We had a conversation with designer cømply on a paddleboat, on a beautiful day. We talked about inspirations, and origins, threw boomerangs, raced, gazed at geese, and built a stronger friendship.
With your brand cømply, how did you come up with the name? How was your first drop received?
Yeah, so I started cømply when I was about 16 years old. I needed to do something creative. I wanted to be a part of something, but I didn't have anything that I could necessarily attach myself to. I just created my own stuff. When I first got into it, I was pretty insecure, because I never wanted to make any chump shit. Early on, you have to go through whatever it is for you that's not great. For me, it was like, heat-pressed T-shirts, drawing on people's shoes. A lot of not so well produced clothes. But eventually, while sticking to it, I got pretty good at what I do. And I got into screen printing and sewing and put all my skills together. And now I can make what I feel like are really nice pieces.
Do you see yourself maybe coming up with any other brands outside to comply or they just stick with that?
As time goes on, I crave difference more and more. So I'm always going to be doing my cømply thing. But I have so much more creative energy that doesn't necessarily fit the direction that I've paid for with cømply. I would love to start a sub-brand. I would love to work on other people's brands too. And I feel like I just have so much to give more than just this bubble I put myself into.
When designing the clothing, what is your role in cømply? As far as like do you do graphic work, SCreen print, etc..?
Yeah, I pretty much do most of all of the creative direction, and my buddy Adrián Gómez (@adrian_gomez_) holds the digital media side of things. So he will make sure that all the product photos look great. He will make sure that the lookbook sheets and everything are running smoothly. And outside of that, I make all the clothes, I source the blanks and the materials needed. I'd say that I am like the sole heart of cømply like it's my brainchild.
What's your favorite medium When working on a project?
Definitely printmaking, I like screen printing a lot. And I feel like whenever you run that final screen through, or even if it's a single color, the process of designing, exposing a screen, all that stuff, I feel like that's number one. For me, I also really like hopping in Photoshop and Illustrator, and fleshing out a graphic that I have in my head, being able to bring that to life effortlessly, without having to go through any design burnout. I feel like it's key for me, I hate sitting down and trying to cook something up without a clear vision in my head.
Is there anything you'd like the people to know about you? that They might not.
I mean, honestly, I think that a lot of people have no idea what I do, or who I am necessarily. The best way I would describe myself is someone who makes clothes and loves music, and I'm starting to make music. I'm very humble. And a lot of people seem to be intimidated by me, which I find insane. Anyone who knows me even a little bit knows I'm the nicest person. And I like to help people, reach their potential or even know their potential. I think that's so important. Because if I had more of that when I was coming up, who knows where I'd be right now?
