Talkin' Fresh: Nardgod of Wavesplus Clothing
Written by Greg Harris
As we dig deeper into the fashion industry with speaking to some of the brightest designers from state to state, we come across another talented individual who's threading his own lane to success. Going by the name of Nardgod, he's revolutionized the way Texans has approached the graphic design industry with his real life and perceptual work he's done alongside the Sauce Factory.
Being the main man behind some of Sauce Walka, Sosamann, and Rizzoo Rizzoo's artwork, he decided to expand his horizons and take a stab in the fashion industry. His transition has seemed very seamless with creating pen and pixel and olde english inspired designs. These garments have been worn by the likes of Khari Bernard, Dice Soho, Drugrxch Peso, Skippa Tha Flippa, and more. Although he's moving in a different direction than other brands based out of the Bayou City, Wavesplus uses their differences as a strong suit to progress on a national scale.
We recently had a chance to speak to Nard about the beginnings of the brand, his background in graphic design, Houston's streetwear scene, and more.
Read below
How’s Your Modern Life?
Great, We've just been spending some time getting stuff situated for our upcoming releases.
What are three things you have to do when you first wake up in the morning?
I gotta check my social media accounts, figure out the plays for the day, and brush my teeth.
Coming up in the Houston area, what were some things that stuck out in your upbringing?
We been knowing each other since the 6th grade so back then we pretty much was just skateboarding all day after school and on weekends, playing xbox, hanging out with people and ect; We was just always doing our own thing back then, nothing really influenced by the city we lived in. The rodeo, The Galleria, Zumiez Couch Tour events in Houston and the Lee and Joe Jamail skate park stick out when I think of events or places associated with us growing up in Houston.
Who were some pivotal individuals in the Houston community that inspired you to push beyond the limits?
We respect the OGs and individuals from the city for what they accomplished, but nobody here really inspired or inspires us to be successful. Most of our inspiration really comes from individuals or things outside of the city. We see whats going on outside of our city and then we look at where we're from like, why can't we be on this type of shit? why can't this be going on over here? that kind of stuff motivates us to be successful and break the mold.
Coming from a city where it’s focused on the nightlife, music, and sports, how do you think fashion fits in the city’s scenery?
In our eyes, Houston isn't really a place where new fashion, street wear or even music breaks out or is acknowledged quick enough. Houston is kind of stagnant. There's a few talented people and creative groups here though so hopefully that will change.
Constructing the idea for Wavesplus, where did the inspiration come from the foundation of the brand?
When constructing Wavesplus, we avoided prominent Houston cultural fixations from the start. We set out to be a brand out of Houston that doesn't need to put lean cups w/ drank, slabs, altered Houston sports logos (NFL/NBA/MLB) or altered heavy metal/rock band logos to sell our products. Using someone else's brand logo or company logo as a creative crutch for your designs kind of looks bad sometimes in my opinion. We aim to have our pieces looked at as staple designs, where someone can be walking down the street and see the wavesplus logo across someones chest, or the wavesplus verticle logo on someones back and automatically know the brand. We put out our Club Member and FHSWB tees so people can see our logos on both sides of the shirt and get familiar with them, then we'll drop our more intricate designs here and there.
What has been some pivotal movements for the brand so far?
Getting Skippa Da Flippa and Drugrixh Pe$o in our products were big ones for us. Not too many pivotal things happen when your in Houston so you gotta travel outside the city to make the plays that are beneficial, so when we do go to other cities we make something shake every time. We linked up with Pe$o earlier this year, and Skippa da Flippa the year before. We've also had pivotal moments as far as advancing our quality control on products over time and gaining new knowledge.
How do you think Wavesplus will revolutionize fashion of culture?
We're just going to be WPC+ at the end of the day. We really just worried about ourselves and giving our people products that we are proud to distribute. We're just gonna to bring new ideas and trends to the world as things move forward.
What are three things you want to accomplish this year?
More trips out to L.A., Add onto our following, and put out a couple more releases before the year ends.
How do you want to be remembered at the end of the day?
As the brand that brought something new and exciting to the scene. We want to be on that legendary type status.