INDUSTRY INTERVIEW: Q&A with the designing creep behind CREEP STREET Clothing

I had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Boris Chang Jr, a New York Native roaming the streets of Boston who plans on making the streets a stylish yet creepy place with his blunt designs and eccentric vision through Creep Street Clothing.

Felicia: Who the hell are you and what is Creep Street?

Boris: I am Boris Chang Jr, co-founder and Lady Killer of Creep Street.  Creep Street is spider stomping goodness! We are a growing t-shirt company steadily expanding to be the raddest clothing company providing you with awesome knits, wovens, rad accessories and completely useless things you’ll feel you need in your life.

Felicia: What inspired Creep Street?

Boris:Creep Street™ was actually conceived a little more than a year ago when my partner and I, then working at the same company were always talking about current trends in the street-wear scene, and how there were so many great ideas that weren’t quite executed to our standards. With us being 80′s babies, living in the 90′s and rocking out in the 2000′s we quickly clicked for the love of neon colors, monster movies, skateboarding, video games, dinosaurs, food, bad commercials and basically weird & creepy irrelevant things that were ultimately poor in taste.

Felicia: There are an array of novelty tee’s and designers out there right now selling tee’s for skater dudes and O.G’s alike, what makes Creep Street so dope?

Boris: We have versatility and identity! DUH! {laughs} but on the real Creep Street is here to stay! Our supporters are everybody from skaters, gore fans, punk rockers, and anybody who likes color and fun graphics! What happens when Paris & Britney stop fucking up and Lindsay stops snorting? Or when every skull variation, luxury brand parody and Warhol inspired print has been milked?! My partner Chip & I both come from formal graphic design backgrounds and are well versed in the apparel & footwear industries. We think alike in many aspects but our differences allow us to combine and make something bigger and badder! We’re here to establish a concept for people to relate to. Our mission is to pretty much have fun and look fun doing it. With the amount of things we’re into we gots ill ideas for years! Ballinnnn!!!

Felicia: You have designed and worked with Puma and Triple 5 Soul, what have you learned from working in the mainstream market that was most beneficial to you as a young entrepreneur/designer?

Boris: Knowledge & Experience. What good is a great product that won’t sell?  What a lot of people don’t seem to understand that street wear is a trend, and that Apparel is the actual industry. It’s easy to hate on mainstream brands but every big brand has at one point started out small. What companies such as Triple 5 and Puma share is heritage, history, identity and a focused consumer. They have a responsibility to keep brand integrity while appealing to new markets while trying not to lose the ones they have. There are many sacrifices companies have to make in order to grow, and that is never an easy task.

I’ve not only met so many talented and amazing individuals, but I’ve learned from them as well. Working in the mainstream industry allows you to see the bigger picture, and how everything correlates with one another, from what you are selling to how you selling to who you are selling to. From concept to design to production to delivery, this type of knowledge is priceless!

And doing it from scratch is definitely not a walk in the park. It’s time, money and commitment. Let’s hope what I’ve learned will get me somewhere other than sleeping with 20 boxes of stale shirts!

Felicia: What’s the ‘IheartBoris’ line all about? Full of yourself or just full of love?

Boris: Love is the motherf#cking message.™

Felicia: Who is the ultimate creeper (good or bad)?

Boris: Howard Stern. Everything I need to be without the curls.

Felicia: If you could have total access to anyone’s closet who would it be?

Boris: Axl Rose but minus the tights!

Felicia: What’s your favorite outfit that if you were trapped on a deserted island you would be content with wearing for possibly a long ass time?

Boris: My seafoam painters cap, white-v, black cheap Mondays, black suspenders, and white Vans authentics.

Felicia: You have been designing for quite some time but what was the first thing you designed and when?

Boris: “October is computer Learning Month” poster in First Grade with Mrs. Kalina. I drew that shit by hand. I schooled all the damn kids and won a pennant. Epic!

Felicia: Does music influence you when you are creating clothing, what kind of music do you listen to when designing if any?

Boris: If I’m not trilled out on Lil’ Wayne & Rick Ross you can bet it’s that Miles Davis & that John Coltrane. Okay and maybe some Hall & Oates. Just peep the Shuffle steez on my 8000 plus songs.

Felicia: Creep Street has a little bit of everything in the collection but what is a major  fashion faux pas that too many dudes or broads are trying to pull of?

Boris: Starting a t-shirt company! {laughs} The irony! But on the real, just don’t like you bought your entire outfit based on what MIA, Kanye or the Cool kids are wearing. Or out some Urban Outfitters catalogue. Ya dig?

Felicia: Who would be your ideal Creep Street and I heart Boris spokes models?

Boris: Creep Street goes to my partner Chip Louis Marucci III & my bodyguard Chris Earhart. However IheartBoris goes out to all the cute ladies with heart and nothing but love to give. Pun intended. ZING!

For more on the Creep movement hit up the following links

www.madcreepy.com
www.myspace.com/madcreepy
http://creepstreet.blogspot.com
getbent@madcreepy.com