A new rebellion is making tracks in the fashion industry. Hailing from their home country of New Zealand, Stolen Girlfriends Club was founded by three guys, Marc Moore, Dan Gosling and Luke Harwood. Launching their niche brand in 2005, the label has been steadily making a name for itself in the NZ fashion scene – but with plans to go further.

Driven by a rebellious spirit, the trio are producing confident, punk inspired pieces for the party alter-ego in everyone. ICON’s street editor Roberto Malice sat down with co-founder Marc Moore during this years New Zealand Fashion Week for an insight into this real up and comer.

What were you guys doing the exact moment you decided, “let’s make a clothing label” and why this name?

“It was following my first ever art show! Probably the morning after.  I had an art show called “Stolen Girlfriends Club” – it was all about this group of guys that would steal girls away from shitty relationships/boyfriends.  It was a completely romantic idea that everyone loved. The art sold out on the opening night, and everyone loved the name so much we decided to take it further and start a fashion label with the same name. Our first collection was a bunch of t-shirts, denim and jewellery that we could wear, and our girlfriends could also borrow – so a real androgynous concept from the beginning through to today.”

Stolen Girlfriends Club NZFW 2018. Credit: Arthvr Lin

If S.G.C was a song or a music band or maybe both, what would it be?

“I’ve always felt the band ‘New Order’ really represented the brands aesthetic and spirit. I’ve always loved their combination of post-punk with electronic and dance, it really suits what we do and love.”

Tell me about the inspiration behind the latest collection.

“I was inspired by this book called “The Others” by a photographer [named] Derek Ridgers. Derek photographed all the club kids in London around the ’80s. It was back before people got dressed to have their photo taken or got dressed for an Instagram post.  These kids had no money and would just throw these thrift purchases together, mixing up different era’s, trends, and cultures to create these amazing works of DIY art. Regardless if these kids were being ironic with what they wore or deeply sincere, it was all about self expression – to me that was so pure and inspiring. Most of the looks in the book were a mix of punk or new wave, with elements of tailoring or military/utility. Our collection “New Sincerity // Deep Irony” really reflects this too! We had these super glam sequin pieces (like the catsuit) and then there were classic military inspired pieces and lots of tailoring (pinstriped suits in baggy and narrow silhouettes). The idea was for the men and women to share most of the collection.”

I love the personality of this label and the attitude, for me if I could define it in a person it would be an “emotional badass”. tell me about it. where did you find the inspiration for the whole identity of the label?

“The label is a very confident label, it’s rebellious, it’s romantic, it has a pulse and it has a sharp wit.

For me personally, I have always struggled with self-confidence so I wanted to start a label that made confident clothes, so even if you weren’t feeling confident yourself, you could wear our clothes and feel like the coolest person in the room! In a way, this brand is like my alter-ego, the person I wish I was or could be…”

Stolen Girlfriends Club NZFW 2018 After Party Credit: Snapper Online / Andre Kong

You are an institution here. What’s next for S.G.C? What’s on the cards or where would you like to take your brand?

“For a niche brand I guess we are pretty well-known here in NZ, but we still have a long way to go before we are a “household” name – but then that’s not what I long for. As long as we are speaking to the right people, I don’t care how big that group is. We’ve had so many great shows here in NZ and done so many great events and parties before so we have a good name, and a real close-knit family of supporters too.

I never wanted to be a big brand in NZ, I would rather be a small brand that is global. For me, I really want to take our shows and parties to other countries now and grow our community, our family. We’re not looking for world domination, our goal now is to increase our footprint outside of NZ, so looking to pick up new stores in cities around the world that we love. For the last few years we have been trying to hone our skills with production and on the business side, being patient with how we have progressed and making sure we could get our own store and online store working well. Now that we have these areas operating really well, it’s time for us to start looking further than NZ. I think when we landed the amazing store SSENSE in Montreal it really helped give us the confidence to look further and dream a bit bigger too! It’s been so good dealing with those guys, they really love fashion and represent some of the best brands in a wide range of price points, and they love directional pieces. They’re not always looking for commercial pieces only, so it allows you to have some fun with what you design instead of being stifled creatively.”

To check out the latest from the guys at Stolen Girlfriends Club, check out their online store here