Ahead of Friday’s release of the Perks and Mini and Carhartt WIP capsule collection Sneakersnstuff sits down with Shauna T, co founder of the Australian brand at her new home in Paris. For those new to the brand, Perks and Mini (aka P.A.M.) was founded in Melbourne, Australia in 2000 by husband and wife team Shauna T and Misha Mollenbach. Known for their loud, psychedelic infused, collage style graphics P.A.M. have always had a playful approach to design and clothing. The Carhatt WIP collection is a prefect representation of what they are about. Read on to see what inspired the capsule. Photography by Louise Carrasco exclusively for Sneakersnstuff.
You are now based in Paris after relocating from Melbourne? Has your new home had any effect on your brand or design process?
We came to Paris about a year and a half ago, with the idea to have an adventure. We have been coming here for 15 years a few times a year and the journey from Australia is so long we wanted to skip some of those 24hr flights and connect more with this city and with Europe. It’s been an amazing journey so far. We have been making P.A.M. for a long time and doing that somewhat isolated in Australia was great, we could develop our own aesthetic and ideas. Coming here now gives us more clarity as to what we do and what our unique contribution is. It’s also been good for collaborations, we love collaborating and being in Paris is much easier to see friends more regularly.
The Carhartt WIP and P.A.M. collaboration is centred around the idea of radio, and the QSL cards. Does radio hold a special place in your heart?
The inspiration started with the inspiring DIY ethics of the radio calling cards. People made their own radio transmitters and then promoted their ‘home’ radio stations using calling cards. Some of the graphics are killer and all the more fantastic because they are done by the radio enthusiast not by a graphic designer or marketing company. This is pre internet social media!
What role do you think radio plays in 2017 with the likes of streaming platforms such as Spotify and YouTube?
I like tuning in and being turned on to something I wouldn’t otherwise have found. That happened to me recently listening to an NTS show on Mixcloud. It was Nina Kraviz’s show and she played some mind blowing Russian electronic tracks from Sergey Kuryokhin. I think regardless of the times we live in or the technology we have access too it’s a basic human desire to share music with other humans.
Traditionally Carhartt is a workwear brand, what do you consider to be your workwear?
For me it’s comfortable and unfussy. I work from home so footwear is socks and slippers but on the street it’s almost always sneakers. I like to wear t-shirts friends have designed or P.A.M., I like the feeling of being in a tribe and representing those in my tribe and things that resonate with me.
What is your favourite piece from the collection?
The pink Radio Club baseball cap.
Thanks Shauna, Can you recommend any radio stations for us to check out?
I am looking for mixes as well as radio so my recommends are NTS, Noise in My Head, Know Wave, Don’t watch that TV…
