A Space For Community: Time To Talk About Midnight
With brands lately you may have felt that there is no real connection between you and them, you are just another consumer that gets the same shirt, printed by the same machine, in a factory thousands of miles away from you, the potential consumer.
There’s no hiding away from the fact that fashion created this structure. Decades of global expansion and the whirlwind economics of the world are to blame for this dangerous mixture. However, if we take another viewpoint, if we look at it from a business outlook, we as consumers contributed and continue contributing to this system that fails us in so many ways.
In today’s age, a great piece of design, supported by an equally respectable story, mixed with a lot of love and culture surrounding all facets of a label, is yet still not enough to guarantee any traction, attention, hype and ultimately commercial success.
The crowd needs more than this, consumers demand an insane amount of exposure and in this world driven by metrics, it’s constantly expected to see that high profile celebrities, ambassadors and ultimately those who are deemed ‘Important people’ are wearing the brand. That people in the big capitals of the world are joining in, that industry leaders are giving it the seal of approval as well as household names supporting and collaborating with said brand.
The validation of a few people and big names has become THE validation.
And then, there is MIDNIGHT. In a small town in Germany called Moenchengladbach, 367 miles away from Berlin, far away from all the shining lights, major brand support and all the superficial things that help fuel the hype, Can Demirezen and his hometown label, MIDNIGHT, are paving forward they’re own path in their local neighbourhood.
With the odds stacked against him, Can is proving time and time again that location and the ability to name drop doesn’t matter when you have a brand built on principles straight out of a future schoolbook on the origins of streetwear. A true artist, with an accessible creative output, and with a culture and a community-based movement behind him, that isn't afraid to make noise far away from the industry determined key cities and marketing groups.
Can who is heavily influenced by Jean Michel Basquiat, Franz Klein and Gerhard Richter started hand-painting his first sweatshirt in 2016, a lot of positive feedback and a pop-up later Midnight has travelled Europe.
Staying true to his beginnings, every shirt that is sold today is still hand-printed or screen-printed. Authenticity and transparency are the absolute key for Can.
Clothes are just a small part in the MIDNIGHT universe, Can hosts events in his Midnight box, giving young and up and coming creatives, not just from his area but from around the world an opportunity to showcase their art and very recently he hosted a small “festival” with acts from Berlin and London. Community and culture in harmony is the magical potion.
It’s time to talk About Midnight.
Dear Can, can you please introduce your art, your brand and story to sabukaru.online?
My name is Can and I am currently living in Mönchengladbach.
MIDNIGHT is my fashion label, well let’s call it a space for community, that I founded a couple of years ago. During that time, I was heavily involved in the techno scene and used to DJ in many different countries - of course, always during at night and that is where the name is coming from. I used to watch all different kind of people entering and leaving the club which inspired me so much. It’s crazy how people show so many different sides of themselves at night, isn’t it?! I try to showcase this in my pieces.
It all started at the end of 2016. I was inspired by artists like Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Basquiat or Roy Lichtenstein - artists that created their work mostly with their own hands. It is not the output that inspires me but the different working techniques and possibilities we have to create something great. In a world full of fast fashion and short-termed hype brands, I wanted to do something that I can call my own product. Moreover, it was really important for me to stick to traditional techniques with less use of digital programs like photoshop or whatsoever.
I don’t see MIDNIGHT as a pure fashion brand, for me it is way more. I use clothing as a canvas to showcase my art, feelings moods and more. That means I make my art accessible to everybody which is something that is totally rare nowadays having in mind how much money you have to pay to see an exhibition. Besides fashion, MIDNIGHT does a lot more for its community. As a haven for people, we host events, concerts and even do workshops with our community members.
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For us, it is really important to give disadvantaged people a place where they can feel save but even more, a voice that tells everyone they are still alive.”
When and how did you discover your creative hustle and at what point did you decide to turn it into a brand?
I used to travel to London back in the day, I think it was around 2015, where I visited the Saatchi Gallery. For me, this was the turning point of my life but also career. I started painting pictures but as I always had a strong connection to clothes, I thought it’d be cool to draw on an old Levis Denim Jacket that was laying in my closet. I shared the final result on Instagram and that’s where finally everything took its course. Levis Germany shared the image on their Instagram Account and I slowly started to gain a social buzz, at least you would call it like that today.
I saw potential in my work and thought „Let’s make something bigger out of it“ - the first product we officially launched was a hoodie that I gave out to friends and cultural leaders in my area. From then on, I tried to evolve on every further product and here I am now.
YOUR DESIGNS HAVE SLOWLY STARTED TO GAIN ATTENTION AROUND THE SCENE AND BEYond. WILL YOU ALWAYS RUN UNDER THE MIDNIGHT ALIAS, OR IS IT POSSIBLE TO SEE A “CAM DEMIREZEN FOR” BRANDING AS AND WHEN YOU COLABORATE WITH OTHER BRaNDS?
Actually, it is one of my dreams and visions to realize a cooperation with a bigger brand in the near future, but for me, it will always be ” MIDNIGHT for….”
Can you please explain to us a little bit about the importance of community and culture in your designs, life and for your brand?
Every design has its own story. The first screen-print I ever made, showed the block where I grew up and I wanted to give something back to the people. Show others, that WE also have dreams and visions that we want to complete. Mostly no brand understands this, it’s not about creating a short-termed Hype but creating a community that sticks to your brand on a long term run.
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I would rather have 100 people that support us forever than 10000 people that only buy one product.”
It is more about culture and design, it is about slow fashion.
The German streetwear scene is still a fairly young scene with many kids being raised by hype and the obvious brands and stories. How hard but also exciting is it to start your own brand in this wild mix of big logos and “Instagram streetwear”?
That’s exactly the point. I see a lot of people only focusing on Hype without looking truly looking on other brands - to be honest, I think that’s slightly ignorant and not sustainable at all. Of course, it is super hard for a small brand if you want to grow organically, but at the end of the day, only authenticity matters. For sure, it is always cool if a famous rapper or celebrity wears your stuff because it pushes sales super quickly but yea, at the end of the day he is wearing another brand three days later. For me, it is more about creating brand lovers, people that get back to me without following up twice a day, you know?
While still being a young brand you always gained the attention and respect from many international artists. Can you please tell us a little bit more about you first encounters with artist like Octavian and how you make that all happen?
That’s a crazy story… haha! His first performance in Germany was around a year ago. One of my best friends @mercymilano was the opening DJ for Octavian’s performance and he asked me if I could prepare a shirt exclusively for Octavian and his crew, so I started working on that… for almost two weeks, hoping that he will love the result - and he did, obviously. We hung out a long time and talked about plenty of things. But the best thing was that he wore the shirt again two days later in Hamburg on his second performance.
What’s next for MIDNIGHT and Can Demirezen?
We just did a collaboration with 16 bars this month and hosted two launch events, one in Berlin and one in Mönchengladbach which was a great success. Even though I used to work as a techno DJ, I feel strongly connected to hip hop. For me, this was the perfect match - independent brands meet independent online media. I don’t want to say too much about what is upcoming, but MIDNIGHT is launching a limited collaboration with german rapper Mortel soon, so stay tuned!
Do you feel that you as a creator/artist had it harder to start of a brand like yours in a smaller town? the lack of opportunities or international influences made it more difficult for you then let’s say Berlin? Or did that boost your hustle even more?
Of course, its way more difficult to run a business with an international approach form a small city like Mönchengladbach but we are located between two of the most relevant cities when it comes to streetwear and fashion in general, Düsseldorf and Cologne. At the end of the day, I think its way more interesting to see a brand growing from a small town than from a place like Berlin.
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Everyone is leaving their hometown to run a business in Berlin, but who is successful in the long term? I rather stay in my city and work from there, for me it’s very inspiring but also motivating.”
Why do you think it is so hard for bigger brands to give their buyers that sense of them not just being another consumer? Is it even possible for them? We know that is a huge issue for MIDNIGHT.
Even though everything is taking place online now, you have to be there as a brand and catch the true customer offline. Only a few brands are doing this at the moment and I believe a lot of brands will jump on the train sooner or later. I am following a three rule credo myself to give my community not the feeling of being just another customer.
Transparency
Honesty
Loyalty
I usually show all of my followers on Instagram how I produce the product that they will eventually buy and with which assets I usually work. Moreover, I stay true to my consumers by offering events, workshops and just giving them a good time when they are at the store. For me its more important if the people leave my store with an amazing experience and impression than buying a product but not coming back at the end of the day.
Thank you for your words and time
Thanks a lot guys for taking the time and preparing the questions. It’s a pleasure for me to be part of sabukaru.online! Much love xx
Text by Adrian Bianco, Jon Walner & Stephen Donald
