Everything
The rise of sportswear has been prominent in the last few seasons, and with casual attire having a major moment in our daily kits, its brands like Huffer who are coming out on top. Launched in 1997 with co-founder Dan Buckley, the business was left to Steve Dunstan, who has firmly driven Huffer to the pinnacle of street wear heirarchy.
An icon for innovation and style, the New Zealand based brand has combined style and functionality, for technical outerwear and casual basics. In its 21st year, Huffer has become one of the most anticipated shows at New Zealand Fashion Week. ICON’s street editor Roberto Malice, caught up with Dunstan for a further look into the brand.
Streetwear has been dominant in the last few years. Do you care about what’s happening in the background, do you follow trends when you design new collections?
“We are 21 years old – the brand was born on the streets, from skate and snow culture, so nowadays we are just embracing who we are, and instead of putting a twist to it we are showing the purity of our label.”
How important is being versatile for a label according to the industry?
“We know who we are, we are not guessing, we are from the streets but at the same time we [have] got that technical element, integrity is the main thing [to] stay who we are.”
I have loved the shots from your collaboration with Tom Gould, how did that happen?
“Tom is originally from New Zealand and we have worked on a few other projects previously.
Our community and our people are very important as we turn 21 years old. The aim of this project was to shoot portraits of our people and the ones who surrounded our community. We started here in our office in Auckland, not necessarily famous [people] but people who contribute to the community, real people. [It] was a project not aiming to sell products but to tell a story, so with Tom we talked about doing his interpretation of the portraits campaign through his eyes. In NYC, we wanted to incorporate his vision to tell someone’s else story, and also document his 10 years in New York. Action Bronson happened to be close to him and he got involved and so did the alchemist.”
I found the shots very raw and real. Was that the aim of the shoot?
“You know for a brand, the product is important, but the emotion of the image is so much more important, and that comes back to the value of our label..Tom [catches] it very well, [he] is confident but not arrogant.”
Music is such an important element for you guys, what’s on your playlist now?
“PANDA! Aahaha.”
Dream collaboration for Huffer?
“We are just about to announce an epic collaboration – Huffer x Marvel.”
Check out the latest news and shop the Huffer range here
