Not so coy, homies.

COY are the new indie street label to hit Canberra, featuring tees for guys and gals. The two dudes behind this brand are Pat and Josh. This creative duo will be launching their new range officially this Friday at an open house party in Lyneham,  featuring exhibitions, installations, and some impressive acts such as Safia, Citizen Kay and more.  Contact them via their website more more details. 

Check out the new COY launch vid, it's finger-lickin-good:

http://notsokoi.com/launchparty.html

The boys will be at Hustle&Scout this Saturday with their t-shirt range, as well as some screen-printed denim jackets and an impressive stall set-up using wooden palettes and decorated with a few of their signature skateboards. Word.

When and why did you decide to start your own label, COY?

P: It’s all a giant blur of momentum and passion so I don’t know if time is applicable. I’ve always been a designer, it’s what I know, and all I’ve ever wanted to do. So by breaking into what we present ourselves in, the garments in which we encase our bodies, is another step towards a world of design. One that isn’t limited by profession, but only by passion and vision.

J: It was at uni somewhere, at a really odd time when Pat came to me with the idea for this brand, he had so much passion and drive for it, it sort of put stars in my eyes. He had this quietly bombastic eagerness for the ideas and the brand, I’m not so quietly along for the ride, trying to match Pat’s ambition.                

                  
 

Where do you draw your inspiration from for your designs?

P: Everything comes from what I love, complex simplicity, where an idea exists and becomes

intricate to the point its meaning is completely transparent and where the transparent meets

the abstruse in a simple complexity. It’s all a battle for the existentialism in the end and this

is something that I constantly draw on in my designs.

J: It all sort of depends on where I’m at when I’m designing, like one day is minimal, 

stupidly grandiose the next. I like designing things that people might wrap into themselves,

something that they can use to define something about themselves in some way. At the end

of the day I’m in drawing in everything, so you have to be an eclectic generalist, like a super

jack of trades to ensure that you make something that is going to tick all the boxes for

yourself.

Who is your target buyer?

P: Those trying to fight ennui*. Those who love the bebop. Just the ordinary people. The 
kind of beautiful, dangerous ordinary people that you just can’t leave alone. 

J: Pat definitely nailed that question haha.

*Ennui: a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or 
excitement.

 If you had the opportunity to design a fashion piece for anyone, who would it be?

P: Kanye West.

Kanye, a tortured artist who inspires hate, overly self-conscious with a massive ego and in

many ways one of the few people I see as a modern day idol. An exceptionally flawed

individual Kanye is to me an icon of the 21^st century a celebrity that is never truly satisfied

with his success, a man who wishes to exceed the limits of his perceived talents, or maybe I’d

just make something for my Grandpa.

J: Man, Kanye would be cool to design for, he might knock it down a few times but he’d 

definitely work the best ideas out of you. Pat’s gonna hate me for it, but I’m just going to 

complete the psychotic duo and say Die Antword. You would be out there to polarise and 

excite, creating some of the weirdest stuff you ever have; and some of those things people 

will hate you for, but that’s okay.

You never really get told that that it’s okay to make weird stuff that people hate, without it

really knocking you down.

What is your absolute favourite thing you have made? Why?

 P: A temporary Gelato store in Canberra that recently got replaced. I loved that thing to the core, from the day I got the job I designed and built a store, with drawings that got approved by council. And I hated it, man every day there was torture, working in what was essentially a sealed cupboard painting, gluing, fixing, drilling, whatever it was, it was hard. But then there was opening day, and it was amazing, half the equipment was shoddy and second hand, but the place had character, and I think it will forever serve as a reminder that only limits are those you put on yourself.

J: I spent three years hand crafting a guitar and valve amplifer when I was in highschool/college. I spent every available dollar I had on it. The guitar was finished in time, but the amp... well the amp still doesn’t work. I wasn’t able to get speakers for it and some punk messed with the circuit. I left if untouched for 3 years, broken and unfixed.
The guitar, looks ace, it’s a carved by hand in the shape of a goat head, and it sounds particularly amazing. But why it’s my favourite? Because it represents that hardworking spirit for me, that drive to put your heart and soul into something you make. Doubly so, because it didn’t exactly pay off immediately. That amp still doesn’t work, and I hate myself for it.

What album or song would best reflect what your label stands for?

P: Track 5 from Kanye's Yeezus album, "Hold My Liquor". It runs for five minutes and twenty-six seconds. It represents two sides of the mind fighting for control - the tormented side that has the inflated ego, the one that gets the girl, that acts crazy and happy; then the good, loyal, honest hard-working perfectionist side that is pulled down, darker in a constant battle of worthlessness.

J: This is sort of Pat’s and my unofficial theme song.
We’ll be chilling out with a bunch of mates or at a party, it might come on.
Pat and I just look at each other and just kinda rock out, even if he’s not around I rock out. I hear it and I just think about our friendship/partnership.

Where you aspire to be in 10 years from now? (Hint: dream BIG)

P: Where do I aspire to be? Where else but on top of the world?

J: To be a made-man. And what Pat said!

What are 5 things you can’t live without?

P: My homies, my rents, projects to work on, a girl who can beat the tar out of me, and most of all, my homies.

J: Already living without them.
It’s time to go searching.