Most of you will know Mike Lewis as the Guitarist in welsh rock legends ‘Lostprophets’. What you may not know is aside fom his life as a touring rock star, Mike also runs his own clothing line by the name of ‘Dead Heroes Clothing’. We were fortunate enough to have a chat with Mike to find out more about the brand, find out about their recent summer clothing range and find out how he juggles his music and business!
You can check out more from Dead Heroes Clothing here - http://www.deadheroesclothing.com/
HTF: Hey there! Hows it going? Been busy?
M: Hi hi hi!! Yeah always busy, but that’s a good thing.. right?? ha
HTF: So let’s talk about your new range! The genesis skull is featuring highly in this collection and becoming more of the focus. Why this particular piece of artwork?
M: I just felt it was a pretty iconic logo.. something that was definitely recognisable.. and I just think it looks cool as shit!! We did it last season on the back of a hoodie and after the line came out I felt like it was almost wasted there. it seemed like a no-brainer to make it a big part of this line.
HTF: How would you describe the collection as a whole?
M: Monochromatic!! I really wanted to stay away from colour as much as possible. we have one shirt with a little on but everything else is mono. The whole line was influenced by photos and imagery from the late 60′s revolution.. especially 1968 France. Once I had decided on the first two designs it felt like the natural way to go. I was certainly a conscious decision to make this line feel more cohesive and have a theme.
HTF: Does the music you write influence you collection or the music you listen to? Or both equal participants in designing?
M: They’re definitely symbiotic.. Music always influences fashion and vice versa. There’s always a very punk influence running through our designs, some of our shirts look like they belong on the merch stall for crass, which is only a good thing in my eyes. as I said revolution was a big influence on this line and that goes hand in hand with late 70′s and early 80s punk rock.. which is a MASSIVE influence of mine.
HTF: How do you find doing a clothing line and a band at the same time? Do you struggle for time?
M: I do, sometimes there’s not enough hours in the day. Both are very rewarding and fun creative things to do so its never a struggle to find motivation. Plus there’s 3 of us running Dead Heroes so we can spread the work out. I could never do it by myself.
HTF: Who would ideally be your target audience?
M: I don’t care to be honest. I’m not snobby in anyway. I don’t care if its the kid that goes to punk rock shows or dance clubs or someone that shops at H&M or All Saints.. Whoever’s into it.
HTF: Quite often clothing lines like to add tight-fitting small tank tops for girls, what made you choose a more comfy tunic style?
M: I just felt it was done.It seems like more and more girls are wearing looser fitting shirts anyways.. just seemed a lot cooler to me. I’m not too much of a fan of the tight fitting stuff, loose fitting vests and tunics are the way to go
HTF: What is the most important thing about your design process?
M: Just setting the tone for the line. that was the most important thing with this collection. I really wanted the vibe to be right, all the shirts to sit next to each other and look like a collection.
HTF: What can we see happening from you in the next few months?
M: You’re gonna see a bunch of the bands we sponsor hitting the road.We’re also gonna start hooking up a lot more underground punk and Hardcore bands, it’s the scene where the three of us that run the label grew up in, so we want to be more involved. Also, we’re gonna be designing Autumn/Winter and we have a few possible collaborations in the works.. its gonna be exciting no matter what!
HTF: Any final words?
M: Thanks to anyone that has supported us. thanks to everyone that bought a shirt or represented us in some way… Follow our blog for all the info on what our bands are up to and go support them on tour too, and finally thanks to Hit the Floor for the interview.
Interviewer: Lois Honeywill
