Shelflife Showcase: Pastel
Our country is bursting with creativity & local knowledge of how to navigate the SA landscape. Local brands, designers and artists are killing it and making the whole ecosystem work in their own special ways! With our new monthly Showcase Series, we aim to highlight the people making meaningful moves and aim to share their hustle with others. First up is a brand you might have heard of - Pastel.
Transforming local and international figures into rap tees in the most unique ways, the brand has been growing fast and gaining a loyal following. From Nelly and Leonardo Dicaprio to Brenda Fasie and YoungstaCPT, Pastel has left its mark on the culture with each limited release of graphic tees.
The brand stays niche though. It's an "if you know you know" type of thing. Limited marketing, no restocks, and an online store that stays locked for weeks before a limited release (that sells out in an hour) - all of this makes you really take notice when Pastel drops something. It's quality over quantity. As elusive as the brand is, we were able to track down the mind behind it all for a quick interview! Check it below.
What was the inspiration behind the Pastel brand?
For the most part, I never saw myself as a brand, I always felt that Pastel was an artistic expression where I put all my ideas. The graphic tees were not even the first idea that came to mind when Pastel was born but I knew I needed a medium to put all these thoughts into and clothing, and specifically, t-shirts was the easiest way in. In early 2017 I grew a habit, which later became a hobby, of collecting rap t-shirts. I spent a lot of hours thrifting with little to no success. I soon came to realise that Cape Town did not have a “scene” for this market I was going into and I thought I could fill that gap, a combination of ideas, the love of rap tees and the fact that, at the time, it was an emerging market resulted in Pastel.
Influencers from the UK and The States gave me even more motivation because they were doing it on a different scale - having these loud graphics and extremely large print that covers the entire front and back of a t-shirt. Ever since that point, I decided to up-skill myself both technically and artistically to reproduce something on a similar scale. This was my very first memory of being introduced to rap tees and where my interest really evolved into a love for the art form.
What are the biggest hurdles you had to overcome getting the brand off the ground?
There were so many hurdles but a lot of trial and error coupled with customer feedback made the process of getting the best possible product much easier. For a first time “brand” owner I had to work my way up in terms of building relationships with vendors which helped when communicating changes you want made to be suit you. The fabric used for the t-shirts is one issue I could only troubleshoot after the entire customer experience was complete. Tee fabric reacts differently to the inks used by the printers so this alters the colours and makes the actual graphic much darker than it actually is.
Another hurdle is the printing process itself when I started out I used DTG (Direct-To-Garment) which is a computerized process where your artwork is loaded and printed directly onto the t-shirt, you could think of it as a printer but for t-shirts. On the other hand you have screen-printing which we have been phasing into our process from our last 2 drops. It's a process that splits all the colours in the artwork across multiple screens, then a mesh is used to apply the ink colours onto the garment. These hurdles were very complex in the beginning but now we basically got everything nailed to a T.
What gear do you use to create your graphic tees?
For the most part, it's Adobe Photoshop but in some instances where we want to be a bit more detailed or intricacy with some aspects of the design I’d use Adobe Illustrator as well.
How did you learn the skills to create and market your brand so well?
Honestly, I just made the effort. Firstly, to learn each and every tool in Photoshop. The idea was if I knew all or the majority of the tools in the app I would be able to do basically everything I want from there. I then sank a lot of hours into YouTube tutorials and went back and forth to the videos as I designed. Tasked myself to create at least one t-shirt design per month for a period of time because I need to get into the habit of creating every day. Marketing is still a department that I feel I could do better because the design of the t-shirt essentially sells itself the marketing aspect always felt like a bonus but when it does come down to it. I always try and take inspiration from the character I am designing on and I base the photoshoot around that which has been received well by my followers.
Name 5 brands that really inspire you?
For someone starting up a brand, are there any DOs and DONTs when dealing with manufacturers?
One of the biggest DOs and I think is that it goes without saying - it's hard to find your own lane and focus on developing your own style. Another thing I recommend is building healthy relationships with vendors and manufacturers. Also, don't be afraid to communicate changes you want to be made to your product because at the end of the day - the brand is an extension of you. Don’t incorrectly value yourself or your product - this could be anything from lowering your price to getting a lower quality fabric or blank because it’s cheaper. It will reduce your longevity. Lastly, don’t look at what other brands in your field are doing, get your head down and grind, Tunnel Vision.
If you could collab with anyone on a graphic tee, who would it be and why?
Official collaborations, be it with artists in our local scene or brands, I want to get the opportunity to create for some of the biggest artist and brands. I feel that I am starting to make noise in the scene and getting on peoples radar so official merch will be the ultimate goal. If I had to choose my dream brand to work with officially first, it would have to be Nike.
Is there anything we should look up for coming soon from Pastel?
I have been working on an extension of Pastel called “Private Domain”. It’s still in its infancy but the idea of what I want to execute is in place, I’ve been working closely with vendors to get the infrastructure right to bring the vision to life. But before all this can take off our flagship item, the rap tees, has to have staying power and be a presence on its own.
Currently, our webstore is also unlocked for the release of the Chicago Bulls Long-sleeve tees.
