We love DESCENDANT OF THIEVES, a quirky, exclusive brand known for its unique details and hidden messages. During a recent Q&A, Dres Ladro, the eccentric, mysterious designer behind the brand, told us a little about his design philosophy and the correlation between clothes and sex.
1. Hi Dres, what are you wearing right now? Oh I like you… this is my kind of interview. What time do you get off of work? I am a committed nudist but because of a few nonsensical laws I have to cover up in public (does that do anything for you?)… So, I only wear Descendant of Thieves. More specifically, I wear design prototypes before we make them. There is a distinct pleasure in knowing you are the only person in the world wearing an item.
2. Please complete the following sentence: Descendant of Thieves is… Designed from the inside out. I take pride in the relentless attention given to the garment interiors as well as the unique and quiet details, including elastic top button pull, unexpected hidden messages, and signature Blazing Yellow finished interiors. In the beginning we met with potential investors who all said, “Get rid of the expensive subtle and hidden detailing. The customer doesn’t notice the details until after they bought it so it’s a waste of money for you.” That is when [we] decided not to use investors and instead stay small and special.
3. Why do you think these little details are important? It is very difficult to design for men. You get punished if you are too creative or if you are too common. The idea is to find a balance and design creative yet masculine details… I like to think that, Descendant of Thieves is unique yet understandable.
4. Do you have a style muse? Well, it’s not that I am completely ego centric (pause) but I have always designed for myself… The things I want…. That I can’t find out there… or maybe that unexpected twist on a classic. Some people will like that and will like Descendant of Thieves, but many will not. We design a limited number of items for very interesting, individualistic, and stylish people. If we were to make more, I’m afraid they would fall into the wrong hands. Can we all agree on keeping this whole thing quiet?
5. What do you think is the most common fashion mistake that most guys make? Fit. Most guys wear clothes too big or ill fitting. However, we see that this is changing fast. Tailored fit is the new Black.
6. A fashion item worth splurging on is… Anything that has the potential to increase your sex life. I am not sure why Descendant of Thieves directly equates to sex but when something like that works, don’t ask questions, just go with it. I am drowning in sex.
7. What’s a fashion item that you can go cheap on? Going cheap can be very expensive… if you’re not careful. You’ll end up wearing it less because it won’t last. Let’s have some fun with math, shall we? Buy a $49 shirt that you’ll wear 3 times before falling apart. The cost is appx. $16 per wear plus an additional $49 to replace it… so now the investment expense is already almost $100 for the two shirts. If you invest in a $100 quality shirt that you’ll wear 50+ times, the cost is less than $2 per wear. The bonus to all of this is, you’ll look better… And if you listened closely here today, and select the right brand, you’ll double your sex life.
8. How do you pick your colors? Aww now you’re getting personal. I listen to what my Rice Krispies tell me in the morning. Those little F’!ng Elves are in the know. They practically designed all of the succeeding collection. Descendant of Thieves, designed by Snap, Crackle and Dres. Off the record: Pop is completely useless.
9. One of our stylists remarked that your brand seems to have a very strong philosophy about reusing things. Are you guys really big environmentalists or antique junkies or something in between? Owning a unique antique is owning something lost from a forgotten time. Naturally, very few others will own it. I suppose this is my approach to personal style; I either wear prototypes or my own items. We interject this philosophy into the Descendant of Thieves brand by making limited runs per style, which is printed on each item. Let’s do some more math, shall we? World population is appx. 17 million, if you wear a Descendant of Thieves item and only 290 units are made of that particular style then you are 1 in 24 million. Welcome to the club.
10.. What style advice can you give? We always say, “Love thy Neighbor but for Heaven’s sake, do not dress like him.” Forget what everyone else is doing. In fact, F’*#k them, do you. Do what makes you feel good because when you feel good, you look good.
