Prohibited Clothing – Berlin’s Anti-Hype Streetwear Brand In Conversation With FAULT Magazine
Prohibited Clothing In Conversation With FAULT Magazine
Photography: Annika Yanura
Firmly establishing itself as a coveted streetwear label in Germany, Prohibited Clothing distinguishes itself not only as a purveyor of style but as a harbinger of authenticity in an industry often dominated by fleeting trends.
Founder Patrick grew the brand organically through a series of engaging social videos and clever marketing tactics. While they may have first caught our eye on social media, it’s their unique “Modern Yuppie” aesthetic, unique take on timeless streetwear styles and commitment to high quality craftsmenship that has people talking. We caught up with their founder Patrick to discover more about the brand, their journey and of course, their FAULTs.
Can you tell us more about the inspiration behind the founding of Prohibited and how it has evolved since its inception in 2021?
Back in 2021, we were bored of the “gangster heroism” most of the (German) streetwear brands lived by for the past 5 to 10 years. I believe streetwear doesn’t necessarily mean fostering the narrative of “Started from the bottom, now we’re here,” including all the flexing, and it felt like there’s no one really paying attention to that. When we started working on Prohibited, not only were we telling a different story, but we were also trying to break streetwear garments down to the bare minimum. So we basically deconstructed what other brands were doing and also the garments themselves. We focused on fabrics, fits, and colors, thus the first styles we released were blank tees & hoodies. Once we saw initial success, we went down that route and styles became more complex and sophisticated. But we’re still on that path and not even close to where we want to be.
Before launching, did you already have an established plan for how you would market your brand?
Yes, I think we were actually super strategic with our launch. As I said, our idea was: If we get the right fabrics, the right fit and can afford offering attractive prices, we’ll have a chance for people to become fans and prefer ours over already established brands. That was the whole idea about starting with Basics only.
Next thing then was TikTok because we felt Instagram was super busy and loud at that time. TikTok was something that a lot of other brands hadn’t figured out so we saw a chance of getting that little competitive edge you need to stand out. We thought all our Social Media content “TikTok first” – still to this day. Only after we started gaining traction on TikTok, we launched our Instagram.
How would you describe the essence of the “Modern Yuppie” aesthetic that Prohibited embodies, and what sets it apart from other streetwear brands?
We established “The modern Yuppie” as our key aesthetic feeding our idea of Streetwear being more than Gangster-Lifestyle. For me “the modern yuppie” is a notion that can be interpreted super widely and it’s especially about mixing different styles. For example: White Tank Top, Vintage Knit Cardigan, Tailored Woven Pants, Baseball hat and a pair of sneakers.
In our team, I always refer to it like combining your own wardrobe with your dad’s. And mix these freely. Focus on quality timeless pieces instead of super bold statement hoodies. Now in 2024 we see a lot of these mixes in fashion, back in 2021/2022 this idea wasn’t picked up by many streetwear brands.
But of course, it’s not only the garments but also the lifestyle. Kind of valuing wholesome, more quality experiences, acknowledgment of the past, paying homage to where things come from, slow down a little maybe, feeling comfortable. That’s the basic idea.
The Spring/Summer Collection 2024, “Berlin to New York,” sounds intriguing. Could you elaborate on how you’ve integrated elements of both Berlin street style and American culture into this collection?
New York is probably the most influential city when it comes to streetwear. There’s numerous famous brands that started in this city and we were trying to pick up some of these ideas and combine it with what we’ve done in the past, so basically where we’re coming from, which is Berlin.
Also, I think both cities share this creative, free spirit and for me personally, New York and also Berlin Street style is often about wild mixes of styles which fits perfectly to our Modern Yuppie idea.
With TikTok playing such a significant role in Prohibited’s early success, could you discuss the strategy behind your TikTok content and how it has contributed to brand awareness and engagement?
We’re trying to be super authentic in our videos, so we’re not making things up but showing stuff that happens in our daily office life, we go out on the streets and create little styling TikToks, I personally speak to the camera, informing our customers about new drops, answer comments, etc. – I think this authenticity is especially important on TikTok and this is what resonates with people.
Second thing is that we never optimized for hype or viral hits – what we call “hope marketing”. If your whole marketing strategy is reliant on going viral, this might not be the best strategy if you want to build a solid business around your brand. That’s why we use our best creatives and buy additional attention on the platform which works great if your content is organic content and not just ads. Obviously we adapt to what stories we’re telling at that particular time or season.
What challenges did you face when establishing Prohibited as a fashion brand focused on wearability rather than hype and artificial scarcity, especially in an industry where such tactics were prevalent?
We truly believe in creating great products in the first place and put a lot of effort into that so that when people buy their first product, they’ll have a great experience and wear it as often as possible.
However, even with great products, in the beginning, it was tough. As I said we initially only offered basic tees and hoodies and it was indeed challenging to market a black hoodie from a no-name brand as something people must get their hands on. And even though a lot of influencers wore our stuff, there was no big logo on it so people wouldn’t even realize it’s a Prohibited basic hoodie.
Our solution was the exact opposite of hype and artificial scarcity: Availability & authentic storytelling.
We always wanted to offer our products everywhere our customers buy clothes, which includes marketplaces and also brick-and-mortar retailers. And then I started putting out content where I was explaining why our black hoodie is the best people will find. That worked super well – surprisingly.. I think no one ever successfully marketed fashion that rationally, but I think for commoditized garments like a basic Hoodie this was a game-changer for us.
It’s impressive to see Prohibited pieces worn by celebrities so early in your creative journey, how did these collaborations come about, and what impact have they had on the brand’s visibility and reputation?
We’re super glad that we had the chance to work with a lot of influencers and celebrities like Cro, Marteria, Nader Jindaoui, etc. this early and this is mainly because of the great work of our social media team. On top we’re well connected with the Berlin music scene so we were able to get stuff to certain people.
However, we never paid any celebrity to wear our stuff. They wear it because they truly like it, that’s obviously a great compliment for our work.
To be honest, we don’t see sales spikes when a Celebrity wears our stuff. I think it’s more about elevating the brand perception. To me it’s like a puzzle in every customer’s mind. Every customer has his own touchpoints and all these together form the “brand” in his/her head. And If people see celebrities wearing your stuff here and there, this will of course help to put you on the map.
Looking ahead, what are Prohibited’s goals and aspirations for the future?
We’re super happy about how far we’ve come in a short period of time because whenever you create something and put it out there, you never know if people truly like it. However, it feels like we’ve just begun and of course we want to continue working hard to make our customers happy.
And we’ve just started to tap into that creative endeavor of what “the modern yuppie” can be, so we’re really looking forward to continuing that path and maybe offer a different approach to streetwear with new stories and new looks.
What is your FAULT?
I’m a Last-Minute Guy – and that’s super draining for my team.