Jeffrey Xu Started An Online Streetwear Store After Alien Huang Encouraged Him To Follow His Dreams
He’s also hoping to bring in Alien’s clothing brand, AES, in future.
If you follow Jeffrey Xu on social media, you’d know that he’s not a suit and tie kind of guy.
The 32-year-old's love for streetwear started when he was a kid growing up in Shanghai. He tells 8days.sg that he was heavily influenced by the fashion he saw on Taiwanese entertainment show 100% Entertainment, which was hosted by streetwear aficionados Show Luo and the late Alien Huang, whom he ended up becoming pals with.
Now, Jeffrey's hoping to help more hypebeasts in Singapore and Malaysia up their game with his new online streetwear store, Garrison, which has been in-the-making, at least in his mind, for years.
8 DAYS: Congratulations on the launch of Garrison!
JEFFREY XU: Thank you! We’ve actually been open for about two months now. This idea was planted in my mind since I was very young and I’ve always wanted to own a streetwear brand just like how Alien Huang and Show Luo have AES and STAGE. I wanted to be like them but I was very afraid because of all the negative things that everyone told me. They said that it’s not easy to start a streetwear brand, that I would never be able to make it, and so on. That’s why I put it at the back of my mind. I just continued indulging myself by buying streetwear items that I personally liked. (Laughs)
So what made you decide to take the plunge?
I’m not sure if you know, but I was close to Alien. I talked to him about this streetwear label idea that I had last year. I mentioned that streetwear isn’t really popular in Singapore and people only go for certain brands that are “famous”, rather than the real streetwear brands. He told me: ‘If this is something that you like and are passionate about, just do it. That’s how I[he] started AES as well’. That’s when I decided that I don’t always have to listen to the negativity around me.