CLOT 2012 Fall/Winter "Tribesmen" T-Shirt Collection

CLOT is a lifestyle company that was largely responsible for the beginnings of Hong Kong’s streetwear scene. Headed by Edison Chen and Kevin Poon, the label is notable for its frequent collaborations with international brands, as well as its in-house clothing line. For Fall/Winter 2012, CLOT looked to Far Eastern inspirations for its “Tribesmen” collection, a range of garments that reference the ethnic influences of Tibet and its people. Comprised of T-shirts, windbreakers, and other seasonal staples in innovative textiles and finishes, the collection also mined the talents of artist Freegums and world-renowned photographer Wing Shya for perhaps its strongest assortment of products to date. Read our brief interview with Edison Chen below for a closer look into the origins of the collection and purchase the CLOT 2012 Fall/Winter “Tribesmen” offerings now at our online store.

What are the concepts and inspirations behind the Tribesmen line?
This season is very interesting for us because we’ve always been into tribal and Mayan prints, which we used for the Black Sun collection. We were interested in the Mexican Tex Mex print so we did our own rendition of it and incorporated it into the collection. We focused on the minorities such as the Tibetan people and drew inspiration from them. Our aim was to meet halfway with all these cultures and ethnic groups to produce the Tribesmen line. People are going to see how a Chinese company is able to expose our culture while meshing these influences into streetwear.

What makes this season different than your other fall/winter collections?
Last season called the Refinery was a huge step up in our production. The Tribesmen is the best line from top to bottom thus far. A lot of our items jump out of the box and screams at you like the zip-ups and windbreakers. We are very proud of the development of our textile and it’s something we can call our own. It wasn’t something we took lightly. It took us many trials and years. While there is more room for improvement, we feel that we’ve graduated to a higher point of creating clothing.

Explain some of the detailing that you would like fans to notice.
The finishes and buttons are customized and matches with our ethnic theme. We used a graphic artist named Freegums to help us design our new fabric. His work is very animated. We found a happy medium between refined and rough while working with him. All in all, we delivered the textile really well and we are satisfied with the end product. The tee’s textile is shown on the front and back and the tee in general is more aesthetically pleasing. The seams are also on the back and not on the side. As a result, we are able to place embroidery on the side seamlessly.

What is your favorite piece from the collection and why did you choose to include leggings?
I am very proud of the textile that appears on every piece we’ve made this season. We made the tees extra long to add that layer look and the pockets deepened to make it seem like something is hanging inside of it. We were trying to accomplish the overall look of tribal culture and leggings just so happened to be part of it. That’s why we did it.