Now a household name in his native London, Oliver Proudlock, commonly known simply as Proudlock, doesn’t really care to discuss life as a reality TV star. After all, landing a role on the UK hit series Made in Chelsea might have made him famous, but it won’t necessarily keep him that way.
An emerging artist and creator of contemporary fashion label Serge DeNimes, Proudlock is here to talk about his brand and the trifecta that makes him tick: music, art, and design. Since graduating from Newcastle University with a degree in Fine Art, Proudlock has made a name for himself in the fashion and entrepreneurial worlds, expanding his urban streetwear line into an ever-evolving, all-encompassing lifestyle brand.
BULLETT caught up with the style guru over Skype, where we discussed not-so-great superhero powers and how his love of both hip-hop and the good design that spawned the coolest Obama t-shirt to date, which available here in The BULLETT Shop.
What have you been up to lately?
We have our pop-up on Carnaby Street, and it’s very exciting because we are bang in the middle of Carnaby. The last people to have a pop-up shop on Carnaby were actually The Rolling Stones, so it’s been an amazing opportunity.
We just launched in Topman which is very exciting and we’re doing another pop-up shop again in Boxpark, which is in East London. We’re trying to move brand awareness not just here in the UK but outside, focusing on Australia, hopefully America, and I really wanna hit Japan as well. I went to Australia a couple weeks ago for five days and did a trip around Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide — we did showcases in each place.
It makes sense that you’re expanding to the Australian market, with beach culture there being so prevalent.
Exactly. I was getting a lot of good reactions from buyers because the whole culture in Australia is board shorts and t-shirts. For me, it’s been great because originally, I’m trained in art, but I’ve always been so much into fashion. My mom was a designer, so for me being able to develop my art into fashion and use a different medium, as opposed to painting on a canvas [is rewarding].
What do you think it is that makes your brand really special to people right now?
T-shirts are something that we wear all year round, it’s a timeless piece. I wanted to try and create the perfect t-shirt — not only with attention to the cotton and the fit, but also the print. I think people are realizing our t-shirts, in terms of quality, are pretty much up there. The cotton itself and the print stands out from other designs.
Also just the brand itself — the key for me was pushing the lifestyle brand. We’ve been doing collaborations with musicians, artists, designers, that’s what the brand is about — bringing together these three creative forms of art, music and fashion. I think this is something that’s very current in today’s community.
Explain the concept behind “The Good Life” shirts. How did they come about?
“The Good Life” tees were influenced by my love for hip-hop. In designing the second collection, I was listening to a lot of hip-hop and wanted to do some designs around hip-hop artists that I’ve loved since I was a kid. We picked Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and Obama. I wanted to integrate Serge de Nimes and reference B.I.G. and his album cover with the crown. Now I want to continue with this line but expand to different characters outside of music.
You have quite the massive fan base in the UK (over 350,000 Twitter followers). On a personal note, what do you have in store for the future?
I’m doing some really exciting design collaborations. I just did the Oliver Sweeney collab which launched in Harvey Nichols on the 25th of August. I’ve got a jewellery line with Theo Fennell which came out in September, and I’m looking to do a men’s style book for my blog proudlockstyle.com. [It’s going to be a] men’s style guide with everything from daily looks, street style, product categories, and style guides. Also, I’m trying to push my art and hoping to have an art exhibition by the end of the year.
So apps, jewelry, shoes, and exhibitions — you wear many hats. Is this all part of your goal to create a lifestyle brand?
Yeah, what I want to create is like an artistic community. More and more in today’s creative environment you see people collaborating, you see a lot of these brands working together. Previously it was so competitive and everyone was trying to outdo one another whereas now people are coming together and realizing that in collaborating we can create something so much better.
Now that you mention it, I really have noticed more and more collaborations, especially across mediums. You see a footwear company like Adidas team up with Vice to introduce the newest DJ talents.
Exactly, everything’s crossing over. All music and fashion and design are constantly crossing over. It’s happening more and more.
Okay, time for a silly question: What superhero power would you not want to have?
I mean they’re all probably awesome. Reading minds. I wouldn’t like to read minds. That wouldn’t be great for the self-esteem.