Inside Crap247
by Sophia Rothfield
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Introducing Theo - the creative spearhead behind Crap247.For those who aren't yet familiar with Crap - they're a Collingwood based Skate ‘brand’ - everything is hand sewn and/or screen printed on site at 'Crap HQ'. Each garment is full of personality and is a reflection of Theo's interpretation of the world around him.
His attention to detail, off-kilter charm, and distinct lens on the world, all bleed into the brand. Spend five minutes with Theo, and the clothes start to make perfect sense.
Theo came through the shop last month to drop off some new Crap gear and talk shop and beyond. We gave him a Brick tee and he gave us a glimpse inside the inner workings of the brand + his brain.
Alright Theo - what did you have for breakfast?
Monster energy ultra peachy keen zero sugar to wash down all my yummy prescription medication, ciggies, and then 3 pieces of gum after I got off the bus and walked over because they taste good and I was anxious
Crap HQ sounds like a secret lair - paint the picture. What’s on the walls? What music is playing? Is there a mascot? Prick...?
The walls are mostly covered in stains and handprints but there is also the 'Wall of Shame', and the piles on the floor they're growing which is fun too. There is a minifridge though for my emulsion and various other liquids which is pretty cool i think! I always wanted a minifridge as a kid so I'm pretty much living the dream. As far as the music; I have a printing playlist that I mostly just use to measure time with when I'm curing prints. For example you need 8/9 repeat listens of '16' by jonatanleandoer96 at 130-160 degrees to cure the Recess t-shirt but if you're doing the Cameron you better strap in for 15 listens of 'dim me' by heartcoregirl at 125 and up while moving it around to get the whole print.
I'm currently working on a very big print on a purple t-shirt that'll be in Brick soon, so that's probably going to be the thing that finally drives me into a full and final psychosis so yeah uh big things coming.
As far as mascots go I think the original South Park style doll I made, who's name is Bully, probably would be pissed if I didn't say it was him, but my dog Benji would be too so I don't know because neither of them can speak English yet.
How would you describe the brand’s energy in three emojis?
I don't know how to answer this without it looking like I'm trying to be quirky so maybe just three nerd emojis in a row but as a reply to one of the team riders in the crap group-chat when they tell me a new screen i just burnt is too emo lol.
Dream collab?
I'm not a big fan of collabs in general but I did have an idea for a Revolutionary upgrade to a 4 colour printing platen last week that I think I need to build so maybe a collab with a guy who knows how to weld really well and has a lot of patience would be the way to go.
But also I told you and Breno before that I would work with Larriet in an instant so I don't know maybe I need to collab with my psychiatrist.
You’ve got roots in the skate community - how does skateboarding influence the way you think about design + Crap247 in general?
I think most people who grew up skating learnt a lot of what they like and don't like through it, like music taste, how you dress etc. it's like any other subculture like that so I don't think it would be possible for me to make something that isn't in some way influenced by skating.
Crap247 is a skate clothing brand in that it supports skaters directly and hopefully indirectly in giving them good quality stuff to wear when they skate, you can skate in whatever you want but there's definitely a downside to what I said before about how people who grew up skating learn so much from it, in that most skaters are happy with shitty cheap gear just based on whatever stuff is getting pumped out with the right logos.
I think bringing the design language of skateboarding to the best clothes I can get my grubby hands on is kind of the whole idea, I could rant about this for so long but yeah its a skate brand but I think also the best skate brands are the ones that look like an "Actual" clothing brand, a skate flavoured one of course but I don't know I think some of the best clothing in general is clothing with a purpose, like why do you think all these cunts dress like guys who dig holes for a living.
Everyone wants to be part of something and dressing is the easiest and quickest way to signal that you 'Get It' to people. I have no problem with any of that really unless it comes from an insincere place, and even then I think about some of the bullshit I used to wear too, like why was I wearing an Anti-Hero shirt as a 12 year old who was scared to slash the deep end at Fitzy?... I might have gone off topic there but whatever I brought it back by referencing Fitzy bowl so we're chillin.
What’s usually the spark for a piece of clothing - a colour combo, a weird phrase, something you see on the street?
The spark is usually some photo I took months earlier that's been gestating in my brain that I've forgotten about, I feel like sometimes I use the nostalgia goggles to gaslight myself into liking my art more just by making it and then letting it sit for ages.. Usually the photo or the drawing or whatever it is was from near my house, so on Vic street in Collingwood, I'm very much a homebody, maybe considering going full agoraphobic but we'll see. Colour combos usually come in the refining the design phase so usually I spend a bit of time in photoshop seeing what the design looks best with, and what colours suit what its going for, I don't ever really let the blank or the inks i have in HQ dictate what I decide to print.
I feel like in a lot of ways I go through phases of liking different colours and shades so currently I'm in a big pink and green phase, which has been quite fun but I'm definitely going to need to have some kind of major and impactful life event happen pretty soon because I think I'm about ready to move on...
Do you feel like people connect more with a piece when they know it’s been built from scratch, not just spat out by a machine?
I feel like its hardwired into being human to like things that connect us to other humans, I think allot of people have convinced themselves that they're ok with ordering stuff made by slaves and delivered in an amazon truck if it means they get gratification sooner but as fast as that type of shit arrives at your house that's how fast you'll be chucking it in the bin or whatever the fuck. When there's no care or love put into stuff you can feel it and it makes it so hard for the person who buys it to love it or care for it too, like that's why i spend money on stuff to give out for free too.
I don't know if people who buy from Brick know but I have a policy that I've put up on the Instagram; if anything breaks like a zip or you need something fixed (as long as you pay to get it to me) i'll fix it for you for free, in some cases i'll just pay to get you to take it to someone who's better at it than me but in most cases hey id rather you let me fix it. Why would I want crap gear to become waste before its time, there's already so much waste without people also throwing away stuff that can easily be mended and used for years longer. I'd love to see some Crap in an op-shop in 30 years, you know.
I have a personal attachment to all the clothes I make for people, there's nothing that makes me happier than to see someone skating in a beat up Crap t-shirt that they love, because most of the time I can remember the love and the time I put into that exact shirt, or bag or whatever else.
Obviously there's things I can't or don't do, but I don't think there's an item of Crap gear that I haven't messed with in some way out there, and I think it's very important to people to feel that, as sanctimonious as that sounds and as 'un-scalable'.. I don't think I could ever feel creatively fulfilled without using my actual hands, packing the orders on my floor, getting chemical burns fucking all that, that's my lane. That being said I also don't think I'm some revolutionary, I'm a person who loves his job and gets to make shit for people, I'm just grateful for that, and very scared of change lol!
So yeah I think things that are made with love and intention are always going to be important, it's a luxury in the end, to make it and to consume it, but I don't know I think it's a luxury that we deserve.
Huge thanks to Theo for pulling back the curtain on Crap247 - proof that some of the best pieces are made by hand, in Crap HQ & found right here at Brick ;)
