Each one of these brands has made huge strides and improvements over the year and I just wanted to take a second to recognize them for their improvement! I truly cant wait to see what happens with these brands in the future!

1. Seventh Ink

Seventh.Ink is a company that approached me back in August and to be honest I checked over their site and wasn’t blown away with what they had to offer. The designs seemed pretty standard, mostly consisting of standard vector art and really nothing that tied the designs together to form a recognizable brand or identity for the brand. Since August this has completely changed. For me the change took place in October with the release of their “Night of the Living Bread” shirt. The concept behind the design was hilarious and the execution of the design was spot on. We even featured it in our top 13 tees for Halloween article At this point I was intrigued with what Seventh Ink had to offer and from that point they have released two more tees that have been knockout tees in my opinion. Seventh.Ink is really starting to form an identity and style for themselves with these last releases. If you can recognize a brand from the style of their shirts or designs you really know that the brand is headed in the right direction.

2. RANDR Tees

RANDR or Rise and Resist has continually improved their brand identity and the quality of their line throughout 09. While their original designs and releases were solid they really didn’t have anything that stood out and demanded attention. Well since their Fall 09 release these guys have really kicked their brand into overdrive. Everything about RANDR comes off completely professional. Their product photos, website design and most importantly Tee designs are all spectacular. I really see the Fall 09 release as marking the start to the new RANDR tees and the company establishing themselves as a true brand and identity in the tee world!

3. 410 BC

410 BC has been around now since the end of 2007, but for me this is the year that this brand has really started to take flight. With the introduction of cut and sew pieces and an extremely firm and established look to their line these guys have all the makings of the next company to go big time. When 410BC started they had a completely different look and image to their brand and it’s not that it was bad its just amazing to see them find their niche and flourish. This year along with cut and sew jackets, dress shirts and even skateboards, 410BC really upped the ante on their packaging introducing custom boxes complete with wax stamps, custom tissue paper and awesome extras in every package they send out. 410BC is a great example of a brand evolving to fit and build a niche, just take a look at their old designs compared to their new designs. It’s not that the old designs were bad at all, just a way different look than what they have become now. If your looking for a indie brand that truly has their act together look no further than these guys. I feel that 2010 is going to be a HUGE year for 410BC.

4. Arkaik Clothing

Arkaik Clotihng is a brand that almost did it make it out of its infancy. Early on when owner Jordan Abidor started the line, it was actually financially backed by his girlfriend, but when he and his girlfriend split up she pulled the plug leaving Jordan in a tough spot. It was at this point that Jordan had to decide to keep venturing further on his own or pull the plug on Arkaik. Fortunately Jordan decided to stay the course with Arkaik and in turn has really done a fantastic job re-branding and establishing his company as a player in the indie tee market. Even more recently Arkaik joined forces with Of Rome to form a new division called Arkaik : Empire which from the looks of what I have seen is going to be very solid. The only complaint that I have with Arkaik at this point is the brand has come out with a lot of really great designs but they are risking creating a confusing brand identity with the extreme difference in styles that they are offering. It’s great to have diversity in your line up but only when that diversity can be recognized as apart of your brand’s overall identity.

5. Miles to Go

Miles to Go is a brand that I immediately latched on to from the start. I loved the more mature and muted looked of the line as well as the amount of thought behind each design. Greg Kerr, the owner of MTG, has a vision for his line and has done a great job evolving and creating his brand. As I stated earlier I loved Miles to Go right out of the gate, but I really feel that over the course of 2009 they have done a great job expanding and evolving the line. With the addition of hoodies, yoga pants and even toddler clothes over the year Miles to Go is really pushing past the line of being just a t-shirt line and moving into being a full-fledged clothing line.

In Conclusion
Each one of these brands showed a lot of growth over 2009, whether it was defining their “style”, improving their packaging, creating better brand identity or expanding their brand beyond just tees, they all showed a different example of what it takes to run a successful brand. This list was one of the hardest lists I had to put together, because their are a ton of brands that have evolved over the year, but I really felt that each one of these brands showed a different side of what an indie clothing brand can improve upon to be successful. I hope you enjoyed the article, and make sure to check out all 5 of these brands now and in the upcoming new year!

Stay tuned for the next article: The Brands that are going to take off in 2010!

That all being said I would have liked to see a few things such as more “Winter type” items such as hoodies, hats, gloves, scarves, long sleeve, etc.   Although I love the variety of designs in the new line the drawback in having such great variation is that  the line appears to be a bit non cohesive.  From tee to tee there is really just a huge range of different styles in the new line, which can be viewed as a good thing, but to me when you are trying to build brand identity you can really benefit from creating a look that people associate your brand with. For example lines such as 410BC, Johnny Cupcakes, Linty Fresh and Electric Zombie have all developed identities so much so that you can recognize one of their shirts without having a brand name anywhere on the shirt.  It’s truly the brands that have that recognizable style that are the brands that take it to the next level and ultimately become very successful.

Overall I am really impressed with the new line, there are some real standout pieces and this is another step forward Suck! Clothing, I think with a little more branding and focus this company can be a huge player in the indie clothing world. Check out everything Suck!Clothing has to offer at: www.suckclothing.com

You can buy each item separately with the Monster Mask setting you back $11.95 and the Eyeball Gloves costing you $9.95, otherwise do yourself a favor and pick up the set for the great price of $15.95!

Check out the entire Dance Party Massacre line HERE!

Take a second and check out the interview with CEO/Owner David Merritt to get a real feel of what IMU is about! Also if you dig what you see use coupon code “IAMTHETREND” for 10% off your order now through Dec 11th.

Website: IMU | The Inside Out

Could you start off with the basics (name, age, position with the company, favorite ice cream, etc)

My name is David Merritt, former captain for the University of Michigan Men’s Basketball team, and now CEO & President of I Miss You, Inc. & The IMU Brand. Darn that’s a long title, forget the captain part. I really like Rice Krispie treats and enjoy defying norms.

One thing that immediately struck me about your brand is the positivity behind it. Could you talk a bit about the inspiration behind your brand name and why you started IMU?

I got a text message about a year ago that said, “IMU.” I had never seen it before but immediately knew it meant “I Miss You.” Over the next few months, God blessed me with a vision to take those three simple letters and do something special with them. I started IMU because I believe in its message of spreading happiness. It’s not just about the clothing. Don’t get me wrong, I believe we work extremely hard to offer the highest quality product and design. However, IMU is more than a t-shirt company. It’s a call action to appreciate the people and experiences that make us who we are. And that’s why all of our designs have positive messages and meaning behind them.

You’ve done an amazing job packaging your entire brand. From the actual packaging that the shirts come in, to your website and product photos absolutely no corners have been cut. What was the thought and inspiration behind doing this instead of working your way up?

IMU was a “brand” before it was anything else. A lot of apparel companies usually start because a designer has a couple of designs and wants to come out with a line. That wasn’t quite the case for us. We first created IMU with the type of message we wanted to portray, and then decided that clothing was the best avenue for us to spread this message. With that, we wanted to create a brand that exhibited professionalism and excellence in everything we do. Our mission is to make our customers feel special every experience they have with IMU. As a result, we go above and beyond in all that we do to reach this mission, from our shirt quality and print, to our innovative packaging.

So what do you think makes IMU stick out from other brands and frankly why should people spend their money on your line?

I believe IMU sticks out because of our unique message, clothing, service, and specifically our innovative community service component. We recognize that we are so special as individuals in large part due to the people and experiences that surround us. Therefore, it is important for us to show others that we care for and appreciate them by giving back. Every IMU employee is required to give 8-10 hours of community service per month. It’s really about doing whatever we can to improve communities. In return, each t-shirt that we sell represents an hour of community service from our customers. So here’s how it works, if you purchase an IMU t-shirt and then go out in do an hour of community service, you receive 20% off your next purchase.

I think people should spend money on IMU because of our message and the IMU experience. It’s about making a statement. We will take care of you all of the way! In addition, we do clothing extremely well. Our creative and unique designs combined with our high quality t-shirt and print. As you said, no corners have been cut.

What have been some of the hardest things to overcome when starting a clothing brand?

One of the hardest things to get accustomed to has been learning to deal with people and different companies. If you’re not careful, people will try to take advantage of you. So, you have to learn how to negotiate and stand your ground. Another thing is dealing with limited human resources. We come up with new ideas everyday, but we really have to figure out what we can handle because we don’t want to be spread too thin. You can’t do everything, so you have to consider what’s most important.

Did you have any brands that you looked up to or modeled yourself after when starting IMU?

Johnny Cupcakes. I mean what can I say? The guy is a staple in the industry and has been so successful because he has truly created a “brand”. Everything he does is consistent. That’s what we are trying to do with IMU.

What can we expect to see from IMU in the upcoming year?

A lot of projects are in the works. We should be coming out with some new products/lines in the upcoming months, which may even include some involvement from professional athletes. We have been fortunate to get Antonio Gates, Pro Bowl Tight End for the San Diego Chargers, and Steve Breaston, Wide Receiver for the Arizona Cardinals, to actively rock our line. Also, we look to expand our community service component by having more events to improve our communities.

Any last minute shout outs or areas we didnt cover?

Shout out to you my friend for doing this interview. IMU really appreciates it and I AM THE TREND is doing a wonderful job keeping all of us in the industry up on the latest happenings.

Today marks Electric Zombie’s 2nd year in business and they are celebrating by marking down all T-Shirts to only$12.02 (get it, December 2nd) as well as marking down his newly released jeans, polo and hoodies to $24.02. The sale starts today at 12:02pm Eastern time and ends tonight at 12:02am. That leaves you a small window of 12 hours to gather some money and hit buyelectriczombie.com

On top of that EZ is releasing a very limited edition crew neck celebrating their two year anniversary that also comes with a 4×4 gold ink screen printed poster as well as a signed and numbered 12×12 screen printed poster! Once these sellout they will NEVER BE PRINTED AGAIN!

Also follow Kyle on twitter at: twitter.com/kyleisez for free giveaways all day!

For any further information visit the EZ blog

Aside from the hoodies Design Kins has some pretty solid tee as well, all of which are on sale for $12 to $15! Overall I was very impressed with what this line has to offer, I do however feel that Design Kins might run the risk of falling in between demographics of and older and younger crowd with their cartoon like characters yet more grown up looking hoodie designs.

Check out the entire line at: http://designkinstees.bigcartel.com/

As far as the designs go, I am really digging what they have to offer. Most of the designs focus around cute characters or animals, that reminded me vaguely of the style shirts you might see at Threadless. Aside from that a lot of the tees offered have clever ideas behind them. Take for instance the Little Too Raph tee that uses your should as away for the characters to grapple hook over shoulder!   I was also pleasantly surprised to see a collab tee between Crywolf Clothing and Pause Designs, that pitted Crywolf characters VS Pause characters!

Tees range from $29.99 to $9.99 and from what I see everything is printed on American Apparel. Aside from Tees, Pause offers hoodies, tote bags and even a skate deck.

All in all I think they deserve your click to their site to check it all out.
www.pausedesigns.com

The tees run $27.95 to $24.95 while the sweatshirt will set you back $35.95 and the hoodie at $42.95. That being said im not a huge fan of the $42.95 price tag on the hoodie. I did get a chance to see it in person and while I really dug the foil print, the hoodie seemed a bit light for the price.

Check out the entire line at dancepartymassacre.com

The tee is currently on pre-sale for only $15 and comes in both guys and girl style American Apparel shirts. The tee will officially begin shipping on November 18th and is limited to only 100 prints.

I really think this tee as well as the Night of the Living Bread shirt shirt are really good examples of Seventh Ink coming into their own. I really hope that they stick to this style and level of quality. Looking back at some of their older designs and comparing the new designs, these new designs are on a completely different level, and I like it!

Check out everything that Seventh Fury has to offer and pre-order Tyrannosaurus Rockstar at: http://www.furyshirts.com/

The Tee is titled “Weather Wiper” and is noticeably different than their last couple efforts and I absolutely love it. This is such a great concept tee. The design does a phenomenal job of using the actual t-shirt as a apart of the design, basically acting as a dirty windshield that is being scraped across with the design.

For some reason it reminded me of something out of Back to the Future. I can just see Marty McFly and Doc Brown cruising the clouds in their Delorean wiping the windshield back to reveal the cloud cover.

Anyways enough rambling… The tee is available for a very reasonable price of $17.99 and is printed on American Apparel.

On top of all that, Andy from Rethink Clothing has been cool enough to give us two posters of the “Weather Wiper” design to give away! So here is its simply tweet this post and we will pick two winners at random to receive these awesome 11×17 posters.

Details of the pre-sale are as follows:
The Pre-Sale period will last 24 hours, running from 8pm Tuesday (10/11/09) until 8pm Wednesday (11/11/09) night.
The pre-sale special price will be $25 per t-shirt. There is a $6 shipping fee (Australia wide) for 1-2 t-shirts. For international orders, there will be a $12 (AUD) shipping fee for 1-2 t-shirts.

After the pre-sale is over prices will be going up. So if you like what you see, you best make your move early to get on this offer.

Personally I LOVE what I see so far, the designs are very unique in design and style. The colors are absolutely blazing and I love the play off of old fairy tales such as Little Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Bean Stalk. I’m really excited to see what the rest of the line will be and where The Last Fathom will take their new brand.

Check out all the details on The Last Fathom and their presale at: http://thelastfathom.com/blog/

Upon first glance the brand immediately reminded me of a cross between Johnny Cupcakes and Paul Frank. Their first 5 designs focus around two characters they have developed, Hiro and Ono. The characters just have that same lovable, approachable and dare I say cute characteristic that has worked so well for brands like Paul Frank.

With that being said, I think the designs are very good, but still not 100% in my book. I love the characters but Im not a big fan of how the company has designed to display the Hirobot logo predominantly on the Hiro shirts, it’s a bit distracting and takes away from how awesome Hiro is. They do however do a much better job with the Ono shirts, leaving the large text off the shirt and focusing solely on the character. Also as of now the line is limited to only to white shirts, which might limit a few customers whom are looking for options other than white.

Overall I really like what I see, and also can see this brand taking off in the future. This is only their first line and it definitely shows some huge promise. With a few more color choices in shirts and a more character development I could definitely see it catching on. The shirts themselves sell for $29 and are made from premium quality 100% fully combed cotton.

Head on over to IAMTHETREND Article!]]> http://iamthetrend.com/2009/11/06/t-u-g-tactical-urban-gear-the-japanese-johnny-cupcakes/feed/ 2