Stuck on you

Wellington streetwear brand Glu Clothing held their Auckland launch at Home Bar on Thursday 28th of October with a fashion show showcasing Spring Summer 2010/11 and entertainment from musicians Antiform and Justin Sane.

Models walked down the runway wearing tees, singlets, hoodies, jumpers and casual dresses from Glu Clothing’s men’s and women’s lines. Splashed across some of these items were extraterrestrial-inspired designs in vivid colors. A special focus was paid to the women’s line with everything being made especially here in New Zealand.

Left: Tania McDonald, Frances Hawkins.

What started as a need for a concert tee developed into a clothing label, showing Kiwi ingenuity at its best; they are the first New Zealand company to create tickets in the form of tees.

Below: Antiform performing at the launch party.

The label was founded by two best friends – Alex Keegan and Chip McCabe – who having grown up together, know each other’s strengths, allowing them to bounce off ideas and head their label in the right direction. After realizing that Alex’s solution of spraypainting a tee for the Nine Inch Nail concert could be processed into a business idea, the Glu Clothing brand was born. Successful pop up stores at parties proved that they had a winning idea, so both Alex and Chip decided to work on this venture full time.

With no formal training in fashion, the company has experienced fast growth – but according to Chip, the Managing Director explains that the team at Glu have learnt everything through trial and error. Four full-time staff now provide the support needed to assist its growth.

Below: a model’s goggles echo that of the owl sweatshirt.

Below: a men’s grey singlet with a defaced postage stamp of the Queen.

Glu Clothing is the official merchandiser for La de Da New Year’s festival. With the goal of creating a cultural brand they put on events and offer sponsorship for musicians including Elston Gun, Antiform and Justin Sane. Working with Elston Gun, Glu produced their official band tee and integrated into it the ticket for their gig, a free drink and the code to download their EP – “ a four in one tee”.

According to Chip the brand has a larger following in Auckland even though they have not really had a physical presence here. "Social media has allowed us to grow our brand following. By using youtube videos we want to show ourselves so we can communicate to the public personally. Watching the videos you get a better idea of what Glu Clothing is all about; excitement and fun."