Courtesy Photo | Pvt. Javian Evans from Sacramento, Calif., a human resource specialist, assigned to...... read more read more
Subscribe
CAMP CASEY, South Korea – In a sea of digital camouflage, it can be difficult to imagine the fashion sense that a Soldier’s personality will embody when out of uniform. There are websites and blogs dedicated to jokingly dismantle off duty military couture.
Pvt. Javian R. Evans, from Sacramento, California, challenges the suggestion that Soldiers can’t put together a smart and stylish outfit with his clothing line HatBackwardz Apparel.
“People would approach me and say, ‘I like the way you dress! Where’d you get that?’ which led me to start making my own clothes,” said Evans, a human resource specialist assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 6th Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment, 210th FA Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.
After moving to Los Angeles, he quickly picked up a second job at a call center to fund his growing passion for design.
“I started to meet people who were going to fashion school and fashion shows when I moved to LA,” he said. “So, I started spending time with them and noticed that there’s a lot more you can do with clothes than I thought.”
With no formal training in tailoring or clothing design, Evans took the initiative to learn from observation and practice. His pieces are fundamentally cut and sewn, or, from scratch. Not long after putting together a rudimentary summer line, he was approached with an inquiry to sell his clothes at a local business.
“A friend who owned a clothing store liked what I was doing and offered to sell it there,” said Evans. “He let me have a release party at his store, and eventually it was all of my work in the windows and hanging up on the walls.”
The business fell through with a change in ownership shortly after, and Evans was back to square one. He rethought his business strategy and started heavily marketing his products through social media.
“I started using Instagram and Tumblr a lot, Twitter, everything. After a while, I noticed that I didn’t have a lot of clothing for women, and that was where a lot of my traffic was coming from.”
With a new clientele in mind, Evans said he began to study the design and assembly of women’s clothing and set his sights on producing a more feminine line.
“A woman reached out to me and asked if I could make her a pair of high-waisted shorts. I got her measurements and figured out how to make them.”
A cornerstone of Evans’ business strategy is creating custom looks and combining some of the client’s ideas with his vision of the finished product. Sometimes he brings the customer with him to purchase fabric and supplies in order to get an idea of their personal style. He also uses those fabrics in various ways to accent new designs that he plans to sell on his line’s website.
“One of my reasons for joining the military was to travel. With my long-term goals set on fashion, I consider myself blessed to have Korea as my first duty station,” said Evans.
“I have friends and other aspiring artist back home that aren’t afforded the opportunities I am.”
While stationed in South Korea, he has found inspiration that helps inform the direction his work will take once he gets back to the United States.
“A lot of the things we do fashion wise are actually originating here,” Evans said. “I do a lot of people watching in Hongdae and Itaewon because that’s where they’re really dressing up.”
He plans to utilize the connections he’s made with HatBackwardz Apparel’s social media presence to collaborate with seamstresses and recording artists he’s met along the way.
“I know someone who made a jacket that Rihanna wore in public,” said Evans. “He woke up the next day to 100,000 new followers. All it takes is one!”
While happy to be starting off with spring and summer wear, Evans looks forward to putting together lines for the other two seasons. But his ultimate goal is high fashion.
“You have to trust that you’re making something that people are going to want,” Evans said of the future for HatBackwardz Apparel. “It could sit on the shelf for two months, or a year, but you have to have a lot of patience and be self-motivated to do this.”
| Date Taken: | 08.07.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 08.19.2014 02:07 |
| Story ID: | 139731 |
| Location: | CAMP CASEY, 41, KR |
| Hometown: | SACRAMENTO, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 51 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Thunder Soldier is seamless, by SPC Sara Wiseman, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT