If you want awesome designs at a price you can afford you need to check these guys out. “Our goal is to bring good quality apparel as cheap as we can sell it. We are here to make you look fly not poor.”- taken directly from their Myspace. At $8 bucks or less, you can’t go wrong with Treetop Clothing.
What inspired the name Treetop?
It was very random, we had thought of many different names, and the idea of a clothing company really came about over the span of about a week, we tried different names but none really fit, some of which were Roadside Apparel, Roach Clothing, which got ditched for its relation to drugs.. haha, and many others. Treetop fit, it really doesn’t have a solid meaning though, we just thought it was cool and it could be worn by a guy or girl and was memorable.
How long has the line been in the works?
Since February 08, which was when the concept was formed, but we didn’t actually start selling shirts until April, so really only about 7 months.
How has your company changed from since you first started?
Well, I think, Lauren and myself have grown and learned tremendously what it takes to run a company so we have definately changed, but really, we are just going with the flow of the company and basing almost all our designs on things relating to the bible and Christianity, so our designs may change a little bit but the main base behind them will always be the same.
On your page you write, "Yeah, we are young, but this isn't a joke though, we really are a serious clothing company, age isn’t really holding any of us back from anything in life." along with the verse 1 Timothy 4:12 that states: "And don't let anyone put you down because you're young. Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity." First of all regarding the term "young" are you referring to the fact that Treetop has been only around since February of 2008 or that everyone involved is under the age of 18?
Both. We want people to know that the company is serious and isn’t going to be a company that is just around for a few months, or that will change their name more than once, haha. We are also referring to the fact that we are both (Lauren and I) under 18, she is 14, and I just turned 15. We don't want anyone taking advantage of us because of the fact that we are young.
What kinds of problems does Treetop face because of the issue of being young?
Right now, we haven’t dealt with many, but this summer we are getting it in the works to do some Warped Tour stops as well as Cornerstone Music Festival, in which case, we will need someone who can [obviously] drive. It’s going to be challenging, but we both have siblings willing to travel with us that are 18. We'll see. We may run into problems down the road because we are young, only time will tell. Haha
How have resources like Myspace helped Treetop out?
We probably wouldn’t be a company without MySpace. I mean, we could be, but so many people use MySpace and it was essential, in the beginning to use it as a tool to let people find out about us. Also, bands posting things on there about us, and support us, and other companies, like PGR or even just personal profiles posting a banner about our company really helped us out by getting our name out there. Now, part of our sales comes from word-of-mouth, etc.
Roughly how many tees has treetop put out since the beginning?
Well, I would say around 10 different designs, but we reprinted the Neon Logo design in about 7 or 8 different styles.
Typically, most clothing companies we've encountered all sell their shirts between $15-20. Why does Treetop sell theirs for $8?
Well, actually, our main reason in the beginning was because we saw other companies selling their merch for that price and we wanted to come out with shirts more affordable because it was the price we would like to see other companies using. Eventually, our prices will have to go up if we want to expand the company and keep it growing, we just wanted to get a strong foundation of customers and get our name out there and we thought, No ones gonna buy a shirt from a company they just found out about for $20, so we took the opposite route and it seems to have worked.
Where do you usually get your inspiration from when it comes to designing your shirts?
Umm, I would have to say, at least 50% of our designs come inspired right out of scripture from the bible, and Lauren is fantastic about representing a verse into a design. On some of our other designs, like The Key, it was just from sketching different things, but once we got it finished, Lauren realized that it had a total spiritual meaning, it was really weird, because it all was put together in that design like a puzzle. Some of our other designs are just fun things we have come up with or sketched up.
All of your shirts seem to be done in a sort of simplistic style. What made you decide on this sort of work?
We felt that it was really cliché to have these really overworked designs with tons of detail, and in some cases, that looks really good, but companies like Glamour Kills releases almost all of their shirts with this sort of scrapbook, busy looking designs and we like the simple feel of the design. It really wasn’t something that we set out to do, but over time, our designs have just sort of stayed pretty simple.
Can you tell us a little about your t-shirt making process? How long does it take to make a shirt from designing it to shipping it out?
The designs can take up to 8 hours to complete, then Lauren emails them to me, and I develop the screens, and get everything set up for printing. We actually have started doing all our printing and so it saves us a lot of time. Its a minimum of at least 1 week to get a shirt from design to on the webstore, but most of the time, its a little longer than that, with the shipping of blank shirts here and then getting everything setup.
How far in advanced do you plan out the release of new shirts?
Haha, you'd be surprised, Not very far... We have some designs that are finished and waiting to be printed and released, but we are releasing our winter line on 12-9 and Lauren is just now finishing the last design, so it’s not like we have designs set out to release for the next 6 months. Eventually, in the future, we will start to have designs done a while before they are ever released.
Your current line has a lot of really cool shirts like previous lines. What is your favorite shirt that you've printed?
Hmm, I like them all. Surprisingly, I only own 4 Treetop shirts, haha. I really like the Octopus design, so it’s probably my favorite but the Baseball shirts are pretty cool as well as the Key.
Besides Treetop, what are some of your favorite brands out right now?
Haha, I knew that question was coming. I really like Shipshape Clothing, Veil Arms, Awaken, Linty Fresh, Drop Dead and many others; my list would be 12 miles long.
Are there any design trends that other brands use that you will never catch on a Treetop design?
I am going to have to say no, I mean, we are going to try our best to keep it original, but there will probably be a design or two in the future that are somewhat cliché to every other company out there.
You endorse and work heavily with some great bands; does music have a big impact on Treetop?
Not really on the designs, but yes, music does impact us. We try to keep our endorsements to mostly Christian bands, and some electronica/indie type stuff, we are willing to endorse any serious band though. Some of the bands have really inspired us like Nice Guys Finish First, NeverSayNever and In Dependence.
What are you currently listening to?
Right at the moment, I am listening to Kill Paradise. Lately, I have been into a band called Argyle Street, check him out. I am also really into Attack Attack! Owl City, See You Soon, and A Rocket To The Moon. I am always listening to music though, so this list is always changing.
If you could sponsor one singer/band you don't already sponsor who would it be?
Probably Adam Young, of Owl City. We have talked to him about an endorsement, but he really isn’t interested, which is totally fine. Some bands want to stay totally independent and not rely on companies for promotional reasons, we totally understand. It'd also be pretty cool to sponsor Aaron Gillespie of The Almost/UnderØath or Haley Williams.
What are some goals for Treetop you have for the next 5 years?
Wow, I would like to see us still a strong company that has grown. The bigger question is where do I see Treetop in a year, the answer to that would be, Working on huge lines to release with cut and sew hoodies and stuff, also, traveling a lot and doing some tours. It’s hard to say where we will be in 5 years, because we just started.
What advice can you give others on building a strong clothing line like Treetop?
Try not to conform to what all these other companies do. Expect to make no money. We seriously have invested all our profits straight back into the company, so many people tell me, "I so have to get my merch sold because I need money bad!" If you are going into this industry to make a quick buck then you better be coming up with a different game plan.
Well, that's 20 questions :] Is there anything you'd like to say to conclude this interview?
No, I think that covers basically everything. Anyone reading this interview can use the promo code: PGRBLOG at treetopclothing.bigcartel.com to get a rad discount.
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