Advertisement

As a baby, he slept to the “clicky clack” of his mother’s sewing machine, as she sewed for WORLD and Zambesi.


Nicholas Khoo has a helluva story. As a baby, he slept to the “clicky clack” of his mother’s sewing machine, as she sewed for WORLD and Zambesi. As a toddler he learned to crawl hitting the “odd pin or two”. As a kid, on the end of petty schoolboy bullying, he became isolated.

Then everything changed.

“When I was 10, a friend showed me a graffiti sketch by DLT. It was something I hadn’t seen before and I was instantly hooked. It pulled me into the ’90s hip hop world. I felt suddenly that I had a voice. Hip hop gave me the courage to speak up, be real, be me,” says Khoo

Advertisement

“I feel fashion shares the same key part of graffiti: the ability to see your work in the streets while remaining anonymous as an artist.”

Roll onto 2015, and Khoo responded with streetwear label Charlie’s Laundry – the name an homage to his grandfather’s laundry shop ‘Charlie Nam’s High Class Laundry’ – where he designs for “creative people who appreciate subtle differences”.

“We have a heavy emphasis on the type of fabric, and construction that is only really noticeable when worn. Our ethos is if we would wear it, we will make it. We’re into layers, so we don’t do seasonal collections, rather we do each collection with pieces to suit any season.”

Charlie’s Laundry’s collections includes bomber jackets, oversized tees, hoodies and denim with design and construction inspired by Origami, because it has “the ability to create amazing things from a single piece of paper with only folds, and is the perfect blend of creativity and minimalism.”

Khoo credits Liam Bowden of Deadly Ponies for holding “the number one spot” as a designer who inspired him to create ‘Charlie’s Laundry’, adding “He’s a genius”.

Khoo says expect big things from Charlie’s Laundry this year, with a new shared workspace with label Two Daughters, and collabs with Hugo boss model Joris Roosen, blogger Vikkipedia, makeup artist Eleanor Dorn, hair stylist Sky from The Black Studio, and Canadian jewellery brand Captve.

charlieslaundry.com

Advertisement