Brandon

Whats going on everybody! Today I’m here to show you guys my blog post/interview! This was a special one because it was obviously my first, but I was able to meet up with a dude who i’ve been following for the past 6 months or so. I got to meet up with Brandon from Fat Tiger. Fat Tiger is a clothing company, and also store which sells Chicago companies like DBM, Vita, Lost Paradise, and more. Brandon is a very dope dude, so check in to see the interview!

Me : Introduce yourself

Brandon: What’s going on everyone, I’m Brandon, AKA Ugly Brandon. I model and work at Fat Tiger. I was originally born in Baltimore, but from 12-21 I lived in Atlanta. A year ago I then finally moved to Chicago.

Me: Tight, So how’d you get involved with the guys over at Fat Tiger?

Brandon- When I was living in Atlanta I actually saw some of Joe’s (Owner at Fat Tiger, DBM designer) clothes at a store called Wish. I thought it looked dope. When I finally moved to Chicago, I started reaching out to all different photographers. When meeting all these photographers, I met this one, her name was Maya Iman, she was the one who got me in contact with Joe. After hanging out with Joe and the other dudes in the shop for some time, getting to know them and all, we all just developed a natural relationship. Joe put me in the Summer 2014 lookbook called “Winners Circle”. And I’ve been now apart of the team for a year and 3-4 months or so. One thing I definitely want to say is this, “If I never took those risks in life, this would’ve never worked for me”

Me: Heck yeah man, thats great advice for everyone out there as well. Sometimes you have to just go for it. Anyways, Fat Tiger, DBM, VITA, are becoming very big brands throughout the city, even in different states, I even see kids wearing DBM shirts at school a lot. How cool is it being able to see people from the city or different states wearing something that you’re a part of? Also, what is it about you guys that attract a lot of fans, what do you think is so unique about you guys that maybe other clothing companies aren’t necessarily doing?

Brandon: Man, its a super dope feeling, blows my mind every day that people are wearing this in the city, suburbs, and even in different states. I’d say for the design work, Joe is always on top of things when he’s creating a new project, whether it was the Traphawks shirts 2-3 days after the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup, the El Chapo jerseys when he escaped from prison. Also the variety in the designs and projects as well. Also, I’d say we have a culture, we are the youth. We always are looking out to the younger crowds, we are always having fun, and we are just continuing to do us. We fuck with people, they fuck with us. We always welcome people into the stores to hang, or if they have ideas they can chop it up with us, we will always give feedback, I think that’s cool for people to see, this isn’t for the fame or for the money, this is to help and inspire others.

Me: Respect. I recently saw you were out in Japan modeling. So how’d you first get into modeling?

Brandon: I really just got into modeling because I really thought photography was so cool. Being able to capture a moment is truly amazing. I really enjoy developing a relationship with the actual photographer and developing a true piece of art.

Me: I can definitely see that in some of the shots you have taken. Lets speak more about Japan, so you were out there shooting a cookbook for LRG with Trashhand. Shoutouts to trashhand, dude is sick

Brandon: Yeah I was actually out there for around 10 days. But I met trash through Joe actually, Joe and Trash are very good friends, they used to be roommates. Trash was actually one of the first to start shooting Joe’s lookbooks back in the day. So, I’ve actually done two lookbooks with trash now, the first was around 6 months ago, we did some shooting in Arizona at the Grand Canyon, then the second one was the one that came out recently. That was for LRG as well but in Japan.

Me: Dang man, being able to travel like that must be super fun. What was Japan like? How was the culture out there and what did you notice about the fashion out there? Also did you learn any new things while out there?

Brandon: Japan is a HUGE city, easily 10x bigger than NYC. Probably even bigger than that. The people there were very polite and nice. What I really noticed was when walking towards the stairs, they would always allow you to walk first, where in the States we are always cutting people off. The technology is very advanced out there too! Man, when it comes to their style, the Japanese dress dope as fuck! While out in Japan, I really learned who I was, I finally realized I was capable of taking this somewhere, beyond what I even ever thought. When I got back to Chicago, I became more mentally stronger and just became more happy everyday. I became more thankful for each and everyday, just remember to anyone out there, life could always be worse, never forget that.

Me: Agreed, So whats next for you and whats next for Fat Tiger, DBM, Vita, Etc?

Brandon: For Fat Tiger we are just going to continue to expand as much as possible. Growth is key and I can see it happening more and more. Joe actually has a release dropping Thursday/Friday for the new towel shorts he has been working on. They are dope, I suggest everyone checking them out! For me id say, Im going to just continue to create goals and work towards accomplishing them. New lookbooks will be dropping, and currently working on a new project which could consist of free art pieces.

Me: Tight, definitely going to check out the shorts. Any advice you got for any artists out there or just people in general?

Brandon: Advice.. Hmm. Attempt to try what you’re good at. You’ll never know if you don’t try. As cliche as it sounds, just do what makes you happy. Don’t be so concerned about other peoples opinions on what you’re doing. To get to where you want to be, it still takes a lot of work at the end of the day. Don’t think this shit is easy and will come overnight. The fame and money is always cool, but doing it because you love it is whats most important. And specifically for the models, Id say go out and shoot with new photographers all the time, continue building and creating relationships with new photographers all the time.

Me: Sweet man, thank you so much for your time, I learned a lot, thankful for this. Any shoutouts you’d like to give?

Brandon: No problem man, thank you. Yeah I’d like to give a shoutout to joe, rello, vic, trashhand, de$, max, nana, peter, dj osh, randy, DG, family, friends, and God. I thank all y’all for the support. One love.

Brandons Info:

Instagram: uglybrandon

Twitter: imuglybrandon

Tumblr: fuckmayonnaise.tumblr.com

Fat Tiger Info:

Website: fattigerworkshop.com

Twitter: FatTigerWorks

Instagram: FatTigerWorks