WrongWroks Interview | Label Highlight
Since 2005 Tony Wong has been the creativity and headman behind the WrongWroks street fashion label. The Asian transplant now living in Vancouver has gained global recognition for putting his own spin on many recognisable cultural references. Having just opened his new store “Super Bored”, alongside a fresh Spring collection, we thought it would be a great time to catch up with Tony.
So let us know your history, where did it all begin?
Since I was a kid, I start drawing comic books and like drawing different cartoons. You know how we just try to copy whatever comic we read.
How did you come up with the name WrongWroks?
Well, my name is Tony Wong and there is so many Tony Wong in my life, even in my group of friends and it’s becoming funny so I rather call myself WRONG, like Tony WRONG to make it a bit different. I have that name to do design and stuff and seems cool because people think you got a cool different last name. I even got a pay check with Tony WRONG and I had to return it to get it right to cash out. Later I start a company/brand/design studio so I wanted to call it WRONG WORKS and then I think WRONG WORKS is not wrong enough so I mispelt it (I have lots of typo anyways) so I called it WRONG WROKS (read as ROCKS).
We featured the Nat Bubble Tee as our favourite indie tee for 2008, tell us about Nat, who is she? How did you meet?
I just met her on the street back in 2005 and she was about 16 yrs old, she wasn’t pretty but I felt that she is a bit different and very snobby so I was just talked to her and see if she wanted to be photographed. She didn’t start as a model for our brand at the very beginning, later I figured out to use real model wearing my t-shirts and I started using her and it becomes a BOMB!
WrongWroks has kept on growing, now you have the first WrongWroks store opening in Vancouver, how did you decide on the name Super Bored?
I was thinking a name for it, honestly, there is quite a lot of people wearing WRONGWROKS but not like SO MANY. You know so I’m not really confident enough to have a store just selling my brand, so I worked together with a few Asian brands and they got more variety too and we have everything we liked in a store. Then I was thinking of a name, what to call a store to sell all this COOL stuff. I think a totally opposite name and called it SUPER BORED, people will wonder what is so bored and come in, but if you name is like HYPE or SUPER HYPE or cool then people might not think it’s so cool… you know that is the trick.
What is the store looking like?
It takes a month to do the renovation and I designed the interior and identity and it’s very hard because I have very high expectation. It’s totally different from doing a t-shirt or a graphic. I decided to used red and white as our main color and also some AstroTurf on the counter and ground to differentiate the area and also try to maintain a green, fresh and lively atmostphere.
WrongWroks is global, how are you doing it and where have you found the greatest demand for your work?
I mean getting international is very hard and now I’m selling worldwide and we have seen problems because different people has different cuts, sizing and graphics. We are trying to have something unify to sell to everyone but we are still learning. Improve the quality and graphics to make everyone happy. We sell the most to Japan and Asia and surprisingly Europe is another big market, we have total 10 stores retailing our brand in just UK and FRANCE. It’s amazing!
What streetwear or highend fashion labels have influenced you?
Supreme, UNDFTD, Visvim, BAPE, all the cool ones I really liked them and I really want to be like them, so successful and recognisable by everyone who love street wear.
Who in the art world do you regard highly?
KAWS, Takashi Murakami, Andy Warhol, Marc Jacobs, Walt Disney… pop figures. We all consume the same thing anyway.
During your childhood what was you favourite cartoon series?
Japanese comics. I love watching Doraemon but not as much as everyone think.
What trainers are you wearing right now?
White Nike quilted Terminator Low (only available in Taiwan), trying to get another pair but nobody has it.
Lastly do you have any Lucky Bags left from the launch? Will you show your internationalism and send a Lucky Bag to the UK so we can give it away to a lucky reader?
Sure, we can do that. Not a problem!
(Competition will be up soon!)
By Chris Moran, March 22, 2009 @ 9:31 AM
Nice writing style. Looking forward to reading more from you.
Chris Moran