An article I did for a streetwear apparel magazine. I’ll post a link to the magazine and article once it’s published.
VandalThreads, from deadlift attire to grassroots streetwear - the up and coming brand you’ll want to get behind.
Started in Peterborough by a photographer whose goal it was to make fashion with a purpose. Whether that’s shining a spotlight on the importance of mental health with their ‘smile’ drop, or the brands close ties with the FitFam world to make affordable, gym quality clothing able to endure every PB they see you through.
Liam Hall, the CEO of VandalThreads is at the helm of the company and designs his own work from a love of street wear fashion and a passion to bring meaning to his work. One of the biggest recent drops being the ‘Smile’ drop in which 50% of all proceeds went to the mental health charity ‘MIND’. Personally, I think this move so early on in a company’s timeline is a selfless and courageous move in showing the streetwear world what they’re all about and a hope to blaze a trail in the community to talk more, listen more and support more.
Their most recent drop is the ‘ThreadsXShake’ collab. A creator collaboration drop between VandalThreads and ShanRockShake, a content creator and streamer, from which the ‘ALMA MUERTA’ tee design has been a particular favourite, and I can see why. The design is beautiful, and the quality is evident.
VandalThreads produces a variety of avenues for street fashion, small businesses and creators alike to be seen in their drops. Aside from their main drops, the most recent being the ‘SMILE’ drop, they have the creator drops and the small business collabs. Through their creator collab drops they involve other creatives, people with the same vision for affordable, eco-friendly, fashion forward styles that means style does not have to be compromised for sustainability. They let their creators and influencers have a hand in their own personal deign for the collab and a chance to make it their own so that it is a true marriage between creator and brand with some big creative ideas, producing some really beautiful ideas and garments for both fans of the brand and creators while creating more fans on both sides and exponentially growing VandalThreads popularity, but what’s so impressive about VT is that they bring all of their partners and collaborators along with them for the ride with their unwavering loyalty to small creators. VT don’t stop there though, they also strive to do collaborative drops with other small businesses, sharing ideas, going through the creative process together producing some of the best garments in the small business market to date, while always sticking to their closely held values of affordability, sustainability and top quality. And with material partners such as Adidas and Champion, you know they’re putting their money where their mouth is.
Another thing to note about VT is their already huge range of products. They’re not just pedalling out the same old tank tops and hoodies, only pandering to the activewear market to turn over a quick profit; they have tees, tote-bags, long-sleeves, face-coverings, drinkware, accessories, teddy bears, organic products, stickers, workwear, water bottles and even baby apparel, everything for all genders. You are guaranteed to find something you’ll love and want to buy everything to match.
Following the current trends is something that comes with ease for VT while still having the touch to design something that you’ll want to wear season after season and never feel like it’s outdated. From bucket hats to varsity tees, this is street fashion to last. The only thing we can hope falls out of fashion from VandalThreads soon is its face masks.
As the brand grows, I hope to see more variety in their styles and branching out on their genres of grassroots streetwear as they continue their growth from being an active wear brand into also reaching their potential to be a dominating streetwear apparel brand. Those of us who follow street wear fashion know that brand new on-street styles are consistently appearing first in South Korea and my favourite has to be the emergence and rising popularity of tech-wear since it reached Europe. Urban apparel that uses high-quality fabrics, and technical detailing to create a product that can stand up to the elements and although brands like The North Face and Patagonia have been making high-quality technical wear for years, the emergence of the new-alt tech wear from Korea has more intricate detailing and takes a turn away from 2010s workwear style technical wear like Dickies and beautifully remixes this with the grunge and goth styles of the 90s with straps, belts, chains and super high detail and quality.
Of course, this is just my prediction for where urban wear apparel is heading as these styles have been rapidly picking up popularity in the last few years and are being perfected on the streets of Glasgow and London and if I could see VandalThreads following this trend I could see them on the level with the likes of brands such as Maniere de voir, producing looks that can truly be worn well beyond the season. I feel like this is a great natural progression for VandalThreads.
VandalThreads are still on their journey of finding themselves and I firmly believe that they will explode onto the streetwear scene with a firm, established identity and they have definitely had a strong start.
If there’s one thing the coronavirus pandemic proved to us all, it’s that small businesses need us more than ever and are the ones worth our support as they give the most to the causes we care about and provide us with the things that we love. I, for one, have every faith that the values of this small business are right in its heart and will remain so for the long haul, continuing to support the causes around them that they care about the most as they grow, which they certainly will. VandalThreads are putting the heart back into grassroots streetwear apparel and I can’t wait to see them grow and see them emerge as one of the brighter lights in the fashion world post-pandemic.
Support a small business today. Eco - friendly, affordable, fashionable health and streetwear apparel; VandalThreads is the clothing brand you’ll be desperate to meet.
Article written by Sophie Watson
Freelance article and blog writer.
Instagram: @the.psychology.blog