Screen Shot: DFKT Clothing

City Based: Lund, Sweden

What inspired the brand name?

Two things. Mainly the message behind it. I wanted to spread the message that everyone has their faults and defects, but you can still do great things and be worth something despite that, if anything that's makes you better as a person in the end. The second thing was graffiti. Back when I came up with the brand name I used to be a graffiti writer, and my tag was very similear to DFKT. One day one of my friends suggested I should try writing DFKT sometime just because it would look cool, and something just clicked in my head and I realized that was the perfect name to sum up the message I was trying to spread with my brand.

At what moment did you realize you wanted to start a brand?

It was back when I really started getting into streetwear and developing my style more. I knew what type of designs I wanted, I just couldn't find them anywhere so I decided to make a brand and do them myself. I've also always loved to be creative and I've always dreamt about someday making a living off of my creativity, so it just felt like that decision made a lot of sense.

What helps you get over creative blocks?

I've actually never really had a creative block when it comes to designing. I can sit down for 5-10 minutes and get anywhere between a couple to over 10 ideas of designs. Ideas just come to me and I usually write them down, so I have a document in my dropbox account with like 30 something ideas for designs, and whenever I want to start on a new design I just pick the idea from the list that I feel like doing/trying the most.

What is the biggest mistake you have made?

Not thinking through my brand and preparing it enough. Back when I started I wish I would have designed at least 2-3 collections before I actually dropped anything and studied up marketing, branding, just how everything works. I didn't and I lost a lot of money and time over that.

What is the biggest success you have had?

Honestly, I feel like just being able to sell products to people I've never even met before is my biggest success. It took me a good while to actually get sales, and it still baffles me that I'm selling my designs to people from all over the world.