For the fashion-focused in the area, this is probably not their first introduction to PREMIUM. The global brand offers elevated, unisex basics that have mass appeal. On the heels of their second pop-up in D.C. today, we reached out to co-founder Davin Gentry on how he launched a successful, universally appealing clothing line from Ashburn and what customers can expect from this week’s shopping event.
Can you give us a little background on yourself and how you go into fashion design?
I’ve always been into art and design as far back as I can remember. My great aunt, who recently passed, taught me how to draw when I was young. I wanted to be an architect when I was in elementary school, and I still do slightly. I’m fascinated by design in general, not just clothing or art, but houses, buildings, bridges, furniture and more.
Around 2004, I began hand-painting custom shirts for myself, simply to distance my wardrobe from the rest of the crowd. That led to me painting for friends, then stores, then athletes, then celebrities and so on. That was my job for five years while I was in school for graphic design and advertising. Combining my graphic design experience and artistic ability with my particular fashion sense created the perfect space for Premium to be born.
How do you go from a local brand to being carried in 15 stores worldwide?
It’s a number of things, I think. For one, before we officially launched our first collection, we visited all the trade shows for about four seasons—and this was before the trade shows would even allow us to walk the event. We were denied access multiple times. But we worked our way in the door and began networking and building a solid foundation of support in the industry. By the time our collection was ready to exhibit, we had made tons of connections with people that had been waiting to support us. I would say that kind of organic support along with timeless designs and amazing quality are two major keys to our success thus far. It’s crazy to think that in such a short period of time, we’ve evolved into an international brand with a dedicated and loyal customer base.
What is Premium’s aesthetic? How did you come up with the name for the brand?
The Premium aesthetic is timeless, not so much trendy. We aspire to create garments that can be worn now and five years from now. It’s clean. It’s comfort. And it’s luxurious, not in terms of price, but in the quality. You can pair our Premium pieces with those from top fashion houses and not miss a beat quality-wise.
As for the name, that came out of one of our early brainstorm sessions. When we started the company, we only produced jewelry and honestly didn’t expect that to turn into anything significant. We wanted a name that was synonymous with quality. We landed on “Premium” and it stuck.
What are the top three items in your new collection that NoVA men should try?
That’s a tough question because it’s like having five kids and someone asking which three are your favorite. I can say that my go-to outfit consists of our Black Leather Brando Jacket with the French Terry Hoodie, a piece from our Distressed Denim collection coming this spring and one of our Classic Tees to finish it off.
Any plans for a women’s line?
We have plans, but there’s nothing in motion at the moment. Since most of our products are essentially unisex, we have a decent amount of female supporters. They actually tend to wear the products better than we do.
Tell us about your upcoming pop-up at Union Market.
We’re extremely excited about our upcoming pop-up shop at Maurice Electrical. We’ve grown so much since the pop-up we did in D.C. in 2014, and we’re excited to show that with this new collection and art installation. Without giving away too much, the theme of the pop-up is “Premium Dry Cleaning and Laundry Service,” so we’re transforming one of Union Market’s warehouses to reflect that theme with a slight vintage vibe. We teamed up with No Kings Collective again, who were responsible for the installation at the previous pop-up as well, and we’re producing our best work to date. Customers can come check us out Jan. 29-30 from 8 p.m. to midnight on Friday, and from noon to 8 p.m. on Saturday. We hope to see everyone there.