Streetwear Spotlight: Safari Brand + Special Valentine’s Day CONTEST! **EXTENDED**

Article written by: Asmara Wreksono
Posted on: February 17, 2010

**UPDATE!!!**

Because of the big big love we have here at SoJones.com, we decided to extend the deadline of the Safari Brand X SoJones Valentine’s Day contest up to 25th February, 2010.  To win a t-shirt for your special someone, please read the instructions carefully!

This coming Valentine’s Day, SoJones linked arms with Safari Brand, a clothing line for the artsy at heart, to give you the chance to give your special someone a Valentine’s gift!

Here’s how:

Simply send in a picture of you and the person you love (boyfriend, girlfirend, mom, dad, sister, brother, best friend, uncle, aunt… anybody who’s special to you!), along with a one short paragraph of writing, telling us and the world why the person in the picture is so special to you and why they’d look great in Safari Brand’s LoveIsInTheAir t-shirt.

Send your submission to info@sojones.com.  Include the size of your special someone and his or her complete address. Please check your emails for data verification from SoJones.com.

Fifteen best expressions of love will be featured right here on SoJones.com and although you won’t receive any gift, your loved one featured in your picture will receive one LoveIsInTheAir tee from Safari Brand.

US residents only

**UPDATE:  CONTEST EXTENDED!! Last day of contest submission is February 25th, 2010 at 11:59 PM.  Winners will be announced and published at SoJones.com at February 26th, 2010.

Here’s the picture LoveIsInTheAir tee you could give your loved one, as modeled by Joell Ortiz:

And now how about getting the lowdown on Safari Brand?  Afterall, if you’re gonna wear something fly, you gotta know where the fly factor came from, right? One basic Safari Brand talk is: you have to know their five collections: Impressionist, Expressionist, Nationalist, Publicist and Apparel.  Still wanna know more?  Read on because Mike from Safari Brand talked to SoJones about his artsy clothing line.

Introduce yourself and describe how your brand was started?

So, it’s been about 7 years of Safari Brand now..(feels like 15, but who’s counting).. Basically, painting on shirts has been the story here for the last 7 years, we’ve made fans all over the world & I want to share how it came about..

The beginning was an absolute accident. By the way, I’m Mike , the guy who paints ALL the shirts & does a few other things around here.. I have been into design & art ever since I can remember. Drawing was the best pastime through school (not advised unless you’re an aspiring architect or Pablo Picasso’s grandchild). It let’s out your emotions & expresses your thoughts to the rest of the world.

Just like fashion. A man who cares about his appearance is telling you something with his outfit. He’s representing his emotions, whether it is through a t-shirt or a pair of shoes. We are all artists in our own ways. Therefore, I also cared how I look & wanted to look right.

There was no intention to start a hand-painted t-shirt line. Just had some paint lying around, along with some blank t-shirts. I put the 2 together to make my father some promotional shirts for his business, Safari Construction. The shirts would always get attention in public from a wide range of people. 22 or 52, doesn’t matter what age, I remember getting stopped & complimented by a various age group of people. Until one day, it caught the attention of a store-owner in the local galleria:

Store-owner: “what’s that?”
me: “what’s what?”
Store-owner: ” that shirt you got on , who makes that?”
me: “oh , this old thing ..I made it myself”
Store-owner: “I can sell that here!”
me: “fine, I’m in”

This sparked the green light for Safari Brand . The company went public in 2007 & sold 75% of it’s stock holdings to Nike. I wish that was true.

Describe this season’s theme for your line. Include any sources of inspiration (examples: 80’s punk, muses like Amber Rose, 70’s disco bands, Kanye, etc)

I’m gonna say there is no specific theme for the line overall, but if you take a look at each collection, you will see the motive behind each design. For example, the Expressive Nationalist shirts, which is our newest addition to the Nationalist Collection , was made for this years World Cup in South Africa. It features the name of a country & the flag underneath it, in the shape of a soccer ball. Or take our “Pop Champagne” shirt , which was made just in time to celebrate the New Year. So, I think I can say TIME is the main inspiration of the brand.

Our 75/03 Collection is a line of themed shirts that change monthly. And for February the theme is Black History Month. So , you will see a variety of Black History Month designs that you can’t get anywhere else.

Any product placements on celebs to keep an eye out for (examples: publicity photos, magazines, movies, music videos etc)

We’ve been working with the music industry ever since the beginning of the brand, & they have supported us more than expected. Some of the more recognizable artists that wear our t-shirts have come from Hip-Hop : N.O.R.E , KRS-One , Joell Ortiz , Chino XL . We have also been very popular in the Latin music scene, with artists including: Daddy Yankee, Voltio, Calle 13, Don Dinero, Arcangel, Big Mato, Fuego, Lapiz, Vakero, Pitbull

We recently started working with Cisco Reyes, who’s had leading roles in movies with J-Lo & Mos Def, which is exciting to see because he does end up having to choose our gear over what the stylist has proposed him to wear.

What has been a surprise fashion hit over the last year? (a particular piece, a look or even another brand)

Let alone the fact that they still sell, I’m just surprised to see Ed Hardy still having free-standing stores. Is it really necessary? They have a presence in every department store/ boutique you can think of.

What current fashion trend would you like to see thrown overboard?

I think 99% of shoes are disgusting. Maybe it’s a personal thing, but I have noticed that I cannot buy a lot of shoes because they are extremely unattractive. And I haven’t gone into designing shoes yet, but is it really that hard to make nice shoes?? I’m not throwing the idea of “shoes” overboard, only about 99% of them.

What is/was one of your most prized fashion pieces, past or present?

When I first began painting on shirts, I remastered Van Gogh’s “Cafe Terrace At Night” & it was a hit . It’s still to date, one of the nicest shirts made by Safari Brand.

TuPac or Biggie?

I used to be 2Pac, then switched to Biggie, & finally realized you can’t have one without the other.

Loving Safari Brand already?  You can check out their complete collection on their website, Safaribrand.com and they’re available to purchase at a range of $25 up to $75.