Indie Spotlight: THOM WILL LOVE
HUCK meets the clothing label with a penchant for polyester.
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Thomas Lovegrove isn’t your average fashion graduate. Instead of shoehorning himself into a soulless design job for a high street retailer, he’s set up his own luxury sportswear label. The label, called THOM WILL LOVE (all caps!), pays homage to synthetics, lycra and ultra-comfortable sweatshirt material with an aim to become “the next Adidas”.
“I’m thinking about getting a water cooler and a filing cabinet,” jokes Thom as he shows off his studio in Homerton, east London. As an old office block, it comes complete with ugly drop ceiling panels yet the walls are covered with inspiration ranging from graffiti to his degree work. Thom’s his latest designs are carefully organised on a rail inside the door and there’s fabric piled wherever it can be. His tools of the trade are a trusty, sticker-clad sewing machine and an old-school overlocker loaded up with neon thread.
“I find it frustrating that all the big fashion companies copy each others designs and follow trends. The majority of products available in stores look the same,” says Thom, sounding a little bitter. However, I guess you would be too if you suspected that one high street menswear chain had stolen one of your degree project designs. This frustration with the industry led Thom to become a founding member of the 2.0-10 Collective, a group of like-minded designers who showcase young artist’s work outside the constraints of the institutionalised graduate show. Held in the stripped down Hackney Rose Studio, the exhibition allowed the artists to tailor the space around their own installations, designs or artwork. At this event, Thom’s catwalk show featured the man himself spray-painting THOM WILL LOVE onto the model’s t-shirts on the runway.
“THOM WILL LOVE derives inspiration from graffiti, music, street art, extreme sports, as well as history, life and potential futures. I seek inspiration from lifestyle,” explains Thom. “The main aim of the THOM WILL LOVE brand is to create clothing that people want to wear - sportswear for the 21st century, made in London.” This aim is well on its way to being fulfilled with graphic lines and a limited contrasting palette. Anyone wearing one of his jumper dresses or a pair of styled-up joggers will look devastatingly cool as they’re the kind of clothes you know that you’ll always be comfortable in.
However, there is one major issue about Thom’s designs, namely his sole use of man-made materials. In an increasingly ethically-conscious society, is resurrecting the oil-based wonders of nylon and lycra a step too far? “We are constantly being told that oil is running out. If this is true, then products made from oil will become more valuable and precious to us in the future,” reasons Thom. “One day polyester or plastic could be worth more than fine silks and rare metals. The desire to create garments people love and cherish will result in a more eco-friendly business, rather than the ‘wear once throw away’ fashion that currently saturates the market.” Vivienne Westwood would be proud.
And what does the future for THOM WILL LOVE? “I have already started working on designs for Spring Summer 2011, which will be launched in February,” says Thom. “I am trying not to get too carried away with planning for the future, ultimately I know that things always change and as a designer it is important to be able to adapt. I just want to carry on making products that people want.”
Check out more of Thom's work at the 2.0-10 Collective Facebook page.
Thom crafting a new design.
Product.
Inspiration.
The sticker was there before we got there.
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Indie Spotlight: THOM WILL LOVE (text) by Liz Seabrook is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
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