Flaash Apparel: the unisex label celebrating youth culture

"We kind of want to blur the line between really good quality streetwear, and tattoo inspired apparel."

Founded by Kurt Wilkinson in 2016, Flaash Apparel is the unisex brand blending an expressive form of traditional design in a contemporary youth culture setting.

The New Zealand born Wilkinson grew up with a love for 90s surf and skate brands and, after moving to London 10 years ago, he found himself lost in tattoo culture. In 2015, the combination of his interests, including traditional tattooing and classic workwear, led him to create Flaash Apparel.

The brand has collaborated with established international tattooists such as Jelle Soos, Hanaro Shinko, Flurick Punk and Simon Gyllstrom and its latest collection showcases an array of unisex skate wear pieces celebrating youth culture and traditional tattooing.

We caught up with the founder to learn how the brand came about and what we can expect next…

What was the starting point for Flaash?

The brand officially launched in July 2016, but the brand was an idea I had been playing with for years. The biggest stumbling block initially was my lack of artistic skills! When I came up with the idea of collaborating with my favourite tattoo artists it all just sort of started to fall into place.

What do you feel like the gap in the market was that you fill?

Just really good quality clothing that features collaborations with world class tattooers. We kind of want to blur the line between really good quality streetwear, and tattoo inspired apparel. I think there’s load of brands out there doing a great job of one of those things but not both.

Talk us through your collaboration with the tattoo artists and how that came about.

I was travelling and getting tattooed a fair bit and still had this nagging idea to start a clothing label. I decided to contact a handful of my favourite artists to see if they would be up for a collaboration. It was tricky because I didn’t even have a brand name, let alone a website to show them! Luckily a couple of them got on board and the rest is history.

Do you plan to collaborate with any more creatives?

For sure, always! I’m actually in talks with a London based designer at the moment about a collaboration for our next collection.

What’s next for you and the brand?

Just more collaborations and hopefully some London events closer to Christmas. Just want to keep creating and enjoying ourselves!

words
Alice Ierace
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Flaash Apparel