Meet Joe Brooks

Joe Brooks, 19, from Devon.

Tab: Can you tell us about your personal style?

Joe: I’m into the street-goth look and lots of layers. I’m into street-wear as well as the skate & hip hop scene so it’s mix of that. You’ll always catch me in black.

Tab: Where do you get your style inspiration from?

Joe: I like designers such as Raf Simons, Rick Owens and Yohji Yamamoto. I’m also into brands like Supreme and A Bathing Ape.

Yamamoto Autumn/Winter 2013 collection at Paris fashion week.

Tab: Where’s your favourite place to shop in Bristol?

Joe: I haven’t been shopping much but Seven on Park street has some good vintage and Cooshti is cool too.

Tab: You screenprint your own t-shirts. How did you get into that?

Joe: My older brother’s a street artist and he encouraged me to get off my arse, stop playing video games and do something with my summer. So I did, he showed me how to screenprint and it went on from there.

Left & centre: Joe screenprints a new design
Right: Joe models his first design

Tab: Are there any downsides to screenprinting?

Joe: It’s very messy, you get ink everywhere. I’ve lost many good t-shirts that way. You can also expect to pay about £30 for a screen, £10 to get your design processed and £10 per pot of ink. Each pot does about 40 tshirts so it can be a fun and cheaper way to get new clothes.

Some items from Joe’s website

Tab: Your designs are quite dark and your original design mentions Harajuku. What influenced them?

Joe: Harajuku is a district in Tokyo which is well known for it’s crazy, weird fashion which, I think, has hugely influenced street-wear.  I saw an article online that said Harajuku culture is dying and I thought, “nah, fuck that”.

All the cool kids love Harajuku style

Tab: What is it about Harajuku and Japanese fashion that you like?

Joe: I like the self-discipline of Japanese culture and the all-blackness. The Harajuku culture is the opposite to that, it’s about people wearing what they want and people should. If you wanna be a dragon then dress like a dragon.