Anatomy of a Brand | Wolf & Badger Interview with Secil Alkis
-What?
‘What is 10:AM’? ‘What does 10:AM Brand do’?
10:AM is a brand, platform, community that offers products that blend art and design to ask questions about today and prefers textile as a tool. At the beginning of our brand; We aimed to focus on sweatshirts and t-shirts in the field of textiles. However, we continue to realize projects in different design areas as a design office. We believe in creating products that reflect our worldview, focus on sustainability and give importance to every production detail from start to finish. We offer a limited number of sustainable textiles that define everyday streetwear.
The name 10:AM comes from my all-time work start time throughout my career. As those who worked in the art and creative fields knew, 10AM was not a working hour, but our lifestyle. From the first day I started planning the brand, I wanted people who thought like me, who embraced this lifestyle, or who wanted to be in it. I think the 10:AM name reflects that very well.
-How?
How did your entrepreneurial story start? How did you find the inspiration you needed to create your brand and your decision to become an entrepreneur? What kind of creative adventure did you have?
Having been actively working in the creative sector for many years, I always had the need and desire to create my own design framework. And I started this in 2020 by entering the textile field. Textile has been a sector that I have only been a buyer of until today, and that I have enjoyed very much after creating my own brand.
Atelier life, which may be very difficult for many people, is an extra exciting area for me. Bringing different materials together, producing them in good mold and quality, and the workshop conversations were both a great challenge and a very enjoyable process for me.
Still these days are very exciting for me, creating something that you have in your mind from nothing and having a representative design reflecting you on it and seeing it on those walking on the street, this feeling is too delicious for me to describe.
-Why?
Why did you establish the '10:AM' brand? What need have you shaped your brand to meet? Why did you decide to become the owner/creator of such a brand?
I would say that we apply a little bit of the opposite of what we are taught in all finance books, the issue of supply and demand. Probably due to my art education and discipline, I did not prefer to produce in a field I saw as needed, but to find a field that would reflect my own world and be good for myself first and progress. I believe ‘’If something is beautiful, everyone sees it.’’ Of course, the planning of this method should be evaluated in many equations, but if you prefer to do business in a creative field, I think that the work you do should first make you feel and reflect. Making art or design for a need is completely against the nature of the work.
That's why I founded the 10:AM brand because I preferred to create a space for myself and everyone who thinks like me. And I can say in a short time that we are a very beautiful and big community.
-Where?
We are at this point today. With tomorrow and the future in mind, where will both you and your brand be? Where will we see you in the future, what is it doing and where will we see your brand? What are your dreams for your brand and yourself?
Today, tomorrow and in the future, we will continue to create ideas. That's all I'm sure of. The product or area we produce may change, but we will continue to produce. Of course, as everyone dreamed, we moved the center of the brand to New York in November 2021 because we wanted to exist not only locally but also globally.
In New York, we plan to direct our creative energies to creating a diverse assortment. Our current material will continue to be textile, but we plan to experiment with different materials and even projects.
-When?
When will you consider your brand and yourself to be 'successful'? When and when do you expect to achieve your dreams in the business world on behalf of your brand?
I'll probably never say we're successful enough. It's an endless adventure for me because I'll probably tell myself that there's always a better one, you can do better. I think I can only accept that we are successful when I think that the designs in my head can fully convey my worldview, the visual world I dream of.
-Who?
We would love to know about the designer.
Secil Alkis; is an artist and designer with a vision to bring together creatives and cultivate a sense of community around making meaningful products. Throughout her experience working as an art professional in New York and Istanbul, she sharpened her skills to lead teams of people towards a common artistic goal. 10:AM Factory is her latest project in which she aspires to collaborate with multidisciplinary artists to tell stories of our time.