Today we’d like to introduce you to Chandler Paul.
Chandler, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Fashion wasn’t always interesting to me, four years ago, I’d dress how anyone who didn’t care what they wore would dress, straight leg jeans and whatever t-shirt they would see first in the morning. But of course, we grow and we find interests. Fashion was something that exploded into my world, completely by accident. I would go to the mall and see these beautiful pieces of clothing with amazing details and colors, exotic fabrics and leathers and I seemed to finally find my style.
The unfortunate part of this is all of these stores were what you would call High fashion. your Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Balenciaga, all of these top of the line, big dog companies in the fashion world. I, being a high school student just couldn’t afford these kinds of clothes but it didn’t stop me from wearing something of the sort. Slowly, I started to create my own clothes usually by hand or with a hand-me-down sewing machine. I made them in a way not to mimic these high fashion brands but to create the look in my own way.
Of course, I did it for myself and enjoyed every minute of it, soon enough my peers noticed my change of look, suddenly I looked like a million bucks, but yet it wasn’t Gucci or Louis or any of those fashion giants, they couldn’t tell who it was until I said I had made them. This small spark boomed into business, students throughout the school wanted custom jackets and jeans and shoes, I was overrun with work but I enjoyed it.
Soon enough, I grew tiresome with what others wanted and I started to design my own stuff, I wouldn’t make but what I’d think others would like.
So, I started researching, I quietly created the name, I wasn’t just going to be a brand I was going to be a fashion icon so similar to the fashion giants I named the brand after the designer, myself. I finalized the name in early November of 2018 and I have been working at it since.
Today, I am working to release the FW19 collection and attending as many popup events as I can find along with marketing what I’m doing through social media and word of mouth. I’ve come far in the little time I’ve done this but I’ve got farther to go. I strive to one day be considered one of the fashion giants.
Has it been a smooth road?
This kind of industry is incredibly rough in spots. Not everyone will like the clothing you make, or the style you portray, it is your job as a designer to find your market and hammer your nail to it. Money is tight, time is limited, and finding your customers can be difficult at first, in the beginning, it was smooth, I had help from family and I have saved up quite alot of money from odd jobs to kick start the first release, but the money doesn’t come fast when you start, people don’t know you, nobody buys if they can’t find you, I worked endless nights and long days to get even small projects done on time and of perfect quality to my standard. Nowadays, money is very tight, I need to spend to make but I need to save to sustain, finding that equilibrium has been my “magnum opus” as a starting out business owner and designer. It has its rough patches, it’s slow days and long nights, but at the end of a project when it’s finished, it feels like it’s all downhill from there. So yes, the road has been rough and will likely get rougher. But at Chandler Paul, we make it happen regardless.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Chandler Paul story. Tell us more about it.
Chandler Paul as a fashion brand can be considered designer, I strive for the highest quality and most amount of detail possible in my pieces, no-stitch goes unaccounted for. People should expect high-quality pieces of clothing/accessories and a very artsy, slick yet stylish kind of look. I consider myself very eccentric and eclectic. I am known best for my jackets, I have made a few jackets in the months I’ve been doing this but the ones I have made were jaw-dropping pieces of art if I do say so myself. I specialize in mainly denim products, like jeans and jackets, but you won’t find a decrease in everything else with that.
As a company, I’m quite proud to say I never took the easy route, I always researched and created my pieces with meaning and symbolism, I am proud of the amount of detail I am able to put forth into my work, and the time I have put into the company.
What sets me apart from the others is that you won’t find the kind of stuff I make at the level that I am at. I create my pieces with meaning and knowledge behind them, along with the eccentric look I create a piece with more meaning than some of the fashion giants and more detail and quality than the others at my level or even above me. You cant find the stuff I make anywhere else, not at the same caliber.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
This industry shifts and warps very quickly, some fads will die away and new ones will be created, in 5 years id say this industry could be quite different but with certain accents of what was, a sort of evolution of fashion as generations grow, and opinions change. Fashion is always destined to change, what we wore 100 years ago is nothing like we wear now.
In 10 years, I expect fashion to be quite different than it is now, there may be a whole new genre of fashion unheard of today but nonetheless, we as designers should expect something like this and be ready to embrace change and grow with the industry. You won’t be able to predict trends or big changes but you can certainly expect them.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.chandlerpaul.com
- Phone: 4045509883
- Email: chandlerpaul.shop@gmail.com
- Instagram: @chandlerpaulofficial
- Facebook: @chandlerpaul
- Twitter: @ChandlerPaulUS
Image Credit:
@blancoguap.films, @evoxjeff
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