Interview by Rachel Gottesman

Hello Aaron, aka the Threadless Magic Man. How's it goin?

It's going great, thanks.

Wow, enthusiasm!

Thats me, I'm all about enthusiasm. In fact I normally just type all caps all the time.

All caps? Well, ok...

SO I HEARD YOU RECENTLY MOVED TO VANCOUVER. WHAT'S LIFE LIKE AS A BRAND NEW CANADIAN?

AWESOME BUDdy... Ok... No it's pretty cool really. The weather here sorta sucks but it's been a fantastic adventure so far. Pretty different compared to NZ. People are slightly politer...

Is that even a word? More polite. And there are less bottlings, which is always a good thing.

Bottlings? Like... Being knifed with a broken bottle? Fun!

Having a bottle broken over your head. It's a traditional form of greeting where I come from. Hey dude ...Smash!



So that's the secret to your success. Multiple blows to the head. Of course. I should have figured that out a long time ago.

I believe so.

Working 9-5 is a bit of a change and I really miss being able to surf ,but apart from that it's been just one big glorious bowl of poutine.

Poutine is gross, I don't care what anyone says.

Yeah I have to admit, as much as I was using it as a metaphor for goodness it really does suck. I ate it once with J-Ray & that will be my last time. I mean I get the gravy & fries bit... That sorta works... But the cheese curds?

You know, by admitting that, you're going to wake up with a severed horse head in your bed, or something equally passive-aggressive.

Anyway, no more cheese curds. I'm starting to feel a little sick. Tell me about your cool job, the one you moved to Canada for

I work for Kona Bikes Co. as a senior designer, so basically what that entails is trying to make their bikes and clothing look as bad ass as I possibly can. The clothing part is fun because they have a fairly well developed program and there are lots of cool processes to play round with.

Bikes are a real challenge though because there are just so many technical obstacles to overcome and very little real estate to play with.



Care to elaborate on the cool processes for the clothing? You know we're all about the cool processes...

I guess just a similar range of stuff to what is available at Threadless although because most of the production is done in China, the quality of their printing can be a little sketchy sometimes.

So is Threadless an avenue for you to design stuff that's more up your alley? Sort of a change-up from sports gear?

Yeah, the two are just so different.

I mean, there are things I've designed for Threadess that could feasibly work for action sports and vice versa but I find that Threadless allows me a lot more freedom than my day job.

Seems to be doing the trick. I think you'll be able to send your kid to college on us, eventually. That Bestee money alone.... Damn. How'd it feel to learn you had become Designer of the Year?

Haha, believe me plenty of that money has gone to Theo's education... Goddamn Montessori schools aren't cheap.

Well to be completely honest, with no exaggeration it was probably the best feeling I have had since the birth of my son.

Wow, no kidding? Check that out. Threadless, touching lives...A Lifetime original.

I had angsted over the Bestees since they were announced and to be considered for that award with the kind of artists who regularly win there was a real honor.

I was pretty giddy for days. I had to IM Moss just to make my ego seem more normal.

There's the enthusiasm I was looking for. I mean ...THERE'S THE ENTHUSIASM I WAS LOOKING FOR!

Thats a joke, by the way.. I love Moss.

Nobody loves Moss.

How about this scenario. What if you and he collaborated on the ultimate shirt to end all shirts? We'd probably have to shut down production after that.

We played round with a couple of collab ideas actually, but both of us ended up getting kinda busy.

But I think in a lot of respects Moss and I are similar in that we design with an idea first and then find a method of execution that sorta fits.... And we both have great hair.

Tell me about being part of the Black Rock Collective. Has that influenced you at all?

BRC has been an awesome little community to be involved in, even though I still feel kinda like the stinky kid at school because I had to harangue Blair to get me in and then when I got in I realized everyone else had been invited.

Yeah, well apparently they invited me because they "needed more estrogen" so don't feel bad.

Yeah it was a real sausage fest there for a while.



I think that any prolonged contact with other similarly driven artists will influence your work in a number of ways. Style, work flow... I think it's really interesting that a bunch of artists from all four corners of the world can work together on projects coherently across the internet.

Yeah, the internet's a pretty weird place.

Tell me about your days as a starving musician.

Oh lord... Well before I even learned how to design, from the age of 18 I was in bands. I never starved because my mother was always on hand to give me a decent meal if it ever got bad.

Did you ever think you'd make a living out of it?

Well two of the bands were signed and recorded albums so for a while it definitely helped to supplement my dole... We toured NZ extensively and I basically lived the lifestyle....minus the trappings... But NZ is a pretty small place, and really if you want to do it over there it is for the love of it. So when my son was born I had to make the call to concentrate more on a life of design and less on music.

Apparently theres still some video proof of my band days lurking on youtube.



I think that was a good choice. I'll have to go hunting for those videos.

Thanks for taking a time out to chat, rock star.

I mean...ROCK STAR!

THANKS RACHEL! ALRIGHT AWESOME GOOD TIMES!

Interview by Rachel Gottesman


Read more interviews!