The Online T-shirt Revolution: Swami Safari Interview

Following on from his online t-shirt revolution posts last year, we decided to turn the tables on our interviewer, Alex Singh, and grill him about his innovative new online venture- the Swami Safari project.

Inspired by the plethora of online ventures, Alex decided to create his own version and document it in a blog every step of the way. Combining artistic collaboration, charitable envolvement and complete company transparency into beautifully designed and manufactured t-shirts offered as a monthly subscription, Swami Safari tells the story of one man’s spiritual journey through meditation to a world of mythology and mystery. Having produced ‘Chapter 1‘ at the start of the year, we caught up with Alex before the release of the second chapter to find out a bit more…

1) Can you explain the inspiration behind the direction and ideals of your brand and your products?

I’ve always been fascinated by mythology and history and the strong visuals, iconography and symbolism they’ve inspired. Mythology is definitely at the core of the Swami Safari project. I mean – you’re basically dealing with thousands of year’s worth of mythological legends, creatures and heroes of all kinds – and from many different and diverse cultures.

Finally an aspect to what we’re doing is charity, through our sponsorship of a child in India (via World Vision). It’s now more important than ever that we be socially and environmentally responsible and this is our first step in that direction.

2) Swami Safari is described as the first phase of project Marrakech- can you explain this further?

Project Marrakech is an on-going exploration for the evolution of fashion; not just in design but in sales, distribution, marketing, branding and user-generated content. The industry is heavily steeped in tradition and there are a wealth of examples to show its lethargy in embracing new technologies, processes and ideas.

In a perfect world, Marrakech will evolve from a set of integrated businesses to a live case study – provoking ideas and thinking around just doing things differently.

3) You describe the project as a story-telling exercise, do you intend then to come to a conclusion through your designs? How will this be manifest?

We’ve purposely left the story telling aspect quite vague. Each episode, every month has a relevant story that conveys what the Swami is up to.

However there’s no real continuity going on. What we really want to do – in the not too distant future – is bring our customers into the fold so that they can write the story themselves. Arguably the customers could decide when and how to conclude the present storyline once we give them the power to do so.

4) What keeps you coming back each day rather than calling it quits and doing something else?

From hearing the positive, passionate words of our customers that write in to tell us just how much they like our designs. It’s good to know you’ve taken a persons money and given them something in exchange that exceeds their expectations.

I also feel personally that I’d like to really do something different. Something where you make a mark and open up an entirely new area of exploration for designers…And creatives in general. I may never come close to achieving that but I feel it’s a bold enough goal to strive for.

5) What was that one inspirational and motivating spark that invigorated you and pushed you over the edge – to go ahead and just "do it"?

It was about breaking the cyclical nature of seasonal fashion. Finally going online – something I’ve been wanting to do for over a year now – and launching a project that was free from many of the constraints found in the traditional fashion cycle.

I love how we can create interesting products, well priced (compared to pricing of offline boutique labels) and sold direct to the consumers. I also really enjoy being totally transparent about the project.

6) I notice you have developed your own tee block rather than using pre-made garments like so many other t-shirt companies- was this an important aspect for you?

It is a very important aspect to what we do. The vast majority of online tee businesses use pre-made garments, we had the pattern available and thought it was a good way to differentiate ourselves.

It’s more expensive and there’s a longer turn around time for delivery but the quality is vastly superior to pre-made products. That doesn’t mean it’s perfect though. We still have some more tweaking to do and a slightly revised tee will make its way in the third episode due out in late March/early April.

7) As this is only the first in a series of online fashion projects you are launching, what should we expect next?

A listing and summary of the projects can be found at squidoo.com/projectmarrakech. We’ve decided to take things much slower now, however. We initially planned to launch Some Street Somewhere in January but have pushed that back to the middle of the year. We want to get it right rather than throwing it out there.

Why we’re doing this is something I’ll reveal over time on our blog

8) Are you planning to move on your product range to womens/ kids or to other types ie sweaters/ pants?

Well after our second episode which arrives on February 22nd we’ll be producing a unisex belt design. It’ll be a white leather belt incorporating a digital print. Rough launch date is set for March with our third episode tee arriving in early April.

We plan to release accessories for the Swami range on a quarterly basis. No other plans to expand as yet except into women’s tees and into singlet’s for both guys and girls.

9) I love the charity aspect of your company (giving $1 from each sale to a child in India)- do you intend to expand your charity involvement?

Definitely. We’re expanding the Swami site right now and will be adding a donation page for people to learn about Naru (our sponsored child) and donate directly to him if they wish.

This will take more time to implement however because we need to locate and research eligible charities in each appropriate country. We want to make sure the money is going to the right place.

10) Swami Safari is refreshingly honest and transparent (ie- explaining your costing completely). Do you feel this is a precedent that companies will need to follow now or is that just the way you are?

It’s definitely not a precedent, not yet at least. Transparency and honesty is something that I feel strongly about as a member of “Generation Y” where we’ve been bombarded with advertising and marketing ploys from birth.

The best way to make people believe in you is to be honest with them. Hopefully more companies will embrace this ideal but I think it’ll be a fair few years yet before it becomes the norm, if ever.

11) What is your take on traditional fashion labels and are you interested in becoming one yourself?

I’m very impressed with traditional fashion labels that can make it, because there are a million barriers trying to impede your ideas from reaching the marketplace.

Swami will never be a traditional fashion label. “etc.” is our “traditional” label and even this we’re trying to take in new directions away from the wholesaling model.

12) Would you ever consider collaborating rather than competing with your traditional competitors to collectively explore and develop your products/artwork/business model/etc?

I think collaboration is as important as transparency. This is especially true in an industry like fashion where the big companies have such a strong position with being able to achieve economies of scale. 

13) What’s the most passionate and invigorating part of the business for you?

Working with different artists to produce exciting, interesting prints

14) Do you think being based in Australia rather than America or Europe works as an advantage or disadvantage for you?

Both. For trying to sell product to the US and European market it’s a major disadvantage. However there’s a certain mystique to something produced here in Australia so it adds to our uniqueness, I think.

Swami Safari

read previous interviews in the Online T-Shirt Revolution