Plane Clothing is a small independent fashion label set up by designer and photographer Gerry Buxton five years ago. We have been making prints and putting them on t-shirts and hoodies ever since. All our clothes are hand-printed using environmentally friendly ink in our east London studio. The clothes themselves are fairly traded and keeping everything that way is important to us.
All the prints are based on Gerry’s photographs and illustrations and every print tells a story. For more information about the design process and a behind the scenes look at Gerry’s studio, check out our Facebook page.
Jester Jacques Art Interviewed Gerry Buxton, founder of the innovative company.
Has art making always been a part of your life? What is your earliest memory of being creative?
As long as I can remember my folks had different pictures and prints up on the walls in the house, not always to my taste! But from quite early on I have seen art as an accessible and normal part of everyday life. I guess my first creative endeavours were little sketches and drawings of my toys telling stories of their adventures.
What did you study at uni and do you think it helped pave the way for your career?
I studied a program called ‘Design Futures’ at Napier University in Edinburgh which is basically a product design course, by the end of studying I knew it was photography and illustration that interested me most. In many ways I wish I’d gone to art college and done a purely creative discipline, but looking back the Design Futures course provided me with a rigorous design ethic and helped to frame my creative output as a product rather than as an end in and of itself.
Your prints and shirts are all based on cities and the urban landscape. What draws you to that particular environment?
I grew up in sleepy suburban Edinburgh with a burning desire to get out, to get to London. As a teenager all the music and art I was into seemed to be happening in London and even though I moved here nearly 10 years ago I’m still fascinated and exhilarated and terrified by London in equal measure, I love it here and I wanted the prints to be a homage to the city I know and love not anyone else’s London, my London.
How did you get into T Shirt making? How do you feel about having your images translated into something wearable as opposed to framed and hung on a wall?
While I was still studying I met a guy who had his own t-shirt label, I thought he was an idiot and that his t-shirts where crap but what a cool thing to do! I thought if he can do it, I can do it! I love the fact that people walk around with my images on their t-shirts, I still get a buzz out of seeing someone out and about wearing one of my tees. I think t-shirts are one of the easiest canvases for a young artist to start out with, everyone wears t-shirts and everyone can always have one more, whether someone buys the print on a t-shirt or a piece of a paper they are still buying your print.
You sell in some markets around London. Any funny stories or experiences? (You must meet some interesting characters!)
I have done lots of markets in and around London over the years and met a wide variety of interesting people! Many of the funny stories are either libellous or too juvenile to put my name to! Although many are similar to this; one hot boring summer in the UpMarket whilst at a loose end some other traders and I superglued a 50p to the floor between our stalls and cackled and pointed when confused people tried to pick it up.
Lastly, what is coming up for you this year? Oh, and where can we buy your cool shirts and prints??
Right now, having recently got back from 10 days in NYC I’m working hard on a new series of prints depicting New York street scenes and buildings, I’m looking to do a series of 5 prints each of which will be a portrait of a different neighbourhood. Once these are done I’ll have a launch party and start to promote them to shops and galleries as well as direct to the public through the stall in the Sunday UpMarket and the website www.planeclothing.co.uk!
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