One & The Other

Thread loves reading about up-coming New Zealand designers, so we were naturally happy to hear about young design duo Oscar de Lautour and Isaac Gray who go by the name, ‘One & The Other’…

Thread loves reading about up-coming New Zealand designers, so we were naturally happy to hear about young design duo Oscar de Lautour and Isaac Gray who go by the name, ‘One & The Other’…

Isaac and Oscar chatted to Thread about their casual streetwear label.

Who is behind it?
Oscar is 19 and is a first year student studying Design at CPIT Canterbury, and Isaac is 18 and is "job hunting at present" he says, laughing.

What does your name come from?
The name One & The Other was thought up by Oscar after a few weeks of casually throwing around ideas; normally just random texts out of the blue with some witty names. One & The Other worked best, relating to the fact that there are two of us. And the idea went from there.

Below: Oscar de Lautour (left) and Isaac Gray (right)

How did it all begin?
We decided to start up the label officially after a few months of casually altering clothing of our own. Friends had started to come to us and request alterations so that was where the inspiration originated. Isaac is the more experienced sewer; however, knowledgeable mothers and grandmas are often called in to give us a hand behind the scenes. All garments have been individually made with unique pockets, seam tabs, fabrics and sleeve positioning.

Now with a Facebook base of 800 people it’s becoming a little bit hectic. Large demand has seen garments sell out within 24 hours of being released. We are currently working together with a couple of friends to build our website and look into a full summer range. Until then we are selling through Facebook under www.facebook.com/OscarNIsaac

Each of us are continuously hitting each other with new designs and Oscar’s knowledge and skill with design has really helped out with putting new ideas to paper and slowly teaching me (Isaac) the basics of design along the way.

Where do you get inspiration from?
The idea of the fabric pockets and sleeve change was a spontaneous one Oscar had while on holiday in Gisborne. He came back to Christchurch with 10 crewnecks and a few tees. We launched our Facebook page at the start of July and started to promote our clothing by posting glimpses of fabrics and sneak peaks of the tops. Our page grew from 0 to 800 followers within the month.

What are you future plans?
As much as we are really happy about how it’s beginning to work out, we realize that in this industry you have to have to have the next thing that people desire, so that’s the future. Figuring out what that next best thing is. Designing clothing that all can people enjoy and hopefully keeping everyone happy.

Find One & The Other at www.facebook.com/OscarNIsaac and www.1andtheother.blogspot.co.nz

Megan Robinson 4 August 2012