Q&A:
What brought up the name "Funk The Formula" for your fashion line?
MUSTAFAH: Well it came about amidst a frequent conversation about life and artistry Colin, our friend Mario and I were having outside this diner at about 3am. We were just touching on how a lot of artists today just don't create anything from the heart anymore and how some of the work they do is uninspired because they follow this pre-defined formula. So we said "Fuck The Formula" (or what we originally called the brand, FukTheFormula)! Which was actually the original idea for the name but we changed it for marketing reasons. Fuk doesn't always bode well with others.
COLIN: Yeah we didn't take it seriously as an idea until we thought about it on the train ride home and were like, you know what, that wouldn't be a bad name for a brand, this is something we should really capitalize on. We thought it over more and more, and the conception of FuktheFormula, now FunktheFormula, was upon us.
How long did it take until you launched your label and designed your first collection?
COLIN: The original idea came in late 2008, after our final revelation of creating a brand behind this philosophy we've undertaken, that being "FunkTheFormula". We started designing around early 2009 or so, we tried to hustle to get a team together, search for reasonable printers given the budget we had, and search for decent figures to model the product. 2009 actually became a learning experience and we decided to slow down and build our network for a while and not rush the line's full fruition. Within that, we didn't get the ball rolling until around late spring of 2010, but it was worth it to take our time because we became more knowledgeable than we were in early 2009, looking to launch by March. We saw that, with our means, that wasn't possible and failure or stagnancy would have been more likely than it is now. We're at a great place to grow and constantly get better at this point.
MUSTAFAH: All in all, I'd say about two years. The designs actually didn't take that long because we were pretty fired up after conceptualizing for a bit and a lot of ideas tend to rain from our brainstorm. But the launch took a LOT longer since we felt it had to be done right. A great deal of research was done because we noticed that a lot of businesses or business attempts we studied failed from rushing to be on the market.
Did you face many obstacles while working on your label and if so, how did you work around them?
COLIN: Man, did we! Our biggest obstacle was (and still is, haha) the financing of the company. We were both working in retail, so we were definitely savvy to the ups and downs of fashion, trends and what have you, working in Soho, so the more we dealt with those various aspects, the more we gained an idea of what we wanted, AND didn't want. We tried assembling a team, but we realized we needed to define our direction, demographic and what have you before trying to bring more minds on board, because realistically, our minds and synergy go miles and miles every minute, so we'd need to get together the right people to fully share the vision we have in mind, 100%. Furthermore, trying to figure out how to shop the brand around and who to shop it to, we didn't have a huge clue. Luckily we were able to meet the right people in the underground and independent Hip Hop scene later in 2009 and we gained a better idea of the direction we were going to go in. So as of now it's just us two until we build a solid foundation of support. But it's been working well so far.
MUSTAFAH: Oh definitely! We face problems all the time, from gathering enough financing so that we can have products made to marketing them so that people even know it exists.
Is it hard working as a duo?
COLIN: It's not hard actually. We practically share the same mind for art, among other things. So the synergy is always there, the brotherhood is always there and the willingness to succeed is always there.
MUSTAFAH: Not at all. In fact it makes it easier. We actually think along the same lines in terms of art, design and tons of other things. It creates a pretty potent synergy that we both thrive from.
Are you hoping to expand your brand overseas or is it just going to stay situated in the US?
COLIN:Most definitely! Actually we talked about going to Europe hopefully early next year to visit, check out the market there and see how we can bring the brand over to that side of the world. We want a global takeover! hahaha.
MUSTAFAH: We we've never been fans of stagnation so yes I definitely see us going international!
What inspired your designs?
COLIN: Our desire for fresh concepts, sensibility, skater culture, Hip Hop culture, our own personal philosophies that we've grown to build and uphold, hell Life itself. Everyday that we live out is an inspiration to what we design and we exude through FunktheFormula.
MUSTAFAH: Yeah, what he said! hahaha
"FunktheFormula" Fan Page on Facebook.com
email: funktheformula@gmail.com
Also check out our first collaboration tee, the SHOWMAN Tee with radio personality and journalist, TastyKeish (www.tastykeish.com) for her limited edition t-shirt line for her brand, TK Classics, at tkclassics.tumblr.com and purchase it at tkclassics.wazala.com
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