Alex James Heals With Pleasure

July 07, 2023

I remember the first time I saw Pleasures. It was back in 2017 when they released the iconic Kate Moss tee, an early offering of the brand, showcasing their cutting edge pop cultural knowledge and mischievousness. Here, I was six years later wearing that same tee in front of Alex James, cofounder of the iconoclastic brand.

Back in the day, the cease and desists came regularly. Now, Pleasures regularly collaborates within the culture. Over the years, Pleasures has worked with iconic brands from Doc Martens and The Grateful Dead to Rolling Stone. Most recently, they’ve worked with Puma on reimagining the classic Velophasis shoe. Aside from Pleasures, Alex also works in the holistic health industry at Mount Sunny, a healing space specializing in acupuncture and cupping.

Interview by Jard Lerebours
Photos courtesy of Pleasures

office sat down with Alex to talk about Chopped and Screwed music, working with Puma and fighting climate change.

Hey what’s up?

I’m in LA now but I’m from New Jersey. Where are you from?

Long Island

I just made a Long Island focused playlist.

Can you send that along? What’s on it?

Everything from Billy Joel to MF Doom, De La Soul, punk rock and hardcore. Tons of shit. You'll dig it. It's a mixture of New Jersey vs. Long Island vibes.

What are you wearing right now?

This is the Obama Matrix.

Wow, that's cool. I'm wearing a Pleasures tee right now. It's actually one of the first brands I bought for myself.

Let me see. Which one? Oh the Kate Moss one.

Yeah.

Yeah, dude, for sure. We probably got a CND on that one.

Really?

Richard Prince made this as a phrase painting in the nineties and then Kate Moss wore the t-shirt with the phrase on it to the opening.

And then we made it meta, the shirt never existed. And then somebody was like, no go.

Does that happen a lot? How do you deal with that?

No, because now we just work directly with people now. We're working directly with bands, image, licensing, artists, all types of proper shit.

We're Like a globalized thing now, right? We can't do the bootleg anymore and we haven't for a very long time.

I know that one of the first designs you did was the Morrissey's dead shirt.

I love Morrissey and I thought it was like a funny joke but people were definitely hot about it.

What's your favorite Smiths album?

I like Louder Than Bombs. I go back and forth with not listening to albums but just specific tracks.

I’ve seen Morrissey a bunch of times in concert. One time he left the concert, eight songs in because it was too cold and he didn't feel comfortable with the stuff he had to wear. People went berserk.

He's a menace. He’s like Kanye before Kanye.

I actually said that in an interview a while ago that Morrissey is my Kanye and it kind of circulated the internet for a little while [laughs].

If Pleasures was an album, what would it sound like?

I think it would sound like a Chopped and Screwed goth record.

Wow.

There’s a new wave of music out right now and we’re doing a project with DJ Micheal Watts. He was one of the O.G. guys in the Chopped and Screwed movement with DJ Screw.

He played me some stuff he’s doing with hardcore bands, it sounds fucking crazy.

I'm ready for that to start hitting the club.

I'll send you some tracks that are out right now.

Yeah, I'd appreciate that. Who wears Pleasures?

It's so many different types of people. It's people who aren't into streetwear, you know what I'm saying? It's people who are, mall rats, goth kids, people learning how to play musical instruments, people who are not on the internet that much. It's all different types of people that gravitate toward our brand because we speak with a different language. We use music, meme culture.

Pleasures is an inclusive thing. Everybody's welcome. You don’t even have to have a t-shirt from us. You can still enjoy what we do via social media or music sharing.

I know that Pleasures has had a lot of collabs from the Grateful Dead to Doc Martens. How do you decide on collaborators?

I think the first thing is that if we're gonna work with somebody, it has to be something that we would wear ourselves. I grew up wearing the Puma Clyde and Puma Suede. Some of my favorite artists growing up wore Pumas like The Beastie Boys and Glassjaw.

I will say, it's been a while since I wore Puma but I'm rocking it again just because I've been digging in their archives.

What has your experience been collabing with Puma?

Honestly, my experience has been pretty good. They're really open to trying stuff. They don’t really say no. They really care about the product.

Sometimes you can tell when someone’s just there to collect a check and just fucking go on to the next corporate job. It seems like everybody at Puma really cares about their job and gives it 110%.

How did you approach reimagining the Puma Velophasis?

We started from the ground up and really pieced it together and made it look dope and saw what we could change and improve upon.

I first learned about design through shoes. I was on a factory floor in Vietnam for this other company I was working for back in the day. Here, I am again working with Puma.

The original version of the Velophasis, the sole was much thinner. It was more like a Y2K late nineties vibe and we wanted to make it fatter and more substantial.

How does it feel returning to shoes after so many years in the industry?

I think footwear is always the key to an outfit. You know what I'm saying? I’m a big advocate for wearing my t-shirt inside out. Sometimes, the branding is too much.

I think shoes really say something about someone, more than your clothes.

What does a pair of Pleasures Puma Velophasis say about someone?

First of all, it's a fucking pink and purple shoe so it’s loud as hell, right? So you got some confidence if you're rocking this thing. And I also think it says ‘yo, I'm down, I'm different, and I'm here if you fuck with me or not?’.

The sales have been really good. It sold really well cause we put good energy out there and styled it in a lot of different ways.

We showed people that you can wear this shit with all black and it looks banging. You can wear it with shorts, you can wear it with anything.

I might buy a pair. So you're a partner at Mount Sunny? Do you see fashion as a tool for healing?

I have two amazing friends who started this concept called Mount Sunny. It's an acupuncture, cupping facility and store in Phoenix, Arizona. They brought me on board as a partner.

Healing is number one, right? You gotta get your mind right? You gotta get your body right for you to feel good externally. The business has really changed people's lives.

Your body is like a river and sometimes there's garbage in the river, you gotta get that garbage out, you gotta clear it out. You gotta fucking get it moving. Acupuncture and cupping really help with that.

There's a clothing component over there too. We’re using fully organic cotton grown in Texas and local food waste to dye the product, different colors.

How is that process different from your process with Pleasures?

Healing is the focus over there. It’s like having your own restaurant and you make a t-shirt. It’s more the healing and the service versus the clothing.

What advice do you have for folks trying to break into the fashion industry?

It's really negative but I'm gonna say don't do it. Choose something else, choose something on this earth that, that can help future existence. Try to find a solution for global warming or cure all these crazy diseases.

We need more problem solvers for the next generation and unfortunately, clothing is not in that equation. I got a three year old. I don’t know what his future’s looking like. This shit is looking crazy.

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Born in the Moroccan town of Tétouan and educated in Paris, Khattabi’s upbringing required him to make sense of how the different influences surrounding him could align. In turn, his designs explore the embedded codes and history of his bicultural background. Total Recall addresses this phenomon by including garments meant to reflect adaptation and transformation. Skirts made of tire covers and motorcyle tarpaulins refashioned into dresses are scattered across the collection, conveying notions of displacement. Blending these elements adds an industrial touch to the pieces while still keeping a sense of movement.

From sweatpants infused with polka dots to nostaglic slogans and banner display, the ensembles symbolize hidden identities and memories. Giving us a glimpse into his own memories, Khattabi's work evokes affection for the past. It's a nod to the interconnectedness of culture and how we interact with its complexitites creatively. View the collection below.

reward if found is available at LN-CC, 10 Corso Como, Gr8, Opener, and more selected retailers globally.

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