Indianapolis is home to quite a few different streetwear brands. The community is thriving, if you look for it. Supporting local businesses is always possible, and we especially love to share fashion brands that are here in Indy.
Kendall Rollins founded and runs Driverseat, a local lifestyle and streetwear brand. In addition to designing clothing, Rollins runs a blog, collaborates with local artists, and makes unique products like ashtrays and beach towels. We sat down with him to talk about his latest collection and what it’s like to run a brand.
Cory Cathcart: How and when did your business get started?
Kendall Rollins: The brand is called Driverseat. Our slogan is, “No backseat driving.” That means that you’re in control of whatever you’re doing. I don’t like to call it a clothing brand. I like to call it a lifestyle brand. We do way more than just clothes. We have accessories too, like a beach towel that was a part of a collection that I did with my friend Shadé Bell. We made two t-shirts and a beach towel as a part of that collection. I’ve done coffee mugs. We have LED gaming pads and ashtrays. Everything from clothing, to what I envision our lifestyle to be.
The brand came into fruition my freshman year of college when I was diagnosed with a muscle disorder. After playing eighteen years of basketball, my third day on campus I was in the hospital and diagnosed. The doctor basically told me that I may not ever play basketball again. That forced me to look at different options. I started thinking, “What else can I do?” I was in my dorm. I looked in my closet and I had Supreme t-shirts, BAPE t-shirts, and a whole bunch of Jordans. I thought, “I’m into clothes, so why not?” That was in 2014. From there, I was trying to get back into playing basketball, which I eventually did. I kind of put the brand on the back burner up until my senior year. That’s when I bought a heat press and started doing testers and figuring out how to make the clothes myself from those test t-shirts. I sold those for ten dollars to friends and family. They loved it. That gave me the courage to take it more seriously. I got the LLC and did everything on the business side. In 2019 I jumped in with both feet.
CC: What was the inspiration for your new collection?
KR: The inspiration for this was to add some character to the brand. Usually, I would drop one design on a handful of t-shirts and focus on that collection. The new graphics definitely have character. They bring life to the brand. The graphics are done by different artists.
CC: Can you describe the process of bringing the designs to life?
KR: It varies on the idea. For a graphic t-shirt, it’s pretty simple. It starts with the graphic. From there, I decide where I want to place it. A lot of the stuff in the new collection is a center-front graphic. That’s a simple one. For the football jersey that I put out last year, I had that design for a year and a half. There are a lot of colors. There’s a flame at the bottom of it. There’s embroidery done to it. There’s a lot of different processes. For an item like that, that process probably took me a good five to six months to get the graphic complete. Back then, I was trying to do everything on my own—graphic design, marketing, talking to manufacturers, everything. I still do everything by myself, but I try to lean on my friends and people who know more about whatever it is I’m doing. They help me take the pressure off myself.
CC: What’s your favorite piece from this collection?
KR: My favorite is probably the most basic one. It’s the tire tee. It’s a flip of a Billionaire Boys Club t-shirt that I saw Virgil Abloh wear. After he passed, I was thinking of a way to remember him with the brand, but I didn’t want to use his face. I didn’t want to put something in quotes. When I saw that picture of him wearing a tire t-shirt, I thought that was perfect. My brand is Driver Seat, and with the passing of Virgil, I thought that was the perfect way to remember him.
CC: Are you inspired by other streetwear brands, is it something more organic, or both?
KR: I would say both. I can still tell you the first pair of shoes that I told my mom, “Hey, I want those.”
CC: What were they?
KR: It was these black and red Air Force 1s. They were mid tops. They were all black with red stitching. I don’t even think I’ve seen them since they came out back then. I’ve always been into fashion. I’ve always known what I like, and I think I know what other people might like. Sometimes I’m inspired by other brands and ideas, but sometimes it is all original stuff, like when me and Shadé work together. The pieces are all artwork done by her. I think my favorite of the three that we did is the puffer jacket. That’s a painting that she made.
CC: Where do you think Indianapolis is with street wear? Do you feel like there’s a pretty good community here?
KR: I feel like there’s a pocket of people who are definitely in tune. I feel like it’s more of a niche thing, a niche community that really knows what’s going on. And then there’s people who are fashionable and trendy—they’re here, but they’re not really a part of it. I would say that the community is pretty tight knit. It’s almost like a who’s who community.
CC: What is coming up for you?
KR: Right now, this is the biggest collection with the most designs that we’ve put out in a short amount of time. We usually like to drop one thing at a time, and focus on one hoodie or one t-shirt. With this one, I wanted to add as much character, as much life, to the brand as I could. We put out our initial white t-shirt in October 2019, so this month will be our third year anniversary. It is a big celebration. I’m looking to run this for the rest of the year and we’ll see what next year brings.
