Fashion – DreamState » Fkn' Famous

Fashion – DreamState

July 5, 2012 in Fashion

We love bringing you some of the most dope brands & stores around the world. It was just the other day when we brought you the in-depth clothing review. Well today holding things down in the indie fashion industry we’ve got a clothing brand based out of Dallas, Texas by the name of DreamState Apparel Brand. Now relax as we get to know DreamState Apparel Brand a little more and how they started out in the industry.

Clothing line name: DreamState Apparel Brand
City/State: Dallas, TX
Established date: 2/9/2010
Website: www.thestateofdream.com

Price range for clothing: $25 for T’s / $40 for Sweats / $30 – $40 for Hats
Where to buy your clothing: www.thestateofdream.com

So tell us about your brand?

- DreamState is a streetwear brand featuring only limited edition designs and quality products meant to convey clean, simple, powerful messages and provide an outlet for the non-traditional streetwear customer – the person who doesn’t skate or rap or live in NY or L.A. but appreciates and relates to everything that those traditional streetwear elements stand for.

What were you doing before launching your brand?

- I was in law school in Cleveland, Ohio. Hating my life.

How did you come up with the name? When did you begin thinking about launching your own clothing brand?

- The brand’s name originated out of a personal crisis I went through late in 2009. I was in my first year of law school and realized that the grind of that academic life had completely taken over my life. I wasn’t drawing, painting, or even dreaming. As a lifetime artist, that was just unacceptable. So, I focused on a few graphic designs just to reinvigorate my creative side. Eventually, after getting them printed just for the hell of it, friends and family wanted one for themselves. I ended up calling the brand “DreamState” as an ode to the months prior to launching the brand that I literally didn’t dream.

What best describes your line & who is it targeted to?

- DreamState is branded towards the “streetwear” (whatever that means these days) fan. Our real target customer is the person who may not be from the traditional hubs of the streetwear movement like L.A. or NYC or the ones who aren’t necessary into the skate or rap game. There is definitely a niche for those buyers. I feel like there is an opinion out there that if you don’t do certain activities or come from certain cities that you aren’t allowed to enjoy streetwear. I just absolutely disagree. We offer a streetwear feel with recognizable content that anyone, from music and sneaker heads to skaters to the regular Joe who works a 9 to 5, can relate to rep with pride.

What influenced you to start this line?

- A major influence to starting my brand came when I realized that I couldn’t truly relate to the threads I was wearing. I mean obviously I thought the brands I was wearing were dope esthetically, but their story was so disconnected from where I come from and what I grew up on that I didn’t have the connection to the brand that I was looking for. For example, I loved reppin The Hundreds but that brand is so strong on its neighborhoods. The imagery from THNY and THSM is catered to that locale. I’m just a dude from the Midwest. I loved reppin Benny Gold, but his strong skate in SF background didn’t mean much to me. So, I figured the only way to get my street style and have a brand I can relate to is to build my own.

How is your brand different from others out there?

- I think what separates DreamState is the ability for a variety of backgrounds to feel strong wearing the brand. I think the messages in our designs appeals to a broad group. Our latest hoodie, for example, says “Stay Sharp & Survive.” That message by itself can appeal to a lawyer, skater, chef, etc. I think that’s what’s great about DS. I just want people to interpret the messages in a way that makes it meaningful to them. The best example of this was our winter crewneck that said “Live the Dream & Protect the State.” Had a soldier email me and say that the reason he is in the military is for exactly that type of message. I didn’t intend that design to be patriotic but for him, that’s what it was.

Are there any challenges you run into while running a business?

- Definitely the amount of streetwear brands sprouting up every day make shining through a challenge. Other than that, the only difficulty is constantly challenging myself to progress the brand. Being the only one designing the clothes can be dangerous, there isn’t a lot of constructive criticism that can happen. But, as best I can, I try to revise designs until they are the best they can be.

What ways did you find promoting your brand worked?

- I think the hype of Instagram has grown the business the most. The culture of initial Instagram users was art based and it was a perfect group to show behind the scenes shots of how our brand is growing. I can attribute a lot of recent growth to that for sure. We’ll see where that goes now that it’s a facebook thing…

Are there any future plans for your line?

- Well the brand is not going anywhere that’s for sure. But there are a few very exciting things on the horizon that I am really looking at as “make or break” moments for the brand. This summer I am taking it back to the city where DS all started, Cleveland, Ohio, so if any of your readers are there in August definitely be on the lookout for a major event that’ll be happening. I’m basically calling it our Re-Release. Should be epic. I also hope to do some key collabs soon. Some are already in the works. Either way, stay tuned.

How did you hear about FKN Famous & what do you think of us?

- FKN came on my radar when a few of the indie brands that I follow mentioned it to me. After checking the site out I def had an appreciate for the amount of content put out. Some review sites don’t have fresh content that often. FKN Famous def stays up on what’s out there.

Any last shout outs?

- This is definitely my first ever s/o opportunity. I just want to send a s/o to a few brands that are doin’ it the way it should be done and keep me pushing to compete – keep grindin The Parafloyd Co., The Condolence Co. here in the states and AONO, Abandon Ship and Framework across the pond. Keep grindin yall’s products help filter some of the crap thats out there. No doubt s/o FKN for this opportunity and lastly, whats up to the Midwest, thanks for holdin down the brand.