LA brand GPPR has looked to the concept of the rebel for their latest Spring 2012 collection. The result is a tight collection of button ups and other basics with clever detailing and use of yardage prints. We shot some q’s over to the Creative Director Bam Barcena.
My name is… Bam Barcena. I am the creative director at GPPR.
I live in… Downtown, Los Angeles.
Our new collection is called… “All I wanted to be is what I became”
Some of the things that inspired it are… the rebel aspect of the brand. We got inspiration from sub cultures that were in our environment while growing up. You see the rebel from Echo Park, the rebel from Venice, the rebel from Downtown. All an amalgamation of this unrestrained and raw individual that GPPR is.
My favourite piece from the collection is… “the captain”, a short sleeve woven that is fabric blocked in denim chambray and cotton pique. The piece represents the balance between the civilized and the unrestrained rebel.
The person I can imagine wearing the collection is… Joe Strummer. He had style with a message and that’s hard to find these days.
While designing the collection we listened to a lot of…. a lot of classic punk and ska, the main two artists being The Clash and The Specials.
If I wasn’t a designer I’d… be an artist.
I like the opposite sex to wear… tailored menswear in feminine cuts. Just watch the movie Annie Hall and you’ll understand why.
An item of clothing I can never throw out is… my cheetah printed cardigan by Hysteric Glamour.
A trend I would like to die is… fox tails.
When I’m not working on the brand I like to spend time… with my wife and dogs. But since we are both designers, it seems like we are always working in the sense that we take inspiration from anything to everything that happens in our life daily and this works for us.
The next project I’m working on is… a footwear collaboration with a Japanese brand that I can’t say right now. But I’m sure it will make a splash in the world.