Our latest exclusive Urban Renewal collaboration comes from Naclo Apparel, a brand founded by Jamie Dean and Chuck Royals in 2020. It has since grown to represent a diverse community and provides so much more than just loungewear–each hand-dyed nostalgic vintage piece is one-of-a-kind and inspired by joyful memories from growing up in North Carolina. Scroll on to read an interview with the founders and to shop the entire capsule collection.
Can you tell us more about the UO collection and how it came to be?
Our collection with Urban Renewal was inspired by the nostalgia of growing up in the south and the memories that we had when thinking about some of our favorite items as children. We curated each item in a way that evokes a unique memory and lasting connection for the wearer. For example, we curated and processed NFL sweatshirts for the many memories that Jamie has of wearing her father's NFL sweatshirts throughout her childhood, specifically his 1993 Pittsburgh Steelers crewneck sweatshirt.
What’s your process like for pulling clothing items + dyeing?
Our process for pulling items was directly inspired by our favorite items of clothing that we loved as children. Many of these pieces that bring about the greatest emotion are items that we both passed down or coincidentally worn. Our dyeing process lasts multiple days and is a true labor of love. After each item goes through our signature bleach dye process, we hand selected items that were most special to hand dye.
Can you give us a little background info about your brand? How did you come into existence?
Naclo Apparel was created in 2020 during the first COVID-19 stay at home order as a form of expression and necessity. At the beginning of the pandemic, we temporarily left our respective lives in Brooklyn, NY & Los Angeles, CA to move home to North Carolina with our families. After weeks of being quarantined in North Carolina and with only a week's worth of clothing each, we quickly realized that we were ill equipped for the months of “staying inside” to come. We figured out a way to creatively outfit ourselves for the foreseeable future by tapping into one of our favorite clothing modification techniques, bleach processing. As our business has grown, our purpose for Naclo Apparel has evolved to mean so much more than just loungewear. We want to use Naclo Apparel as a platform to tell meaningful stories and connect with our community, the "Naclo Family."
What’s been your most gratifying moment as a small brand owner?
The most gratifying moment for us has been seeing our ""Naclo Family"" out in our clothes. We have been out before and seen people in Naclo Apparel in the most random places across the United States. We are always tickled when we receive pictures from friends and family of our brand ""in the wild."" We are also so excited about this collaboration with Urban Renewal. We both grew up shopping at Urban Outfitters and we could have never in our wildest dreams imagined that we would be able to collaborate with such a cool company.
What’s next for you and Naclo?
We believe that the sky is the limit for Naclo Apparel. We are both working on new creative endeavors that we could have never imagined and want our brand to always be a creative space. There is so much more that we want to give to our community and we can't wait to share how we have evolved as a brand.
What do you love about your community?
Our community, the "Naclo Family," is so unique and truly one of a kind. We are so blessed to have had their support from the very start almost 2 years ago. Each person inspires us to live our dreams and continue to build our brand in a way that is authentic to us. We definitely would not be in the place we are today if it wasn't for our community and support system.
Anything else you’d like to share about yourself or Naclo?