ROARINGWILD

Shenzhen is a modern day behemoth of a city; its rapid expansion over the years has transformed what was previously a quiet fishing village into the Silicon Valley of China and a mega-metropolis. Despite the developmental strides of the entire city, the streetwear and fashion scene hasn’t quite caught up – especially when compared to the likes of New York and London. ROARINGWILD is an independent Shenzhen-based streetwear brand not complacent in the quiet state of the scene. Instead, they have aspirations of becoming the vanguard of Chinese youth culture, not only for Shenzhen – but for China as a whole.

深圳这个现代庞然巨城，短短数载，就从一个小渔村发展为中国的硅谷，成为一座国际大都会。然而与纽约和伦敦的街服和时尚环境相比，深圳在这方面并未赶上其城市的步伐。ROARINGWILD是深圳的独立街服品牌，他们不满于现状，渴望成为不仅是深圳，更是整个中国青年文化的先锋者。

Through ROARINGWILD, the founders wish to encourage young people to chase after their dreams and fearlessly express themselves, rather than conforming to the expectations of society. In a way, the brand’s attitude pays homage to the American countercultures of the 1970s and 1980s that set up the foundation for modern day streetwear. Holding the belief that streetwear is more related to lifestyle than fashion, the founders of ROARINGWILD create what they consider to be hip and relevant to their own lives, as opposed to creating with the current trends and appeasing as many consumers as possible. It’s this same mentality that puts further emphasis on their brand ethos and instills a sense of authenticity into their designs. Neocha recently talked to BG, the creative director and head fashion designer of ROARINGWILD, about their brand’s identity and the current state of streetwear in China.

通过ROARINGWILD，创立人想鼓励年轻人敢于追逐梦想和表现自己—而不是屈从于社会为谋生而生活，为物质而生存。在某种程度上，他们是在向美国70和80年代青少年中盛行的反主流文化致敬，这种反主流文化正是促成了现代街服的诞生。秉持着街服更是一种生活方式和时尚的信念，与按照当下流行创作、尽可能多地取悦消费者的做法相反，他们的想法是创造与自己生活圈相关的街头潮牌服饰。这些设计理念都在他们的街头风格品牌中得到体现。最近，Neocha与饼干，ROARINGWILD的创意总监和首席设计师，谈了关于他们的品牌和中国街服的现状。

Neocha: How did the brand start? Who are the minds behind this project? What inspired the idea of starting a streetwear brand in Shenzhen of all places?

BG: ROARINGWILD was founded by the six of us during college. It was me, CY, MIMI, QIAO, PPC, and REIKA. All six of us grew up in Shenzhen and went to the same university, and that’s how we all got together. At the time, it felt like there weren’t any interesting independent brands in the city; combine that with the fact that the six of us were quite interested in streetwear culture. These two things led to us creating the brand. In the beginning, we were just having fun with it, making small accessories that people liked. Our early days are actually quite similar to the DIY ethics many other streetwear brands were founded on. We kept refining the brand and we somehow ended up where we are today.

Neocha:这个品牌是如何开始的？谁是创始人？是什么激发你们在深圳做起一个街服品牌？

BG: ROARINGWILD起初是由我们六个人 (昵称: CY、饼干、MIMI、阿乔、高鹏、妹子) 在大学期间创立。我们六个，都是从小在深圳长大，也在同一所大学里读书，于是就自然走到了一起。我们做这样一个街服品牌，是因为觉得身边缺乏有意思的原创品牌。抱着我们自身对街头文化的共同热爱，就做了这样的一件事情。最开始的时候，我们就是很纯粹地一起玩，做一些大家喜欢的小东西。和所有的街服品牌一样，从做许多DIY的事开始，不知不觉做到了现在。

Neocha: How would you say the urban environment of Shenzhen plays into your design? How does the cityscape influence your brand?

BG: The brand and its products is meant to serve us, so a lot of the designs will be based on our personal needs and how the city influences us. Shenzhen is located in a subtropical region, so most our products won’t be for the outdoors. You also won’t find too many jackets and raincoats that are commonly seen with European brands. Shenzhen is a young city, but it subtly and constantly exerts an influence on the direction of our brand. It’s difficult to compare it to other Chinese cities with a long history (such as Beijing, Xi’an, and so on). Many people consider Shenzhen to be a barren “cultural desert”, with only a few decades of history behind it, but in a place like this is where an oasis is most needed.

Neocha: 深圳的都市氛围对你们的设计有什么影响吗？城市景观有对你们品牌产生影响吗？

BG: 会的。毕竟，这个品牌首先还是服务于我们自己的，所以，很多设计会基于我们的需求。深圳地处亚热带地区，因此，我们的产品中不会出现很多户外的东西，也不会像一些欧洲品牌那样，出现许多像外套、雨衣类的产品等等。深圳作为一个很年轻的城市，对我们的品牌一直以来都有着潜移默化的影响。深圳只有区区几十年历史的地方，相比国内一些拥有长远历史的城市，如北京、西安等，这里相当于“文化沙漠”。但正是因为她是这样的一个地方，所以才需要一片绿洲。

Neocha: How does China as a whole influence your brand and design?

BG: All the founders are Chinese, and we all hold a reverence for our culture. Naturally, the brand and designs will be inspired by China. Personally, I’m quite interested in Chinese characters and Chinese philosophies – this is reflected in our brand’s concepts. We don’t want ROARINGWILD only to represent us or the city. We look forward to the day when our brand can be a strong representative for China and become a well-known brand amongst the other amazing international streetwear brands out there. We want it to be up there with Stussy, Supreme, Vans, Palace, RIPNDIP, White Mountaineering, Neighborhood, Undercover, Stone Island and so on. Some of those brands are as young as our own brand, but they still exude their own style.

Neocha: 中国作为一个整体如何影响您的品牌和设计？

BG: 首先，我们团队本身就都是中国人，也都十分喜欢中国文化，自然，整个品牌和设计也都基于中国这样一个大环境。我自己本身很喜欢汉字的文化以及中国文化哲学类的东西，这在整个品牌的理念中都会有所体现。我们同时也希望 ROARINGWILD 不仅能代表我们抑或是深圳，也想有朝一日他能代表中国，在街头文化的领域向全世界发声。就像一些优秀的国外品牌如Supreme、Stussy、Vans、Palace、RIPNDIP、White Mountaineering、Undercover、Neighborhood等等，他们当中也会有一些像我们的品牌一样年轻，但都散发着自己的魅力。

Neocha: How would you describe the streetwear scene in Shenzhen? How does it match up to the likes of cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, or Tokyo? How does it match up to other international cities like New York and London?

BG: The streetwear culture in Shenzhen is a bit behid in comparison with these other cities. Not many people know what they want out of life, what they want to wear, and even less people have their views on lifestyle. Most people just follow the fads, they wear whatever’s trending. It’s not like Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, or other metropolises in the region where people are more confident. For example, I feel in places like Tokyo, young people are even more confident and able to express themselves more freely. Most people in Shenzhen care too much about what other people think, and in doing so have neglected themselves. I think everyone should live their own life, instead of worrying too much about what other people think.

Neocha: 深圳的街服是什么样的，跟其他城市有什么不同吗？如上海、北京、香港、东京？或者纽约和伦敦这样的国际大都市？

BG: 深圳的街头文化，相对还是比较匮乏。很少人有人知道自己真正想要怎样的生活，想要穿什么，也很少有人会对自己的生活态度有自我的想法。更多的还是跟随潮流，最近流行穿什么就穿什么，而不像上海、北京、香港这样的其他国内城市一样，大家更有自信。我觉得像东京这样的城市里的年轻人更勇于表达自我，感觉深圳大部分人还是更在乎别人的眼光，而忽略了自己。我觉得每个人都应该为自己而活，而不是为别人的眼光而活。

Neocha: What kind of challenges have you encountered getting your brand up and running?

BG: We really came from the streets. We were just normal kids with an interest in streetwear and nothing more. We didn’t create this brand in the same way that a well-developed company would have. So in the beginning, we failed to factor in a lot of things – such as resources, finances, manpower, and technique. We were a team but we had no one to depend on besides ourselves. We’ve developed into a mature company now, but there will always be more challenges to overcome.

Neocha: 建立这个品牌的过程有遇过哪些难关？

BG: 我们是真正的来自于街头，最初是以一群爱好者的身份慢慢做起来，而不是一个成熟公司的形式去创立这个品牌。因此最初，在很多方面，如资源、资金、人脉和技术都不能很好地顾及，可以说是一个完全自给自足的团队。直到现在，虽然我们已经发展成为一个相对成熟的公司，仍然还会有需要克服的难关。

Neocha: Do you feel like the streetwear scene has changed since ROARINGWILD started? Do you feel like more Chinese youth are becoming more interested?

BG: In the first year that ROARINGWILD was established, many more independent brands and streetwear brands began popping up. Of course, this was already somewhat happening before, but with the development of the internet and Chinese people becoming more open to things like these, more and more brands are able to thrive. The interconnectivity of the web allowed streetwear to be more accessible to the youth, so more people are beginning to accept it. To some extent, I would say it’s becoming more and more mainstream. More people are also beginning to be exposed to the lifestyle behind the streetwear. This is a great sign. A lot of young people are living lives that go against societal expectations and are thinking more independently now. They’re not living just to live anymore.

Neocha: 自ROARINGWILD成立到现在，你觉得街服场景发生了什么变化？你是否觉得现在有更多中国年轻人对街服更感兴趣了吗？

BG: 的确从ROARINGWILD创立开始，就有许多原创品牌、街头品牌出现。在这之前当然也一直有，但随着整个中国社会和网络的发展，现在的品牌更容易在这片土壤上生存下去。网络的信息化也让街服更容易被年轻人接触到，慢慢地，就有更多人去接受它，一定程度上它变得更大众了。但大家也会开始去思考这样一种生活方式，这是一个很好的现象。很多年轻人也活得越来越多样化，有许多对于自己的思考，而不只是为了生活而生活。