After establishing their outlandish label in 2016, Bristolians Ed Jefferson and Paul Waite have revolutionised casual wear. Combining luxury with comfort, Arctic Army is the epitome of unique, urban fashion.
From the music videos of Saweetie to ArrDee, Arctic Army’s colourful, crystal-embellished casual wear has been worn by rap legends across the globe; defining itself as a label that draws inspiration from the 90s R&B scene to dress the rap heroes of today.
The brand’s establishment came right on time for the global pandemic as casual wear became a day-to-day staple due to more and more people working from home. While many casual wear labels reproduce the same sweater/jogger combinations, Arctic Army brings a fresh and innovative approach to casual fashion. The label uses overlock stitching and garment dye processes to ensure dressing casually doesn’t mean sacrificing luxury. From reflective puffers to fur trims, the brand is dedicated to creating unapologetically bold outerwear.
The brand’s growth reached new heights recently after launching nationwide at British luxury fashion retailer Flannels. At Arctic Army’s Flannels launch party last November, major celebrities like Ivorian Doll performed while wearing the brand’s daring pieces, demonstrating just how far the brand has come since its humble beginnings after first launching with just two jackets.
We sat down with the brand’s co-owner Ed Jefferson to discuss how the label began, who inspired it, and what’s in store for the future of Arctic Army.
How did you get into fashion and what inspired you to set up your brand?
I think I’ve always been into clothes and fashion. As a kid, I was always asking for my mum’s clothes to stick gems on and glitter glue to make outfits from; it’s always been in my blood to make clothes. So, it was a natural thing for me to do. I didn’t study fashion but when I left school I started my own boutique where I made pieces and sold them.
Then I moved on to work for a costume company where I met Paul (the other co-creative director of Arctic Army). Paul owned the costume company and I worked for him for many years designing dance costumes like those on Strictly Come Dancing. There were lots of over the top silhouettes, feathers, and Swarovski crystals, so that’s how I ended up in fashion.
Then it evolved, we were doing amazingly creative things in such a niche area, between us we had many designs and ideas, so it was only natural we went into mainstream fashion.
That sounds like quite a change! How was that?
It was a change! The dancing side of things was very much over the top crystals and dresses, but Paul’s brand also had a merchandise side to it. He would design hoodies and sweatshirts which organically rolled onto ideas like ‘can we do jackets?’ I always wanted a Mr and Mrs Italy parka but I could never afford one as they were three and a half grand. So we thought maybe we can bring something to the market that combines a super-luxury fur trim with a better price point that the masses could buy.
We trialled it with our customer base and they went crazy for it. It just snowballed from there! We started an Instagram for the jackets, then before we knew it we had a website. Now a few years later we’re in Flannels, Harrods, and we’re online, it’s gone crazy!
How did you come up with the name Arctic Army?
We’ve always had a following since my previous job and it was all about creating a similar feel for our new brand where you feel a part of something. We say things like our customers are going to ‘ join the army’ or become ‘recruits’.
Our original jacket was like an MA1 bomber with a hood trim; so it was an amalgamation of the army-style bomber and creating a sense of belonging (that inspired the brand’s name).
Being an army based brand is also how we came up with the Arctic Army logo, which is a soldier beetle that symbolises a war medal. It all fit together in the sense of being a part of something.
Your designs draw a lot of inspiration from the 90s R&B scene, what drew you to this period of fashion? Is it something you felt you could relate to?
MTV Cribs, Jlo, Timberland boots, and fur trims are from the era that I grew up with. I love the luxury and the idea that everything was branded and over the top; that’s where the inspiration came from. Jennifer Lopez is one of our muses and it was the period just before Y2K when I grew up watching television that inspired our big puffers, silhouettes and the supercharged, over the top-ness of it all- it’s all very us.
Your products are very relevant to the current Y2K trend, but they’re also timeless, would you agree?
It is timeless! Although we do some fashion-forward pieces, our key pieces like shiny puffers and gilets with big fur trims and big silhouettes are a forever product. Everybody always needs a coat, they’re essential, and a puffer never goes out of style, does it? Whether you’re designing Balenciaga or Yeezy, they’re still using puffers as the main silhouette. Even though it is a day-to-day product, you can still create some amazing high fashion silhouettes with what we do!
We noticed you’ve had some cool celebrities wearing your product recently, like Saweetie, who would you love to see in it?
Jennifer Lopez is at the top of the pyramid- very close to Kim Kardashian- I do love Kim! But I think Jlo would be perfect for the brand.
You launched in Flannels, is this something you always saw for the brand? Was it easy to get there?
It has been a lot of hustle! It has been a crazy rollercoaster. I used to listen to people who have brands and they would say ‘it’s a lot harder than it looks’- and it has been- but it does pay off.
We still have a long way to go as we are still a very new brand but we’ve definitely got our foot in the door in those places and I think the only way is up!
How has your brand evolved since you were established in 2016?
When we established in 2016, we literally had two jackets. We had a bomber and a parka in different colours. It was literally just an Instagram page with two products. Since then we’ve built into a big range, we’re launching spring/ summer for the first time, which is a full collection (it will be available in Flannels and online).
Before it was something you could only buy in the winter, now we want our customers to be able to buy something whether it’s for the beach, a festival, or wherever they’re going in the summer; we’re expanding to become a 360 brand.
You pledged to work with ethically sourced fur, tell us about your views on ethical furs
We only use SAGA approved sources, which have the highest ethical practices in the industry. As far as fur goes, it is the most ethically sourced. We are doing all that we can to be the most ethical, I believe that the fact fur products can be recycled and reused for years without ending up in landfills is a good argument for their use.
However, I do feel that the current attitudes are changing towards the use of fur and that is definitely something we are aware of and we are considering whether to phase it out. As such a young brand that has founded itself on such a unique, iconic product, it takes us a bit longer to understand what our customer wants. So it’s something we’re looking at for the future.
You mentioned you’re launching a spring/summer collection, can you tell us more about that or anything else we should look forward to?
We have a really exciting summer planned for the brand. We have new products dropping, it is our first time doing light outerwear pieces, which will be dropping soon. We’re launching a new MA1 bomber, which we’re naming our ‘logo bomber’. This will be a really cool oversized bomber. We have new jerseys, light outerwear, and hybrids- so a lot more of a light offering- as until now everything we have produced has been super heavy. This is our first time dipping our toe into a product that is a lot lighter.
Also our jersey- one of my favourite parts of the brand- shows luxury isn’t just expensive suits and dresses anymore; luxury can be casual wear like hoodies and joggers. The quality of our products means it isn’t just another hoodie or T-shirt. We use garment dye process, washes, and overlock stitching, so our products are very well thought out and of high quality.
I recently returned from Portugal where I visited the dye houses that we use and it was incredible to see the processes and the labour-intensive parts that go into the jersey we’re making. I saw the high build 3D embroidery that we’re launching and the processes behind that and it was really incredible!
So, I’m really excited about the summer as we have some great new launches coming, which is great!
Shop Voir’s favourite Arctic Army styles below:
Words By Olivia Booth
Photo Credit: Arctic Army Instagram
