Happy Monday! We recently launched our amazing collab with badass menswear brand, Feltraiger! In honor of this awesome opportunity, I had the pleasure of conducting a phone interview with Jon Feldman, co-owner of Feltraiger! Check out the secret behind the brilliance and a little sneak peak as to what the brand as in store for the future!
So tell me, has fashion always been a passion for you and your brother Dan? How did two Florida natives make their way to the big apple with such an awesome eye for menswear?
We’ve always been creative, neither of us actually grew up doing this or aimed to do this, but to give you a little background: Dan had a pretty tight group of friends, and they all grew up in a band together. He would be in charge of making the band’s merch, t-shirts, album art and design direction. As they got older and the band grew, they had to pick how they wanted to push forward. Dan originally went to school in Orlando for Recording arts and Business of Music, but he ended up moving to New York to become a music agent at the Agency Group.
Moving away from home is always difficult, especially when you’re not used to heavy populated cities like New York. What was it like for Dan to move to NYC and path his way for design?
He worked at the Agency Group for a little over a year – it was awesome, he was always meeting new people and new bands, but it wasn’t creative enough for him. He wanted to push his own artwork and designs. While living in Brooklyn, he attended Parsons for a fashion design where he quickly learned that his internships (Mischka, What Goes Around Comes Around, and Unif) were giving him far more experience and knowledge. At that point he was well-versed in design, fashion, and branding, which led him to start his own brand.
Sounds like Dan was in a crazy transition and had a lot of soul searching to do! Is this where you come into play?
I think when Dan seriously wanted to start a company, it gave us our outlet to show off our individual talents. I originally went to school for interior design and then got into photography. Right after I graduated Dan said, ‘Listen man I want to start a brand, our own brand, and I want you to help me and be a part of it.’ At that point, I moved up to NYC and we had a sit down together where he said, ‘if were gonna do this we both need to know that we’re in it 120% and were going give it all of our blood, sweat and tears and really make the most of it.’ We launched our first collection of button-ups, a few t-shirts, a jacket, and a pair of jeans, and Time Out Magazine picked it up! Dan was featured in the magazine as the artist spotlight of the month! From there on it was full steam ahead!
Time Out Magazine – that’s amazing! What a great way to start off a fresh new company! You describe Feltraiger as “New American Classic,” so can you tell me a little bit about how American culture and rebellion inspires the brand?
One of the biggest things that we pull inspiration from is just that classic cool guy in the 60’s that’s wearing a pair of jeans, a white shirt, and a leather jacket. We were used to wearing our dads old high school varsity jacket and our grandpas old Air Force jacket. We really wanted to make a brand that touched on that American iconic feel, but with a better fit, upgraded fabric, materials, trim, and hardware. In addition, we love those anarchy guys, the punk rockers, the people who stepped away from the norm. It was then that we decided to pull a different rebellious sub culture throughout American history to base each season off of. We aim for something that is going to last 20-30 years, something you can pass down to the next generation like we do.
We are super excited about the Gypsy Warrior x Feltraiger collab! Can you tell me a little bit about why Gypsy Warrior was a perfect match and how you think the shirt and mug came out?
Being in the fashion world, it’s easier to become well-versed in other brands, especially brands that go hand-in-hand with ours. As I said, we are a menswear company, however recently we’ve been offering our clothes in Extra Small to give women the option of rocking our label. It’s like that vibe of wearing your boyfriends jacket, but it actually fits a lot better. When I was looking at your site and saw the products you guys were putting out, it seemed like the “girl” that Gypsy Warrior is pushing, is a great match to our “guy” here at Feltraiger – it’s cool, it’s tough, Gypsy Warrior is the girlfriend to our brand! [and we couldn’t agree more!]
With all your new clothing, different styles, and updated prints that your putting out there, what should we expect from Feltraiger in the future?
The next collection we are designing right now is for Fashion Week 16. We are going off the vibe of Wild West. The cowboys and Indians, heavier warmer color fabrics – something that stands out and is a little tougher and cooler. [And we are super excited to see it!]
The next time you’re in Brooklyn, be sure to stop in the Feltraiger store, check out the collab, and possibly get a haircut – because yes, they have a personal barber in their shop!
Check out our exclusive collab on our site under the UNISEX tab!
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