Bleecker St interview

• Fashion
• Style
• Interviews
• Melbourne
• Streetwear

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Maybe you’ve been living under a massive rock, but Melbourne online street store BleeckerSt.com has been ripping up Meltown for awhile now, with its New York-influenced stylings. Exclusively for the fellas, Bleecker not only cops its name from the Empire State, but each piece is hand selected to give Aussie blokes that extra splash of NYC without having to rack up frequent flyer miles. Head honch Gavin Ward takes five out with Mafia to give us the 411 on all things Bleecker and discuss the recently re-up of the website.

Tell us about how and why you started Bleecker St?
How: With a lot of blood, sweat and tears, mainly tears.
Why: After living in New York for a number of years we couldn’t help but love how New Yorkers have a style unto themselves. They don’t try to be cool, they just are. We created BleeckerSt.com to share the big city’s brash attitude and offer an alternative to the mass-produced ‘designer’ shit in your neighbourhood.

Are we right to guess you have a thang for New York?
Just a little. I guess that’s why we launched BleeckerSt.com. Melbourne in particular is very influenced by European fashion but there is some great stuff coming out of the States. We felt while moving home to Australia it was our duty to give Aussie guys first pick of the best the US of A can serve up.

Nice one! How has that influenced your site?
I think every decision we make is somehow impacted by our experiences in New York. We constantly draw inspiration from New York, whether it is deciding on what trends to follow, what labels to stock, and what advice to give to Aussie guys.

Give us a run down of the brands you stock?
We serve up a mixture of clothing, kicks and accessories. From Kid Dangerous tees, Joyrich clothing, Kill City jeans, Han Cholo jewellery, Stampd’ LA kicks and a select few other labels from across the States. We‘re also dropping in 2 new labels before Christmas. UNIF (You’re Not In Fashion) and Beta Unit. Keep an eye out for these bad boys.

Will do, Gav. You've just renovated the entire site...how important was it for you guys to up the ante and what went into creating a fresh new look?
Keeping the content fresh and our labels tight is top priority. The site is constantly evolving. We have a great team working in the background and are constantly trying to improve our customer’s experience. Our blogs and newsletters are well worth the read. Trends, style tips, street style of the week all from NYC plus loads of other funny shit are just some of what we have on the lunch menu.

What's the next chapter for Bleecker St?
World Domination haha. Nah, at the moment we’re busy chasing up production of our in house label taped LIVE we design and manufacture locally. We’ve also started a distribution company (Plugged In Distribution) importing and wholesaling US labels to stores around Australia. We still spend a few months each year in the States but when we’re home our French Bulldog (Ace) keeps us on our toes.

Where can peeps find you?
BleeckerSt.com baby, check it! But keep your ear close to The Vine because we’re looking to open up a retail space in the near future for all our Melbournians to get up close and personal with the brands we love. And ladies don’t despair we might have a couple of women’s lines in the mix.

The Bleaker St gang are also giving The Vine readers a chance to wint a NYC outfit. Put together your best 4-piece BleeckerSt.com outfit for your chance to win it! Email the 4 pieces from the site to WhatsWhat@BleeckerSt.com before 12 noon, Friday 1st October. Winners outfit and name will be posted on their homepage at 3pm.  Get cracking!