As I had successfully managed several productions of technical garments & casual wear for Independent Racing, I was approached by clients who needed any kind of merchandise and knew I could translate their raw concepts into production-ready files. I was put in charge of sourcing the manufacturer (Europe& overseas), communicating the details that matter, and choosing the correct fabrics & printing methods depending on quantities.
My clients ranged from larger brands like Shoei to design agencies and art initiatives, often approaching me with unusal projects and very short deadlines – which where nevertheless always met.
The European importer of Shoei, the Japanese motorcycle helmet manufacturer, approached me about the production of their vintage motocross jerseys in 2019. A 100% polyester fabric was chosen according to the look of the targeted period and printed with an all-over sublimation print.
In 2022, I produced their second collection, intended for more casual use. This time, the fabric was 100% cotton with a classic screen print, making it more wearable for everyday life.
www.shoei-europe.com/de/merch/
Photo courtesy of: Shoei Europe
As my contact was passed over to BAM Berlin by a friend of mine, they asked me for help with the merchandise production for the launch of the Google Pixel 3 in 2018. The idea was an all-white hoodie with a search window printed on the front, each with a custom label sewn in. The timeframe was 1.5 weeks until the pop-up store event. As they had no knowledge about the manufacturing process of physical merchandise, I could use my expertise to get the job done in time, as simple as possible for the use case, without going over budget.
Several other items in larger amounts were requested, like socks and all over print longsleeves, but due to the short time frame given, these products were sadly unrealizeable.
For the König Galerie Berlin I made several merchandise productions between 2018 and 2020. Besides normal clothing, several “special” projects were handed to me, like the 2018 “IGNAZ” so-called “Solidarity Hoodie.” It took the traditional skullcap worn by Jewish men and combined it with one of the most ubiquitous pieces of clothing to create a political fashion statement: a hoodie collection with a sewn-on kippah.
https://goart-berlin.de/fashion-week-berlin-konig-souvenir-x-kollektiv-ignaz/
In 2020, my job was to source a manufacturer who could recreate the painting of Friedrich Kunath—”Never Liked You, but Still Nostalgic”— as a classic, cotton, woven bath towel—not sublimated polyester.
Photo courtesy of: König Galerie
The challenge with this technique is that a maximum of nine colours are possible. So the complex gradients of an oil painting had to be translated into a simplified weaving process.
It took three sample runs and several revisions to get the colours as close as possible to the original.
You can still buy the towel here: König Galerie.
From 2015 until 2019, I produced most of the merchandise for the Sucuk und Bratwurst design agency. As we knew each other from our university days, they came to me in their very early stages. I managed the production of simple print and relabel jobs in the beginning, all the way to complex overseas manufacturing of reflective crossbody bags and everything in between.
Photo courtesy of: Sucuk und Bratwurst
Besides the projects that stand out, I managed the process of hundreds of smaller merchandise productions, often making a professional look possible even with strict volume limitations.
