Stephen Wendle On Being Gramicci’s Global Creative Director

What does it take to be the head of a brand that is so mysteriously cool as Gramicci?

The Japanese-American brand seems to fit in its own category, and that is no easy feat to achieve in today’s oversaturated fashion market. But somehow Stephan Wendle makes it happen. Formerly at Stussy and now the global creative director at Gramicci, Stephen is the guy behind some of Gramicci’s most iconic campaigns. If you’re anything like us and are always stalking cool people to figure out how they tick in the hopes you can mine some of their habits yourself, read on to find out how Stephan Wendle became the creative director of one of our favourite brands.

How you going? 

Good. My day has just started. You? 

Yeah well, just surfed. Can’t complain. 

Oh where are you based?

I’m on the Goldy.

We have some good spots here just an hour outside of Tokyo by train. 

Yeah, I've heard good things about surfing in Japan. I’ve had a couple of friends go over and do the surf trip thing and they rated it. It’s definitely on the list to do soon. 

Yeah I mean, you’ve got Tokyo on one hand and then this, not hidden, but just a little underrated coastline just outside of the city. It’s pretty unique. I like it. 

Gotta go! Okay first up - can you tell me a bit about how you became the creative director of Gramicci? 

Well when I was working for Stussy in LA when I decided to do a collaboration with Gramicci. We created this entirely new style of zip up cargo pants. It was a successful launch and it was the first touch point I had with Gramicci in terms of wanting to work with them. Prior to that, through my many Japan visits that I often did with Carhartt and Nike when I worked at those brands too I would always pick up Gramicci pants in Japan. I loved the integrated belt. Gramicci was always this really mysterious brand. But I never knew a single person at the company, which is really rare. When you work across similar brands, you tend to get to know people in the industry. But through the collaboration I eventually got in contact with the right people and just reached out and was like ‘hey I want to work for you guys.’ No response. Then followed up a month later, same thing. Then eventually got through to a Japanese salaryman and then it all happened from there. 

So basically, keep cold calling that’s the moral of the story. 

Keep cold calling. Stay on it. And with just a bit of luck you’ll get it. 

What does a typical day look like for you now? 

It changes everyday which I guess is a typical answer. I think the thing that people wouldn’t expect though is how small our team is. Globally how we show up in the stores and the market - we’re a decent size and comparable to other brands that we would typically be compared to in terms of market share and exposure but the team is tiny. There are only two and a half people doing design. The entire company is tiny and that blows people’s minds. We get so many requests asking about jobs in the American headquarters (laughs). But we have a lot of freelancers that help us out all around the world, and communicating globally is what my typical day entails. 

In terms of how you approach your designs, what are you influenced by? 

We’re not a traditional outdoor brand so we don’t feel that we need to make a certain line, we just go with an idea. Because of how small we are, we’re able to be really nimble with what we want to do, which I think is one of our strengths. The climbing, surfing aspect is already in our DNA so a lot of it just naturally stems from that. And we also have a really amazing archive that I personally refer back to a lot and that influences what we do next. I am very inspired by the 2000 surf brand era. And also 90s GAP, Harley Davidson T-shirts from back in the day - just try to flip the design and make something new out of it. Here in Japan we are really in the mecca of vintage clothes. So there’s no shortage of inspiration. 

Yeah I bet Japan is just a naturally inspiring place. 

Yeah even just walking around in the street, you’re bound to find something. I would say it’s not so much about coming up with a new idea from scratch - it’s about adding or altering what you see and trying to fit that into the Gramicci brand. 

Gramicci has managed to tap into being a ‘cool’ outdoor brand where a lot of others miss the mark - what do you attribute that to?

The founder Mike Graham always had a very stone master approach to creating and climbing. The first pant he created was from a cargo pant that he dissected and put together with additional parts to make it easier for him to climb in. It was from a very functional standpoint. But not in a way that is too technical. We have always had our roots that are very laid back. You know Mike used to go climb with Yvon Chinoard but then he’d be the one smoking weed at the top of the mountain. Gramicci has also been really tongue in cheek and I think that’s what has set us apart from the other climbing brands because we’re not trying to compare on that technical, goretex front. Even in advertising. We can have fun. We’re not trying to go into streetwear even though people think we are. We don’t have meetings being like okay the outdoor lifestyle market is growing, let’s add some extra products in to capitalise on that growth. We don’t think like that at all. A beach pant fits into our collection simply because it’s in our DNA not because we’re trying to tap into a certain market. We’re surfers and climbers and outdoor people just naturally. 

Looking back on your career are there any experiences that really influenced where you are today even though it might not have felt like it at the time? 

I think everything plays a role even when you don’t realise it. When I was studying I did screen printing on the side to make money, you know? And that helps a lot in clothes design now. I think to be honest though the thing that probably influences me the most today is growing up skating. Just being in the 90s era of graphics and having that archived in my brain is so influential to design. It all helps even when you think it doesn’t. Sometimes even more so.