We interviewed the Bondi Hipsters Dom (Christiaan Van Vuuren) and Adrian (Nick Boshier) at The Book Club, Shoreditch. The two Australian trend-setters have arrived to London but not for the Olympics. We chatted with them about getting recognized, vintage fashion and their new fashion label ‘Athletica’, the Olympics and about partying and getting laid in London.
Do you feel at home in Shoreditch?
Adrian: Basically I do like Shoreditch but everyone’s trying to be too cutting edge here. Everyone’s trying to be alternative so it’s quite mainstream that everyone’s trying to be cutting edge. Is that fair Dom?
Dom: It would be more underground to have a nine to five job in a bank. That said the economy is under a lot of pressure and I think you are really starting to feel it in London. I mean there’s a lot of empty streets and a lot of shops are ending up in boarding it up. That’s cool I like that. Struggling’s cool.
Adrian: Yeah struggling’s really cool. Yeah we like Shoreditch but everyone’s trying to struggle. Everyone’s trying too hard to not try hard.
Dom: They do fucking great soy decaf piccolo at the Shoreditch Grind. Shoreditch Grind is kind of like Shoreditch church. Good at the communion but Shoreditch Grind would not have any carbs at their communion it would be more like…
Adrian: I never went to church.
Dom: Okay, fine. Other things I could say right now.
As Bondi Hipsters do you blend in in Shoreditch well or have you been recognized on the street?
Adrian: Occasionally we get recognized but we really resent being recognized. The biggest thing for us is that we don’t want to get recognized, we don’t want people to watch our stuff, we don’t want any momentum, we don’t want any popularity. I think the more popular you get the less underground you get. And we think that’s totes awful for our brand.
Dom: We’ve come here all because of our brand you know. For creative influence, for opportunity but very important with our brand that we remain detached from it. That we remain unknown within the industry that we are not a part of.
Adrian: So when we get recognized we tell people not to recognize us. So when we walk down the street and someone’s like hey are you Dom and Aid, I’ll say like yes we’re Dom and Aid but don’t recognize us. But end of the day the damage has been done and they have recognized us. We want to tell them they are wrong recognizing us.
Dom: Sometimes I pretend to be a street sign or garbage bin or just like a homeless person on a back alley. I tend to shout at people …
Adrian: It’s quite funny when Dom gets insulting. It’s like “Hey you’re Dom you are so cute” and he’s like “No, I’m not Dom I’m a scooter” and that really confuses them because they don’t think Dom’s a scooter.
Dom: Most of the time people get a little bit scared.
You are into unconventional vintage fashion. Have you had the time to look around Shoreditch or is it still too normal?
Dom: You see, unconventional is now conventional, you know what I mean. We wanna marry all kinds of new fashion elements to stay relevant. So I’ll give you an example about that. Our new fashion line called Athletica-ca-ca-ca-ca basically has the certain paradox of progression. In order to progress with our fashion line and cutting edge we have to go back to where fashion began. Hence ancient Greek, hence cavemenship and that’s the future and ironically the future is the past. Hence the paradox of progression.
Dom: Like everyone’s really trying to push forward with fashion and vintage obviously is going back but they are not going back far enough. With Athletica-ca-ca-ca-ca we are like allowing the world of sport to influence what it is that we find to create like with some items we have had to go back to ancient Greek to the heritage of the Olympians and with other items – like we got a whole range where we recycled vintage sporting goods, like we got a basketball hat. What we are basically trying to do is that nobody actually gives a fuck about sports but when you turn it into fashion it’s appreciated by everyone. There are like millions of try hards as in sports people who pour their blood sweat and tears into training around those objects and we take those blood, sweat and tear molecules and turn them into fashion.
Adrian: Totes.
Dom: The vintage thing is happening here [in Shoreditch] so much that it kind of looks like we are back in the World War Two. The World War Two look is chocking. It’s not even the vintage vibe, people even act like they are in the World War Two. They are looking sweaty and they have like cigarettes in their top pocket.
Adrian: The kind of like male image is changing. Going back to like that real messy homeless beard like a year ago but it’s now evolving to having the same beard but having it more cleanly cut. Real like 1920’s style. Kind of merge rockabilly style.
Anything Olympic related that you are planning on doing while in London?
Dom: Planning on avoiding the Olympics at all costs.
Adrian: Yeah that’s the only Olympic related activity we are going to be doing. Staying the fuck away from it. We maybe want preferably to be inspired by some of the sporting wear but that’s literally a stretch.
And we think in the end of the day who gives a fuck about hitting a ball over a net. What you are doing is you are hitting a ball with a racket over a net to somebody else who hits it back. And we think that’s really weird that someone would base their whole life into hitting a ball over a net. It’s sad that someone spends their whole life hitting a ball over a net. I mean we respect that they try hard but it’s sad.
Dom: Anything that makes you get up at six in the fucking morning and put on white socks and then listen to some trainer shout at you hit harder or run faster or jump further…
Adrian: Yeah no true. You are right.
Dom: For example you live in Shoreditch or you live in fucking Hackney or you live in fucking Dalston and there’s fucking parties happening 24/7 around where you live and you have the opportunity to any given weekend on a bender. Or any given week night for that matter. And mean while you got some fucking training and you have to sacrifice all of that to hit fucking ball over a net.
Adrian: In the end of the day I can’t comprehend why someone would find that somewhat rewarding to be the best at hitting a ball over a net. Go and have some fucking tapas and go and have a life, you know what I mean.
Dom: And don’t take fucking heart destroying steroids.
Adrian: That’s the thing with drugs and sport, it’s so hidden. Like everyone who takes drugs tries to hide it. In Dalston you don’t have to hide your drug taking.
Dom: Yeah right. I think the main thing that excited us, or me in particular is as much as it is a corporate event where every brand and their fucking dogs get involved by paying millions of dollars for sponsorship it is the global melting point in that city. And it’s a party that happens once every four years and you know that’s totes exluse.
You say you are not into clubbing and prefer tube stations. Where are you heading tonight?
Dom: We saw this luggage shop the other day at Oxford Circus playing the most underground Jamaican hip hop reggae electro beats. So we were thinking about going down to the luggage store and just have a rave you know.
Adrian: The thing is that the luggage store was playing the most banging hits as Dom said globally infused hip hop reggae thing. And if we just go there it’s not like a sausage fest and you don’t have to be with like 95000 other dudes trying to kinda have the chicks. It’s just the two of us and we can party on our own outside the luggage store on Oxford Circus.
Dom: What we need to do is grab a couple of those Barclays bikes and get the lights on the luggage store and the you got the lighting and the sound..
Adrian: Totes.
Dom: After that I think we go to an after party down on a canal boat. We’ve got this art community we met last night so I just think we just go hang out with them down on the canal. Maybe go for a swim. The water’s got like lots of natural minerals in it down in the canal. And just from the rain washing like vitamin D and vitamin E from the streets into the canal.
Adrian: The thing about those canal waters its like most people in the world find really clean blue waters for swimming.
Dom: Everybody’s doing that already, let’s go to Greece and swim in fucking crystal clear see trough water.
Adrian: And it’s so predictable. And we thought hey why don’t we try to extract that holiday vibe and swimming vibe from the streets of East London and its great! It’s really detoxifying and you might get some free drugs with all those needles down there.
You criticize the looks of English people and say that even Gollum would get action here. Have you gotten any here yet?
Adrian: Basically we have been given many propositions by local East Londoners and some of them look like that young girl in The Ring.
Dom: I’m on the count of four so far. Four for four nights.
Adrian: So me personally I haven’t picked up just yet but the propositions I’ve had are fucking scary. Basically I must attract a certain kind of women and currently that woman is the autistic or mildly disabled.
Dom: Well the Paralympics are just after the Olympics so…
Adrian: Maybe that’s it!
Dom: So when I was like searching for the things about the Olympics that were like interesting and cool I found that condom sales go up by 30 000 units in any given Olympic village alone and you know that sounds like something I wanna be a part of.
Adrian: Yeah true. Not like you’d actually wear one.
Dom: No yeah but the fact is a lot of people are having sex.
Adrian: Yeah and sex is great and therefor anywhere a lot of sex is happening is a great place.
Dom: And the athletes are so geared up on hormones throughout their training and by the time they finish their events they are ready to go.
Adrian: And most of the athletes restrain until they finish their event just to maintain their energy and by the time their done seriously…
Dom: And if you are lucky you can score yourself a Nigerian fucking sprinting woman and you’re into four day sexathon.