One People Project isn’t your ordinary street wear brand. With an emphasis on fit and feel, they make it a priority to produce high-quality clothing. Placing focus on a positive message and delivering through their innovative designs, OPP is standing out.

The good folks at OPP sat down with us to discuss their influences and their message. We also got to break down some of their new merchandise as they explained just why they do things their way. Read on to find out where to cop One People Project clothing and to find out where they think fashion is headed.

TEC: What made you guys decide to start the brand?

OPP: Ever since Jr. High School we’ve both been interested in the clothing game. Back in the day we were wearing brands like Polo and Nautica, Stussy, and Freshjive. With Brett’s interest in the business side of owning a brand and my passion for art and design, we decided it was time to work together and put out a brand that we would love to wear with a message that our generation would understand. So we set out to build a brand emphasizing good design, quality, and fit, with a positive undertone.

TEC: I noticed you guys are very message driven. What is the best way to describe your message to others?

OPP: One People Project is our way of saying One Love. One People Project is a clothing brand and a business; however we try to use the One People Project to spread a message of love and community. We get enough negativity and pessimism from the news. Being that we live in the melting pot of the world, we really just wanted to create a brand for everyone, people from many backgrounds. We didn’t want to be a brand that only focused on one idea, culture, sport, or state of mind. Everybody is automatically categorized without saying a word just by the clothes they wear. We wanted One People Project to be a brand that people could wear and not be categorized. Nobody who skates is just a skateboarder and just because you listen to hip-hop doesn’t mean you don’t appreciate other types of music. We are a clothing company, not a definition of the individual who wears it.

TEC: With your new designs, I saw the U-N-I-T-Y shirt, with the creative twist. How involved in music or Hip-Hop are you guys?

OPP: We’ve always been fans of good music period, regardless of genre. Music is a tool for everyone to use. We’ve always connected to hip-hop especially though because of the message. It was what we related to the most. The Unity shirt was really born out of a need to express a message and I used what I knew to express it. When I think of the word Unity, I can’t help but think of a certain song.

TEC: What were you guys trying to convey with the Free Thinkers Society shirt? Did you guys feel as though we live in a society that isn’t so free? Is it a view of the urban fashion scene?

OPP: The Free Thinkers Society Tee is an expression of our personal experiences. Free Thinkers Society came from the idea that society mandates that you follow a certain path to be considered a “success”. That path is defined a few different ways depending on the individual, but it usually ends with making a lot of money and therefore finding happiness. We believe in following dreams, being a Free Thinker and not falling subject to society’s ideas of what you should and shouldn’t do.

TEC: You guys got together with New Era to make a fitted. It seems a lot of brands are doing this. What prompted you guys to do so, as well?

OPP: Bottom line is New Era currently makes the best quality fitted hats. Quality, fit and feel is extremely important to us and we knew New Era would produce the best quality fitted for us.

TEC: Will we see more collaborations like this in the future?

OPP: You will definitely see more New Era x One People Project fitteds in the future.

TEC: The colors on the new jackets are fresh ideas to combine. Who usually comes up with the colorways for the clothing between you guys?

OPP: Color, is an entire facet of design in itself. When designing, one of the most time consuming parts of the process is working with color. Color is one of those things that when you find the right combination, you know. And until you reach that point it just doesn’t feel right. Everybody has a different vision of what color works best in any situation. We both really work together to find the right colorway for each design.

TEC: So you have the United Tradeshow coming up. Are you excited? What are you expecting?

OPP: We are really excited to attend United Tradeshow in New York. This will be our second tradeshow and hopefully it will work out as well as our first. We are expecting a really good show; I’ve heard nothing but great things about United.

TEC: The urban fashion scene is getting a flood of new brands daily. How do you seperate yourself from the pack?

OPP: I feel like most of the new brands coming out everyday are t-shirt brands who mostly sell graphics. We aren’t a t-shirt brand and never have been. We are a clothing brand and put just as much effort into the quality, fit and feel of our products as we do graphics. A lot of new brands are started not with a new idea but with the hope of riding along with existing ideas and thought. We started out with a different message which ended in One People Project having a different look.

TEC: You guys make it a point to note the “fit & feel” of the line as well as the “effort” placed in “each and every” article of clothing. Do you feel most other brands lack in that department?

OPP: Quality, fit, and feel is extremely important to us. We put a lot of effort into the fit and feel of every piece we produce. There is nothing worse than finding the dopest, most creative shirt, jacket, hood etc… and then finding out after buying it that it just doesn’t feel right. You want to wear it but it ends up sitting in your closet instead. All of our clothes are cut and sewn on bodies that we spec out, with the direct intention of looking good on a body, not a hanger.

TEC: What influences your designs?

OPP: In art school you don’t just learn how to use photoshop or illustrator. You can definitely design a t-shirt graphic in those programs. However, one of the most important things when I design is coming up with a solid concept. I don’t want to just put a graphic on a t-shirt, I want there to be a message that is creatively conveyed through a concept and portrayed on a t-shirt.

TEC: Where do you see the urban fashion scene headed in the next 5 years?

OPP: That’s hard to say. I know that we are interested in not only producing graphics for our new lines, but entire pieces of clothing that are innovative and functional.

TEC: More importantly, where do you see your brand going in the next 5 years?

OPP: In the next five years I see One People Project growing into a complete clothing line including denim, and accessories, spreading the One People Project message worldwide. And most importantly, when we are developed enough to support such projects we are going to put our money where our mouths are and start putting money back into the community.

TEC: You guys have your clothes at several shops and I’m sure you guys have traveled to a lot of them. What is the best store on the West? East? South? North?

OPP: The great thing about the type of stores that sell our clothes is that they aren’t just a door with clothes on the shelves. They are proactive business owners who put together art shows, concerts, and community events, which all helps to bring people together. That is also an important part of the business to us. Having stores that sell our clothes be reputable people where you would like to shop, and not an overnight joint with little interest in the culture. If you’re in San Diego, be sure to check out UNIV in Encinitas, and 5 & A Dime in Downtown. In Los Angeles, you have to stop by Greyone.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 14th, 2007 at 4:28 pm and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.