OC associates Alex Lee and Will Thompson of XXBC are not your average kids working in Soho. They are indisputably masters at mixing prints with patterns and reinventing vintage pieces. Since the XXBC (pronounced "twenty BC") boys landed at Opening Ceremony last summer their unique style has added a lot more color to Howard Street.
Fortunately for those of us who don’t have the same panache for mixing, matching, and clashing as Alex and Will, the guys have assembled their own line. Available exclusively at OC, the XXBC Fall/Winter 2013 collection blends high quality sportswear with beautiful vintage fabrics. Talking to the XXBC boys last week, I found out that their influences are just as eclectic as their style, ranging from Jadakiss’s bandana to pretzels and Whole Foods breakfast bars. See the collection in the fall lookbook below, photographed by OC's James Parker.
Shop XXBC at Opening Ceremony's New York store now.
Shannan Elinor Smith: Do you guys remember who your first style icons were?
Will Thopmson: My mom. She’s from Ghana so she wants everything made to fit. Going to church she always wears these super crazy custom outfits. She’s another person like Alex who isn't afraid to wear whatever she wants. I'm always posting her pictures to Instagram because she’s always killing it, mixing patterns, colors, textures, and shapes.
How did you make the move to starting XXBC?
Alex: I started the line when I was at Boston College in 2011 doing pre-med. It was really basic and amateur at first. I learned how to sew and I was making custom sweatshirts with vintage fabrics I bought online. Then during winter break in 2012, I was on the train in Boston and Will got on. I had never met him before and he was dressed pretty cool for Boston standards. We started chatting, and ended up hanging out a lot. So I asked him to work on the line with me.
Will: I just loved Alex's style. I had never seen anyone dress like that—mixing and matching patterns. I just wanted to be his friend. Now we've been doing XXBC for two years.
What's your design process like?
Will: It's really whatever catches our eye. For this collection we stuck with vintage fabrics. The whole mantra of the brand is heavily influenced by the way people dressed back in the 80s and 90s. We source a lot of our stuff from Ebay and Etsy—we've even gotten fabrics from Alex's grandma.
Are there specific movies or TV shows from the 80s and 90s you reference in particular?
Will: We love hip-hop culture, it's always a heavy influence. We love the way Juvenile and the Cash Money Millionaires used to dress in the 90s, in 4XL and 5XL white tees that dropped down to their ankles. We also love the way Cam’ron and The Diplomats used to dress in the early 2000s. People aren't very daring any more. We are just trying to add some color back in, and some prints, but at the same time keep things comfortable. As far as movies that inspire us: White Men Can't Jump and Paid in Full.
Alex: When we started planning the lookbook we made a long list of things that inspire us. And it was pretty random!
Will: It was everything from pretzels to Jadakiss wearing a napkin as a bandana in the "Knock Yourself Out" video. Ordinary parts of our lives too: the MTA, Whole Foods breakfast bars...
What was the final concept for th
Fortunately for those of us who don’t have the same panache for mixing, matching, and clashing as Alex and Will, the guys have assembled their own line. Available exclusively at OC, the XXBC Fall/Winter 2013 collection blends high quality sportswear with beautiful vintage fabrics. Talking to the XXBC boys last week, I found out that their influences are just as eclectic as their style, ranging from Jadakiss’s bandana to pretzels and Whole Foods breakfast bars. See the collection in the fall lookbook below, photographed by OC's James Parker.
Shop XXBC at Opening Ceremony's New York store now.
Shannan Elinor Smith: Do you guys remember who your first style icons were?
Will Thopmson: My mom. She’s from Ghana so she wants everything made to fit. Going to church she always wears these super crazy custom outfits. She’s another person like Alex who isn't afraid to wear whatever she wants. I'm always posting her pictures to Instagram because she’s always killing it, mixing patterns, colors, textures, and shapes.
How did you make the move to starting XXBC?
Alex: I started the line when I was at Boston College in 2011 doing pre-med. It was really basic and amateur at first. I learned how to sew and I was making custom sweatshirts with vintage fabrics I bought online. Then during winter break in 2012, I was on the train in Boston and Will got on. I had never met him before and he was dressed pretty cool for Boston standards. We started chatting, and ended up hanging out a lot. So I asked him to work on the line with me.
Will: I just loved Alex's style. I had never seen anyone dress like that—mixing and matching patterns. I just wanted to be his friend. Now we've been doing XXBC for two years.
What's your design process like?
Will: It's really whatever catches our eye. For this collection we stuck with vintage fabrics. The whole mantra of the brand is heavily influenced by the way people dressed back in the 80s and 90s. We source a lot of our stuff from Ebay and Etsy—we've even gotten fabrics from Alex's grandma.
Are there specific movies or TV shows from the 80s and 90s you reference in particular?
Will: We love hip-hop culture, it's always a heavy influence. We love the way Juvenile and the Cash Money Millionaires used to dress in the 90s, in 4XL and 5XL white tees that dropped down to their ankles. We also love the way Cam’ron and The Diplomats used to dress in the early 2000s. People aren't very daring any more. We are just trying to add some color back in, and some prints, but at the same time keep things comfortable. As far as movies that inspire us: White Men Can't Jump and Paid in Full.
Alex: When we started planning the lookbook we made a long list of things that inspire us. And it was pretty random!
Will: It was everything from pretzels to Jadakiss wearing a napkin as a bandana in the "Knock Yourself Out" video. Ordinary parts of our lives too: the MTA, Whole Foods breakfast bars...
What was the final concept for th