An underground brand labelled Duzhvug have been taking over with their creative ideas on hats, pants, masks & the rest. With a crew like these guys have at their brand you can see why they are such a big success in 2022, we spoke to the head of Duzh to get his insight on how he thinks his brand is going at the current moment...
Q & A:
Question 1: When did you Start DUZH & has everything gone to plan?
A: Duzh, or “duuzh” started around 2014/15, cant recall the exact year but it started but around that time when we were all in high school, less responsibilities, more care-free and less intelligent. It
started as sort of a throw-around tangible word that you could almost use to describe anything
provided you said it in such a way that the meaning in context was conveyed through emphasis,
body language, etc. It means literally what it sounds like as, onomatopoeia, we used it in
conversation literally almost every day, every sentence, literally just duuzh. It wasn’t exactly easy to
describe to someone, as it isn’t really now, lol. You really need to see/hear it being said to fully
understand what it means in conversation haha. That’s really how and where it all started, we as
friends literally had this as our most used words for 7 years up until we actually started this whole
thing and we added probably the second most use word in our vocabularies as well in the word
“vug.” Yet, we started this venture officially and properly in either Aug/Sep of 2021, so we are
getting pretty close to our first full year of it all which is pretty crazy, time flies, definitely does not
feel like a year so far. To say that anything has gone to plan would be the biggest troll statement
ever, literally nothing has and probably never will go to plan, but that’s that! That’s what it is all
about, solving problems, trying to make things go as best to plan as they can. As that is just life,
everything that can go wrong will go wrong. All seriousness though, almost something goes wrong
every day. From things like selling: more stock than what is on hand, models not rocking up,
manufacturing defects, spilling bleach over all of our clothes, photographers postponing shoots,
literally everything. I could go on for days and days just listing all the shit that has gone wrong so far but its cool! We try our best to manage it and I’m sure heaps more will not go according to plan but we’re excited for that, fixing issues results in growth and who doesn’t want to grow.
Question 2: What do you guys think is the most important thing when running a brand?
A: I think there are again probably 100000x different things that are important when running a brand all very relatively equal in importance as well. However, to choose just one thing being the most important although it may seem difficult, in actuality it is pretty evident. As it is the case with almost everything, not just limited to brands. In life, in work, in business, in school, in everything, it is just the people that are a part of the given situation that in almost all cases are the most important. It is the same with us, the people involved are the most important. As cliché and dumb as it may sound, it just the truth because if there is no person for the item of clothing to go on, there is no brand. There is no hats without heads, there is no clothes without people. To us, honestly, mateship, sense of belonging, friendship, people, socialising, everything that is involved with basic human interaction is arguably the most important thing when running a brand. That is what we believe at least, we could very well be wrong as we are wrong an awful lot of the time, we are just doing our best to not be wrong however.
Question 3: What is the Purpose of DUZH?
A: Honestly we are yet to establish a true real purpose and meaning as we feel like the magnitude of such shouldn’t just be lightly touched, rather the essence, reason for everything and why you are
operating. If we HAD to say a purpose or the purpose of DUZHVUG though I feel like we could give it a pretty good go. In saying that the purpose of us, is the extension of our extremely funny friendship group through the expressionism of clothing and accessories, in conjunction with the value and unique style of this medium we are building. Perhaps one day after many more failures we will have something better, however, that’s our best for now and our best always gets better : ))
Question 4: Where are you guys originated from?
A: From the 3146 ends really rough and dangerous out here. Jokes aside both born and raised in
Melbourne/Narrm for our short times here so far, duzhvug admin #1 is of Serbian descent and
parents are, duzhvug admin #2 is of Irish descent yet parents are vanilla losers who also lived in a
similar area growing up.
Question 5: Is Stewimag a good way do you think to help build your brand audience? & maybe give you guys some more sales?
A: Yea for sure! Not that it is about sales, just hope we can provide our epic duzh vug admirers with more insight into who we are, what we aim to do/be and just more information about us in general. Because honestly there is not a lot of information out there and like honestly, we probably have too much information to share lol! I think for sure hopefully will play a part in audience exposure, I’m sure certain readers have become acquaint with some hats or clothing items in their time observing dance music and going to events! So hopefully it helps better put a name to face for some people! Or product to business! Which I’m sure as well may perhaps result in more sales but also in hope of reasoning for future acquisitions of any BEAST duzh vug goods
Question 6: Define your brand in 5 words?
A: Fun, cool, vacuous, relaxed, humorous
Question 7: Do you guys have a photographer if not what is your process within booking one?
A: We have no set photographers or main photographers. We have taken photos ourselves a bunch, got some really good friends well versed in photography to help, professionals, everything you name it. Since starting we have really tried to vary almost every shoot, every model, every photo which results in a lot of different photographers. I think we have maybe had 6-7 different people in total if my memory serves me correctly, all incredible, would recommend all to anyone aswell. We don’t really have a process for it either, we like to keep it really spontaneous, fresh and interesting. I feel like as well, you really do get the best results when you try be like this. This also results in the process being pretty much different every time. Sometimes we just go on our own accord with camera in hand and take some cool images of things. Other times, organise studio, photographer, lighting everything weeks in advance etc. Other times, messaged a friend if they’re busy and if not are they willing to shoot some things for us. We like to keep it really relaxed whilst still having some sort of structure, tends to generate the most raw, real and best outcomes aswell, you get the hardcore see it through your eyes smile smile often times in our approach when doing this we’ve found too.
Question 8: How is Duzh different to every other brand?
A: We aren’t. To say that you or we are different, or I am different in arguably one of the most over-
saturated markets in the whole of mankind is honestly just disingenuous. We believe that you are
just straight up lying to yourself if you are saying your brand is different. We TRY to be different,
more than anything we really really to try distinguish and set apart ourselves from what we see
other similar entities doing. We try to really separate ourselves from everyone else in product,
relationships, promotion, message, literally every conceivable aspect of operations, we really do try
to separate ourselves from like brands, it is just extremely hard to do so. The only thing we try and
actually be is different, unusual, independent but at the end of the day we are clothing business and people have been wearing fabrics or “clothes” for more than 100,000 years. So until the day we pull a Steve Jobs and invent something at the same level as the computer, we will just keep trying our best to be “different.”
Question 9: How has COVID impacted DUZH?
A: The only effects impart due to covid upon DUZH would be considered positive funnily enough. On multiple occasions has covid actually had a positive impact on us. Firstly, and most importantly,
DUZH, probably would not have been around without the help of COVID. I say this because, the
scenario which results in the orientation of duzhvug to the world would not have happened without
lockdown. I never would have been invited over to my friend’s house to paint bleach on hats if
COVID was not a thing, they would have just invited me to the pub or something instead. For that, I
am truly grateful, so as awful as covid has been, there’s a silver lining to it, I guess. As there is a silver lining in almost everything in life. Another positive impact COVID has had on the brand was the first week of the year with almost everyone getting the VID, in this time vug admin #2 unfortunately tested positive. In saying this though there was a silver lining to it, the handsome admin had a full week of 9-5 work and hands full with a large sum of orders that needed to be made and shipped out as well. A lot to juggle in a short 5-day period but couldn’t have tested positive at a better time. Was able to stay at home and rest, not infect anyone else at work, still got paid and was also able to spend a lot more time doing all of the duzh vug work as a result of being isolated at home.
Question 10: Would you say at the moment that your brand is a success?
A: Personally, I would say we are seeing success, with the potential for greater success down the line. However, I wouldn’t call our brand a “success.” It is a very ambiguous word, almost always up to the interpretation or perspective of the given individual. And in pretty much every case, the individual is different, as we try to be different for the individual as well. Which I would say is a contributing factor to our success, as well as a lot of hard work. I would also say that there is the potential for success if we continue on our current trend, as well as pick up speed through external help in conjunction with scalability. Of course we want to be successful as does pretty much every cognitive being in the universe, we just understand that it wont come easy and will most likely be a reflection of efforts and growth in the event that we do see greater success
Question 11: What is the key to making more sales?
A: Perseverance, consistency and discernment
Here is where you can find some of their stuff on their website!
You can also check them out on their socials below!
SOCIAL MEDIA:
Instagram: @Duzh.vug