It’s been now two weeks since we launched our site. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, we kept things really simple. No splash page, no flashy graphics, no animation, no corny slogan, just T-shirts. Because that’s the reason, we hope, people are coming to the site.

The final design looks as if it takes less than an hour to do. But believe it or not, it was actually the culmination of tons of reflection and research. Seriously. We looked at lot of other sites noting what we liked and didn’t like, and tinkered with a myriad of colours and layouts. Here’s one version that didn’t make it.

For the e-commerce engine, we’ve done a few things differently from a lot of other sites. Items added to a cart are clearly shown under the product. The bag can be emptied from any page on the site. And the inventory system prevents you from adding more T-shirts to the bag than what’s in stock.

But there is one cool feature other e-commerce sites do that we don’t – the ability to view products by size or by colour. We skipped it for now as our programmers told us it would slow down the site considerably. Then again, we don’t actually get 100,000 visitors every day.

We finished last week our Tee version of Dutch Producer Fedde Le Grand’s hit single Put Your Hands Up for Detroit.

The final artwork didn’t change much from the first draft. While the illustration is the same, an artistic interpretation of the poster of an 80s film, the lettering now reflects the font used on the movie title. We’re not sure if many people will get the reference, but we think it’ll look nice on a T-shirt.

Karneval in Cologne was sheer decadence. Punters were revelling in the streets alcohol in hand. Kölsch, the local beer, was served and consumed with German efficiency. Hour-long queues at pubs began as early as 9pm. I guess you can call it an all-week boozer, but with one notable distinction – everyone was wearing a costume and chanting Kölle Alaaf. Yes the people of Cologne take Karneval quite seriously.

At the first party, Flatmate and I looked like the people who didn’t get the memo. We knew about the dress code, in fact our dear Cologne friends mentioned it quite a few times. We just didn’t realise that EVERYONE who goes out actually wears a costume. Fortunately, our friend’s entourage reacted swiftly painting our faces with lipstick and sharing parts of their costume. I got to be a beauty queen and an FC Köeln fan for a few hours.

For the typical Karneval experience, we simply followed our Cologne friends. We hit the bustling pubs in the Old Town and on Zülpischer Strasse, the student district of Cologne, and went to Herbrand’s, a massive watering hole (capacity of 500+) in Ehrenfeld on the west side.

We also tried a few places that had people more dressed like us, in normal attire: Scheinbar and Hallmackenreuther two low-key yet trendy bars in the Belgium Quarter (streets are named after Belgium cities) and Beat Boutique, an underground club in the Westbanhof station only open on the third Saturday of every month.

Düsseldorf was a different experience. We arrived in the city at 11pm on the first day of Karneval, way too late to enjoy the festivities. Our friend who lives there was already in bed when we called as they had been “celebrating” since noon. So, we just stuck to the usual programme, hopping to places that close really late.

We kicked off at Harpune, a warehouse type venue in Hafen (port), and wrapped up the evening at Nachtresidenz, an opulent club in the city centre that uses a punch card / pay later system.

Although these weren’t Karneval parties, I had a great time. The places were busy but not too crowded, the dancing crowd was in our age group (late 20s, 30s), and above all, they played the electro sound that I love – the one that keeps me going all night.

Addresses in Cologne
Beat Boutique: Hans-Böckle Platz, www.beatboutique.info
Hallmackenreuther: Brüsseler Platz 9
Herbrand’s: Herbrandstr 21, www.herbrands.de
Scheinbar: Brüsseler Str. 10

Addresses in Düsseldorf
Harpune: Speditionstr 15a, www.harpune.com
Nachtresidenz: Bahnstr 13-15, www.nachtresidenz.de

Street Sensation is one of my favourite London websites. Unlike Google Earth’s bird-eye view, it shows the store fronts of major shopping and eating destinations in London as if you are there walking along the street.

Most of the cool areas for streetwear are on the site: Carnaby Street, Seven Dials (Earlham Street), Notting Hill, and Camden Town. But some are not: Old Truman Brewery and Cheshire Street off Brick Lane, and Spitalfields Market (because it’s a market). I will review these places when I return to London next month.

After a quick two-day stop in Paris, I am now in Abu Dhabi in the UAE. Different culture and definitely style as the pic below of the airport lounge attests. Pretty sure I won’t use this form of design on our T-shirts but it’s always refreshing to see things done differently.

We will soon release an exclusive T-shirt for one of the hottest bands today, The Knives. If you haven’t heard their hit song, Suffering in Stereo, yet, don’t worry. Neither have we as the band doesn’t really exist. We just thought it’d look cool on a T-shirt. Idea and concept from Jared at J3 Concepts.

Great city, great people, great time. I would add great memories as well, but I’d have to make an effort to remember the things we did as I’m still recovering from Karneval.

For now, enjoy this song (among others) that was played during this week-long celebration. I was able to pick up the chorus, only because Flatmate wouldn’t stop singing it, but I think he used Viva Bavaria instead of Colonia.

I’m packing my bags again. Flatmate and I are off to Düsseldorf, the fashion HQ of Germany (it’s also, unsurprisingly, home to the biggest Japanese community in Europe), and Cologne to celebrate Carnival.

DJs Tom Novy, who last year remixed C&C Music Factory’s Power, and Kurd Maverick are having a couple big nights there, but we’re not sure yet whether we will go.

After this weekender, I’m heading to Paris, Abu Dhabi and Dubai to see friends and family. It’ll be my first time in the Middle East. With the scorching weather there, I hope to see some people wearing T-shirts. Well, at least the men and expats anyway.

The store is now open. We’re calling this a pilot launch as we’re using it as an opportunity to evaluate and improve our products and services during this two-month period.

More specifically, we want to confirm that:
- our site is glitch free and easy to use
- our T-shirts meet your expectations
- the ordering and shipping process works as we described in the FAQ
- we answer your questions professionally and swiftly

To achieve this, we need your feedback, both good and bad. We’d appreciate it if you can leave us a comment on this post or send us an e-mail at info@s-label.com.

We hope you will enjoy our T-shirts.

Your pals at Swiftlabel

Two streetwear trade shows took place this weekend during London’s Fashion Week. Margin TV showcased some 60 up-and-coming brands, mainly from the UK. Most T-shirt labels featured the en-vogue concoction of quirky, viral, cutsy designs. The ones I liked had a grungier look like A-non Clothing, which has a well-known store near edgy Brick Lane, and T Tees, whose designs are influenced by the “80s old shoot scene”.

The other show, To Be Confirmed, was held right off Brick Lane in the Old Truman Brewery. I wasn’t registered for the event as I found out about it by fluke on my way to Cafe 1001 for an afternoon of dark and deep electro session.