Strangers Clothing NZ Up & Coming
Strangers Clothing is an up & coming clothing brand based in New Zealand, they have some pretty cool vintage drops & I have been looking about getting them on Stewi Mag because they are very active on their socials and deserve exposure! I spoke to Cameron founder of Strangers and he provided us with information regarding his brand and how everything has gone with it!
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Interview w @strangersmfg founder Cameron
Q & A:
Question 1: When did you start Strangers Clothing & has everything gone to plan?
A: Strangers officially started in January 2021 when my wife told me that stockpiling secondhand clothes and having cool ideas is all useless if I never do anything with them! So I created an Instagram called Strangers MFG and started up-cycling clothing I had thrifted, mostly by hand painting and adding patches to them. Things have mostly gone to plan, I experiment a lot with different types of paints, so far I’ve used spray paint, paint pens, fabric paint and screen printing and it doesn’t always turn out how id hoped! But that’s all part of the journey.
Question 2: Do you guys at Stranger Clothing have a certain colourway in the things you sell?
A: I think anyone who follows us will quickly and easily identify our brand colours, black and green. Our whole website and Social media is all black and green and a bunch of our clothes as well. But we definitely don’t limit ourselves to those colours when creating new pieces. A ton of our stuff is on blue denim or black and white, even bright pink! I just went with the black and green because I think it looks sick and helps us stand out from other brands.
Question 3: What is the purpose of Strangers Clothing?
A: It’s called Strangers because I wholeheartedly believe that we’re all Strangers to this world. That’s there’s a spiritual emptiness inside all of us and a longing for something more, something eternal and something outside of the physical world we live in. I try to embody those ideas in each piece I create.
Question 4: What inspired you to start Strangers Clothing? Is this a solo project idea or was a group?
A: I’ve been a freelance Graphic Designer for a couple of years and I got sick of designing stuff for other people, so I started creating my own designs. Just stuff that I’d like to wear. I find it really difficult to find clothing I like in New Zealand. We don’t really have many local options for alternative or punk clothing and our streetwear scene is pretty bland. Shipping prices to NZ are always ridiculous as well, so I wanted to make alternative clothing that was accessible to the local kiwi kids. I design and make the majority of our stuff my self. Strangers is a one man brand but I also get to work with some mates who are talented designers and other local streetwear brands as well.
Question 5: How do you guys on your social media try and keep people engaged with your stuff?
A: Dude, all our sales pretty much come from Instagram and Tik Tok (Don’t knock it till you try it!) So I keep a pretty regular posting schedule. Posting on both every weekday. We have a really cool community on Instagram. I’ve made so many friends online since we started! It’s sick.
Question 6: How is Strangers Clothing different to other stores?
A: More black and green for sure haha. But seriously, I think the fact that I do it all myself is a stand out. I think we merge high fashion and streetwear with alternative culture in a way that is quite unique. I feel like you could wear our stuff if you’re like a hypebeast or an e-girl and it still works.
Question 7: How has lockdown impacted Strangers Clothing?
A: Everyone was bored and stuck at home so our social media interaction was off the charts!! I work from home when I design anyway so that didn’t change much, but I really missed the youth work I usually do. I’m a big people person so I often struggled to stay creative when I couldn’t go out and see other people.
Question 8: Have you guys thought about an Aus Store?
A: We have worldwide shipping so we’re practically there haha. Free shipping in NZ and our next best shipping rates are to Aussie, so what are you waiting for!?
Make sure to check out all of Strangers Clothing socials and to check out their website for some sick drops!! All of their stuff is very unique and good quality.
SOCIALS:
Instagram: @strangersmfg
Website: wearestrangers.shopify.com