Sullen Clothing: Promoting Tattoo Artists and Rising Together Ft. Ryan Smith & Jeremy Hanna

Nov 8 2023 • 1 hr 9 mins

In this episode of Chats and Tatts, host Aaron Della Vedova interviews Co-founders of Sullen Clothing, Ryan Smith and Jeremy Hanna. Streetwear has come a long way since its early days in the 1980s and 1990s, and Sullen is here to ensure tattoo-inspired clothing that blends and highlights everything unique about the art of urban apparel.

Originally founded as a collective of driven, talented tattoo artists, Sullen Clothing has its roots in the SoCal beach culture of the early 2000s. Already a well-established tattooer, co-owner Ryan Smith began blending tattoo art with new fashion trends, and from that Sullen’s urban streetwear brand was created.

Far from simply reusing “cool” graphics or following the trends, Sullen became a trailblazer producing unique, original art that it then transferred to streetwear like premium t-shirts, boxers, hoodies, and hats.

Today Sullen is still one of the most popular tattoo apparel brands in the world, offering a wide range of expressive designs and wearable art pieces for tattoo lovers everywhere.

Today, our guests share their stories of starting from the ground up and building their brand without relying on venture capitalist money. Tune in to hear about their journey in the notoriously difficult apparel industry and their take on the world of AI.

Chat Breakdown:

[00:01:47] Building a successful apparel brand.

[00:04:30] Starting a tattoo apparel company.

[00:06:22] Starting from nothing and growing.

[00:10:13] Cost vs. quality in apparel.

[00:15:35] The evolution of tattooing.

[00:16:57] Traditional tattoo apprenticeship.

[00:22:47] Tattooing as a brand.

[00:26:45] Tattooing constantly evolving.

[00:29:35] The power of tattooing.

[00:33:09] The healing power of tattoos.

[00:42:12] Maintaining a successful marriage.

[00:45:43] Balancing work and family.

[00:49:26] Putting the damn phone down.

[00:50:33] The future of technology.

[00:54:05] Tattooing with Midjourney.

[00:57:24] The impact of technology on tattooing.

[01:00:01] AI-generated website design.

[01:03:21] Clothing design collaboration.

[01:06:55] They want art.

[01:09:35] Keeping the podcast alive.

Quotes:

00:01:10 - "They're just straight up, honest, hardworking dudes who are passionate about tattooing, really passionate about tattoo art, who treat people right."
00:03:56 - "Just do the right thing, man. Why is it so fucking hard? Just do the right thing."
00:05:11 - "You have to learn to think outside the box."
00:08:33 - "Yeah, guerrilla marketing the old fashioned way."
00:12:26 - "You know, I think we're fortunate the fact that we're just we're still passionate so many years into it."
00:15:22 - "The talent behind the tattooers that are out there nowadays are real talent."
00:23:07 - "We either live or we die by this audience."
00:25:37 - "together we rise"
00:27:59 - "Why is tattoo so fucking special?"
00:29:07 - "I'll never be forgotten on you"
00:32:53 - "I just think it's the greatest art form in history."
00:34:29 - "Motherfucker, you need to know what pain you're putting on all these guys."
00:37:45 - "But yeah, the therapeutic value of tattooing can't be skipped."
00:39:30 - "Hey, man, let's not judge each other based on the way we look. Let's get to know one another and find out what's inside."
00:42:41 - "I think the way we make it work is I'm the boss at work and she's the boss at home."
00:45:19 - "You should respect me more. You know the weight I'm carrying. You get to go down there and tattoo people and have fun. I'm back in the office cranking on this bullshit, you know, and we've worked it out."
00:47:26 - "I don't need the money. That's not what I want my legacy to be."
00:49:51 - "My wife stopped looking at Instagram. She doesn't like social media and I'm fine with that. I'm totally fine."
00:51:46 - "That addictive quality, um, how it hijacks our built-in reward systems that are there from thousands of years of evolution."
00:53:30 - "And I feel like we owe our customers more than to take the easy route."
00:57:14 - "I don't want to say it's going away completely, but I don't know if it's as important as it once was maybe, you know?"
00:57:16 - "You know, like when it comes to anything, especially with tattooing and technology, either you adopt or you can be left behind."