Interviewer: SUS1ER
James Wallace [IG: fakegucciwatch] has joined #CO
James Wallace is a conceptual clothing designer who’s work is witty, but professional when it needs to be. In his words, “I take this very seriously, but honestly you’ve got to have fun with it.” Utilising Instagram’s fast paced nature to share his work, James’s snappy concepts have earned him a loyal following. We spoke to James about his two clothing brands (James Wallace Online + Haunted Starbucks), upcoming projects and creating conceptual menswear as the world burns.
<CO>
Where are you from?
<JW>
I live in Toronto, Canada.
<CO>
What's it like there?
<JW>
It’s pretty cool, I guess the “scene” is somewhat nonexistent – I feel like Toronto is a few years behind everyone else in terms of where things are going, but it’s a beautiful city and the people are great, so I can’t really knock it. I feel like no matter where you are you’ll always think that another place is better but chances are, it’s probably not true.
<CO>
Your work is obviously heavily involved with internet trends, memes etc. What are some of your earliest memories of internet culture?
<JW>
I remember being really young playing World of Warcraft and Adventure Quest on my mom’s decrepit old computer. I really just remember playing shitty video games – Halo 3, Xbox live, Chatrooms – It’s so easy to get attached and drawn into that kind of thing as a young kid.
<CO>
What elements of the internet have played roles in your brands specifically?
<JW>
I guess with Haunted Starbucks, It’s a lot more meme based. I take it quite seriously, but I guess it plays on whatever’s happening on the internet at a certain time. I feel like there’s a lot of dark shit going on 24/7 lately and what I do makes it a little easier to get through the day. If all you see is bad news on your phone and then you see a guy wearing balloon pants or something, I feel like it makes it a little easier to get to bed.
<CO>
How does the fast paced nature of the internet affect the longevity of a product?
<JW>
I definitely think if you’re trying to sell internet culture as a package it’s really important to pick and choose what you’re going to try to sell. You really don’t want to sell people a straight up meme that’s really popular, or something that’s going to obviously die out quickly. What I try to do is make things more abstract and use things that aren’t typical internet memes/fads.
<CO>
So it becomes timeless in a way? New memes die and are born every day.
<JW>
For sure. There’s a couple of jokes out there that are just kind of timeless.
<CO>
How quick is the execution of idea to product?
<JW>
It depends what I’m working on – with the Amazon shoes that i’m making right now – those took months. I’ve had that idea for like a full year, I just didn’t really know how to get it done. One day I was just thinking in my head “what am I going to do next?” and then I was like, you know what, fuck it. I’m going to make this work. So from start to finish, that was probably like a year, but other things like a t-shirt idea or something that I design and sew myself, a week maybe? Sometimes even an hour – if I have a really good idea, I’ll stop whatever I’m doing, drive to Home Depot and buy whatever I need to make it happen. It’s a really good feeling when you have an idea for an art piece and it’s like, “Oh my God, that’s going to be so good.” It’s almost euphoric when I try to get it done as quick as I can.
<CO>
In your previous works, you have made playful references to other popular designs; Ian Connor's "Sicko" brand or the Amazon Shoes for example. Do you ever worry there will be any sort of repercussions to that sort of thing?
<JW>
I feel like if someone did come after me, all the more power to me. Imagine the complex headline “Ian Connor attacks teenager for stealing design.” I got a DM the other day, this one kid emailed Amazon with a full essay about my post, leaking the shoe post on both of my Instagram accounts, asking them if it was legal or not. He went into the copyright for Amazon and highlighted the part where it says you can’t use the logo in any form. This kid on a burner account is trying to get me sued, I guess we’ll see what happens with that. I think it’s pretty fucking hilarious though, to tell you the truth.
<CO>
You often incorporate futuristic elements such as CGI to bring your concepts to life; What role does social media play when you're thinking of these concepts? For example, if your work is only received through social media, does it ever need to be made into a physical object? or can it stay as something that lives virtually?
<JW>
A theme i’m trying to convey would be a dystopian future in a lot of my work. By incorporating the CG elements and the 3D stuff by Garonganut I guess it ties everything together, and with 3D I can get more futuristic ideas across. A lot of my ideas are really just concepts and many of them could be fleshed out more, but honestly as long as I get my point across that’s all I really want – I’m not really a perfectionist.
<CO>
What are some of the ideas and inspirations behind your most recent 5G collection?
<JW>
Going back to the whole dystopian idea, the election, corona, forest fires, and all of the conspiracy theories that are inspired by this absolute fuck fest of a world that we’re living in right now. The idea is a take on 5G being this really great thing when it’s obviously just destroying the planet (supposedly). I think it’s not too far off from the truth – I don’t want to sound like a conspiracy theorist or anything, but a lot of this shit happens on a daily basis, right? Look at cigarette ads in the 80s/90s.
<CO>
Do you have a personal favourite conspiracy theory?
<JW>
Honestly I’m not a conspiracy theorist, I just think it’s a funny topic to poke fun at. I guess one that I believe in would be there’s just no way that Epstein wasn’t murdered.
<CO>
What has been your favourite product or idea that you've made so far?
<JW>
When I make something it’s almost like painting or a piece of art, so it’s very hard for me to want to wear that piece of art every day. The way I make clothes is very conceptual, so if I had to pick like a favourite creation of mine it would have to be something that I can actually wear often. I’d have to say the Amazon shoes – seeing that idea come to life was really special and I’m really happy I was able to do that.
<CO>
What is Haunted Starbucks and what is your goal with the project?
<JW>
Almost a year and a half ago now I had this weird idea in my head – I was like, yeah, Haunted Starbucks – I’m going to sell joke tee shirts. I made a bunch of ironic designs and posted it saying new collection coming soon – Sam Hyde tweeted it and it blew up on me, people were hitting me up like:
“Where can I buy these?”
I made the website in like 10 minutes and put all the shirts up for sale. I started putting more work into it and making it a little more legit, now it’s a skate brand. It baffles me every time I see someone order the “Owner of a Fat Cock” hats, and I’ve sold quite a lot of them. Sometimes when when people buy from my website, it’s like:
“Fuck, you actually bought that? You gave me money for that?”
On the tags now it says HS skateboards, and underneath “Why did you buy this?”
I get all my HS shirts made by a print shop near me, and I feel so awkward every time I go in to pick up my shirts from these really nice middle aged people. They’re really polite about it, but in my head I’m like “oh man, i’m so sorry you had to make this.”
<CO>
Is there anything we should be looking out for from you?
<JW>
The Amazon shoes are dropping this Black Friday (November 27th). I’ve got some cool shit planned with 1team and Weckingball. All the money I make goes straight back into ideas, so i’m always working on something.
James Wallace [IG: fakegucciwatch] has left #CO
