Interview by Jenkin Au
Words by Amie Nguyen
Photography by Jenkin Au
GOLD MMVIII, or GOLD for short, is headed by Shun Kinoshita, a first year student at the University of British Columbia. Originating from beautiful Victoria of Vancouver Island, GOLD started in Shun’s early high school years and continued on with him to University. With Japanese roots, Shun is proud of his heritage and carries that with him, most notably with the logo of GOLD being his family crest. Giving us his first interview, Shun shares with us the details of GOLD and it’s beginnings.
Hey man, can you tell us about yourself?
I’m Shun and I’ve been in Canada for five years. I am 19 now, almost 20 and I started this t-shirt brand back in grade 11. At first, in grade 9, I was spray painting t-shirts. It was a joke between me and my friend and we bought 12 t-shirts and went from there.
What was the joke?
My friend and I, we were really into electro at that time and we were this mash up DJ and we kind of got talked about on the internet. I started making t-shirts for it and I kept getting messages about it on MySpace. I thought, “OK, maybe I’ll just start a t-shirt brand, just for fun.”
What the heck is GOLD MMVIII?
GOLD used to be GOLD and a Pager, from “Fuck the Police” by N.W.A.. Then, “The Cool Kids” took the song, “Gold and a Pager” and it kind of lost that feel of the name, so I just changed the name of it to GOLD, I guess to make it more sophisticated. I just kept designing t-shirts and people liked them.
Where does the MMVIII come from?
That’s just because I started in 2008. There are a lot of names that have the brands with the name “Gold” in it, like Benny Gold and Gold Wheels. The other day, my friend showed me a bunch of t-shirts that said Gold on it, so it’s just to distinguish between all the others.
The flower that you have, can you tell us why you chose this as your logo? Can you describe and talk more about your logo?
That’s pretty simple – it’s just my family crest.
Sick!
Yeah. One day, I was looking for something that represents me and I really like how I’m Japanese and I’m from Japan. I really wanted to use that identity of being Japanese. I was talking to my dad and he said, “Take a look at this,” and I was like, “Cool.”
Take us through the production of a shirt.
Well, I design a shirt and work on it. Sometimes, my designs look really simple but I actually spend a lot of time on it. I’m a perfectionist in that way and I can’t deal with a millimetre of difference. I work on it for a while and then make an order sheet. These sweet guys from Alberta, called Show Down, they do all my t-shirts for me now.
What would you do if I gave you an Abercrombie shirt right now?
I’d probably burn it right in front of your face.
What’s up with that?
I just don’t understand the people that wear Abercrombie. It’s just overpriced, collared, pre-ripped t-shirts and they are just meaningless–you look the same as everyone else. You go to high school and half the people are wearing the exact same shit and it’s just unbelievable. All that Hollister, American Eagle, they all look the same and I just don’t understand why they would want to wear it.
Yeah, we saw that “This Ain’t No Abercrombie Shit” and we liked that.
Yeah, a lot of people liked that. A lot of my friends are on my side.
I’m pretty sure there are a lot of people in Victoria that wear it, though.
Yeah, a lot of people comment on it.
What do they say?
Well, some people like it a lot. Only the people that like it comment on it. The people that disagree just look away. It’s OK if you like it; this is just my opinion. I just don’t like it.
Can you tell us about the No.8 series? What is that about?
That was just a number and it could have been any number; eight is just a number that’s really common in my life. I’m born on May 8th and the brand also started in 2008. That design actually came from Channel No. 5 so I just took that design and changed the font and logo and it was pretty simple.
Some of your work is rip-off based and based on tweaking other people’s work. A lot of people don’t see that as original. What do you have to say about that?
That’s a good question. There are a lot of brands that do the same thing and it’s just making something that’s not that great into something good. There was a shirt that I made and it said “British Columbia, Fine Gold” and that was actually from a juice can from Hawaii. It had nothing to do with gold and I just changed the place and changed it to gold. It’s obviously a great design so it’s kind of like cheating and some people say, “That’s not very creative,” and I understand completely.
I think it’s a good visual joke.
Yeah. I really like what I did with the Abercrombie, though.
A lot of your shirts are sold out completely. Do you make a lot for each batch or are they really, really limited?
I guess it’s limited, since I don’t make more than 100 per batch. Actually, I don’t make more than 50. I also make crew neck shirts and that’s just because people don’t want the exact same shirt as someone else. Sometimes, when I start selling a shirt, everyone wants and everyone buys it at the same time and people end up looking the same. I just keep the quantity really limited, especially since I’m selling by myself and at a store called Complex in Victoria. I also like to keep producing new things so it just makes sense to produce low quantities.
Do you ever plan on reprinting the ones that are sold out?
I have this shirt of a coat of arms and that was a really big hit – people still ask me if I have it. I don’t think I’ll make the exact same shirts, but maybe in the future I’ll change up the colours or add a little more detail.
Just to keep it original with the people that are wearing it now, right?
It’s like the Jordans. The original Jordans compared to the retros, they’re not the same. Kind of like that.
Have you made private batches that were never released out?
I actually do a lot of charity t-shirts. One time, I made a batch of t-shirts for these two girls that wanted to go to Africa for a charity trip. They sold that and made a grand and they used it towards their trip – I’m more than happy to do that if I have the time.
You’re originally from Victoria and you’re here for school. Did you come to Vancouver, or the Mainland, often before?
No. When I came to UBC (University of British Columbia), I had no idea where the bus went or anything. I probably came to Vancouver twice before that and only went to Gastown and touristy places.
Do you see Vancouver influencing your work and your designs?
Yeah. Vancouver is a lot different from Victoria. People dress differently and look different. It’s just completely different and every day, different things influence me. I don’t know how to say it but the people, the city; I guess it will influence me.
Where does your work and designs come from?
They just pop out of my head. Sometimes, I would think of something for weeks and then all of a sudden, I would see something I really like and I would do the design in a day and order in a day.
In this day and age, making prints on shirts has become much easier than before. That being said, a whole new wave of competition is now at your doorstep. How has GOLD MMVIII kept on top of its game?
I just do this for fun and I’m not planning on making denim or anything like that. I don’t really try to be better than anyone else and I just design what I like. People like them. I just do it for fun. I like it when I see people wearing it.
How did your fashion show in high school turn out for you?
That was a sick event. Luckily, I had my own section and it was pretty much me in charge and I could pick all my close friends. I could pick out what they wear and all my friends walked in the beginning and I walked at the end – the whole gym went nuts. I had a lot of fun.
Tell us more about that fashion show. It seemed like it was a lot of fun with many types of people doing many different things. Did anyone help you with your end of the show?
The show is an annual event for my show. There’s this girl that organized everything and she was pretty close and it just worked out.
Did you make any special prints for that show?
No. And I wasn’t even allowed to sell at the show.
Why not?
One of the teachers that was organizing the show thought it was unfair because we had a lot of sponsors providing clothing for us. They weren’t allowed to sell so she thought it was unfair. I would have made a lot of money.
What is HYPE?
I don’t know how to answer that question. I actually checked out your website and read the interviews and some people answer it really seriously, but I’m not that kind of person. I’m the type of guy that would tell you to go to Wikipedia and look it up. I’m not the right person to ask! Go to Urban Dictionary. That’s my answer.