This day and age, clothing lines come a dime a dozen. Like, literally, everybody and their mama have a couple of t-shirts with some dry, stock, copy-and-paste logo blazoned across the chest and think that classifies it to be a “clothing line.” These “late” logoed tees make it hard for legitimate streetwear-themed clothing brands to have a strong design presence in the over-saturated market. On the plus side, this has forced brands to become more innovative, and ultimately true to their own design, and style perspective. Taxless Lifestyle embodies that innovation. We got a chance to sit down with owners Geno Jackson and Tom Turner to get the background on how to stay fashion trill in a world of fashion trite.
Danie Rae: What made you all want to start a clothing line? How was Taxless Lifestyle born?
Taxless Lifestyle: Originally, the clothing line was a spinoff of the music that we create. Apparel design has always been a passion. Growing up, people have always swagger jacked our style. So it was beneficial to start our own line to reap the benefits of the people wanting dress like us.
DR: How long has the brand been in business?
TL: Since 2011
DR: How does the apparel mimic or spinoff of the music you all create?
TL: Taxless is a direct visual representation of our music we create under Taxfree Mafia. Our mantra is “We are exempt from the boundaries society forces people to adhere to, therefore, we can’t be taxed.” We come from an era where artists wore their own clothing line, so we’re basically keeping the tradition.
DR: What drew my attention to the brand was the use of distinct artwork. What inspired you all to use original visual artwork for the design of the apparel?
TL: We’ve been art enthusiasts before it became “cool” in St. Louis. It was only right to have that representation be on the apparel. We collab with mostly women artists. This is to primarily contrast the masculine apparel to offer a balance to our designs.
Most of our designs are in-house productions, but we also collab with a couple of area artists including Del Chambers and Kelly who are both local art talent.
DR: What inspires the artwork for the apparel?
TL: Most of the artwork is just purchased. We source different artists who have already produced prints and other transferrable works, and we actually purchase the rights to the work. That way we can produce the work on all of our apparel.
DR: What does the Fall 2015 season consist of?
TL: Well, we pretty much stick to our same apparel, but we switch the artwork up, so this season we have polo-style hats, snap backs, scullies, crew necks, sweatshirts, and hoodies. We do custom-made satin jackets and of course, we have to have stickers on deck.
DR: Who is the target consumer for the Taxless Brand?
TL: We are a classic streetwear brand. It’s more about a certain lifestyle that our clientele possesses. They are usually into rocking comfortable, yet stylish gear that is also classic.
DR: What advice would you give other artists who want to be designers or just brands in general?
TL: With anything you do, it has to be your passion. With the music and fashion, my biggest advice would be to do as much as you can in-house. Not only does it save money, but it keeps your content authentic to your brand. It’s sometimes a labor of love, but ultimately it will be worth it.
If you wanted to start a brand in STL, it’s about your support and consumer base. If you’re not seeing a direct market for your product, don’t jump off a bridge and open a store front. Take the time to build your brand’s customer base.
DR: Where can we purchase Taxless Lifestyle?
TL: We want to keep the brand exclusive, so the brand is sold via our website www.taxfreegov.com or we can be purchased at Yeyo Art Gallery in South St. Louis.
DR: Where can we find you via social media?
IG: @taxfreegovFB: taxlesslifestyle
To keep up with the latest brands, follow Danie Rae @style_broker via Twitter, and IG.
