style-wise, which are the elements that can transform a boy into a heartbreaking badass?
I think stuff comes from within, really. The ‘boy’ has to be confident, intriguing, mysterious, careless, reckless – and a bit confrontational if he has to protect what he stands for. I think a lot of it also comes from just not giving a shit about anything. Not taking life too seriously or literally. He has an attitude and isn’t scared to hurt people’s feelings as long as the truth is told. So he probably wears clothes which reflect all of that – styles which articulate a certain sensibility. But ultimately it is all rooted in truth – you cannot dress up to be what you are not. That’s just heartbreaking to look at.
And why, from your perspective up until now, is this “package” so appealing to the worldwide streetstylers?
I suppose because it’s non-conforming and echoes that uncompromising masculine attitude of being ferociously faithful to the self – embracing personal style without feeling the need to impress or live up to anything prescribed in the industry.
Black and white are key elements to your collections. Is this how a son of a hero perceives the world or is it something that happens along the designing process?
Black and white represents the two shades of all personalities and nothing compliments that better than good & bad; light and shade, night & day, black & white. Of course Sons of Heroes is very rock n’roll in style so a monochrome palette naturally lends itself to that – in addition to the odd bleaching and bold acid dye techniques which pop up sparingly from time to time in the collections.
Tell us a bit about your lines: they’re quite simple but are characterised by some very intricate twists.
The success in creating good menswear is striking a balance between acceptance and individuality – Therefore we aim to provide a product that allows the form of individual expression without being ostracized. This we try to create through understandable garments that all have a personality of their own.
What do you have in store for the future?
Our immediate goal is to secure a reliable retail portfolio which allows the brand to develop and evolve as an influential player within the international menswear scene, immediately followed by the launch of a womenswear line.