Q- Social Media plays a significant role in the fashion industry today. How do you leverage social media and other online platforms to engage with your audience and showcase your brand's personality?
A- How do I leverage it? I think, yeah, definitely. Social media is extremely important for brands now. If you're not really using it to the maximum capacity, you're going to struggle, and everybody's on there now. A lot of people take to social media for fashion influences, ideas, and to find new brands, and in terms of how I use it for PINNA, it's a mixture, really. You have to try to make sure that the message you're sending out can relate to the customers you want or the customers you have. In the same breath, I've got to make sure I'm giving a bit of me in there, individuality as well. I try to create visuals and messages that have me inside. So it's not just purely for the customer; it's not just going to be a generic kind of write-up.
Q- Exciting new releases often generate buzz in the streetwear community. Can you give us a sneak peek into any upcoming collections or drops that fans can look forward to, and what inspired these designs?
A- Can I give a sneak peek? Yeah, 100%. It's a pity because this drop should have happened a while ago, but when you're a bit of a smaller brand, you run into some issues sometimes, and that's what's happened here. But it's some premium pieces that we're looking to do. We’re upping the levels this time around this year. We've got wicked long sleeves, a crinkle nylon cap, and a crinkle nylon half zip coming.
There's going to be another drop very shortly after that, which is gonna be really cool, which we're really excited to drop actually because it's been in the works for a while, and yeah, basically what has inspired these is just the direction that I want to take the brand and where I see it, how I see it positioned. I just try and put a lot of influences and my ideas into what's happening next is quite a long process. But yes, it's a lot of me, again, a lot of individuality. I'm trying to add myself into it and just trying to give streetwear a little bit of a different edge really.
Q- Collaborations with influential figures can bring a unique perspective to a brand. Can you share any insights into working with notable individuals or entities and how these partnerships have influenced your brand's trajectory?
A- I think our most recent notable collab was with One Derby. It's a streetwear store in the city they're doing really well; they’re a good set of guys, we’ve worked with them for a long time, we've been stocked in there for a while. We done a pop-up, had some limited-release T’s, it went really well man, hopefully, we've got some more stuff coming up with them guys soon.
In terms of how we look at it, all of our collabs are organic really it's not really follower-based or anything like that. If we like what you're doing, we want to try and get involved and get you involved, shall we say. So most of the collabs, I would say, are with musicians, rappers, singers. I do a bit of rapping and that myself under the name WXNGS.
But when we kind of look at collabs or like, say, sending out pieces or doing things like that, with the musicians, it's just people that kind of just fit. It just kind of fits what we're doing it's the music I listen to on a daily basis. I'll reach out to them guys whether they got a thousand followers or 20 - 30 thousand followers. It doesn't matter. I like to show love. I like to show people that they are appreciated. So, yeah, it's a very organic process with the influencer thing. With PINNA, it's not forced at all. And I think that's how it should be really, with most people. I think people get a bit a bit uppity about these kind of things. But yeah, very organic.
Q- What initially drew you to the world of streetwear, and how has your personal journey influenced the vision and direction of your brand?
A- What drew me into the world of streetwear? I’ve always been into fashion, always been into clothing ever since I was a young buck. I always had to be the guy that was wearing that kind of odd stuff. And the boys would be like, Yo, why are you doing that? And then six months later, you’ll start seeing certain things creep into their wardrobe. I was always kind of that guy that when I was young, I’d be selling packs of Haribo and cans of Fanta in school on the playground just to raise up some change so I can go into like TK Maxx on the weekend and go and get some new clothes, like that’s how me and the boys really were.
I went to uni in Sheffield, I did a sports course and ended up doing like a big assignment on fashion and boutiques and stuff in the city. And yeah, I knew that that was my calling. I think going to uni really opens up your eyes to a lot like I was very used to like, say, back with my boys, there was a lot of like streetwear, a lot of tracksuits, a lot of like man bags at the time, it was Air Max’s all the time. When you go to uni, people dress a lot different; they’re from different cities. You get to experience a lot of different conversations and people that you never usually meet. And it kind of just sparked something in my head, I’d be in lectures, sketching all the time, like there’d be no work in any of my notepads, it would just be pure sketching for PINNA even before it was a thing.
Q- What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs looking to break into the streetwear industry based on your own experiences and journey?
A- What advice would I give to aspiring entrepreneurs looking to break into streetwear? It’s a tough one, really, I would probably say you need to be very, very resilient and stick by your guns. You’ve got your vision, don’t let anything sway the vision and it’s not going to be an overnight success 99.9% of the time. Stick with it, don’t be looking at other brands out there and be thinking like, why aren’t I like that or I’m better than that brand, I should be in the position that they’re in. Don’t get jealous just stick to your own guns, man. Stick to your own lane. If your stuffs good enough, you’ll get noticed eventually. Believe me when I say I don’t think it’s going to be an overnight success. Be prepared to work. Be prepared to graft. 99% of whatever you do will never be seen by the public. But yeah, in short, just stick with it. If your stuff is good enough, you will get noticed. Keep grinding, don’t let anyone sway the vision, and yeah, you should be all right and don’t think it’s a quick flip.
