Inside the mind of Brisbane fashion designer Spencer Lees.

Spencer Lees is a Brisbane-based fashion designer with a unique style stemming from his love for exploration. He is currently a fashion student at QUT, where he plans to complete his university course and after graduating, start his very own fashion brand. As a child playing basketball and skating with his brothers, to now designing and making high-end fashion pieces, Spencer has no plans on stopping until he's at the very top.

We sat down with him to talk about his introduction into fashion, his love for abandoned buildings, and what he's got coming up.

Could you introduce yourself for people that don’t know you?

My name is Spencer Kahu Lees and I’m a third year fashion design student. I’m currently interning for a brand on the Gold Coast called Bouquet Studios. And yeah, that that's pretty much what I do.

Where are we, could you give us a rundown on this space?

We are at the fashion design studios here at QUT Kelvin Grove. It's pretty much where I do my uni work and yeh, complete my degree. It's got everything, I gave you guys a little tour earlier. Yeah, it's perfect. It gets pretty hectic, you never really find it empty like this, so it's kind of the perfect day for this.

What first sparked your interest in fashion?

I think back in Year 10, I started caring more about what I wore, before then it was kind of just City Beach and Stussy stuff. And then I kinda got into watching PAQ, watching interviews and challenges and all that stuff. That was sick, and then I started branching off, I got obsessed with ASAP Rocky and those bright camo pants, like the cringy stuff. So I bought a pair of those, and realised, ok, I’m into fashion. I was never really into the high-end stuff just because I couldn’t really afford it. From there, it just kinda snowballed. I started taking a lot of cringy IG photos, and that was kinda my entry into the fashion world.

When I was completing Year 12, I started thinking about what I wanted to do. Like, where am I going with this? Plan A was to go to America and play basketball. I did a tour over in Chicago for abit, but I started to realise that my love for it was kinda lost. And especially over there, it's kill or be killed mentality. Halfway through Year 12, I talked to our student leader, and he introduced me to the idea of studying fashion design at uni. At that point, I’d never heard of that. I was really interested and he told me it would be good to get industry experience, so he hooked me up with this Brisbane brand Dogstar. I worked there for a week, like 9-5. Since then, I realised, this is what I want to do.

I think the turning point was, coming from that jock mentality, to then transitioning into a workplace where it was all older woman and I still felt like comfortable and enjoyed it. That was kind of eye opening for me. That’s when I realised I had a passion for fashion.

How has your personal life, whether it be childhood or now, influenced the way you create and your style?

A lot of my childhood was basketball and skateboarding. I was really into skating and the whole culture. If I wasn't playing basketball, I was at the skate park. And skate culture, it has such a defined aesthetic. It all kinda intertwines, music and skating, it all has a common ground of fashion. I’d say that creatively, at the moment my style is heading a bit more to the skater aesthetic with the baggy jeans and hoodies.

At the beginning of my degree, I was really just trying to find myself, and I was making all kinds of different stuff. But then, as time passes, you start listening to different music and doing different things, and all of a sudden you don’t like that piece you made 2 months ago. My style is a constant transition. But yeah, I wouldn't say my childhood influenced me too much, I'd say it would be more about what I'm doing now, I like to explore a lot of abandoned buildings, me and my brothers are really into graffiti and that type of stuff. I really like that idea of exploration meets streetwear aesthetic, where it's not street wear, but it's not the whole gorpcore trend going on. I'm trying to find a balance where my pieces are still appealing to the streetwear market, but they’re also appealing to the people who want to push the boundaries.

What music do you listen to and do you think it shapes your creativity or style?

Music definitely shapes a lot of what I do. In high school, it was a lot of ASAP Rocky and Uzi, really what everyone was listening to. As I transitioned out of high school and became as bit more independent, I started listening to bands like Nirvana and Soundgarden, a lot of 90s grunge type music. It kinda kept on snowballing to the point where I was really into the rocker aesthetic. I only wore old raggedy stuff, had long hair and didn't want any brands on me, I wanted to be super alternative.

Now it's kind of transitioned into Eminem, Linkin Park, it’s still a bit heavier stuff, but it’s got some street/rap influence. It's weird to see my work in different semesters, in the beginning, I made more Gothic type clothes, and that was around the time I was listening to Marilyn Manson, not really screamo music but very heavy. Now it's kind of transitioned back to where it started with more 2000’s rap.

But yeh, I listen to alot of Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit and Eminem.

What was it like to grow up with brothers?

I have two brothers, who are my best friends, Ethan and Bailey. We're all around two years apart. I'm 20, my younger brother’s 18, and then my youngest brother is 17. We're all around the same size so we all wear the same clothes. I think the brother camaraderie, that was my childhood. We all played sports together, skated together and went to the same high school parties. They have been around me my whole life. Every time I did something like explore abandoned buildings, get into graffiti, it’s was always with them. I feel that, if anything, they have had a huge influence on my designs. Not as a muse, but every time I've had a creative or enlightening experience, it's always been by their side.

Is there a particular place where you feel most creative?

In terms of a place, I'd say an abandoned building. Like I said me and my brothers like to explore stuff. We love everything about it, you kinda get dressed for the occasion as-well, like work-wear, thick jackets and stuff. And when I see a destroyed wall, and you can see all the different colours or all the different crumblings of the wood or the rocks. And you sift through it, and you see a coin or something lying on the floor. I really like that idea of layers and complexity. What you see is not not always what you get. I feel like with a lot of menswear at the moment, what you see is what you get, kinda like this white knit sweater I’m wearing now, whereas I was trying to, especially in the beginning, trying to create different fastenings, where you’d roll up the sleeve, and there’s hooks there. That’s what I mean by layers and complexity. When I think of exploring a building, I think of denim, and oversized hoodies, and that’s really inspired my overall aesthetic. My final collection this year is actually based off of abandoned buildings, and this idea of the transition from a functioning building to then a destroyed building, and how in society, an abandoned building has no purpose, but to someone like me or my bothers, that’s our perfect Friday night.

In terms of other style inspirations, I look to a lot of music videos. Sometimes I’ll just search 90s heavy metal music videos on YouTube, and I'll just like watch through a whole playlist of them. As I watch I’ll keep pausing and noticing certain things like spiky things hanging off a drum kit of something, and then I’ll draw that spike and look for ways to integrate that into a clothing piece. In the 90s everything was so diverse, you could flick through 20 different music videos and they would all look completely different.

What is your creative process when making a clothing item?

Damn, It kind of changes every time. Sometimes, I'll do the whole like music video thing. I've never been into the whole Pinterest mood board thing, I think I need a lot of video stimulus. Even sounds as well, I’ll just put headphones in and hear a really hectic beat, and I’ll make something more aggressive. I have this little a5 book that I either keep in my backpack or or just carry with me, I do a lot of sketching. I don't necessarily always draw a full look, sometimes I'll just draw like a spiked collar I thought of on the go. Or I'll just be in the shower, and come up with something like studs on a hoodie and then I'll just quickly get into my notes on my phone, and just write the idea down. Then, when I have time to draw it out, I’ll draw five, six iterations, sometimes it'll be the first one and it’s perfect, other times, I won’t get it right for a while.

Usually, it's pretty quick in terms of the design, once the design is done, you do it up. And then here at the fashion studios we have the pattern blocks that have all the basic silhouettes, and we just manipulate it to fit our design. I usually go through about two to three toile’s, the first one is just the body or the sleeves, just to get an overall shape, then I'll do the second one with a collar. Finally, the last one is pretty much just getting it perfect. After that I just go straight into the final fabric.

I also spend a lot of time just visiting a fabric store and just touching different fabrics, and there’ll be some materials where I just get really inspired and can kind of see the final product. For example I’ll see a material and think, this would look good in a baggy pant, or tailored.

My creative process is really random, I can’t really pinpoint it. One tip I have for other fashion designers, is that I always sketch in pen, so I can't erase it. Just because you’ll find that even when you think you made a mistake, a lot of the time’s it isn’t actually. For example, if you accidentally draw a curve out when you wanted it to be straight, when you finish the drawing, you see that little curve and think to yourself, maybe the piece could have a bit of shape and it end’s up staying there and changes the design. I don't know, it just works for me. That’s a little tip I just dropped.

What is your favourite part of the process?

Making the final garment for sure. I usually make my prototype and then I'll pick the final fabric, definitely my favourite part is when you've got your pattern, so you know everything works, and you can just take your time cutting it out and just making it perfect. The first time that you try it on as well, there’s no better feeling, especially when it fits nice.

I know a lot of artists face creative blocks, how do you get through them?

Yeah, this is this is a tricky one. I'm working on a full look right now, so we have to have three aspects of the look. So for example a jacket, pant, top or a pant, jacket and accessory. I'm kind of stuck on designing this coat right now, so what I'll do is put it to the back of my mind, do the pant, and then just build off it like that, especially when you're doing full looks. When you're doing looks, you can't just have a cool jacket and the rest of the outfit be whack. So if I'm having a creative block on one aspect of the garment, or even one particular sleeve or something, I'll like put it aside and work on another piece of the outfit, and kinda just build of that. Yeah, that's kind of how I get through it, I guess.

What creatives, not in the fashion industry, have inspired you?

I think my biggest inspiration is probably Linkin Park, just because for me, they've got the perfect blend between street wear and still looking edgy as hell. I really like that idea. With my clothes, I don't want to look super edgy to the point where everything's a statement piece, but I also don't want to look like I'm just wearing your casual Brisbane streetwear fit.

Another one is probably Marilyn Manson, I was heavily into the whole Gothic, one contact lens thing. The mini collection that I did last semester was actually heavily influenced by a lot of his music videos and how they're all scary and their bodies are really elongated.

Yeah, it's always been music, I don't look to fashion muses anymore. I used to be into ASAP Rocky, but I've never looked at him and thought to myself that he’s influenced my style. It's more that I’ll hear the music and like the attitude, volume and the energy I get from that. I feel like that is probably represented most in my designs.

On your instagram you have photos of the clothing pieces you’ve made, some graphics you designed, as well as some of your typography work, is there a central theme that ties all your art together?

I think dystopian is one for sure, but not neo-punk, matrix dystopian but more like this idea of destruction. A lot of my graphic work, it’s kind of grungy and it's not perfect. A lot of graphics now, they are really minimal and clean and have a lot of breathable whitespace and stuff like that. I feel like when I’m working on my graphic designs, I just throw stuff in there, and then I'll just slowly start taking stuff away. This way of creating has been relevant in all creative aspects of what I do. When I get really excited and I start drawing a shirt with like 20,000 different little details or something, I have to look at the cohesiveness and the functionality of the piece, and then slowly peel it back and simplify it. But yeah, in terms of one word that kind of summarises everything, I'd say dystopian is the idea that represents everything.

On your tik tok you said you wanted to start a podcast about fashion and eventually branch out to other creatives, how important is it for you to surround yourself with people of all different creative avenues?

Especially in Brisbane, where I feel like we aren't as known for creative endeavours, when I meet someone creative, or someone trying to do something, I just get so much euphoria. I really appreciate someone who has passion for what they do, and me being passionate about fashion, when I see someone, like you guys with your production company, I didn't even hesitate to work with you guys. Especially in the creative world, a lot of connections is everything, and everyone knows this. I feel like that's a huge part of why we want to collaborate with other creators. I know this is a cliche one, but like Virgil Abloh, he was one of the first people to just be like everyone is in this together, everyone can eat, it’s not a competition. That’s a big inspiration behind my Instagram, how I'm not afraid to put my designs out there. He was all about everyone being together, there's no exclusivity. If we want to keep building the Australian creative scene, everyone’s got to work together. This mentality that if you post, your designs are gonna get stolen, it’s not good because then how are you going to showcase your talents and get it out in the world. It's like how you guys hit me up, you saw my stuff and asked to interview me, if I hadn’t posted my stuff for people to see, that wouldn’t of happened. I kind of forgot the question hahah, just went off on a bit of a rant.

I think I noticed this more than ever when I went to intern for Bouquet studios, because the owner is very connected. Not just in fashion, but he knows heaps of DJs and we've been throwing some event parties to promote his brand, and a bunch of dj’s come up and just do a set for free, just cause he knows them. It just shows that if you look after each other there's always going to be that exchange of favours.

I find sometimes it can get lonely pretty quick, only if you make it lonely. If you’re constantly on your grind, or in the fashion studio until 2am, it can get lonely, but when you’re in here with 5,6,7 different people and you don't even need to be talking, just headphones in and you see the energy and how everyone is trying really hard to get things done, you can just build off that. It's just the creative energy you can't really get from anything else in life really.

You have the brand Slash N Sew Goods, where you resell clothes you’ve thrifted, can you tell us more about that?

It's funny actually, I had a graphic design assignment last year, and we had to make a logo for a brand that we had come up with. They gave me a task sheet with a bunch of stimulus, and one of them was a record label. I thought to myself, cool, I'm into music, I'll pick that. That’s pretty much it, I made a brand called Slash Records, and the logo I made was the skull logo I ended up using for Slash N Sew. It just kind of hit me one day, that I really loved the logo. So that’s where the Slash and the logo came from. In terms of how I actually got into the business, I’ve always been on Depop just looking at stuff. Only because I didn’t have a job, but I still wanted to dress in brands, but I didn't want to pay the full price.

Then one day, in the middle end of 2020, I was sort of getting into thrifting just because thrift shops were the only stores open during covid. Me and my mate were out skating, and I was wearing shorts, and I fell and cut myself. I just thought to myself, I'm just gonna go into the thrift shop and get a cheap pair of jeans. I ended up getting some vintage billabong jeans, and this was in some random thrift shop, far from the city, and I paid like $4 for them. In my mind, I was thinking , I've got this part time job, how can I make money without over-exerting too much energy, and taking away from my fashion.

It kinda sparked then, I thought to myself, I could just go to the thrifts, get 10 things, upload them to depop and then just over time they’ll slowly make money for me. There is a bit of work involved but it's not like you have to go to an 8 hour shift. And yeh, it’s doing pretty awesome, I've slowly built it up, it pulls in about four figures a month now. It makes nearly as much as my part time job and I'm doing what I love.

The business side of things too, there’s something about having a business and having all the control over it, I really like that. It's taught me a lot about sales and fashion as well, just little things that, that if you're not running your own business, you just wouldn’t learn. When I eventually start my brand, hopefully next year, I’ll have a way better understanding of the logistics and how to actually run the business side of things. I think it's been extremely beneficial.

Recently, I saw you went around wheatpasting poster’s up at 3 am, and you also have photos of you tagging some walls. What is it about street art that attracts you?

There's so much about it, it's not like traditional art where everyone’s in suits staring at a wall and thinking, oh, this is so fancy. I just really like the realness of it, that’s the best way I can describe it. I like how it’s aggressive, and a bit rebellious because, obviously, it's generally illegal. I don't even know how to describe it. It's just this idea that you're taking a risk, but you're risking it for the euphoria you get off having a cool tag or whatever. There's little things in it that I like, when I see a wall and it looks cool from a far, but when when you get up close you see all the little textures and the grains in the wall. Little things like that, you just can’t get on a painting or a fine art piece or even digital. I really like the layers to it as well, there'll be 10 different tags on top of each other and if you looked at this wall five years ago, maybe three of them were there, and then in 10 years, there's going to be 30. I don’t know really, something about that concept is really intriguing to me.

I feel like it's all about building the aesthetic as well, I post a lot about it because my brand has a bit of street influence. The wheat-pasting stuff was for the brand Bouquet, and that was really fun, we hit a couple red hot spots so we had to be quick.

It’s stuff like that, that you’re not going to get at a regular internship, he's really taken me under his wing. He told me, I'll help you as much as you help me, I'm not gonna just get you packaging orders all day. I was onboard from the jump. Back to the street art, it just creates this aesthetic that people can buy into. A lot of fashion cultures and niche markets come from the streets too. Especially with my brothers, we were always skating and exploring, so the streets just feel like, I'm not saying the streets like I'm from the hood or whatever, but the streets just feel like second nature.

Do you have any graffiti inspirations?

Honestly, my brother, he's really getting into it. He's really trying to push this thing and I think one day he’s going to be really hectic at it. He's always been a good drawer, and he loves to take risks, It's perfect for him. He's been working on his tags, he's got a tag, Euro. E U R O. He's coming up for sure.

I know you’ve said you struggled abit to find your identity. Do you think your art and being creative was an avenue that helped you find that identity?

Yeh that was definitely a hard thing for me. In high school, I was someone who just kinda fit into the traditional jock or sports guy role. Like just wearing Nike, and just listening to whatever was popular at the time. I had one set of earrings and it was always studs, it was never rings. Then when I kinda started listening to different music, it really helped me and it gave me a new confidence. I just thought to myself, if these artists can do it to this extreme level, then I can kind of slowly work my way into it. Then all of a sudden I started wearing like one ring, and then I got my seconds done, and then I got my helix done and it kind of just kept on building. I'm at a stage now where I'm pretty much confident to do whatever, and I feel especially being in fashion, you come in and see all these incredible people wearing all these bold statements and no one's afraid.

Being in high school, there's all the judgment, there's like the whole social media thing. I think everyone's walking on their tippy toes, trying not to look like an idiot, but I feel like you'll find, when you're that age, you might think everyone cares, but they’re just focusing on themselves. Once I realised that, I thought to myself, I may as well just look how I want to look. I'm not saying I'm this crazy out there guy, but it’s just little things that I wouldn't have done in the past. You just have to learn to be proud of who you are and to work with what you got.

Music definitely helped me realise that, and just being in environments where people aren't afraid to try new things. Instead of high school, sitting with all your mates, and they just all want to listen to drill music hahah.

What other Brisbane-based creatives do you think are pushing the boundaries and deserve to be recognised?

You guys for sure, shout out to Candy. It’s really dope, you're making everything really professional which is sick. I really appreciate this, it's awesome getting interviewed, makes you feel like you're doing something good. It's like a great feeling.

A few of my mates from my uni degree. Michael Shin, he's a good friend of mine, and he's kind of taking me under his wing, he’s been designing for a little bit longer. AJ as well, like the guys doing the Praema show, he also kinda took me under his wing. I kind of met him last year and we've been close ever since. He's been really helping me out.

I don't even know, there’s so many people. The guy I intern for, his brand’s up next, he's onto something. His party’s are crazy, they’re selling out warehouse parties. He's nailed his aesthetic. I feel like he's onto something.

It's too many people to say and I don't want to forget anyone. The Brisbane scene is definitely on the come up. Even if we move out of Brisbane, I feel like a lot of people are a lot more proud to say they’re a Brisbane creative now. Brisbane is where it’s at, people bash it but it's coming up, people need to start showing more respect.

What are your goals or ambitions for the next five years?

In a perfect world, man, I'd want to be definitely somewhere like New York or London, I feel like those two are just places I want to be. I want to be well traveled by then, not like go on a holiday and muck around, but I want to meet different people and go to different fashion weeks. I want to obviously have started my brand, I'm hoping to do that next year. I feel like this idea that I'm trying to create, that people's opinions are valued and that I’m not afraid to just show people stuff. I want to create this idea of inclusivity, I feel like that’s going to help me with my brand in the next five years. But yeah, definitely start my brand, be overseas, and I just want my own studio.

I want to be at the level where I'll get a DM from someone who wants to work with me, and we have a space to do that. I just want to get to that level where there's no like hesitation to hit me up and be like, yo, let's do something, and there's no like, oh, I'm not too free, because I'm working my part time job. I think, that idea is really attractive to me. Like if you guys want to pull up and film something, I'll just be like, yeh, sweet. Let's do it, and I don't have to clear a schedule, and I don't have to go make space or whatever. That would be like the perfect working environment. In five years I'll be 25 so that 20-25 period is going to be a great experience and I'm really excited for it. I'm pretty optimistic too.

I've always been like really driven, but to the point that it can fault me sometimes because I’ll think I always have to be doing something, like I can't just not do something. I feel like Depop really filled that void for me. I like this idea that you work better with deadlines and you have this constant pressure, I kind of want to take that into next year and not think that just because i’ve graduated uni, I can just relax. I feel like taking that mentality into next year will be like huge.

What advice do you have to young creatives who are just getting started, regardless of their medium?

First of all, i'm not saying be this crazy extroverted person because I'm actually kind of introverted, but if you get little opportunities, even a small production company or a small agency or something that you might think it's not going to be worth it. Just show up, meet one person and that one person could link up with you, get you an interview, which then might be seen by somebody. You just gotta keep building and getting out there. In the beginning, I'd come in with my headphones in, not talk to anyone, hand in my assignment, and then leave. I just thought to myself, nah man, what are you doing? Meet these people, these people are gonna be huge one day. It’s not like you have to meet them just for your benefit, I think it's like this mutual bond where you want to grow your circle and your network of similar people. You want to get to the point where you're both giving each other an even exchange. I've learnt that just fairly recently, networking is huge, but those even exchanges are even bigger. Don't be afraid to put yourself out there, that’s how I got my internship, I just found his email link in his Instagram bio, and I sent him everything I've ever done, He got back to me within a day, and it's been the greatest experience. All just because I wasn’t scared to reach out. Especially in creative industries, I don't want to say it's who you know, because anyone can make it, but it makes it a lot easier when you're getting yourself out there.

Getting more specific to fashion, speaking from my perspective, the fashion industry is very cutthroat. If you work hard, it will reward you, but if you don't, you will get left behind. If you want to get into fashion, make a commitment to not only yourself but you’ll also have to sacrifice a lot, like a social life. You need to realise, it never stops, there is always something happening. There's always stuff to do. Even when you’re in the shower you're thinking of new designs. It’s good for someone like me because I love it, it's taken over my life and it's no longer a course or a job, it’s just fashion, it’s just what I love doing. I've seen a lot of people in their first year that get here and they're incredibly talented, but they just don't want to come in on the weekends, or they just don't want to stay after class to make the garment just a little bit nicer. It’s all in the mentality.

Just prepare yourself, it is hectic and just as much as it takes out of you physically, it will take out of you mentally and emotionally. If you're into it as much as a lot of us are, you’ll do awesome, but if not, you’ll find something else, just keep working and it’ll come.

If you could have 5 guests at an imaginary dinner party, dead or alive, who would it be?

First of all, would probably have to be Kurt Cobain. Just because he was my transition from mainstream rap into the kind of music that I really liked. I think he's one of the most talented people of all time, so I'd love to meet him.

Damn this is so hard, there’s just so many people out there. Definitely Eminem, he’s probably one of my favourite artists of all time. At this point it’s just people I’d love to meet.

Third would have to be Demna Gvasalia from Balenciaga. The way he can make streetwear look designer, it's just insane.

That’s a weird group of people.

Fourth would probably be Marilyn Manson. I find it so crazy how he was so controversial , he should be canceled 50,000 times over but he made it. And he made it just through hard work because, let’s be real, he doesn't have a beautiful singing voice.

Lastly, just everyone from Linkin Park. We'll just make them count as one because they're my favourite group.

So yeh, that’s five, Kurt Cobain, Eminem, Demnar, Marylin Manson, and all of Linkin Park. That would be a weird dinner.

What's next for you?

So coming up for me, I’m one of the runway models for the Praema show, which is really sick, it’s my first time walking in a runway show. Then in August I’m heading down to Melbourne for the brand I intern for, we're doing a three day pop up shop, and then hosting party events at night. Really keen for that. That stuff is all pretty soon, and then at the end of the year I've got my six outfit runway collection for my capstone graduate collection. That will be hectic, I'm not dreading it, but it's a lot to do, but, I love it, and I'd do it 10 times over.

Then I guess next year I want to start my brand. I’ve had people come up to me and say they really like the clothes I make, and I feel like I'm in this nice grey area where its both commercial but also creative. It can be both sold on a shelf, but it’s also pushing enough boundaries to where it’s not regular stuff, which I think is dope. Coming from someone who doesn't want to go work for someone else, but wants to start their own brand, I always have to have this idea of commercial appeal, whilst also trying to create clothes that I love, because at the end of the day, that’s why I do it.

But yeh, we’ll see how it goes from now. I try to take it six months at a time. Don't try and think too far ahead. But yeah, I guess that's where we're heading.

Photography credit: Oliver Nijimbere

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