Good Press

We were interviewed last week for a Kent newspaper. Its a nice little write up so I thought I'd add it up here for y'all to read... Enjoy.

A NEW clothing company aims to show you can look good without adhering to the business practices of big high street retailers.
Royal Empire may be in its infancy but creators Darell Tallent and Alex Johnson have a firm idea of what they want - and that means keeping away from the ethics of chain stores like Topshop and H&M.
The company is built on a DIY ethic and Darell and Alex have pledged to work on only one garment at a time to ensure they have complete control over the quality.
The artistic side of the partnership is Darell, 21, of Albany Road, Sittingbourne.
He said: “I would like what I do to be seen in other places that I never thought they would be instead of being in front of me on my table.
“Being DIY means it will be more of an achievement if you know you’re putting you’re own artwork onto the shirts and it is done by hand.
“It wouldn’t feel right giving someone a design and saying ‘Print this 25 times.’”
Darell’s fascination with naturally occurring patterns is apparent on Royal Empire products.
Natural forms including hair and fingerprints influenced the distinctive black and white tree image that adorns the company’s first run of bags and T-shirts. Only 25 will be made of each to celebrate the idea of hand-made limited availability clothing.
The T-shirts will be £12 and the bags £5.
Although they plan to work with musicians and bands in the future, there is no long term game plan.
Darell said: “I just want to keep on printing.
The 24-year-old former islander, who now lives in Canterbury, said: “The first batches of clothing are looking awesome, so we're more than happy with how things are turning out. Each item will be hand printed and numbered so you know for a fact that hardly anyone else is going to have the same T-shirt or bag as you, the opposite ideal as brands such as H&M and Topshop.”

Some nice photos of Darell himself were taken for this. If he doesnt look like an idiot in them I'll post them up.

Go get in the sun.