Normal Clothing Store Front

Every fresh purchase at Norml Clothing comes with a complimentary dose of social awareness.

I dropped in to chat with one of the Norml Clothing's owners in mid-October during an intimate in-store with J-Live and Brother Ali. Fans came in to meet the rappers, hear beats by Illo and Scratch Bastid, and check out new art by Elicser and Lease. This event confirmed that alongside the fresh gear at Norml, there is also a burgeoning subculture uniting artists, designers, and musicians on a national and international level. Moreover, every fresh purchase at Norml Clothing comes with a complimentary dose of social awareness. Norml Clothing was born out of collaboration between two people with very different backgrounds. The fashion-minded James Lamey, who was a huge force in the creation of the Norml brand name, now owns Accent Logos'n Stitches. This business, which specializes in silkscreen and embroidery customization, has helped these two entrepreneurs develop the Norml line.  Yann Darevic's background involves growing up in the Windsor-Detroit area, where he was inspired by music to work with a subculture of electronica, rap, and punk.  "We just fused ideas together to build a community network," Yann explains, "so what better way to do it through a clothing store?"  During Norml's infancy, James and Yann were fighting to get brands into the store, trying to make a name for themselves, and trying to convince certain lines that they should be working with Norml. Yann points out the misconception that one phone call is enough to create an immediate alliance with a clothing line: "in fact, everyone is super selective of where they want their stuff, because it could hurt their image or make their image." As Norml defined their image through the in-store events and lines they collaborated with, they began to appeal to other lines. "So now," he continues, "there are masses of people that want to work with us, it's amazing.  Now we can be more selective and work with smaller and similar networks. We have an Ottawa-Toronto-Montreal network where the stores, musicians, and artists know each other.  We're bringing it out on a bigger level.  We want people in Japan now, and in New York and Vancouver, trading lines and trading music. We've got a lot of lines with which have taken a chance with us and we're the first location in Canada that have carried their line. It's huge for them to be able to say that they're represented in another country."

Normal Clothing In Store Toronto

Constant travelling is a source of inspiration for Yann, because it allows him to see fashion and music on a bigger level.  Since a lot of shops in Canada tend to feed off neighbouring cities, Yann contends that "this doesn't move things forward very fast, nor does it make much of an impact.  For example, when we first started off we tried to see what was going on in Montreal and Toronto.  The three cities were developing slowly.  But travelling further, like Paris and New York, which is totally different than us, we can bring a piece of that flavour back to our shop. That helps us develop and enter into a new market." Every time James and Yann are away, they try not only to promote the store or brand, but also promote the opportunity to collaborate: "for example, in one clothing store I might meet an artist, and next thing you know we're emailing each other so that I can showcase him/her in my store. The Norml brand name enlists artists worldwide to help create innovative pieces. "It's a cool way for us to twist people into the store. The benefit of this is that the more people feel a part of something, the more support you get and the more people are going to talk about it. It's basically like a community project that is self-funded." Norml's last event, the Cop a Tee show, was a collaboration with ten artists who featured their designs on quality t-shirts. "Cats from other cities drove in," Yann explains, as he describes the outcome of the show's reception; "the good press we got out of that one opened up an opportunity for our second t-shirt show which is in December." This time the show will including artists from Brasil, Chicago, Bristol, and Rotterdam, and will be part of Norml's yearly Christmas party, which is a fundraiser for underprivileged children.While Norml helps musicians and artists get out of their cramped studios to meet and network, this store also endeavours to provide social awareness to its clientele. "For example," Yann elaborates, "we take huge pride in our window display, which not many do in this city.  We try to switch it up every six weeks to a month, and it always has a strong political theme.  A lot of people don't know much about global issues, so we're trying to use our store as a medium to educate our clientele." Rather than focusing on advertising name brands, Norml tries to promote a way of thinking, a way of consuming wisely, and a way to be aware of the impact that one has on the world. Yann hopes Norml can give faith to those who don't wish to live a so-called "Bob Cratchit" lifestyle.  "This is where independence is important" he continues, "it is important that we live off each other and not hurt each other in the process."Norml fosters an artistic community in order to "give courage to all kinds of people doing personal projects. They can do it, live off it, and not have to be part of a bigger game plan." This "bigger game plan" describes a consumerist society plagued by mass production. The very nature of Norml's clothing selection works against this system, as Darevic explains: "it's all about bringing things together that are not mass produced, very unique items. Someone can come in and see something of which there are only five of them in the store; we're never going to have it again, it's a sort of collectible.  An example is today with J-Live and Brother Ali coming through. They're going to leave tons of merchandise behind, tons of cds. It'll all be here for a month, cats will eat it up, and then it will never happen again." Limited edition items, like the fleeting, amorphous beauty of a subculture itself, helps Norml to constantly reinvent itself and, most importantly, saves a clientele from buying into corporate mediocrity. Check out  Norml Clothing's mandate, event news, and gear at www.normlclothing.ca