SED*8 Magazine

Camden Town’s busy Stables Market hides various gems and one of them is a shop that’s not too concerned with shoppers. Canvasses litter the floors and the staff doodle and paint, ignoring potential custom as they lose themselves in art. This is the home of the Ifreecans. The collective came together two years ago and is an eclectic mix of young artists ranging from poets to painters who have set up shop, quite literally, in North London’s ‘alternative’ heart.

Kiboko84, one of Ifreecans founding members, ran a stall in Camden selling clothes printed with his own artwork while he was at Uni. The stall has since grown into a shop, and the artist into a collective who- following a first appearance at the recent Streetfest art and music festival- are now working towards their first exhibition.

The collective was originally set up for creative people of Afrocentric origin to produce and showcase their work. The name Ifreecans is a pun that speaks of individualism as well as origin- I am free, I can do anything. But as the collective attracted interest from people from different cultural backgrounds it decided to release itself from its cultural limitations. Ifreecans has gone on to become a vastly diverse group working with artists from France, Portugal, Italy, England, Kenya, Ghana, South America, South Africa. Its influences are equally as vast, from the Bauhaus to hip-hop, art deco to martial arts. It fuses these with personal style and technique to create individual as well as collaborative pieces.

Lax regard for convention is clear on an Ifreecans canvas where pens, felt tips, crayons, paint, spray, coffee, teabags and pretty much anything else that can make a mark on paper finds its use. The collective’s attitude of ‘creativity unbounded’ is palpable in pieces where text, colour, shape, form, and even smell are considered.

Kiboko84 is fresh out of art school and beginning to expand his work beyond his home turf of London with his sights firmly set on creating a far-east connection. He’s recently begun to organise independent exhibitions, painting, printing and building up a varied commission portfolio that ranges from large-scale paintings to a children’s book.

Robz GettoSoul is a graphic artist and painter. He has been printing tees for a while putting shirts on the back of many a musician, from young up-and-comers to the well established likes of Ty and Erykah Badu.

Bubblin Sunn is based in France. He is an animator, illustrator, painter & music producer. Wandering past the shop in Camden he was taken in by the collective and hasn’t looked back. His work uses everyday commodities like coffee and wood to expand its presence beyond the visual.

Hi – Fi are a duo who handle the music side of the collective. They performed at the YES WE CAN event hosted by Ifreecans last January and for TANO, a collective exhibition in Camden.

I scratch my head. Ifreecans, does it make sense? I scribbled on the yellow not the white pages of my sketchbook, next to the words feel artistic cane, trying to keep my vision honest.

He’s in the kitchen baking the tees, just like me, they want to be…the first track, with vocals, i ever heard by fidelismusicus bellows in the background….not bad, not bad at all …. encourage him  nyaroroi tells me. She is wise, my mentor in surprise,

passing on to me the motivation to motivate others as she has me, over the years 10 minutes after we first meet, gettosoul and I bond over the preference of sf20 binder over opaque and the marvel that is puff. We still marvel at puff, he uses opaque more than me, and i still champion sf20.

Hatuta piga kelele [we wont make noise] …..as if. The crowd at twickenham roars. I’m jamming with ek13, she’s rocking her sketchers with multicolored soles, a camera and a camcorder. fresh….best rugby festival i ever been to. i made friends.

The graduate shows weren’t all that this year, I’ve taken kcola around… from csm to the truman brewery to camberwell college. She doesn’t do walking, shes vexed, im laughing. I know why I walk instead of taking the bus or tube,maybe one day she will realise what it was all about. She hit the new capital of culture and did.

He calls me teacher I am humbled, although I learn as much from him as he does from me. Many people say they can draw, I have met many artists, seen many drawings,

Pensee+ can draw. We need to work on the painting

‘there’s a girl downstairs whose doing something similar to you, come ill show you’. I follow this guy, a stranger, full of enthusiasm, wanting me to see what he has seen. My stall will be vacant, but I decide to go nonetheless. I’m glad I did. I met

lala It’s been a while, six years to be exact. Transition, I can see it…rite of passage when I get to hear it, as the words she does weave, eventually you will receive. Welcome,

newbornpoet Teacher, this guy is big says pensee+. Bring him to the meeting I said, let the collective decide. In strolled this mellow french fellow with an afro. Unanimous vote. His creative skill and vibe earned

Bubblin Sunn an ifreecans collective spot.

And then there was three, girls with sktbrds, cool, free, different. I gave em stickers, they found the hut. While preparing for the Tano exhibition,

dthe5ftwnda revealed she was an artist.

Creative medley, super work ethic, self belief and growing talent. The short story with many ‘to be continued’-s, I found them, they found me,our creative interests painting, illustration, graphic design, photography, music, poetry….brought us together. Situated in Camden Stables Market, London [first left after the Cuban Bar] the Hut of the ifreecans collective is yellow and houses tees and paintings for now. But we are preparing some music, some poetry and some exhibitions and events.

Its is only the beginning, we learn, we grow and we improve with time.

Feel artistic cane.

-Kiboko84

Words by Corinne Scotland

This aspiring East London mogul goes by the street name Krae. From the age of six the ‘hood king’ from Bangladesh could be found tagging the streets of London with bad, bold, booming graffiti designs. Now his creativity has developed into a street-wise fashion label that not only brings an honest message to London style, but jobs to poverty-stricken Bangladesh.

“Kraezy Clothing has been on a long journey,” Krae says tucking into samosas in a cafe in Bethnal Green. “It all started when I was about six years old. I started doing graff and getting my tag out on to the street. From as early as then I had creativity and design going round in my head.” Krae moved from his homeland of Bangladesh to East London when he was two years old. He grew up in a council estate near Brick Lane – an area where, he says, “You had to always be hustling to remain hood king.”

To achieve this status he did things at school and throughout his childhood that he refuses to speak about. “There are certain stories which must remain untold for now. One day, I’m sure all will be revealed, maybe in a book or a film, but I’m not quite ready for that yet.”

He was accepted onto an access course which eventually led to a BA degree in graphic and digital design at the University of Greenwich. “University really was my ticket to commercial success,” Krae reflects. “Until then Kraezy Clothing was something happening in my head, you know?. I started to realise the potential I had inherited from 17 years of graffiti art practice, from mixing colours and creating letter forms on the concrete canvasses of London. So I just transferred the talent.”

But it has by no means been an easy journey. In 2001 he had his first child, a major life-changing event that made him really start to think about the rest of his life and about financial security.

“Having my first daughter was a real turning point. I knew I couldn’t just continue to dream. I had to do something that would ultimately prove myself and provide for my daughter financially. Suddenly I guess it wasn’t all about me anymore.” As well as dealing with financial and family pressures, Krae has had to deal with demands from his peers who frowned upon his business and commercial attitude. “Probably the greatest challenge was the ‘hustle’ who tried to discourage my progress. I had to make a decision to brush the hustle off and move on. In the end the fact that many of my peers didn’t believe in me and were angry that I was aiming so high, just pushed me to work harder at achieving my goals.”

As we talk about his route to success, Krae starts to realise that maybe the difficulties he has been through have actually helped his creativity to flourish. Despite the pressure from his peers and the responsibility of having a child, he still managed to find time and passion to put down on paper designs that in his words, “were dope in design and positive in message.” Hardship turned into motivation and inspiration.

In February 2008, he officially launched Kraezy Clothing. The Margin Tradeshow exhibition in London showcased all of his final year students’ work, giving Krae the opportunity to demonstrate the potential of his brand. “It was one of the most amazing days where I just felt so blessed.” A year later, twent-two premium streetwear outlets in London around Brick Lane, Bethnal Green and Spitalfields Market as well as outlets in Paris and New Jersey, stock the brand.

From dreaming designer, Krae has become a solid commercial street success. His series of graphically designed t-shirts and sweatshirts for men and women are selling fast and word is spreading about his new label just as quickly on the street. His tag, “Kraezy”, which is also his logo, is representative of the kind of street cred that the label oozes. But according to him, this is just the beginning. “The Kraezy brand is in baby form!”.

He dreams of pushing his gear far beyond London- into his home country of Bangladesh. Selling his material over there might initially be about getting his identity known, but his real vision is to change the cycle of poverty that has plagued his country and family for decades. He sees a potential opportunity in Kraezy Clothing, to create jobs in Bangladesh so that families like his own won’t have to move overseas to find work. By providing such an opportunity families like his can stay together in one place.

“I want to leave something behind for my kids growing up” he says. “It’s a real honest dream I have for my family to come together in the future – for them to work together in a family business rather than everyone fending for themselves. I know that it might not happen in my lifetime, but I know that I could start it. Then, you never know what could happen.” With such a Kraezy business sense and innovative design, this one will go far.

www.kraezy.com

If you are a budding street designer, Kraezy recommends that you contact the Margin Trade Show, which exists to promote young upscale streetwear and directional tailoring labels. Visit

www.margin.tv for info.

Do my balls look big in this ?

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Sed*8s pick of the slickest tees of the season.. At least, the coolest ones we could get our hands on..

Terratag
www.terratag.com

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Photography by Hitomi Soeda
Styling by Steph Hegarty

Guetan wears shirt by Ben Sherman, hoody by American Apparel, jacket by Luke, Law wears shirt by Topman, jacket by MHI.

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Far from the lanes and alleyways of London in the rural town of Eastbourne, Sussex is a small clothing shop that is dominating the online streetwear market in the UK. Dan King and his partner set up Urban Industry in 2002 and it has been expanding exponentially ever since. To find out the secrets behind the stores unlikely success and its triumph over the online market we caught up with Dan over a virtual cup o’ tea. Here’s what he had to spill..

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images: Lilian Ampon

Launched in December 2008, Play dot is the brainchild of South Londoners Kay Taylor and Kwasi B. The duo started designing clothes about a year ago but ever since they can remember they’ve been using fashion to stand out from the masses. The label is designed for a young audience somewhere in the 16 to 24 age bracket but there’s no doubt their quirky designs have appeal way beyond.

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Patricia Williams is a true East London aficionado. Launching her first solo collection in February of next year, she designs clothes for men that are inspired by these very streets. Sed*8 caught up with her to find out a little more about her label, PC Williams, and what makes it a true star of the East.

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What makes a brand street?  In the case of Dephect, the label set up by Matt Drane and Paul Kemp nearly ten years ago, that answer is not too hard to figure out. Dephect is the offspring of years spent on the skateboarding and graffiti-writing circuits of South-West London.  Incubated in the bedrooms of two young friends who wanted to get their art out there in a different way, the label has grown from a cottage industry into a successful lifestyle brand.

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