_derschutze

Spilling down a Soho side street in the early hours of Friday 13th May 2022, a derschutze-clad queue waited in eager anticipation for the store's doors to open.

An irate cockney sex shop owner approached with a bucket of bleach water and threatened to pour it over everyone's "fancy sneakers". Apparently the throng was putting off his paying customers.

Starting at the back, he sloshed the concoction down Silicon Alley's pavement, herding the hypebeasts over to the other side of the street - an unlikely turf war between German streetwear and soho accessories that I wondered if we'd only just touched the surface of.

Many of us in the queue had missed out on the March 'painter v4' online drop.

Such was the popularity of early day derschutze, at odds with its nascent capacity, that the website would crash for every clothing release and everything would sell out in seconds.

It was a perfect storm of affordable prices, limited high quality batch production and massive warranted hype for its inventive designs.

On this occasion, a rare second chance was presented by derschutze as it announced the night before that a few items would be made available at its store in Soho.

Founded in 2017, clothing and accessories company derschutze has always revelled in mystery, cultivating a die-hard fanbase through both quality design and enthralling communication.

Its highly anticipated releases have always come with last-minute surprises, discount codes distributed seemingly at random in comments sections or through cryptic clues on its social media platforms.

Derschutze's ethos of bridging the gap between art and clothing, prioritisation of quality, and inventiveness in incorporating elements such as lenticular printing for 3D effects and heat reactive designs, has contributed to its meteoric rise.

A year on and the brand has reached new heights, shoring up its website, exploring further store openings and ultimately managing the transition from fad to established brand.

I spoke to the brand itself, one of its first artistic collaborators, the admin of the biggest online derschutze discussion group, and a streetwear YouTuber, to better understand derschutze's beginnings, its future and whether the community is still on board.

Interview with derschutze

What is the story behind derschutze’s original inception?

“derschutze“ was founded by Yusuf Yücel at age 18 in 2017. The brand’s main aim right from the start was to create a bridge between art and clothing: Creating a unique and very limited product a customer can either wear, collect or hang on the wall. The first products were released in 2017 and sold out the same day. 

Before starting the brand Yusuf bought his first embroidery machine for 500€. His first designs were mostly bootlegs which he then sold on Instagram and eBay. He soon bought a second embroidery machine just a few months later and another shortly after. You could say business was booming in 2017.

The next turning point was in 2020 when he opened the clothing factory in Istanbul and quit university to pursue his dream of fashion full time. Having our own factory allows us to test out however many samples using all new print and embroidery techniques. This gives us full creative freedom. 

Fast forward to 2022, we have become one of the leading clothing brands on TikTok with over 400k followers and millions of views and likes. Our unique embroidery styles and printing techniques are not only interesting to the niche customer but also to the general consumer.

What is the drop that derschutze is most proud of to date?

That would probably be our charity release which consisted of one T-Shirt and Crewneck. The "waisenkind" design showcases a child in a warzone holding up some balloons to resemble hope. All profits of that release were donated to orphans. 

Is the plan to open more physical stores? If so, where?

We are currently working on a store in Germany and another in the US. 

How is the company finding the transition from a small limited batch, new and upcoming brand that regularly sells out in minutes, to one of greater size and reputation that produces more and a wider range of products?

Healthy growth is very difficult. Unlike other brands in our industry we don't have any investors. This means we don't have much room for mistakes. We work very closely with our manufacturing team which essentially gives us the headstart and flexibility other streetwear brands don't have. Nevertheless increasing the range of products is actually something derschutze isn't finding very difficult. Our brand identity is clear and our design team has been working together for over 2+ years now.   

What does the future look like for derschutze?

More stores, more art, more clothing.

Erin Nicholls, artist collaborator

"Yusuf first messaged me asking if he could use some of my artwork for his clothing brand back when he was starting out.

"I wanted to help him out so agreed he could use any of my works he wanted to."

Released on 7th January 2019, the Japan collection was derschutze's first formal collaboration with an artist.

Yusuf and the team turned Erin's artwork into a selection of printed and embroidered designs.

Since their first collaboration, Erin and derschutze have worked together on a few more releases.

Erin said: "Generally I haven't had to do much as (Yusuf) mostly used sections from drawings I'd already done, but a few times he commissioned something specific from me like the girl on the train."

The brand currently uses one of Erin's designs as its logo and Erin's style still very much influences derschutze's lookbook.

On her association with the brand now, Erin said: "It's been a while since he's used my art for designs as he has a lot more artists he works with now.

"I'm always happy to work with him in the future though.

"I'm really impressed with how far the company has come.

"I think that has a lot to do with how great the quality is, particularly the super detailed embroidery.

For Erin, a particular favourite of her collaborations with derschutze are the original sneakers they created, 200 pairs of which were released on 10th August 2020: "I have the first sneakers he made with my artwork Shades of Autumn on them. I love them."

Andy Watson, admin of Derschutze Discussion

"It’s an amazing brand as well because of the people who follow it - the community behind it are truly loyal and care for the brand.

"They want to talk about it, want to see what’s next and want to help each other to build their collections."

Andy Watson is the administrator of Derschutze Discussion, the largest Facebook group associated with derschutze.

Andy recalled the reasons he was first attracted to the brand: "Every drop was so unique and so intricate - with different designs styles and special effects such as being heat reactive and breaking out of the box logo.

"The collaboration with artists such as Erin Nicholls created truly amazing pieces of wearable art which appealed to such a wide audience of not just people who love clothes but also art."

Andy highlighted some of his favourite designs from over the years: "The 'last hike' collection is truly beautiful because of the colours and design as well as the hiker breaking the box."

"The 'Astro v1 hoodie' design is not only unique and beautiful but the heat reactive element is different and incorporated well and will always be one of my favourites.

"Erin Nicholls collaboration on 'rainy day' is one of the things that truly boosted the brand.

"This piece is truly the definition of art and clothing coming together - the blue scene on the grey hoodie is a thing of beauty and will always have a place in my heart and the community’s.

"I think the community wishes for more pieces like this and for derschutze to go back to their roots."

On derschutze's growth, Andy said: "Their designs are usually perfect and the execution is perfect - I do believe with the brand growing and more designs needed at a faster rate this has dropped a little because a bit of time ago every single drop was truly something special but there are some misses now.

"I would love to see derschutze produce more of the original designs like rainy days and other street scenes - it’s what got the brand started and how a lot of the community fell in love and why it’s special."

Danyal Bridge, streetwear youtuber

Australian sneaker and streetwear enthusiast Danyal Bridge runs a YouTube channel focusing on upcoming releases, trends, and unboxings.

According to Danyal, derschutze's success is in its "dedication to quality and simplicity."

Danyal said: "You always know the product you are buying has had a lot of care put into its construction and the designs they do aren't outlandish enough to deter people.

"I really enjoy their hoodie releases where they play with different materials integrated into the graphics.

But I also really enjoy the varsity jacket releases because they are so playful."

On the brand's place and potential in the wider streetwear scene, Danyal said: "I think it fits very comfortably in streetwear as a genre but, because of how accessible its designs are, I think it has a lot of potential to thrive and grow from that.

"Because it is so easy to enjoy, I think anyone with a general interest in streetwear can get around the brand!"

Danyal has featured derschutze extensively on his YouTube channel, with notable highlights including the unboxing of the 'dream' hoodie, announcement of 'rainy day' collaboration, and a 'copped or cropped' episode on the 'painter' hoodie.