Streetwear Spotlight: Dincus

Article written by: SoJones Asmara
Posted on: November 4, 2009

If you think ‘green’ apparel is mostly drab, khaki-colored stuff that only a hippie could love, then you obviously haven’t seen what Dincus has to offer.

The British Columbia-based clothing company has been producing organic, attractive and fully fashion-forward streetwear made from bamboo fabrics. And if you think bamboo clothing will make you uncomfortable, BZZT wrong again. Dincus’ new bamboo material is ultra soft, naturally wicks away sweat and combats odor causing bacteria so you’ll smell fresh all day. SoJones.com sits down with Chad Hendren, co-creator and co-owner of Dincus Clothing.

Introduce yourself and describe how your brand was started?
Dincus Originated in Whistler 4 years ago by myself Chad Hendren and old time friend Greg Thompson. The first summer we created 50 Tees, with an overwhelming response the year following we went with 250 tees and 250 hoodies. Afer two years of the doinf thae same as everyone else we decided change was and when Dincus made the jump from basics to full on multi year collections, we contracted an experienced designer who was developing eco friendly lifestyle apparel and has a tremendous amount of experience with technical outerwear. He already had a successful working relationship with our graphics artist so once we understood this guy was working “ahead of the curve”, it was easy to adopt the eco route which is now the mission statement, platform and direction of the company.

Describe this season and next season’s looks.
There were a few fashion trends we touched on to bring the collection together. Firstly there needed to be a balance between the various eco fabrications, garment blocks and graphics. We started a morphed geometric graphic theme for summer 2009 which evolved into the 2010 program. The new collection direction is based around a retro 70’s hippy / Warhol’ish nature theme that flows through the collection, blends and then converts into a progressive geometric pattern. We also touched on hot rod pin striping detail to meld and add an additional element so we weren’t limiting our offering. All this with a colorful / subdued flare controlled by our palette which allowed us to offer bright combinations and mono-chromatics in the same graphic family’s. It was a complicated vision that was presented to our graphics guru who worked his magic. This all had to adapt to the eco fabrics, so it was challenging but the end result is awesome!

What celeb or well-known figure(s) exemplify the brand?
Our Athletes are our Celebrities, Action sports is such a huge part of our demographic. We sponsor atheltes such as Miranda Miller and Danice Uyesugi who race World Cup , Matty Richard who is one of the Leading Big Mountain Freeskiers in Canada and the World . Sami Kennedy from Australia whom is in running for a a spot on the Olympic skier-cross team. We also sponsor athleteswho Surf, Skate, Snowboard, Wake board and Kite surf

Any product placements on celebs, in movies or videos to keep an eye out for?
We’re in the works right now stay tuned..

Any expansion plans?
We are in the process of expanding our international distribution and American sales representative network. We did a “surprise release” limited technical recycled fabric outerwear collection for this coming “Olympic” season, which is expanding into 2010-11 due to the positive feedback we received from the recent trade shows. Our bamboo denim line (which we developed from scratch) will continue to expand. Everyone wears denim, but if you haven’t worn bamboo denim, you don’t know what your missing!!! The 2010 summer collection includes some fall garments which will cross-over into the winter offering, so yes, we are not holding back and plan to keep expanding our offerings for years to come.

Looking ahead over the next year or two, what themes/looks/styles do you see your brand gravitating to?
We’re not following. We started with a unique concept that allows us continue to evolve the blocks, eco fabrics and artistic interpretation of what we feel follows the progression we started last year. We are totally hooked up with the top fashion forecast companies, but that’s basically to just keep an eye on where everyone else is being directed. We are pushing further into developing more eco fabrics to help everyone lower there carbon footprints!

What has been a surprise fashion hit over the last year?
I don’t think there are any real surprises out there. Pretty much everything in this category is cyclical; what goes around, comes around! Reworking the norm, like denim and t’shirts, to provide these in eco blends that are better for you and the planet is a better surprise!

Sounds like a great idea to look eco-stylish.  Here are some SoJones.com favorites from Dincus Apparel.  For full collection, visit their official website at www.dincus.com where you can shop for a price range of $35.00 – $109.00.