Scorching hot new t-shirt label Inc. Apparel has landed. According to design couple Caroline Widgery and Will Little, the fusion of Graphic Design and wearable fashion is long overdue. Here, they give the low down exclusively to The Supermelon, as they talk girlfriend/boyfriend work ethics and the importance of smurfs.

Where did the initial idea to create the brand come from?
Caroline: We are two people who are obsessed with the idea of working for ourselves. We had a particularly bad spout of the January blues this year, and we started wracking our brains trying to figure out what we could do to get us out of the repetitive nine til’ five. As Will is a Graphic Designer and I am a Fashion Designer/Illustrator we figured doing printed fashion T-shirts would be the perfect junction for our talents.

Why T-shirts?
Will: Everyone loves T-shirts and they’re such a strong indicator of a person’s style. Printed T-shirts exist because people want to make a statement. Essentially, we have selected one basic garment that comes in millions of different forms, each form making its own statement. That’s what we love about them: the socio-political significance of them. Also, the endless style and shape options means there is a lot of scope for really interesting design. A T-shirt is the perfect canvas for our work.

Do you think working together as a couple is a positive thing?
Caroline: Yes. It brings out the best in both of us.

Describe the Inc. Apparel brand concept.
Will: Inc. Apparel specialises in unique illustrated fashion T-shirts with a rocky edge. We incorporate fashion, illustration and graphics within our clothes, hence the name. Our prints combine the things we see and find sexy/exhilarating/cool/beautiful, which we illustrate in our unique style. We are very concerned with the way the fashion industry conducts itself in terms of ethics and therefore we only use Earth Positive garments that are made from 100% organic cotton using only renewable energy to manufacture.

How/where do you get inspiration for the designs?
Will: Sex, girls, rock, oh and Chris Clark (aka Clark). That’s pretty much it at the moment. As time goes on other things, such as the smurfs or cheese, may inspire us.

Caroline: I’m mainly inspired by Stina Persson’s use of ink in her illustrations. I love how ink naturally flows on paper. It’s so unpredictable I love the spontaneity of it. Also, Japanese fashion magazines have spawned a couple of design ideas.

Describe the Inc. Apparel girl.
Will: Gertrude Stein?

Caroline: If Sarah Harding and Haley Williams had a love child, that would be the Inc. Apparel girl. They would look cool in some Inc. Girls with a bit of edginess who aren’t afraid to unleash the rock beast. Get out the Aviators, ladies.

Favourite Designers?
Will: My favourite designers are all Graphic Designers. Vault 49 and Automatic AD really get my juices going. Also, anything Attic has ever done. I’m also really into Miko Lim’s photography. I love all that Terry Richardson-inspired stuff.

Caroline: My favourite Fashion designers are Anna Sui, Twenty8Twelve, Christopher Kane, Balenciaga, Alice McCall and Luella. Stina Persson and Naja Conrad Hanson are among my favourite Illustrators, and I really love the graphic style of Eduardo Recife. On the high street, Diesel Black Gold and All Saints lead the field in my opinion.

Who does what in the business?
Will: Caroline does all the illustrations. I then work on the graphic treatments and art working. I tend to handle more of the business side of things and web development, but we’re both really involved in the marketing. When we do our shoots, Caroline does all the hair and make-up and I do the shooting. We art direct and style together. We do work on everything together though. It keeps us in check.

Do you think there is a gap in the market for what you’re doing?
Will: Absolutely! A lot of the stuff on the high street is very samey. Everything either has a typographic statement or a naff graphic on it. Things are a little better online with companies such as Glamour Kills Clothing, but they’re very niche. What we’re offering is original illustrations on fashion T-shirts, something that really isn’t available on the high street due to the time and cost involved.

Where will you be selling your wears?
Caroline: We will be exclusively selling our T-shirts online at www.IncApparel.com

What kind of consumer do you think you’re appealing to?
Caroline: Our market is quite broad. Our price point means the T-shirts are in reach for anyone from a college student to a young professional. We’re trying to appeal to someone who is fashion conscious and has a bit of visual awareness

Tell us a bit about your backgrounds.
Caroline: I’m a Devon girl at heart. I graduated from UCA in 2008 with a First in Fashion Design. For the last year I have been working for a supplier as a Fashion Designer designing for the River Island account.

Will: I’m a Finnish/American freak boy. I also graduated from UCA in 2007 with a flimsy degree in Digital Screen Arts (don’t ask). I dabbled in teaching for a year, before I got a job as a Graphic Designer for Eye-D creative. I now design all sorts of cool things mainly for the games industry.

What’s currently happening for Inc Apparel?
Caroline: It’s all very exciting. We just got our first order through and the T-shirts are looking rad! We just did the photo shoot as well which looks equally as rad. We’re just putting the finishing touches to our amazing website which will go live on the 20th of July. It’s going to blow your mind! Just basically getting everything geared up for the launch. It’s all go go-go!

Describe a typical day for you at the moment.
Will: Get up at 6:30am. Go to work. Design. Get home at 7:15pm and then work on Inc. Apparel until about 10pm. That has basically been the last four months!

Caroline: My day involves lots of fabric meetings/sketching and searching for cool new clothes, followed by lunch in Regents Park. Then maybe some tea and biscuits before more sketching, until I go home and work on Inc. Apparel with Will.

Where do you hope to be in two years’ time?
Will: That’s a very good question. I think we’d like to move back to the rolling hills of Devon at some point. We’d like to get Inc. to a point that we can both make a living off it and run it from a mezzanine studio at home. That would be pretty awesome.

Ultimate aspirations?
Will: To own a 1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1. Oh, and the mezzanine studio.

Caroline: Design prints all day for Inc., on the mezzanine of course, with my little pug dog keeping me company. And I would love to live in California.

How do you think fashion is changing within the current social/political context?
Will: That’s a big question! I think people are becoming much more switched on visually. Kids nowadays are bombarded constantly with imagery, and they have become expert at interpreting that information. The downside is that attention spans have decreased massively. Kids make their mind up within seconds whether they like something or not. That’s why it’s difficult for us to design something with integrity, but for it also to stand out from the crowd. The choice available to consumers is also massive nowadays, mainly thanks to the interweb. We wouldn’t have been able to do what we’re doing even five years a go.

Where to Shop:
IncApparel.com