HOW DID YOU GET HERE? FEATURING NICK WILLIAMS OF ‘DENIM BRANDED’
Nick Williams is a talented soul who has been in the graphics industry for best part of 20 years. He started his career at big league design houses like Levis, puma and Nautica where he honed his talent for branding & design. Fast forward to today and runs his own graphic design company called 4th Avenue Graphics. Designing prints, logos and graphics for fashion companies around the world including Gant, Schott, Fara, Patagonia, Triumph, True Religion, Levis and Disney, Nick is fiercely dedicated and an overwhelmingly talented designer.
His passion & commitment for branding & design led to Nick pursue a life long dream of creating his own book. ‘Denim Branded’ is a a veritable hotbed of all things denim including, labels, rivets, patches & components from past to present. Instantly becoming a hit and ‘go to title for those in the industry, you’ll want to add this to your reading list.
NAME: Nick Williams
OCCUPATION: ART Director / Graphics / Print & Branding
LOCATION: London, United Kingdom
IG HANDLE: DENIM BRANDED
WEBSITE: 4th-Avenue
Q: Who is Nick Williams?
A: I grew up in Kingston upon Thames and trained as a textile designer at Worthing Art school on the south coast. Then moved to New York at 25 and worked for Nautica, first as a textile designer and later in the graphics department. From there I went on to work for Levi's, Puma and eventually setting up my own studio 4th Avenue Graphics.
Q: How did you enter the world of denim?
A: I was buying a lot of Diesel in the early 90s, collecting labels and hangtags. Later on, I got a job working in the graphics department at Levi Strauss & Co. Europe, which was around the time the first Nevada jean reproduction was released by LVC and that's when I got the denim bug. I became fascinated first by Levi's and then later the ‘Big Three’.
Q: You’ve worked with some leading brands like Levi’s and Puma. What are some of favourite memories from these experiences?
A: At Levi's I got to work on LVC for about 4 years; traveling to San Francisco to visit the archive and shopping the Rose Bowl for inspiration were definitely highlights. There were some many talented designers on that team and they have all gone on to have amazing careers. At Puma I worked on branding for the Evisu collaboration with Marc Westmorland, we had previously worked together at Levi's and it was great to collaborate again under a different brand.
Q: What advice would you give to someone starting out on a similar journey?
A: No one becomes successful without putting in a lot of hard work, anyone who's made an impact is probably obsessive about what they are doing.
Q: What would you tell your younger self?
A: I always say never expect anything you'll probably be disappointed.
Q: What is your favourite part of what you do?
A: I've been lucky to work with some great heritage brands including Levi's, LL Bean, Lee, Farah, Puma, Schott and Canterbury of New Zealand. I love to do the research and learn the story of the people behind the brands.
Q: What is a typical day for you?
A: When I'm not traveling, I take my Son to school, walk the dog, I try to get to my desk before 10 am and work through until 3 pm. The rest of the day I'm dipping in and out of emails from the US, as this is where 90% of our work is. I also travel to the US about 6 or 7 times a year to visit New York, SF and LA for meetings and to check-in with clients.
“No one becomes successful without putting in a lot of hard work, anyone who's made an impact is probably obsessive about what they are doing”
NICK WILLIAMS
Q: Describe how your favourite jeans make you feel in 3 words?
A: Comfortable, classic and authentic.
Q: Your book – Denim Branded – is a comprehensive collection of denim graphics and details. What is your favourite item in the book?
A: There is a Wrangler shirt that was a barn find by Evan Morrison. Evan is from Greensboro, NC, he was a big help on the book and worked with me at the Wrangler archives, as well as his collection. This shirt is from his collection.
Q: Tell us about the journey of writing Denim Branded – where did it take you and who did you meet?
A: I spent the first six months trying to convince people to be involved in the book and getting a publisher. We were very lucky that Kingpins got involved in the book and helped with some sponsorship for the research trip. My wife Jenny and I travelled to Greensboro and Kansas City, MI, to visit the Wrangler, Cone and the Lee jeans archives. Jenny did all the writing for the book and we worked together on the research to plan out each chapter. I worked with the images and layout design. We met some amazing people along the way who were generous with their knowledge, such as Jean Svadlenak who is the historian at the Lee archives and Tracey Panek at Levi's, as well as photographers Joe Seawell and Bobbie Hamzioui.
Q: Will there be a Volume 2 of Denim Branded?
A: I would like to do a second book sometime but not straightaway. There are a lot of brands that got left out of the first book and others that I have only become aware of since working on the book, including some smaller brands that have really interesting stories to tell.
Q: What is your favourite coffee table book? (other than your own!)
A: I like Aaron Draplin's book, ' Pretty Much Everything '. He was a real inspiration to me for the talks on my book tour, I watched his Ted Talk on YouTube many times. Other books that inspired me are Rin Tanaka’s 'My Freedamn! ' series.
Q: What’s your favourite denim Instagram account?
A: I like @samutaro account, a lot of secrets and so much effort writing backstories.
Q: Where is the most inspiring place you have been and why?
A: We enjoyed our visit to Greensboro, because you feel close to the denim history. We got to have a tour of the White Oak factory when it was still in operation.
Q: How many languages do you speak?
A: Just one but I should speak more. My dad grew up in the south of France and he speaks 5 languages.
Q: What inspires you?
A: People’s stories.
Q: What is your favourite City?
A: New York
Q: Who is your professional hero?
A: My wife Jenny, for all her hard work on Denim Branded and Andrew Olah, for believing in my passion for denim and his support for our book.
Q: Where is your favourite Hotel?
A: The Made Hotel in New York
Q: Breakfast of champions?
A: Tea and toast
Q: Coffee or Tea?
A: Tea, I gave up coffee about five years ago, I like to drink Harneys and Sons Paris tea.
Q: What’s your guilty pleasure?
A: LBC (Leading Britain’s Conversation) - I listen to it all the time.
PHOTOS PROVIDED BY / NICK WILLIAMS & JENNY CORPUS & TEAM PETER STIGTER
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR / KELLY HARRINGTON
EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTOR / WILLIAM VARNAM
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