One of the perks of running a fashion website is that companies send you the “latest and greatest” in up and coming brands…and believe me, there are A LOT, and they’re not all the “greatest”. The streetwear fashion market is one that is over saturated with a slew of labels, and though it makes for a great selection, it can be difficult to filter those that will last from those that will pass, you know like separating the Backstreet Boys from the O-Town’s (have no idea what I’m talking about??? Exactly).

It takes a lot to make an impression on Ahoodie, we’re not exactly “label-pleasers” and our critiques have been known to shutdown entire companies (ever wonder what happened to Shady Ltd.? Okay, okay, we’re just kidding don’t make a parody of us in your next video Em. Stay tuned for some new gear from Shady Ltd.’s 2009 comeback collection).

We recently received a press release announcing a new collection from IVP Designs, and even though I recently had some Botox injections, I managed to raise a brow….which caused a wrinkle…which pissed me off, so I picked up the phone ready to go apeshit on the dude who just made me waste all my hard-earned peanuts. Unfortunately for me, turns out that dude is a former inmate, who has spent some serious hours in solitary confinement….*gulp*! So instead of getting on his case about my botched Botox, I decided to conduct an interview with L.T.Deaton founder of IVP Designs.

Mel-Dee: Hey! How are you?

L.T.: I’m great, you caught me just in time. I just got out of the shows here in Paris for Fashion Week, and I’m about to go out for dinner.
(We then spent a good 20 or so minutes talking about the food in Paris. Cheese, pastries, and especially desserts. We talked a whollllle lot about desserts, especially one in particular, a decadent chocolate cake so good it can only be described by a series of mmmmm’s and yummm’s, and satisfied moans. Now I won’t say which one of us is the one with the sweet-tooth, but for the record I’ve never been to France.)

M-D: Is this your first clothing line?

L.T.: Yup, its my first.

M-D.: Oh… so how did that happen?

L.T.: Well I’ve always been into fashion. I never studied in fashion, or went to design school. Growing up I was an athlete, I played soccer and basketball, but I just always liked fashion. I have alot of friends that have their own clothing lines, and it was always something I thought about doing. And one day while I was incarcerated, the idea for the line just came to me. It was New Years Eve 2004.

M-D.: Wow, you remember the date?! So did you get started while you were still behind bars?

L.T.: No, no. I waited ’til I got out, then I called some friends and decided to make it happen.

M-D.: So how did you get started, what’s the first thing you did?

L.T.: Well like I said, I had alot of friends that owned their own clothing lines, and they were really supportive. So I basically just produced a bunch of t-shirts and handed them out to my friends to wear, and wash, ya know. We spent alot of time getting it right, the print quality, the fabrics, the fit, etc…We got alot of customer feedback. Plus, they wore the shirts, and then their friends saw the shirts, and so on. And eventually we had some famous faces wearing the line, which always helps.

M-D.: Alot of people who have been in jail say that they have a hard time getting work upon their release. Is that why you started working for yourself?

L.T. It’s not “hard”, its impossible! People do NOT want to hire former inmates. When I got out of prison and was at the halfway house I worked at McDonald’s, like everyone does when they get out. It’s a very humbling experience. I started this because I wanted to make a positive out of a negative situation. I just want to die, and leave the world a better place than when I came into it. I want to be able to give people a chance, to give people coming out of jail an outlet, so that they don’t have to go back to that same stuff that landed them in prison in the first place.

M-D: So do you consider yourself lucky, compared to other former convicts? It sounds like you’ve met alot of people that have helped you get to where you are.

L.T.: I’m really lucky, I have alot of support from my family, I mean my parents are unbelievable. What I did to them, by being incarcerated, its such a horrible thing. I put them through hell. As for my friends, you know they say its who you know, not what you know. Like I said, I never studied in fashion or anything, but I’ve made alot of contacts and I’ve met some great people. Everyone who works for and with IVP is smarter than I am. I may come up with an idea but they execute it beyond what I even imagined. There are alot of people from other companies that have been an integral part of IVP’s success, Matt form Corporate, Pete from Premium Laces, and Peter from Ruthless and Toothless.

M-D.: So do you feel as though this is like your destiny? Like you wouldn’t be where you are now, had you not been sent to prison?

L.T.: No, of course I regret what I’ve done. If I could go back and change what I’ve done I would. It was wrong and it wasn’t worth it. But I’d like to take that experience and create change. What I hope for IVP is that it can become a foundation that gives back to people, that can give kids a way out so they don’t have to turn to crime and get into trouble. Clothing is a means to get the message out, its a way to publicize the cause, but I want to do alot more with this brand. There are alot of injustices in the penal system, and even when you’re working with charities you have to be careful who you work with. Not everything is what it seems. We’re very serious about finding charities that are about making changes. I really believe in charitable programs like Get On the Bus, they take kids to visit their parents in jail.

M-D.: So what’s next for IVP? Any hooooodies?!?

L.T.: Yeah we’ll have some sweatshirts soon. We’re also doing the White Collar Crime collection with polo’s and jeans, button-ups, and even linens. And even the spring line will be very different, it won’t always be a prison theme. We’ve also got a women’s line in the works, I never really expected that because they’re such masculine designs. But we’ve gotten a big outpour of women who want to wear the tees. Also, there might be a special hat collab with NewEra.

M-D.: Are there any other people/artists/companies you’d like to do collaborations with?

L.T.: I would rather have people submit artwork and collaborate with them. I want to bring something else out, do something different. The collaborations will be few and far between, they’ll happen, but that’s not what we’re about. We need the people that work with us to understand where we’re going, what our cause is. Like I know what I’m doing, what are YOU doing? (laughs) But we’re currently working on a tee-shirt line with George Martorano. He’s at Coleman (a prison in Florida). He got one of the strictest sentences in history for a non-violent crime, life without parole for a drug-related offence.

M-D.: Do you find that people are a little curious about what a former prisoner would know about fashion? Or does it give the line like a “trendy edge”?

L.T.: No we’ve been getting amazing feedback and support from everyone. And I cant control what people glamorize and what people think. Only important thing is that the brand gets out, and leads the foundation and its beliefs to grow. But as far as having a “trendy edge”, I don’t think so. The bottom line is that they just have to like the graphics, most people don’t really care about the story behind it, they just like the look. At the end of the day the product has to speak for itself.

M-D.: So I guess we’ll wrap this up, but one last question…What the f*ck am I supposed to do about my brow?

L.T.: ……….

M-D.: Hello?

L.T.: (dialtone)

Check out their website at IVPDESIGNS.com

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts