Talking Passions: Nicki Silvanus

Okay, so this week on Talking Passions we delve into Bristol’s fashion and street wear scene as we chat with Nicki Silvanus, the creative director of House of Junk Clothing. Wanting to escape the mundane, and inspired by the colourful and wild streets of Stokes Croft, Nicki started House of Junk nearly two years ago alongside business partner Kara Jay-Matthews and the girls haven’t looked back. Adam caught up with Nicki recently for a cuppa and a chat about her passion for fashion..

Adam Chisman (TP). “As a young girl what did you want to be when you grew up and how did you get to where you are now?”

Nicki Silvanus (NS). “So through school I had literally no idea. I kind of flitted from idea to idea.. I wanted to be a policewoman for a little bit, because I thought It’d be an adrenaline rush everyday, and I wanted to be a wedding planner at one point as well. I think in my teenage years I realized I just wanted something that was glamorous and entrepreneurial, and that wasn’t just the normal 9 to 5 because that just always bored me. My parents both worked shifts and I don’t know.. that just didn’t appeal to me. I kind of wanted to break out of the mould and design a work life around what I wanted to do, rather than what someone else was telling me that I had to do. I don’t like authority basically.. who does though. Laughs.

TP. Laughs. “So did you go to college or university to study fashion?”

NS. “So I did sixth form at my school and I did textiles there. I didn’t go to uni in the end, which was a big decision for me because my brother did a PHD, so I kind of didn’t want to be the black sheep of the family. Laughs. I thought university’s very handy if you know something that you want to do, if you want to be a doctor or a dentist or something, but there’s so many degrees out there that aren’t really worth anything, and there’s no point in getting into debt if you’re not 100% sure of what you want to do in life. So that was my decision and I thought I’d go into the work place and gather some experience from different roles, so I’ve had a million jobs, I’m not gonna lie about it.. Laughs.. I get bored very easily, but then I think that’s not a bad thing because at least you get to know what you want to do.”

TP. “That’s right, trial and error. So how did House of Junk take shape?”

NS. “I started working in fashion retail, I got a job with Miss Selfridge, kind of worked my way up there, then went over to Top Shop, did a little spell in Superdry when it was the cool era.. Laughs.. and then, to be honest, I got really bored of retail, just doing the same thing every day. I had no creative control really, did a bit of manikin dressing but that’s as far as it went. So from there I moved to Bristol and set up my own vintage company where I was going into charity shops, picking up lots of labels, and then re-selling it on Etsy and ebay, things like that. I started to make good money out of it, but again I wasn’t designing the clothes, it’s vintage so you only have one piece, you have to be constantly photographing and editing, that constant cycle. I wanted to be creating collections. So then I met Kara. We actually met in Superdry and she’s my best friend now, and we both wanted to do a business together. We were too-ing and fro-ing about what it was going to be, and then one day we were like, let’s do a fashion brand, let’s properly go for it, try and cover all areas, do sales and marketing, design, everything like that. So that’s what we’ve done and we’re nearly two years in now and it’s going really well. It’s just an adventure I think, every day’s an adventure, and it gets more exciting all the time.” Smiles.

TP. “So Nicki, you are the creative director of House Of Junk, one of Bristol’s leading fashion and lifestyle brands. Can you tell me the ethos behind the brand?”

NS. “Well personally when I think of House of Junk I just think it’s really fun-loving. We go to festivals, and the clothing that we produce.. I’m wearing a ‘No Scrubs’ top, obviously the readers can’t see.. Laughs.. but it’s a bit tongue in cheek. The people that we endorse are all people that really push themselves and their own boundaries, and try to make themselves better people all the time. I’d like to say that it’s quite innovative, and quite original at the same time. I haven’t heard of any, or seen any fashion brands that are that similar to us. There are other street-wear brands obviously, the market is completely saturated with it, but I think we do a good job of telling the story of House of Junk through our photo shoots and things like that. That’s kind of the ethos, but yeah, it is a lifestyle brand so it’s very wearable from day into evening. I would wear this out with a little skirt or something. Laughs.

TP. “Nice. Yeah, I really like the look. It really fits with the Bristol’s current fashion scene, and penchant for classic vintage clothing, and kind of reminds me of 80’s US skate & rock movies. Where do you look to for inspiration when coming up with new designs?”

NS. “To be honest I get inspiration from a lot of places. I do a bit of freelance work as a fashion stylist, so I’m always looking for.. even if it’s a colour pallet in a room, like if I walk into IKEA or something, some tiles on the floor. I’ve lived in Bristol for three years now and I’ve got to say that I’m always impressed with the street style here, literally every day I see someone that’s wearing something really cool, or doing something different with their hair. There’s always a lot going on and people just don’t care what other people think in Bristol, so I think that’s really inspirational to me because it’s just so original I guess. Apart from that, like you said, music and films definitely come in. I think because the UK scene is just buzzing with music at the moment, well, it always has been. Music and fashion come hand in hand, so when the new music comes out you’ve always got this new look as well, especially with what the Saffron Records girls are doing, they’re always bringing new people into the scene. Basically inspiration from everywhere. Smiles.

TP. “Yeah, there’s a lot going on here, and everyone kind of helps each other in Bristol I think, if they like what you’re doing.”

NS. “Yeah, definitely. Everyone’s really out to help each other so it’s such a good place to be. I actually grew near Swindon, and it’s not so much like that, it’s more of  stand-offy kind of atmosphere there. Coming to Bristol for me was such a release, because everyone is pushing each other up which is amazing.”

TP. “Well I know that you’ve been awarded ‘Business Person of the Month’ by Wiltshire Magazine alongside business partner Kara-Jay Matthews. Can you tell me what this award means to you? It must be pretty cool.”

NS. “It was really cool, and it came completely out of the blue. The guy called me up and invited us along for a three course dinner at the Marriot Hotel with some other swanky people which was really cool. And then they awarded us a trophy, like an actual Oscar trophy, but you could see the glue around the bottom.. Laughs.. I’m not ungrateful for the award but we were cracking up. We were really happy because at that point we’d been in business for less than a year, and for two girls that hadn’t gone to university and were just trying to hustle I guess, it was great. It made us think, well if we’re here in six months, or nine months, then where are we gonna be in five years time if we keep pushing ourselves. I think it just shows that you can do anything if you put all your effort into it and you’re forward thinking with things, and you work with other people. Collaborating with other people has got us so much further than if we’d ever just done it on our own. And that’s the fun part of it isn’t it, meeting loads of amazing people like yourself.” Smiles.

TP. “Thanks.. just helping each other in the Bristol scene. Well you must have had some hurdles in the past, so for anyone looking to get into the fashion industry what advice would you give them?”

NS. “We’ve had little problems within the business, not massive issues but things like trying to keep our costs down. Producing everything in England is so expensive, and if you want to stay independent and don’t wanna have a bad effect on the environment it’s very hard to make money from doing what you’re doing when you’re trying to compete with Primark. It’s about trying to keep original so you’ve got that brand identity that people really identify with, rather than them wanting to go to the high street and get something that anyone else could. I think also, for anybody that wanted to go into any area of the fashion industry, it’s just such a fast paced world and you’ve got to either love chaos and for things to be changing all the time, or you just shouldn’t be there. Another thing is that you do meet all walks of life if you’re in retail, or even when we go to festivals. I mean 99% of the people are amazing but you do get one of those crazy people from time to time as well..” Laughs.

TP. “Yeah, it’s probably us at times..” Laughs.

NS. “Yeah, definitely me when I’m not working. But yeah, I love the fashion industry, I think it’s amazing. As superficial as it can be, it is amazing because you get so many creative people coming up with new things all the time and you just wouldn’t get that without the fashion industry.”

TP. “It’s people putting there personality on show isn’t it, essentially?”

NS. “Yeah, wearing your personality on your body. I’d feel naked if I was just walking around in the same boring clothes all the time.”

TP. “What would you be doing if you weren’t putting your heart and soul into House Of Junk?”

NS. “Well I’ve got two other main passions which are to travel.. absolutely love traveling, I get such a buzz from exploring other cultures and having that bit of adventure. So being something like a travel blogger or making money somehow from traveling. I don’t know how but I’m currently working on it. And also to DJ and work in the music industry because I would love to DJ, and maybe you should give me a lesson sometime? Laughs. But yeah, me and Kara are actually thinking about expanding House of Junk into events as well, having a House of Junk night, and it would be awesome to be able to play sets and rock my own party. We’ve got a two year anniversary coming up and we’re planning a secret party so I’ll send you an invite.”

TP. “Amazing, and that leads nicely into what you have in store for us over the next few months?” Laughs.

NS. “So in two weeks time we’re going to field view festival which I’m really excited about. It’s not too far away in Chippenham and basically all of our home town friends descend on a festival. It’s only 5000 capacity but it’s just carnage, so I’m really looking forward to that. Then two days later we’re heading down to Newquay for Boardmasters, which is a surfing slash music festival. We’re gonna try and sneak backstage and meet Craig David.. my dream would come true! Laughs. We’re gonna try and plan the 2nd birthday party as well, and then we’ve got London Tattoo Convention coming up. Apart from that we’re just designing new stuff and planning a bit of traveling as well. We’re gonna head over to Asia and work on some of the manufacturing, get some new ethical suppliers there.”

If you’d like to get in touch with Nicki or Kara then you can find them on Facebook, Instagram and at the website www.houseofjunkclothing.com.

Words: Adam Chisman (Talking Passions)

Pictures: House of Junk.

Here’s a feature on Bristol24/7 called Talking Passions. It’s a Bristol-based interview series that hopes to inspire your creative side by interviewing passionate individuals in Bristol’s arts and music scenes. The driving force behind the series is a belief that within each of us is a creative soul with untold capabilities. It’s not always easy to follow your dreams, to believe in yourself and try to make it work, and it should be celebrated!

Started by local journalist Adam Chisman, and with links to various Collectives in the city including Liquifyah, The Coconut Collective, as well as Irish online magazine Ceol Caint, Talking Passions comes in two weekly parts, with brand new written interviews on talkingpassions.com and Bristol24/7 and audio interviews on BCFM’s The Bristol Music Show and Soundcloud.

Be sure to check out Talking Passions on Facebook and Twitter @PassionsTalking to keep up to date with the latest interviews, and email [email protected] or use the hashtag #talkingpassions if you’d like to know more or recommend someone for a future interview. You can also become a patron and sponsor Talking Passions at www.patreon.com/talkingpassions