The popular street brand PLEASURES from Los Angeles officially announced the 2023 spring series. In addition to the design of the main line of the brand, this season also brings many brilliant cooperation series. Blur, Sperry, Stepney Worker’s Club, AKILA, One are impressively written on the joint list. Block Down, ARTnews, Jerks, Nanyang Party NYPD and Yeti Out are the long list of names. In terms of design, PLEASURES has further enhanced its streetwear vision this season, developing a series of everyday clothing with the brand’s iconic visual elements, while matching rich structures, unique tailoring, and evocative graphic patterns. Presenting PLEASURES’ continuous exploration of youth culture and subculture.
The new PLEASURES 2023 spring series is already available on the official website of the brand and designated retailers such as HBX. In addition, the brand officially announced its entry into the Chinese market this season, opening social accounts such as official Weibo and Xiaohongshu, as well as an online store on WeChat. Taking this opportunity, Hypebeast also interviewed Alex James, the principal of PLEASURES, and listened to him tell the behind-the-scenes story of co-founding the brand with Vlad Elkin, as well as his impression of China.
Hypebeast: How did PLEASURES get started?
Alex James：PLEASURES was originally founded with the idea as a platform for users to express their various feelings and passions for different subcultures that are often overlooked by traditional clothing brands. Vlad helped Edison Chen create a Pop-Up Shop in Undefeated in Los Angeles, where we launched our brand in 2015.
How did you meet Vlad?
The earliest I would see Vlad was at various industry meetups and trade shows where we were both working for different brands. Over the years we have become very good friends, and now we are brothers.
We noticed that PLEASURES’ social media is very special, what makes you so different from other mainstream brands?
The brand itself, and its social media presence, are actually a direct reflection of our personal interests. We have always treated our communities with sincerity, love and respect.
Any memorable brand collaborations or interesting stories? Can you disclose future cooperation plans? And what Chinese brands do you want to see collaborate?
Music has always been at the heart of the brand and we’ve had some memorable collaborations, such as a joint project with British pop icon BLUR. There are also some impressive footwear collaborations, including our collaborations with brands like Dr. Martens, Crocs and adidas. In the future, we will also have some cooperation with the Chinese brand Li-Ning, whose designs in the past few years have been very interesting.
Remember when was the last time you went to China?
I visited Shanghai once in December 2019. There was a collaboration between PLEASURES and Converse and a launch event at Innersect, and we had a party with two brothers, Tom and Arthur from YETI OUT. I got a chance to play some new wave and rock in a really cool club. It was a legendary night.
Do you have any memorable or interesting experiences in China that you can share with us?
For me, there are many memorable scenes about food, and I have eaten some of the best dishes in the world all over China.
Back to music taste, can you share your latest playlist for us?
DIIV – Live at The Murmrr Theater
High Vis- Blending
The Smoke- Live at Montreux Jazz Festival
Mall Grab – What I Breathe ( Deluxe)
Talking Heads -The name of This Band is Talking Heads ( Expanded 2004 Remastered)
Weekly playlist from JEANCLANCHE TV
Fountains DC – Skinny Fia
Salon Recordings x PLEASURES playlist