URB1 EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH FIVE FOUR CLOTHING

Article written by: Rodrick Rainey
Posted on: June 4, 2004

Original flavor is something Urb1 strives to bring to the forefront of hiphop fashion for stylish Urbanites’ consumption. And while the majors usually lack this, there are plenty of underground designers that are booming with originality. One of those designers is Five Four clothing: The coming powerhouse from the left (west) coast. With a message delivered in most of their designs, Five Four released one of the top clothing line collections this past season. Now see it repeat this summer!

(URB1) LETS START OFF BY INTRODUCING WHO YOU ARE AND YOUR POSITION WITHIN FIVE FOUR CLOTHING. ALSO TELL THE URB1 VISITORS WHAT FIVE FOUR ACTUALLY STANDS FOR.

I’m Andres Izquieta, co-founder and head designer for Five Four. Five Four stands for “one love”, hence “Five minus Four equals one which equals one love.”

WHERE AND WHEN DID FIVE FOUR START? WHAT WERE SOME OF THE ORIGINAL IDEAS USED TO DEVELOP THE LINE AND EXPRESS YOUR ARTISTIC IDEAS?

(FIVE FOUR CLOTHING) Five Four started in March 2002 in Los Angeles, CA. It was a business plan at USC, the founders on the project are myself, and Dee Murthy. It first started off as a fun thing, not really looking it like a real business. We quickly saw that there was a huge potential and we really enjoyed the clothing business. We knew we wanted to do an urban line that was more of a crossover brand, nothing too segmented in the hip hop urbanwear market. So we proceeded creating a line that had a lot of flavor, taking ideas from urban all the way to high end, fusing them into a line that we felt was a reflection of who we are and what we are all about.

(URB1) A LOT RECOGNIZE FIVE FOUR’S LOGO THAT’S REPEATEDLY MONOGRAMMED ON ITEMS AS THEY WERE ONE OF THE HOTTEST SELLERS AT DR JAYS IN NYC THESE PAST 2 OR 3 SEASONS. WILL YOU BE DOING MORE CLOTHING LIKE THIS? AT ANY POINT DID YOU FEEL YOU WERE FOLLOWING THE TREND OTHER DESIGNERS ALSO HAVE BEEN TESTING WITH?

(FIVE FOUR CLOTHING) From a garment level, we will not be incorporating this that much any more. It was something that we liked at the time and due to our ff logo, the pattern came out great. We are still using the repeat pattern ideas as lining on some of our headwear and recently we are starting to develop some technology accessories that will be coming out this holiday season with the same pattern fabric.

(URB1) WHAT SEPARATES FIVE FOUR CLOTHING FROM THE OTHER LINES IN YOUR OPINION? I KNOW PERSONALLY FROM THE WORK I�VE SEEN, YOU GUYS HAVE A LOT OF CREATIVITY AND ORIGINALITY. WHAT OR WHERE GIVES YOU INSPIRATION FOR NEW DESIGNS?

(FIVE FOUR CLOTHING) The underlying theme at Five Four is that we are the “independent outsider network”. At Five Four, we see ourselves as outsiders, straying away from the norm and the conventional. When we graduated from college instead of accepting job offers, we decided to do our own thing and hustle, trying to create the next big streetwear line. Slowly, we are going to get there. A lot of our influence comes from technology related themes and ideas. Technology has always been seen as unconventional at first and always looked upon as outside the box, that is what Five Four exactly is. Thus, technology has a huge look on our line and we will start to incorporate more of its elements in the future. We are very keen on keeping everything very original, our integrity over our creative work is very important.

URB1) OVER TIME, I’M SURE GIVE FOUR HAS WORKED WITH MAJOR RETAILERS AND CELEBRITIES AS YOU RE IN THE HOLLYWOOD AREA OF THE US AKA LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA. GIVE A SHORT LIST OF THESE STORES AND CELEBS SO PEOPLE CAN REMINISCE BACK TO THINGS GIVE FOUR HAS BEEN FEATURED IN.
(FIVE FOUR CLOTHING) Five Four sells in 125 stores worldwide at the moment in countries such as USA, UK, Japan, Germany, Canada and Taiwan. Some of the domestic stores include Fred Segal Street, Up Against The Wall, Dr. Jays and Epic.

We believe more in the celebrities and leaders of tomorrow, people that we know will be causing a wave in the near future. Some of those include 4th Avenue Jones, DJ AM, Dangermouse. We have given product to many celebrities, but these are the stars of tomorrow that we have focused on working with, building a relationship with them and being able to come up together.

(URB1) I NOTICE IN FIVE FOUR’S BIOGRAPHY, YOU ALL HIGHLIGHT YOU ARE ‘RAN BY THE YOUTH FOR THE YOUTH’. HOW IMPORTANT IS THIS TO TIVE FOUR THAT YOU REMAIN IN CONTROL OF YOUR CLOTHING LINE? I FOR ONE THINK IT’S FUNNY HOW CLOTHING LINES SELL OUT TO SOME OLDER BUSINESS HEADS AND STILL LIE TO PEOPLE LIKE ‘WE OWN IT’ JUST TO PROTECT THEIR LINE’S IMAGE. GIVE YOUR FEELINGS ON THIS IN DETAIL.

(FIVE FOUR CLOTHING) We feel that it is very important that we have full control over the line. The only ones that are going to be able to keep the vision and integrity of Five Four, are Dee and myself. We were the ones that started it, we were the ones that maxed out our credit cards, we have done everything from design to sales meetings to packing and shipping boxes. We are truly a company from the ground up. Teaming up with bigger companies has its huge benefits, but you must know that you will lose control and integrity over your line. You can only benefit from teaming with a larger company when you ultimately have control over your product and brand image, but that is very hard, your line would have to be super hot for you to demand such control. We would hate to be in a situation where we worked so hard and put everything we had into the company, and then see someone else try to run it and boss us around. But trust me, that won’t happen here. We know what it takes to make it happen, we’re patient and know what moves to make to get to the next level. It’s going to take a lot of help, but we will be the ones steering the ship.

(URB1) EVERYBODY WHO COMES TO URB1 IS LOOKING FOR THE BEST DEAL OUT WHEN IT COMES TO RETAIL PRICES. WHAT INCENTIVES ARE OFFERED OR WILL BE OFFERED TO THOSE WHO SHOP AT FIVE FOUR�S WEBSITE?

(FIVE FOUR CLOTHING) We are offering free shipping on orders over $44. Also, we will be sending out special discounts every 2 weeks to our newsletter members such as 25% off, etc. We will definitely offer Urb1 customers a discount.

WILL FIVE FOUR’S WEBSITE OFFER DIFFERENT CLOTHING FROM THE RETAILERS YOU SELL TO?

(FIVE FOUR CLOTHING) The website will offer a few things that retailers might not sell. If we feel that a product will sell real well but it wasn’t ordered by any of our retailers, we will distribute it through our online store. Also, it will be a place where we can test out new products.

(URB1) WELL THAT’S THE END OF THE I-VIEW AS THERE’S NO MORE SPACE ON URB1.COM’S I-VIEW PAGE… GIVE URBANITES WHO VISIT URB1.COM ANY IMPORTANT INFO WE MAY HAVE NOT COVERED WITH YOUR CLOSING REMARKS. MUCH LOVE FOR TAKING THE TIME TO ANSWER A FEW QUESTIONS FROM URB1 AND STAY ORIGINAL WITH YOUR CREATIONS NO DOUBT!

(FIVE FOUR CLOTHING) Thanks for the interview. Just wanted to show Urb1 readers who we really are and what we are all about. Follow your dreams, work hard and you’ll get there. Don’t dream the impossible, because we never knew 2 years ago we would be in the position that we are in today. We had a lot of critics and haters, but we came up. If any of you guys have any questions about business, design, clothing, etc. don’t hesitate to hit us up. We email everyone back, it might take awhile, but we make sure we reply to everyone that contacts us. Peace and One Love.