Akademiks’s mens spring campaign image

Akademiks co-founder Emmett Harrell recently gave a great interview to Format magazine.

Here’s a few choice quotes:

What are some of the themes behind the 2008 collection?
Our first collection is about peace and bringing the soldiers home. We’re trying to get ahead of the curve. Right now a lot of people are into that dark, Goth look but we want to step outside of that. Right now it’s about what’s going on outside of America. In the second group, we explore what’s going on in the Americana zone and in the third, we had this thing we did called Gold Rush. And it’s about paying your weight in gold. It’s definitely going to turn a few heads. We’re also working on a line of Green products that I’m very excited about.

How much did co-signs from the hip-hop community impact the growth of the brand?
Unfortunately, we don’t have too much of the hip-hop thing. I’m not like Jay-Z or Puffy with Rocawear and Sean John. That’s not what me and my brother have. We just have true talent and a good product and it seems to be accepted by everyone whether it’s a suburban kid or an industry executive or a crossover BMX biker. We seem to be accepted all over the place because we make a great product.

Currently, the streetwear market is congested with just about anyone dropping a clothing line. How does Akademiks plan on continuing to stand out?
When we first started Akademiks there weren’t as many players on the field. We were able to do what we wanted, when we wanted and however we wanted to. And we’ve become a pretty big monster in this industry. We’re in the top three of who’s doing what, who’s who and who’s hot. Globally, our name is mentioned. You have a lot of talented streetwear kids out there and their companies are growing but there’s more talent then there is product. But as far as the look and what’s going on, it’s definitely in streetwear and I think there’s a nice fusion between urban and streetwear to make up for what’s going on right now.

Stay posted for DrJays.com Live’s interview with Emmett Harrell during the MAGIC show last month.

Source: Format

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 at 10:43 am and is filed under Style. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.