Providence, RI-based hip hop collective
Poorly Drawn People (emcees
Storm Davis and
Reason, producers
Dox and
Entity, and DJ
Sterbyrock) have joined forces with Washington D.C. fashion upstart
Aplomb Clothing!
PDP's Storm Davis first met Aplomb's chief designer
Matt Corrado (AKA Chew) in Providence in 2005. Maryland native Chew had approached Storm about collaborating on a musical project (Corrado, in addition to being a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, is a talented producer). Although the duo made some initial progress, the project never materialized. Davis and Corrado stayed in touch after the latter moved to the District.
Three years later, with each entrenched in new and promising artistic projects, the relationship was renewed with a different slant: Davis' Poorly Drawn People crew have agreed to act as walking billboards for the adventurous designs of Corrado's Aplomb line, and PDP will be infused into the soundtrack that accompanies some of the most promising and exciting street gear on the East Coast.
What does this mean to PDP fans?"You'll be blessed to see us in more new t-shirts than ever before, which I'd imagine is incredibly exciting for many people, as only about 50% of our fans have expressed interest in seeing us perpetually nude," says Davis. "And we'll be harassing you to buy even more products than we do now. We're still the same questionable sellouts you've come to love and/or tolerate, but now we give advice on which gear you should rock. Because, frankly, they're remarkably fresh."
Why join forces with Aplomb?"We identified with them, an artistic camp coming from out of nowhere and laying it all on the line without any guarantee they'd be received positively," Davis explains. "Plus, they asked."
You can check out Aplomb's line of men's and women's nudeproofing at
http://www.aplombclothing.com/or in PDP's top friends section at
http://www.myspace.com/poorlydrawnpeople.
Keep an eye out for PDP/Aplomb collaborations in 2008!
More about Aplomb, from the company's site:
"One thing all three owners could recognize when they decided to start Aplomb was an overwhelming need for creative commerce in the D.C. area. Specifically, our nation's capital had no nationally recognized apparel companies to call its own. And so, Aplomb Clothing began to take root…Throughout the preliminary years we received numerous expressions of doubt primarily because of our roots in the D.C. market. At the time, everyone seemed to disregard Washington as a unique city with its own creative hub.
We started as, and remain, three different yet cohesive owners with a vision to create clothing that reflects our style and experiences. We don't want to be an indie, urban, or skate company..we want to be us. Throw out boundaries because we are never completely dominated by one trend, one movement, or one style.
In the beginning the three Aplomb pioneers consisted of a hopeless entrepreneur on his 5th job that year, a Georgetown graduate student working corporate finance, and an artist whose job required 4% of his awe-inspiring talent. Back then our main goal was simple, to exceed our peers' expectations, and hell, even our own. We have made sacrifices, talked shop with our loyal customers, linked up with D.C. visionaries who share our perspective and strived to bring Aplomb to you. There is a sweet feeling of accomplishment when you put everything on the line, struggle, and succeed.
Aplomb continues to represent the style and experience of its architects with a passion. Hailing from D.C., we are a brand that everyone can relate to and be a part of. Keep an eye out for our aggressive expansion nationwide, showcasing our vision that spawned from the land of politics. Inspiring apparel, inspired by you…"
