Evokal: Home-Grown Streetwear
Hailing from South Africa, freelance designer Brett Walker is consumed with helping local artists use apparel as a platform for creating exposure and revenue. From graffiti artists to painters to musicians and artisans, Walker thinks creative types are the perfect source for cool T-shirts and limited-edition apparel. His new Costa Mesa, Calif.–based store and studio, Evocal, is ground zero for creating wearable art.
Launched in July, Evocal is part retail space, art gallery, production facility, brand incubator and craft studio. Walker, who has designed for MCD, Mossimo, Ecko, Converse and Solitude, offers select artists the opportunity to launch their own apparel brand through his design company, Diverse Productions.
Using Evocal’s design facilities, which offer screenprinting, embroidery and dyeing capabilities, artists create designs for hats and T-shirts. Walker and Diverse Productions lead artists through the entire process of developing a brand identity to delivering the final product. “They just come in and create. We do all the work,” he said. “Diverse and Evocal provide the umbrella for the artist brands. We create the product package, and in 60 days these artists have their own brands.”
The completed T-shirts, hats and limitededition pieces designed by artists are then sold in Evocal’s store. In addition to a retail outlet, Walker said the artist-turned-designers benefit from the art shows, band showcases and cultural events Evocal hosts. Walker declined to discuss the financial aspects of the deal but said one of the main purposes of the program is to offer artists a revenue stream so they can continue to pursue their art careers.
Currently, graffiti artist and “b-boy” Anthony Uranga and psychedelic surf-inspired painter Jesse Miller are selling their lines, Dammet and Green Sun, respectively, at Evocal.
Evocal isn’t the only company selling artist-designed apparel. Ando and Friends sells T-shirts bearing the surf art of painter Andy Davis at Andoland, a boutique and gallery in Costa Mesa. A rotating cast of artists contributes designs to the boutique’s offerings.
Walker doesn’t leave all of the designing to the artists. To round out the store’s offerings, he produces a line of refurbished vintage clothes and a line of Evocal-branded T-shirts and accessories. The 2,000-square-foot store also retails furniture, lamps and other housewares designed and manufactured by local artisans. Next year Walker plans to add woven shirts and eventually grow Evocal into a full sportswear brand. For now, he is focusing on launching an online retail portal and finding select retail partners to sell Evocal’s artist brands.
Vapor Studio Teams Up With Feit for New Shoe Line
Encinitas, Calif.–based design company Vapor Studio collaborated with Feit, a London-based luxury footwear brand, to help design, market and brand Pntha Hi, a new line of boots. Vapor is owned by designer Ricardo Camargo, one of the founders of Gravis Footwear, a maker of skate and snowboarding shoes. The company has signed on to offer design and branding support to Feit for its Spring 2007 and future collections.
Feit, which sells at Undefeated in Los Angeles and HUF in San Francisco, is known for its upscale sneakers, which offer a luxe take on skate-style shoes. The brand enlisted Camargo to help create the new Pntha boot (pronounced “pantha”), which is a fusion of a military boot and a basketball shoe.
Camargo, who also helps design footwear for Billabong’s Kustom Footwear and Element, said he hopes to guide Feit into position as the next big youth luxury brand.
“The Pntha includes a number of new features,” said Larry Castro, the brand’s United States sales manager. A widened sole unit and a full-length mud guard “ensure the super-clean toe remains super clean,” so that the Pntha boots feel and look good. A mesh tongue insert lets feet breathe and a full pigskin lining adds durability. “We feel this is our most interesting shoe to date,” Castro said.
Feit, which launched in April 2005, wholesales its sneakers for $85 to $110.
