The Blaaahg and Henry had the chance recently to sit down with Britt Sebastian of Hollywood Cemetery to ask him a few questions about how he got to where he is now and where he’s going…
Fill us in on a bit of your past, the vitals, and how you got where you are today.
I’m an advertising major, 21 and with any luck I’ll be done with school in another year. I grew up in Chester,Va. It’s suburbia just like everywhere else, and it sucked as much as any other cookie cutter neighborhood. My friends and I always drove to Richmond to hang out. The culture’s always been cool here. After high school if felt natural to move to the city so it was a pretty easy call.
Sewing came to me in an internship with Raleigh Denim. They’re a small jeans manufacturing company in Raleigh, North Carolina. My brother, who’s a textile major at NC State, got the internship and called me up in Richmond sayin’ that they need some help with marketing. I packed up my shit and left the next day.
The company was literally the couple who owned it, Victor and Sarah Lytvinenko, and my brother and I. Once the orders became overwhelming for the three of them, I started doing simple tasks like hammering rivets and sewing easy seams. By the end of the summer I could make my own jeans from start to finish.
How did your work and training at Raleigh Denim prepare you for Richmond?
The design and manufacturing process in the apparel industry is something that you have to experience before you can really get a feel for doing it yourself. After sewing eight hours a day for two and a half months, I got pretty good at it. I wasn’t getting paid, but all the shit I learned there was worth more than a summer’s loot anyways.
One of the really important things I learned that summer was being a cheapskate, although it’s completely unrelated. My boss, Victor, could find amazing deals on machines because he looked everywhere, and always sought out the opportunities. We used to go to the North Carolina drug seizures and old state equipment auctions to scour the place for machines. Sometimes we could find thousand dollar machines for 50 bucks. I put that skill into use when I started searching for my machines. Last year I was looking around for a nice industrial single needle machine. I found a guy in North Carolina that shipped large equipment for a business. He told me he had a couple extra machines around that were overstock from a factory that moved to Mexico. I looked up the machines online and they were worth about $1,500 a piece. I asked him how much he wanted and he was like, “uhhh, I don’t know, $400?” I left for N.C. that day.
How did you come to start this line and where are you now with it?
Over the last couple years I’ve been learning by trial and error how to make all of these other garments, like jackets, hoodies, shorts, and duffle bags. Once I got a good feel for their construction, I thought that naturally the next step would be to make a bunch of garments that I’m proud of and get them out into the public eye. All of the garments for this current show have been a culmination of the last few months of work. This is my first show, so the designs are not as congruent with one another as they will be in the future, but there is still a strong underlying theme of Richmond culture and global culture. I like to think that my style is the clash of these two entities.
What are your thoughts on the current state of the fashion industry, especially in terms of denim?
I have two major thoughts on the fashion industry. It’s always been over saturated with women’s apparel, and men’s can feel like a drought in comparison. I’m pretty sure it’s always been this way, and it may always be this way, but I’m fighting the good fight. My other main concern with the industry is the push for one-time-wear apparel. H & M, Forever 21, and Zara are perfect examples. These stores, like many, many other unmentionables, are emphasizing price and finding clever ways to hide their lack of quality in both design and fabric. I can’t speak for women, but when a man buys a garment, it should last him his lifetime. The quality, craftsmanship and style shouldn’t fade over the ages. As far as the jeans industry goes, I believe we have found ourselves in an interesting position. Many companies, like Levi’s for instance, stand by the simple five pocket jean design. There is no variation in pattern, fabric and generally the overall look. Then you have companies like Orisue that are pushing the envelope, but receiving a lot of criticism for ruining the look of the jean. Personally I want to sail the coast of that classic design, but not venture into the open seas of obscure but apathetically poor design, as many of these companies have.
You have a firm stance on quality made, American products from raw materials to production. Elaborate a bit more on that…
Well I touched on this idea a bit earlier, but yes I am all about American made, quality goods. The company I envision has global influences, in fabric and culture, but I think there is a lot to an American manufactured brand that most of us overlook these days. Take whatever you’re wearing right now for instance. Peep the tag for a second. Does it say “Made in U.S.A?” My guess is probably not. We all wonder why they say America is a service economy now, but did you check the tag before you bought what you bought to see where it was made? With my goods, I want you to.
With it being 2010, I think you could safely say that most current and previous styles have either been seen before or largely influenced by previous ones, especially older, classic looks. Where do you pull influence from and how do you set yourself apart rather than just tweaking a previously explored style?
I think it’s all about mixing and meddling with other styles to generate an aesthetic that people will recognize as yours. You may not be able to look at one of my goods and say that it’s definitely Hollywood Cemetery, but you won’t be able to say it looks like blase bla’s brand either.
How many hours a day do you spend on your sewing machine?
It really depends on the day, but once I get my podcasts goin I can sit behind it all day long. I usually don’t watch the clock when I don’t have other things to do that day.
In the pieces on display currently at Henry, we see a wide array of fabrics. From denim to patent leather, to wool, what direction are you headed in?
To me there’s a constant battle going on between synthetic and natural fabrics. I like and use both, but most of my designs tend to be natural fabrics on the bottom (jeans and shorts) and synthetics on the top (jackets). The natural fabrics tend to feel better on the skin, but the synthetics usually have more pop to them.
Where do you see yourself in 3 years? 15 years?
In three years I see this business up and running. I want to create small production runs of every garment, and then discontinue the production of it and move on to something new, regardless of the demand. This way, the quantities will always be limited, and people will feel like they have something special when they’re wearing something of mine. If I have faith in my ability to design quality goods, I don’t need to ride on the success of a single garment. In 15 years, my real goal is to expand the company vertically. The more processes I have control over, the better the final good will turn out. I’m not really sure where the company will be then, but if I’m importing huge runs of cheap goods from Malaysia, I’ll probably fall on a sword.
If you were to go back in time and do what you’re doing now, what era would you choose?
Colonial. The long jackets with 50 vertical buttons and oversized napoleon hats looked badass then, and to me they’re still badass now.
Now that you’re going public with your whole operation, when is this stuff going to be available for purchase?
My jeans and shorts patterns are solidified, so very soon on those. As for the other stuff, I want to make some samples from the strongest garments in this line and they’ll be out kinda soon too. I want to be in stores before 2011.
