Our Italian friends at Suck! Clothing have just been continuously growing and improving their brand over the last couple years. What started out as just a few t-shirts has really blossomed into one what I view as on of the premier indie clothing start-ups around.

Their latest line for Spring/Summer consists of an absolute ton of tees, tanks, v-necks and shorts. Aside from the wide array of apparel options Suck! Clothing also offers a really nice variety of designs that span a variety of different styles but for the most part look like a cohesive unit.

Aside from the threads themselves, I am really digging the new Suck! website and attention they have put on taking quality photos for the line. It really gives the company a very polished and professional image, helping them stick out in the crowd of tee companies.

You can pick up most tees for $25 and the rest of the line at www.suckclothing.com

*NEWS FLASH* Selling t-shirts or any apparel item online comes with the inherent hurdle of not being able to try on items before you buy them! Aside from fit part of buying clothing and trying it on is to see how it looks in a real world application and how it fits with our style. So how do we overcome that hurdle?

Well unfortunately until someone develops teleportation we are pretty much stuck to viewing sizing charts and look books. Look Books provide a great way for a potential customer to see how a companies tees look out “in the wild“.

Unfortunately a lot of tee companies overlook the importance of a look book when launching their brand! Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with taking simple product shots against a plain background, and actually I encourage that because it shows the tee against a non competing background. BUT, don’t make the mistake of overlooking the aspect of showing your tees in a more exciting element! Paint a picture around your line to suit your brand and more customers will follow.

Look Books can take many shapes and forms, from interactive brochures, slideshows and even just a series of cohesive pictures in a labeled gallery. Let your imagination run wild and show the world how much you care about your line!

Below are 10 ten links to great examples of Look Books that really bring a brands clothing line to life!

View Glamour Kills Look Book

View Make Believe Look Book

View UGMONK Look Book

View Panic Pop Look Book (Must Be 18+)

View Electric Zombie Look Book

View Simplified Clothing Look Book

View The Imaginary Zebra Look Book

View Alumni 2012 Look Book

View Paint The Stars Look Book

View Suck! Clothing Look Book

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