BACKTOBACK is a London-based clothing brand, founded by Athena and Bradley in 2017. The couple spotted a gap in the market and wanted to create a brand that represented early rave culture. As Athena pointed out to us ‘the streetwear industry is overcrowded with skate and surf brands, but nothing is taken directly from the dancefloor’.
Their message ‘for the planet, the parties, the people’ resonates in their products that not only have their own unique designs but are also durable and made to high quality. The increased awareness around sustainable consumption has created a great opportunity for brands like BACKTOBACK to contribute to the sustainable fashion movement. Their use of organic cotton and recycled materials means the products are sustainable, making it more than your average clothing brand.
The designs are inspired by the leaflets and flyers that circulated throughout the early rave scene, before the times promoters could market events on social media. In the past, the main strategy used by organisers to get people to their event was to create eye-catching poster designs that stood out from the competition. The digital age has now taken over and a lot of the creative artwork has been lost along the way. BACKTOBACK exists to reinvent those designs and keep the heritage alive through their clothing.
The clothing captures the culture through the use of fun graphics, such as the brand’s adaptation of the traditional smiley face and space theme. The wording incorporated in the designs also ties in with the inspiration, using similar fonts to the ones used on old rave posters.
As well as rave leaflets and flyers are there other aspects within or outside the rave scene that inspires your designs?
The process of designing each collection involves carrying out a vast amount of research both by attending raves and delving into the culture's history. From this research, we discover colour schemes, language etc. Despite our clothing brand being worn in many warehouses and clubs, we also have a strong connection to the outdoors, which is why festivals have had a huge influence on not only our designs but also our values when building the brand.
However, with all the trouble that open-air clubs and festivals are now facing with licensing and closing times, it’s proving harder to bring dance music and the environment together. Sometimes it’s the secret parties out in the sticks where we find the most inspiration.
Why did you choose to push these designs onto clothing?
Before social media, flyers were the only way of communicating to people which type of event it was. Remember at the start DJ’s had nowhere near as much recognition as they do now, so the art on the flyer would have been the main selling point. The graphics, humour and colours were all extremely well thought out and vital to the success of the night. As a graphic-led clothing brand built for the dance floor we felt it was our duty to use this huge archive as our design reference. It’s important for BACKTOBACK to highlight that without these flyers, the rave culture would simply not exist.
What are the main attributes that make your products stand out in such a saturated market?
We stand by our tagline “the planet, the parties, the people” which demonstrates our purpose and intentions as a clothing brand. For us, it’s the values of love, unity and respect, which is why customers keep coming back for more… and not to mention our wavy graphics and the meaning/story behind each collection. Although the retail industry is overly saturated, we felt there was a lack of clothing that represented the dance culture. When we would go raving, the dance floor would be full of brands that originated from the skate and surfboarding culture, so we thought why not create one for what we love and are part of? We also found it near enough impossible to find graphic heavy streetwear that is organic or recycled. As a company, we felt it our responsibility to try and change the way fashion is both consumed and produced by moving away from mass runs of clothing, fast fashion and provide smaller runs that more sustainable as they are never reprinted - so once a design has sold out, it’s gone!
How do you go about sourcing your materials?
Our materials are currently sourced from an organic company in Belgium, and we only produce clothing that is either 100% organic cotton or made from recycled materials. Also, our clothing is part of the fair wear foundation, which is important as a business, as this means that all those involved in the production of our materials in Bangladesh are entitled to a fair living wage and good working environment.
Where are you hoping to get to with your products and brand?
As two young business owners/ravers, we have definitely felt the struggle of owning a business and working hard to get it off the ground. With BACKTOBACK we want to be recognised as a platform for other creatives, particularly young millennials. Therefore, collaborating with designers and promoting up and coming DJs is vital as there are talented creatives that we want to bring up alongside us. Collaboration is definitely at the heart of what we do, it’s in our name, so this direction will be more prominent going forward. In terms of products, this is something we are always looking to develop. As it is crucial to the brand that all our products are made from eco-friendly materials, it is increasingly difficult, that’s why we are looking to develop our use of recycled materials in our collections. So by the end of this year, you can expect organic socks, hats and bags from BACKTOBACK, the vital things that you need for the rave!
What are you working on at the moment?
We are currently working on our S19 collection, which is all designed around KU Club, now known as Privilege in Ibiza, one of the most influential clubs to exist. This is going to be a really fun, expressive and summery collection and we are excited to share this with you. We have recently moved to Ibiza for the summer as our environment is vital for inspiration! We’ll launch the collection out in Ibiza, but it will be available on our online shop alongside our previous collections.
What can we expect to see this year from BACKTOBACK?
A lot more collaboration with other brands and events. These collaborations will mainly take place in Ibiza as everything is on our doorstep! Also, working alongside DJs on a more personal level to create smaller drops, something that is going to be very exciting
Website - backtobackclothing.com
Instagram - backtobackclothing
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