10.Deep's Camouflage Rule: Don't Blend In
Venerable streetwear brand 10.Deep is set to unveil its most camouflage-heavy collection in Las Vegas. Just don’t expect regulation army from the 15-year-old brand.
Scott Sasso, the brand’s founder, is a connoisseur of camouflage patterns. After studying camouflage swatches, collecting old uniforms from around the world and compiling pictorial archives of uniforms from the past 55 years, Sasso creates new camouflage designs with an emphasis on the unexpected, according to Ben Velez, who does marketing and communications for 10.Deep.
For Fall 2011, Sasso took inspiration from the tiger-stripe-pattern jungle camouflage used by French forces in the early 1950s. Most soldiers know the tiger-stripe camo for its iconic horizontal pattern. 10.Deep’s version is oversize and runs vertically. For Summer 2011, Sasso also took the inspiration of flecktarn (spotted camouflage used by the German military after World War II), but Sasso emphasized the red and rust spots in the complex camouflage pattern.
While Sasso could probably teach a course in camouflage studies, his interest in camo pattern is not merely rooted in his sartorial obsession, Velez said—10.Deep customers are camouflage fans. “We get an overwhelming positive reaction,” Velez said. 10.Deep’s Spring 2011 inventory of camouflage clothes and shorts quickly sold out.
10.Deep’s unique camouflage will be placed on backpacks, tote backs, shorts and pants inspired by workwear/carpenter pants for the Spring ’12 collection, which will be exhibited at S.L.A.T.E. at the MAGIC Marketplace Aug. 22–24 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.
The 10.Deep pants will feature phone pockets and hammer loops. Shorts will feature side epaulets, which can be used to give the garments a shorter length. Hike them up, and the shorts will reveal some contrast fabrics. 10.Deep fans should keep this on their radar screens: The brand is scheduled to open a New York boutique in the next 18 months, according to Velez. Last year, the brand’s Los Angeles fans got a 10.Deep retail preview with a pop-up shop that opened on Fairfax Avenue between November 2010 and January 2011.
For more information, email info@10deep.com.—Andrew Asch
