Innovative design, quality fabrics and a sense of
ethical responsibility is a sentence that sums up trikki, a
clothing company set up by dynamic brother and sister duo, Rikki
and Nikki Shah. The clothing designed by Rikki provides young
fashionable men with a matured aesthetic and exceptional
attentionto detail; which when complemented by strong marketing and
business acumen provided by Nikki - make a great
team. Rikki, you graduated from LCF,
what did you most take away from your course? Rikki: I think the best thing was the work
experience at Tesco Menswear Design. I learnt the whole process in
how a commercial fashion business is run. From drawing, pattern
cutting to creating a fashion line and finished
product. Growing up, you mention you read a
fashion book by Gianni Versace, which inspired you. How important
was that? Rikki: When I read the book, Fashions Last
Emperor, I knew what I wanted to be - beyond that, I guess it set
out a path. As a continued influence, it's mostly magazine,
galleries, style websites that influence me more How did the brand name come
about? Rikki: I used to be called Trikki Ricky a
lot at school, a nickname that came from my football and basketball
skills. We started out as very sportswear inspired label, but
changing the style and being able to adjust the clothing to suit
your look, sums up trikki in a way - so we adopted the
name. How has your relationship
developed, being Brother and Sister and now managing a fashion
company? asked this, but I guess we live in each
other pockets now. Rikki: We pretty much had the same social circle and went to
the same schools, so going into business was a natural
progression. Nikki: There was a gap of five years between our Uni courses,
I went more corporate and business and Rikki, more creative and
fashion based. When trikki started getting bigger and more
recognised, I came on board, to help with the business
side. Could you tell me about your
design process? Rikki: I do everything on illustrator, I
do draw a lot - in terms of the design process, 99 per cent of it
is in my head. I'll sketch everything, choose fabrics, linings and
do more refined drawings on illustrator. Nikki: I think his filtering process is quite good. Once the
designs are sent over to Portugal, we get a first sample
back. Rikki: We go back and forth during production and
manufacturing, sampling clothing, testing things and so on until
completely satisfied. Quality and finish is key. What made you decide upon
manufacturing in Portugal? Nikki: We have a strong ethical upbringing
and after visiting the factory, we felt that our beliefs of social
responsibility would be guaranteed. Rikki: More especially as there would be
no child labour and fair rights for workers. We want to create
something sustainable, in line with our values but also premium and
well designed. Name a famous artist or piece of
artwork? Rikki: I love Dali for the colours, crazy ideas and
Rembrandt's sketches... also Michael Jackson (laughs) Nikki: I think, for me, I was no where near as interested in
art as Ricky was, interested more in fashion, but not from an art
point of view. I do love Mexican Art. Have you travelled to
Mexico? Rikki: We both have travelled extensively
and have been to Mexico on numerous occasions. It is pretty much
our dad's influence, who loves South American culture. Have you drawn on various culture
or places you have travelled for your
designs? Rikki: For our Autumn/Winter collection,
the graphic t-shirts have imagery from Alaska. Quite abstract
imagery. We have seen poverty and having seen a lot of this world,
it has definitely shaped how we want to run the company, from an
ethical standpoint. What do you see on the high street
that you think is amazing? Rikki: I'm on a mission at the moment to
avoid buying anything from the high street. Nikki: Which is harder to do than you think Rikki: High street stores have so much choice that they can
turnaround lines and respond to trends, which means that most UK
independents have to charge higher prices to
survive. Nikki: I think it is a bit stagnant for menswear, we have
seen a lot of the same reproduced looks. Rikki: There is not much innovation. We went to Berlin
recently where we have four stockists and what we saw was a craving
for people wanting something different, whereas here, people go for
the mainstream or popular look. Speaking of stockists, where can
we buy your clothing? Nikki: we have one in London, one in
Leeds, one in Belgium and four in Berlin. We have an e-store on
Amazon and also sell via globalfashionbrands.com Could you tell us about your
latest collection, I can see it has moved from bright sportswear to
a more toned-down and sophisticated palette? Rikki: Yes, for example the destruct
baseball jacket, whereas your average jacket would have big brand
logo's, bright coloured sleeves and so on, we have chosen to make
this from heavyweight denim. We don't like emblazoned logos, we
prefer understatement. It's torn by hand and washed
through. Nikki: We incorporate a lot of unusual and fine
details into the line, be it extra pockets, two buttons, pockets or
unique stitching. Rikki: Even small details like the inner labels are cut with
sound waves so they are less abrasive on your skin. Our outer
labels are laser cut, so you just see right through. For the tweed
trousers, we have poppers at the bottom so it can be worn as
straight trouser or adjusted to suit. It looks very minimalistic, but on
closer inspection you can appreciate the
design... Rikki: It is all quite subtle, for example
our primal range, you can have curved sleeves, which get tight on
the forearm but baggier higher up. We have tears for where the
pockets would be. I think the people it will attract are those who
like the finer detail and design. The production run is small, so
we want them to also feel they are owning something
special. Nikki: We also have a strict policy of no re-runs. It may be
counter intuitive if something is selling well... But we don't
conform to the norm. www.trikki.co.uk
As featured in Unfolded Magazine Issue 04
Photographer and Journalist
specialising in art and fashion. Former editor of Unfolded
Magazine.