Quality Peoples Blends Mexican Street Culture, Hawaiian Surf History Kelli Hargrove - TransWorld Business
go to original July 8, 2012

Quality Peoples was founded in 2010 by Ed Fladung and John Esguerra. While Fladung is based in Nayarit, Mexico, John lives in Haleiwa, Oahu. Over instant messenger and voice-over-ip, the two have built an apparel line offering men’s and women’s tees, as well as board shorts.

Pulling from Mexican and Hawaiian cultures to create truly authentic gear, Quality Peoples describes their line as a possessing a ‘sense of rawness, urgency, and adventurousness.’

TransWorld Business had the  chance to chat with Fladung and delve into the truly unique world of Quality Peoples:

When was the brand born?

Quality Peoples was founded in 2010 by myself (Ed Fladung) and John Esguerra. I live in Nayarit, Mexico,home, John lives in Haleiwa, Oahu. We both chose to live in these places in order to surf and raise our familites. We are able to collaborate over instant messenger and voice-over-ip.

Tell us about the idea for the brand and how you got things going.

We started Quality Peoples (or QP for short) as a simple, vaguely surf-based t-shirt line (more of an art project really), a break from our day jobs and as a way to express the different places we live in. Our inspiration comes from our daily lives, unique viewpoints, our experiences surfing and the cultures we find ourselves in.

In mid-2010, we spent about three or four months developing a small capsule of tees. Through the generosity of a friend, we were introduced to Paul Conrad at Medium Concepts Showroom who immediately understood what we were trying to do and worked with us to strengthen the concept and get the line into shape for market. We introduced QP at Capsule Paris in January 2011 as a premium menswear line. In our first season, we debuted with tees. Our second season expanded with hand-painted board shorts, and in June, we’ll ship men’s and women’s tees. We also have great things in store for Spring ’13.

We have a pretty solid base to work off, in terms of launching the brand from our personal stories and how we mix cultural influences, but I think Quality Peoples is still evolving and each season we kind of push it a little further defining what the brand is about and that’s part of the fun. This isn’t a top-down concept, written in stone and executed. We definitely have a vision for the brand, but I think we’re just getting started. And we couldn’t be happier on how the brand is being received. People really seem to identify with it and it’s been fun watching it evolve and gain a life of its own.

How would you describe your product and its design aesthetic?

Quality Peoples takes its cues from Mexican folklore and street culture, Hawaiian surf history, timeless mens style, contemporary art and and the nomadic nature of a life lived in search of waves. We have a profit sharing arrangement with a non-profit in my area of Mexico called PEACE  that provides alternative schooling to local children that have slipped through the cracks, helps them become proficient students, and reintroduces them to public school.

Aesthetically, there is a sense of rawness, urgency, and adventurousness to our tees. We try to keep the designs down to one or two colors. We consciously use the t-shirt as a canvas, trying new things like allover prints and inside/outside printing. Our board shorts further the concept by having raw hems and paint splatters done by hand. All of our products are garment-washed after printing or sewing, for a really nice hand feel.

How about your target customer?

Our ideal customer is someone who can find something in our marketing and products to relate to. Someone that identifies with the brand and maybe willing to pay a few dollars extra for a product that is authentic and supports a good cause.

What makes your gear different from everything else out there?

We’re trying to do things a little differently. Hint: A lot of the really cool brands we see out there (and buy and support) have something very authentic about them, something direct and tangible.

What makes your retail strategy stand out for shops?

We do have an interesting price-point on our tees, which seems a little too high for traditional surf shops, so most of our stores tend to be contemporary/designers menswear boutiques and stores, that appreciate the lifestyle we are inspired by, but may be too busy to live it.  But we’ve noticed that the surf stores that do sign on, usually have pretty good sell-throughs and come back for future seasons. We actively try to work with stores in different segments to make the brand and price-point work.

How many people are on your squad?

Quality Peoples has unique logistical issues, it’s been a real challenge assembling a non-traditional company. We are based out of Mexico and Hawaii with a showroom in NYC, logistics and production in Los Angeles/Orange County, our content strategist/copywriter lives in SF, our web programmer was in Brooklyn but is now moving to SF and all of our friends whose couches we crash on, when it’s time for John and I to meet up in California and lastly, our family and friends who appear in our look books and marketing. There are many people that help bring Quality Peoples to life and without them QP wouldn’t work.

How many shops are you in?

It fluctuates from season to season, but we’re in an average of 70 stores across the US, Europe, and Asia.

In the US, we’re in Ron Herman, Thalia Surf Shop, Assembly NY, Odin and Need Supply just to name a few. In Japan, we’re in Barneys New York, Restir, John’s Clothing,  and Beams International Gallery. And in Europe we’re in Autograph UK, The Apartment Store, Muskaria Surf Shop, La Parada de Los Monstruos, and Tsum Russia

What’s been the most fun or interesting part of launching this company?

When you’re developing a brand, you don’t really get to see it from the outside. From our first season at market, we were amazed at the stores who were feeling QP and willing to take a chance with us. But the real fun came a few months later, as the tees hit the shelves in reactions from the public, seeing it through other peoples’ eyes. And to see it take on a life of its own. In a lot of ways, that changed how we see Quality Peoples. And lastly, of course to hear that stores were having good sell-throughs and coming back for the second and third seasons. We are very appreciative of all the people who have supported or connected with QP in some way.

What are you most proud of to date?

That we didn’t crash the plane on take-off. Building a brand is hard. One that resonates in a clear, organic way with minimal marketing. It’s definitely been a hairy ride as both John and I had to navigate the world of starting a clothing company on our own dime, with minimal past experience to draw from, learning everything by trial-by-fire and doing it all while physically away from sourcing and production. QP is definitely a labor of love at this point. And we hope it shows.

In a perfect world, where will you be in three years as a brand, and what will your line include?

We really want to focus on what QP is about and hone that. I think it’s an iterative process that happens in small movements each season as we push the QP narrative just a little farther. QP is definitely a ‘lifestyle’ brand and I think that shows through in the marketing materials we put out. As we gain momentum, we will open our themes to include other locations (besides Hawaii, Mexico and California) as we widen our own stories and begin to tell the stories of our various friends and collaborators.

We are making the transition from a company that started with t-shirts, to a full-fledged clothing company and we hope that the stores and customers that believe in QP can make that transition with us. We would like to establish and perfect a line that will include items that fit the needs of our lifestyle both functionally and stylistically at a premium quality level. We also plan on widening our non-profit support, as we feel that is an essential component of our brand.

Lastly, I just wanna thank everyone who has supported QP in some way. We see you.

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