Declaration 1776 just continue to impress and explode in the indie clothing world. Their brand of patriotic fashion has really been catching fire and rightly so. Declaration has made quick work of creating tees that are extremely wearable, iconic and simple. Truth be told creating simple yet wearable designs is not as easy as one might think, so when you can find a brand consistently releasing quality designs you stand to be impressed.

On top of the new tees Declaration have also released a series of hand numbered and embossed prints of their most popular designs. Round that out with some beautiful leather wallets and you can see that Declaration 1776 is truly transforming from a t-shirt line into a full fledged indie clothing line.

Make sure to check out all the new wares at www.declaration1776.com

For those interested here is a breakdown of the new items and the inspiration behind each one.
McHenry
The bombardment of the star-shaped Fort McHenry during the War of 1812 inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem, “The Star-Spangled Banner”. This poem would later become our national anthem.

JPJ
During a naval battle in 1779 Captain John Paul Jones uttered the now famous words, “I have not yet begun to fight” in response to taunts from the captain of the superior HMS Serapis

The Eagle (grey and vintage maroon)
In 1782 Congress approved the outstretched eagle holding arrows and an olive branch as the seal of the young nation. Emblazoned across it’s chest we depict the year that America severed ties with the British crown.

Royal Americans (slate and royal blue)
First formed in 1756 the 60th Royal American Regiment was created to defend the colonies during the French and Indian War. It consisted of American, German, and Swiss soldiers all trained in forest warfare.

Attucks- (navy)
Of Wampanoag and African descent Crispus Attucks was the first person to die at the hands of British redcoats during the Boston Massacre. This event furthered the building tensions between the Thirteen Colonies and the British Crown.

The Bonhomme (pullover hood in oatmeal and charcoal)
The USS Bonhomme Richard was a warship in the Continental Navy. Given by the French crown, it was helmed by Captain John Paul Jones. She was 152 feet long and carried 42 guns. She now rests somewhere at the bottom of the Ocean.

I went ahead and started a clothing line. Starting a business based around my love of art and stories seemed too good to pass up. After a year or more of hard work and planning I finally launched Que Terror. I’ve only just started this adventure, and surely have a lot more to learn, but this is what I’ve learned so far. Hopefully it’ll give you something to think about before following me off the ledge.

Time, precious time:
It takes considerably more time than you’d expect to start clothing line, even a humble one. Everyone seems to fixate on the start-up costs but time is even more important. Everything from dreaming up the initial idea, to organizing suppliers and even choosing what pantone colour to use will take time. The more work you do yourself to save money the more you’ll need to spend in time. Better think about saving up some free time to do it all properly.

Have a story to tell/sell:
Having a central story or idea that defines your brand is essential. It’s how you connect and relate to people. Threadless is built on the idea of democratic art, while Johnny cupcakes runs on the idea that you can have your cake and eat it if you strive for it. Strong stories work.
Your central story influences everything you do, from the designs down to the way you write emails. It’d better be a good idea then no?

If the binding thread is isn’t very alluring then no amount of marketing or money will change that. In the indie business world you have to connect with people, you can’t fake it.

The best idea is one your passionate about, have the skills to bring to life and care enough about to share with others.

Take your idea and write it down, it will either need to be refined or scrapped. Out on the page it can’t hide from scrutiny.

 With my brand, Que Terror, I sat down and wrote exactly what it stood for and even explicitly what it didn’t. I honed the idea down to something that I felt would resonate. I even wrote down the values I wanted to work under.Having a clear definition of what I wanted to do made very other decision easier. It also keeps you focused amongst the millions of options you have for every little decision.

Selling tees is hard:
Even if people love you, love what you do and rave about your tees they still might not end up buying anything. It takes patience, persistence and a willingness to invest in more than just a transaction. You have to build a relationship.

Indie brands seem to work best when they befriend their customers rather than market to them. I’ve found even a bit of a personal touch goes a long way to getting people on board to support you.

Numbers matter:
You’ll need to have some handle on numbers. Knowing your unit costs, how transaction fees work, taxes, how many tees you’ll need to sell and if you could ever make money are important. If you want a business that sustains itself you’ll have to know how to run the numbers.

Expect to learn:
You should be willing to treat your brand as a learning exercise. You can’t expect to be good at something you’ve only just started. Be honest about what your doing well and what isn’t working. The hardest part for me as the designer was admitting which designs weren’t working.

In the early stages of Que Terror I started a blog and updated it with my ideas, designs and everything else. I got some trusted friends to critique it as I worked. I think being open to this feedback resulted in a better product and it gave me more confidence for the real launch.

It can be hard to admit your baby isn’t perfect. The great thing about starting small is you have the flexibility to change and get better.

Making decisions:
One of the difficulties of starting a clothing line is your faced with innumerable decisions. Some are important and some aren’t but regardless they all have to be made. Your clothing line can be whatever you want, and that’s a scary amount of freedom at times. What if you make a mistake? The trick is to be okay with making mistakes. I’ve already made quite a few.

Starting a business is by definition risky. I’ve learnt indecision doesn’t really get you anywhere, at least a bad choice will teach you something. When in doubt it’s best to jump in, screw it up and learn a thing or two.

Doin’ it:
If it’s something your passionate about then today is the best day to start working on it. Even growing my business from a tiny idea to an actual e-store shipping tees has been very satisfying. I’ve done it all on my own and im excited to see where I can take it. You wont regret starting it, you’ll regret not doing it though I’m sure.

www.queterror.com

Congrats! You found the first posting of the Collab Blab column. The goal of this column is to uncover and share the most creative design collaborations ever seen. In the spirit of golden first place… for the first posting I just had to share this Stay Gold design. It was used as a shirt print and as an album cover for a recent Dustin Cavazos EP. Over the summer, both groups came together for a free concert and cookout in Dallas to promote the Stay Gold design. A party is always the best way kick it off right!

The true nature of a great collab has a theme that helps the design work on several levels. The design captures visual elements of the Cavazos character, uses a trendy 8 bit digital style which is also representative of the music style, and the golden bike represents a theme from both creators of staying on the righteous path no matter what you do.

I can only research so much… If you worked on or have a favorite collab project you think should have a spotlight review on Collab Blab, please email a short description and link to the design creators at sleepydanclothing at yahoo dot com. If the collab has serious merit, it will get some recognition! Just so you understand how much I love graphic apparel and know where I am coming from, I’ve been an apparel designer for 10 years and I’m working on a apparel project of my own you can check out at www.sleepydan.com

As many of you know I started working for Storenvy back in October focusing on Community Management & Special Ops. Part of my job has been to help recruit as many new kick ass stores as possible. While on my quest I started seeing some recurring myths surrounding what is possible when using Storenvy as your storefront. People don’t realize just how awesome Storenvy really is. So rather than let these un-truths keep you from setting up an awesome store, I figured it was time to go myth busting!

MYTH: Since Storenvy is free it must be lacking some features.
FACT: Setting up and running a blog is free, so why should setting up a store be any different? We have all heard the saying “you get what you pay for” and while I usually agree with you, this is simply not the case with Storenvy. Storenvy is simple but powerful and even has a lot of features the other guys don’t have. Unlimited products, built in analytics, full customization, discount codes, easy order management, the ability to upload five images per product and a Facebook integrated store, consider this myth busted. Just because Storenvy doesn’t charge you, doesn’t mean that it’s not just as good or better than the other guys that are taking your money every month.

MYTH: Storenvy isn’t as customizable as ______.
FACT: Storenvy gives you the ability to completely customize the CSS, HTML and Javascript for your store giving you the opportunity to make your store truly your own. We absolutely love it when a store takes the reigns and completely redesigns their store.

Here are some great examples of storefronts that have taken it upon themselves to completely customize their storefront and even built their store directly into their existing website.

lilchiefrecords.storenvy.com

store.cureapparelco.com

capitlclothing.storenvy.com

shopwalkinlove.storenvy.com

MYTH: Since Storenvy is free there must be a catch or trick.
FACT: No tricks here! We truly believe that opening a store should be free just like setting up a blog. Now of course, we have a few upgrades you can turn off, if you want (custom domains, advanced discount support, etc), but the basic store is totally free with no catch.

MYTH: Customers have to go through the Storenvy Marketplace to get to your store.
FACT: No way! You get your own URL where you can point your shoppers directly to your store. But don’t worry about having to promote all on your own. One of the best parts about Storenvy is that along with your individual storefront all of your products automatically get included in the Storenvy Marketplace. Having your items listed in a marketplace allows customers to find your store when they may have not known you existed if you were on your own. Having your products listed in the Marketplace is a huge bonus of having a store on Storenvy.

MYTH: I can’t use my own domain name.
FACT: Storenvy launched Custom Domain support last year! When you first sign up for a store by default your domain does include .storenvy.com. But if you choose, you can change it to your own .com, .org, .me or whatever other URL you’ve got. This a paid feature that will run you $5.00 a month but for brands looking for that cohesive look it is five bucks well spent.

MYTH: “Setting up a store is going to be hard, right?”
FACT: It doesn’t get any easier than Storenvy. Storenvy was created to make setting up a shop as simple, fun and human as possible. The truth of the matter is most people do not know how to write and customize HTML or CSS and we get that. Each Storenvy store comes with complete with tools to make uploading products and customizing the look of your store as easy as possible. With just a few clicks setting up and launching a store can be done in no time. If you really wanted to hustle through it you could have your store up and ready for taking orders in under ten minutes. No joke.

I absolutely love the thought, time and effort that Andrew puts into his brand Lion Caster. With that in mind I highly suggest that you check out the Lion Caster video series and story behind the brand to really get a grasp on what the brand is all about.

To help clear stock Lion Caster is offering their $55 bundle which includes: Pocket Knife, Flask, Handkerchief, Logo T-shirt, and an exclusive letter from The Haberdasher, all inside a cotton drawstring backpack for only $38!

Also anyone who likes the page www.Facebook.com/CastLions and then tags the page in a post will be entered to win a Make Shift First aid Kit which holds some subtle hints inside to the next line.

Check out everything Lion Caster HERE

To kick off the new year the Editions just dropped three brand new designs over two tees and one thermal. Each new tee is hand printed on a new quality extra soft blanks, and from the pictures look fantastic.

All three new designs are available now at: theseeditions.com

Outcry Apparel have just put up a new pre-order on their site outcry-apparel.com for their Deceiver Crewneck. I typically shy away from posting pre-order tees but thought the new design from Outcry looked solid. You can pre-order your tees now for €25.00 HERE

The boys from Regan Smith Clarke have just dropped two new tees and frankly they kick ass. Namely the “Defender of the Saloon” shirt, I am a huge fan of this design. Everything from the typography to the overall design of the axe, is just awesome. I can see axe inspired designs catching some fire this year.

You can pickup both tees right now at www.regansmithclarke.com

With what simply seems like a blink of an eye 2011 has come and gone and with it some t-shirts have been released, bought, sold and reviewed! I wanted to take some time to shine a spotlight on some brands that I have really enjoyed over 2011. I also want to take time to once again thank everyone that has followed, supported, contacted, tweeted, advertised, read or interacted in any way with IAMTHETREND this year. You guys all have been absolutely amazing and have made this the biggest year by a landslide IATT has had.

This year IATT received over 800,000 visits and over 3 million page views from over 425,000 unique visitors. On top of that IAMTHETREND TV received over 100,000 views this year! I know a lot of sites absolutely dwarf these stats, but for a blog that I run in my free time I couldn’t be more proud.

Anyways on with the list. Happy 2012!

Favorite Tee of the Year:

I have been a huge fan of UGMONK since Jeff launched the brand back in 2008 when I first laid eyes on the brand. Jeff has been able to keep his brand fresh, consistent and exciting throughout the last three years. Within that time Jeff has also mastered the art of simplicity of design and this has never been more present then his “Minimal” release earlier this year. One of the tees from that release titled “Mountains” simply featured two overlapping blue and red triangles and in my opinion showed off that sometimes the simplest ideas and form are the most beautiful, making it my favorite tee of the year.

Brand of the Year:

Greg absolutely never fails to impress with his vision, love and dedication to his brand MIles to Go. Miles to Go has been a brand that I have loved since day one, but I really feel that 2011 was the year that MTG have really started to spread the wings. From a new logo, revamped website, extremely limited edition releases, brand consistency and vision to the fact that MTG continues to improve with every release Miles to Go truly showed this year what it takes to stand out among the rest. I can’t wait to see what Greg and Miles to Go his in store for 2012.

Honorable Mention: TheVNM, 8 Bit Zombie, Electric Zombie, UGMONK, Fur Face Boy

Most Surprising Release:

Possibly the best kept secret of 2011, Kyle Crawford literally came out of nowhere to drop his new line Grave Takers. Consisting of 43 different products not only did this release completely surprise it delivered. From cut and sew pieces, prints and tees Grave Takers arrived with a nuclear explosion of awesomeness.

Most Helpful Brand:

Kyle from Sugar Steak has to be the most responsive dude I have ever met. Shoot him an email and he responds within five minutes or less! I imagine him walking around with his phone in a belt holster ready to draw on it at any moment! Anyways aside from being extremely responsive Kyle has also been extremely helpful in writing some extremely resourceful articles for indie brands including the art of pre-orders, balancing your brand and life and many others. Needless to say we owe Kyle a huge thank you for taking the time to put those articles together.

Under the Radar:

The Imaginary Zebra is honestly one of those brands that seems to fly right under the radar quietly releasing amazing tees and building a huge following. I absolutely love owner, Benson Chou’s style and he has done an amazing job crafting his brand over the years. More people really need to follow his brand.

Favorite new brands of 2011:

Jake Mize has done a great job this year of building and launching his brand Inkefx. From quality designs, photographs and a fantastic looking website Jake has done an incredible job coming out of the gate swinging this year. If you are into simple straight forward design make sure to give his line a look.

LaMuerta busted onto the scene earlier this year after a bunch of hype leading up to their release and they completely delivered. Working with some of the best illustrators in the biz such as Killer Napkins, Johnny Crap and Mr. Gauky, La Muerta have absolutely turned heads with their designs and look. They have been on pace releasing a new design every month which in turn has made following this brand very exciting.

Sometimes simple is more. When many brands are busy filling up their tees with jumbo prints, intense illustration and inks from every color in the rainbow, COLUS has been content sticking to very bold designs lacking of any color whatsoever. What started originally as only white tees with black ink has recently flipped to black tees with white ink, and personally I am loving it. I am huge fan of how Colus’ designs simply pop off the tees. With a new lower price point you definitely need a few of these tees in your closet.

Honorable Mentions: Blood and Grease, Beneath Rejection, Grave Takers

Biggest Comeback:

Imagine getting ready for a huge craft fair/show to come out to your fan and realize that almost all of your shirt stock and show equipment was stolen from your van, in excess of $9,000. Well that is exactly what happened to David and his brand SEIBEI right before exhibiting at Renegade Craft Fair LA. When some people would throw in the towel, David decided to fight for the brand he has built and launched a Kickstarter to help raise funds to get SEIBEI back up and running. With a goal set of $9,000 to cover his lost goods David managed to raise over $30,000 and get his brand back on track. Truly one of the more inspiring tee stories this year.

Most Improved Brand:

To be perfectly honest when Capitl Clothing launched I wasn’t that impressed with them. I thought they had one solid design in their “Owl Knows All Tee” but other than that there really wasn’t too much there to grab any attention. Fast forward a few months and Capitl Clothing was able to win a photoshoot with photographer Josh Guim, launch a brand new line and launch a custom new website all of which are fantastic. You can definitely tell that Matt is taking growing his brand seriously. I look forward to see where this brand goes in 2012.

Best Rebrand:

Formerly known as Vampire Fur, which to be honest wasn’t one of my favorite brand names of all time. I was a fan of some of their initial released but owner Matt Haydu really ramped up his brand with the Venus Fallen rebrand. He released his best tees to date as well as launched a fantastic looking new website.

Please Release Some New Designs Already!

It has been way too long since both of these brands have released anything new! They are both two of my favorite clothing lines and they have been keeping us waiting way too long! Let’s get on it guys.