If you haven't seen their classic "Be Real" wood necklaces, heard the phrase "Be Lifted Every Minute" or had a shirt with a 1 / 50 tag on it you need to check out
BadHabits. We recently emailed the creator of BadHabits Clothing to see whats in store for the east coast brand. I've included a few of my favorites from the BadHabits collection.
Chief Bosompra, 20, Ottawa ,ON
How long have you been designing clothes?
Just past the two year anniversary if you want to call it that of the
initial idea. This june will be the 2 year anniversary of the first
release. Seems a lot longer though I'm surprised every time I think
about it. Feels more like 5 years there's a lot of stress involved and
stress makes you age they say, so that's probably it.
How did the idea for "BadHabits" come about?
I was always a fashionable person, I lived most of my life in a town we
call MDV (Meadowvale) in Mississauga west of Toronto. I was a serious
basketball player which people who know me now find really funny lol
but yea I was a basketball player and I took it very serious, it was
life or death to me. I was one of the best my age in my area whenever
the question came up but was never labeled the best so I always felt I
was the under dog and kept grinding and practicing. Finally grade 10
came into my zone was getting awards at tournaments and MVP for my
school team which had some of the most individually talented players
on it in the city. So pretty much after that I slowly lost interest in
basketball which was weird mostly because my parents were pushing the
school thing. Long story short clothing started taking up the time
basketball had before I listened to a lot of rock music and was really
interested in skateboarding which wasn't "cool" for "black kids" at the
time I started wearing skinny jeans which I got heat for and was the
bud of a lot of jokes for but a few years later the style I was on
ended up becoming popular thanks to Pharell, Lupe, Terry Kennedy etc
which led people tp appreciate my opinion and the fact that I wasn't
phased by what people thought or said about me.
One day I was in Ottawa at a local shop looking around and couldn't
really find anything that I liked / thought was worth the asking price
then one night that same week I was lying in bed and thought to myself
"you should start a brand" and that was the birth of it.l Took you
down memory lane there haha
"Mistakes Deny Victory" Crewneck
I hear people saying "BadHabits NoRegrets", mean anything significant?
BadHabits NoRegrets ( BHNR) is one of the brand commandments. When
people first hear the name BadHabits they automatically associate it
with negativity kind of like a stereotype. So on the surface BadHabits
NoRegrets means I do what I want and I don't give a fuck Which is good
because that's how I feel a lot of the time if you feel like doing
something go ahead and do it don't hesitate because your worried about
how the people around you will take it. The deeper Meaning of BHNR is
even though you might have done bad in the past don't dwell on it
because you'll gain nothing from that. Just learn from what you did
don't Regret it and move on. What ever doesn't kill you makes you
stronger type thinking.
You have anyone else working with you?
I recently added a few people to the team to help me out because
things are getting hectic with the company, school,NightOwls, and
other extra side stuff I do. we have a blog that gets updated at least
a few times a day we post music.fasion,pictures, thoughts, news
whatever really. the Bloggers for that are Simpa(general posts),
Alex(Change of Jeanery)Brooke(Fresh Femme by Brooke), Sam(skate world)
and myself(general posts) Alex, Brooke, Sam focus on certain issues
Simpa and I just post general stuff. We are working on a new website
being done by my buddy Jacob which I'm stoked about its looking really
good. I also have an architecture student Walleed that I met at the
beginning of the year and he helps with drawing designs on cases,
suggesting ideas and assisting in various things that I might need
done pertaining to BH. I decide what pieces will be released what
designs are being used, design ideas,write the narratives, decide on
concepts etc. but I definitely appreciate the help from these people
because they make my life a bit easier and give me time to do other
stuff outside BH like essays lol which every student knows about.
"Tiki" V-Neck
Bad Habits has come out with a lot of new clothing in the past year,
where do you get the ideas for your pieces.
The first season of pieces which were all connected in a story line
style was pretty much based off of my life up to that point. I always
ask people if they read the narrative which is always released when a
new piece is released. Its one one the most important parts of it to
me because It gives the shirt its meaning. Like imagine van gogh
standing next to you explaining what he was thinking as he painted one
of his paintings. Or Jimmy Hendrix explaining the trip he was on as he
came up with a song or even Jay-z explaining what he was going through
which led to a certain song. I want people to be able to get what I
was thinking or what I was going through at a time in my life which
led me to express it on a shirt. I always compare my creative process
to that of a musician because I'm pretty much expressing how I feel
creatively or an issue through a shirt because I cant sing lol A lot
of my ideas come to me randomly in class, on the bus, I think alot
when I'm Blem most of my ideas come during that time then later I
rethink it and add detail.
As of now most of the ideas are loosely tied to things I've done or
experienced in my life so its not too hard. I'm just always a bit
anxious right before the drops because the narratives and concepts are
usually loosely based off my life and deal with stuff you usually
don't run around telling everyone you meet So thats the only thing
because I'm more reserved in that way but its chill now because
surprisingly alot of people feel the same and vibe with it which is
super Dope!
With more clothing have you found that the company is growing, more
people are recognizing the name?
Yea I think the brand recognition has definitely grown since its
beginnings two years ago. I always get emails from people telling me
people came up to them because they had heard about the brand before
or what not. Our "Be Real" necklaces were also big in spreading the
brand name. These are hand made individually by a good friend of mine.
At the beginning of the brand I'd wear it to a party or what not and
girls would instantly grab it and ask what it was or stood for haha
which also assisted in other avenues. But yeah it was a good way to
get people asking about the brand and everyone who owned one couldnt
help but be a brand rep and talk about the brand so that helped. We
recently were featured in COLOR magazine issue 8.6 which is based out
of
ENVE's home, Vancouver. They are a huge Canadian skate magazine so
that was a huge boost getting out name out there to skaters and people
who vibe with what we are about.
Even two years later when I wear a shirt or a necklace I always catch
peoples eyes drawn to it , they might not say anything to me but they
took a glance at it and hopefully will remember it.
"Be Real" Necklace
Any big plans for Bad Habits over the Spring we should know about?
Yea I'm really excited for Spring just going to expand the type of
stuff we do. Everything we drop comes with a few girls sizes so I
think for spring might try and get some girls only pieces because our
female customers show the brand tons of support so I want to show the
same love and support back
You have some fans out here on the west coast, how can we get get our
hands on some BH swag?
Swaaaggg me the fuck out! I have tons of love for the west coast and
BC I was there this summer visiting friends from school and even
jammed with a lot of the ENVE's team before the Rainman's show.I really
dig the vibes out there and plan to expand the brand out there. As of
now the west coast BH'ers would have to order from our website
badhabitsclothing.com but I'm sure in the near future something will
be worked out where they can grab it from a boutique or shop in town.
We wanna thank Chief for taking the time and don't forget to check the
BadHabits Blog.
