In an exclusive interview, Musical Scares talks to Jason about the brand's origins, the artists they've worked with and where the future will take To Die For.
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Who are you, and how would you sum up To Die For for somebody that's never heard of the company?
My name is Jason Welsher and I co-own the brand along with my brother, Josh “Deph” Welsher.
To Die For is a product of two brothers love for music, art, skateboarding, and family.
Jason & Deph
Why did you decide to start To Die For? Did you have an interest in fashion?
I played in a band and always wanted to make shirts to sell at our shows. After doing the research I found that it was easiest to buy the equipment and make them in my own garage. Other bands we played shows with started noticing our shirts and began to ask me if I could print theirs as well. Word started to spread like wild fire and after a couple of years I moved out of the garage and into our first warehouse. Business began to grow and before we knew it, I started to get calls from clothing brands such as Paul Frank and RVCA that were in the area, on top of the bands we already had been working with such as Throwdown and Eighteen Visions. After a couple years of printing, Deph and I wanted to take it a step further and make our own merchandise to sell at the shows that were coming through town. Doing this not only built a new brand within the scene that we catered to, it also helped promote the printing side of our business by showing others what we were capable of with making great quality clothing with clean screen prints. Deph and I never had a passion for fashion, just had a love for great artwork on t-shirts.
A lot of companies spring up and die away without causing so much as a ripple, why do you think To Die For is still going strong after all this time?
I’ve always said that having a clothing brand is the same thing as playing in a band. It’s what you make of it and how much energy you put into it. It’s also being at the right place at the right time. People tend to think making clothing is easy and it is. It’s the business, the marketing, and figuring out who is your customer that makes it tough to get through the beginning stages. Nowadays it’s possible to make anything you lay your eyes on due to the internet. We knew from the start who and why bands and fans watching at the shows would wear our clothing. Time will tell. If you stick around and pay your dues, people will start to notice, and they did.
Having been established since 1997 you'll have seen a lot of fashions come and go, how do you avoid blending in with the rest of the pack? (Especially with a lot of designers using tattoo designs on their clothing of late)
Unless you have no clue about tattoo or graffiti culture, you can point out the fakes. Fakes jump on a band wagon and do things for the love of money and sale to the masses. These people are called licensee’s. They buy artwork from well known artists and plaque it and anything and everything that it will stick to. These people follow trends and flood the market and have a lifespan of 2 years. Our artwork is real and has a beating heart. If you know anything about what we do or create, you will see that we do things for a reason. We create and work with artists that have made a name for themselves and have the experience and knowledge to lead and help grow the industry the right way.
To Die For is now a global brand, did you ever expect the company to grow as large as it has?
From the outside we look larger than we really are, but there is still a ton of work to do to be where we want to be. It’s going to take at least another 2 years to be close to the size we want to be.
How large of a part has the internet had to play in To Die For’s success?
The internet plays a big role in our company’s sales and success. I would say at least 35%. We work hard at keeping the site up to date with fresh products and news. Since day one we have controlled our online store and shipped our own products. We really like the one on one experience direct with our customers.
You work with a wide range of artists, from tattooists like Tim Hendricks to graffiti artists and painters like Greg “Craola” Simkins, Chris “Devious” Gliebe and Gunnar. Is there a selection process for choosing who to work with? I imagine you're inundated with requests from artists to get their work on To Die For products.
The artist we have chosen to work to date, have all been amazing! It’s not only the artwork style we are after, we want the artist to have the right attitude about the collaboration concept. The business side can easily get in the way of a new relationship with an artist but that hasn’t been an issue with us. We make sure to lay all our cards out on the table from the start so we both know exactly what is needed from one another to build the foundation of other collaborations to come in the future. We rarely get asked to do artwork collaborations, these days. I think word got around that we are too picky-hahaha. There are tons of great collaborations to come. Just because we like a certain artist’s work, doesn’t necessarily mean that it will come across the same on a garment. It’s tricky!
Are there any artists you would like to work with who you haven't?
Not really. All the artists I follow and love have worked with a clothing company already or choose to create their own products rather than collaborate with a company such as ours. The only reason I don’t reach out to them is we’ve had too many companies over the years do this with the artist we’ve worked with and helped build. I don’t get it. Why can’t brands find new up and coming artist? It’s like a friend of yours dating your ex-girlfriend without asking you first.
The TDF store has recently started stocking DINGs, are there any other products that you would like to see baring the To Die For name and designs other than clothing?
Totally. Here are some of the avenues we may or may not have explored in the past but one day will work on: Drag Racing Cars, Shoes, Bedding, Shower Curtains, Wall Paper, Toiletries: After Shave, Shaving Cream, Bar Soap, Sanitizer, Shampoo, Face Wash, Chap Stick, Deodorant & Hair Pomade
What's next for the company?
We just launched our Mens “Summer” 2010 line and released four of the styles for pre-order on our site. So far the response has been amazing. Some of our distributors and retail chains are saying it’s the best line to date. This is great feedback considering I’ve sat back and took notes that last 2 years on what is and isn’t working for us and implemented this into our latest line. We are holding on Women’s and Accessories for now. Those will be released slowly in the next couple months. On top of the latest styles we’ve been speaking to a distribution company that has been interested in the brand for the last three years. Deph and I have been at this for far too long and are ready to give up some control. Yes, we are major control freaks but the brand is at the level that if we don’t begin to get some help from other interested parties, we are going to hurt ourselves in the end. It’s been an interesting journey and we’ve learned so many great things by taking chances and making mistakes. This year is going to be the year that we take all the lessons learned, step up to the plate to bat, and hit homeruns.
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Thanks so much for Jason for taking the time out to answer these questions.
