Pseushi with Wesley Chiang

Wesley has been a long time friend of mine and we’ve probably known each other for close to 10 years now. I was first introduced to him at a mutual friend’s birthday and someone told me he was running a clothing brand which I thought was pretty cool because there weren't many local brands starting up at the time. 

A few years later in 2021 when 108Warehouse moved over to Marrickville, we started building a brand list for our store and Pseushi was one of the first brands we brought on board. Since then both 108Warehouse and Pseushi have grown quite a lot and it’s been awesome to journey together and be able to work with each other. 

- Edwin Widjaja (⅓ of 108Warehouse)

 

Wesley visits 108Warehouse (Sept 2024). 
Wesley wearing 108Warehouse x New Era "Ube" 59FIFTY Fitted Cap, Pseushi Sermon Zip Up (White) and Pseushi Loose Jeans (Rinsed Truffle).
Edwin wearing 108Warehouse x New Era "Green" 59FIFTY Fitted Cap and 108Warehouse Canvas Work Shorts (Navy).

Firstly just wanted to say thank you for being here today

My pleasure bro, thank you for having me.

I’ll start by asking you when and how the idea of Pseushi first came about? 
Great question, It started as a creative outlet and a way to explore some ideas outside of the graphic design work I was doing at the time. Its original form was a website called Pseudonym Store, stocked with t-shirts and some screen printed posters. It eventually evolved into a clothing line with a shortened name. Initially I had no ambitions of running a business full-time but the growth and support Pseushi has received throughout the years have inspired me to reach further.

Pretty cool to see how far it's grown since then, what were those earlier years like?

The earlier years were a lot of experimenting, having fun and making graphics. Not so much strategic thinking and planning (laughs). It was a lot of trial and error, in some ways it still is. Looking back, my mindset was naturally very naive. My good friend Chris Loutfy and I ran the brand together and it was a passion project we poured our free time into. After I quit my job and pursued this full-time, I learnt how to get a better handle on the business side of things. 

It seems like there was a big perspective shift. 

Yeah there definitely was, I started to broaden my views, look more long term and approach problems and situations more pragmatically. I’m proud of how far I’ve come but simultaneously I’m constantly reminded of how much room there is for growth. I’m enjoying the journey for all its peaks and troughs.

You started with an online store at first, how long before you got your first stockist?

Our website was our only sales channel to our consumers for the first few years of Pseushi and our first stockist was Above the Clouds which at the time was in Darlinghurst just down the road from Taylor square. I was working as a graphic designer at SCCO (then named Something Creative Co) at the time and our office was upstairs from Above the Clouds. I walked through the store everyday and always enjoyed chatting with Dim, I’ve been bugging him ever since. Jarmaine (SCCO) and Dim have both become my mentors since then. I’m very lucky to have met both of them during a pivotal stage in my life. 

Early on you also had a few pop ups around Sydney (which all of us from 108warehouse use to frequent), what was that like during your early days?

Back then before we started stocking in stores, the pop-ups were the first chance people had access to a collection. We were very conservative in the brand’s infancy so some tees used to sell out before making it online. The pop-ups we put on from about (2016-2018) were some of the most adrenaline fuelled experiences I’ve ever had. I remember people would turn up and ask for anything left in a certain size (shoutout Tom). The rush of energy Chris and I would feel from just a few $$$ in profits are memories I hold dear. 

The brand’s definitely expanded alot since those days and now your production has moved away from screen printing onto blank T’s and into full cut and sewn production. How important was it for you to transition? and can you share with us a little of the joys and difficulties.

When it comes to using blanks, it seems like there’s a dizzying amount of options to pick from. Mass produced ‘Blanks’ are essentially t-shirts or garments in general, produced with low-cost, high-margin as a priority. This allows people to print, embroider and apply their own designs without having to make their own clothing from scratch. It’s a very quick and cost efficient way of making clothing. It means you can start a brand in a matter of minutes. We used blanks for years in the beginning, but I quickly hit a ceiling within the limitations it came with. This method of making clothes didn’t leave much room for the quality of fabrics I wanted to use, the garment-dye processes I wanted to explore. After years of searching it was clear I had to develop something from scratch. Doing it with local manufacturers with generations of experience has been more rewarding than I could ever have imagined. Of course it’s frustrating at times, dealing with production is a whole job in itself but I would never go back.

Edwin, Edward (2016) and Jacinto (2017). Pseushi lookbook 2016 and 2017

Since moving your production over, do you have a favourite item you have produced?

There might be some recent bias (laughs) but I have been living in my Loose Jeans (black), they have become my uniform throughout the last few months since getting them sampled around a year ago. Instead of standard jet-black denim that have been woven with black yarn, the denim used on this pair has been woven with black and white yarn, with an added garment-dyed process added after construction. This means the denim will age and fade with more depth and layers of colour than standard jet-black denim. I’m excited to see how they age after a few years of wear.

Also the first iteration of the Summer Shirt from SS22 will always hold a special place in my heart. I was worried the higher price point would turn people off and assumed no one would care about organic cotton fabrics or if they were imported from Japan. The success of this item has taught me to trust the process and invest in customers that share similar values.

I couldn’t agree more, I haven’t stopped wearing my Pseushi Loose Jeans (Rinsed Truffle) since I got them. Do you have a favourite item of clothing you own?

This was a surprisingly difficult question to answer… if I had to choose, it would be a pair of Junya X Levi’s. They look like a standard pair of raw selvedge denim Levi’s but there are some darts sewn on the back that give the jeans a certain shape. I’ve never worn a pair of brand new jeans that fit like that without alterations and it really opened my eyes to pattern making and garment construction even in the context of jeans and casual clothing. I have a lot of other pieces of clothing that give me joy but if it’s not something I can put on everyday without overthinking, something I can age with, it can’t be my favourite item of clothing.

 Emilio in Pseushi AW24 wearing Pseushi Loose Jeans (Rinsed Truffle and Rinsed Black)

Sounds fresh, the Levi’s x Junya Watanabe jeans sound like a very special pair. Do you have any designers or other brands that you are inspired by?

Kiko Kostadinov’s work has captivated me since he presented his MA collection at CSM. I’ve never been into runway fashion until I started following his work. I love his attention to construction, patternmaking, clash of materials, colour choices, visualisation of ideas etc. It’s been a pleasure seeing what he has accomplished in such a short amount of time. There’s not many independent designers at that level who aren’t afraid of designing what they truly envisioned, most give in to market pressures or demands from buyers. He designs fearlessly. I think the world needs to make more room for people like Kiko.

And final questions, you’re coming up to 10 years of Pseushi, what has been the biggest turning point for you since running your brand?

(Wesley sits back and sinks deep into thought) I think the most significant turning point wasn’t anything that happened externally like a release that went well or a certain store picking up Pseushi or a celebrity wearing an item. It was a change in mindset that happened internally, making the decision to pursue this with no back-up plans. This brand and this community has opened a new door for me and it would be such a shame to not go through it, wherever it may lead.

Beautiful words, thank you again for taking the time to chat with me. 

Pseushi SS24 has just been released, check the full collection here. 
Images taken from 108Warehouse and Pseushi archives
Interview and Forward by Edwin Widjaja 
Thank you to Wesley Chiang