THE BRAND
Guerrilla Group is a multi-disciplinary creative unit, it acts as a platform to counteract trending conformity that does not exist as a brand. Echoing between science fiction and functionality as a framework for research and design in clothing & fashion. GG attempts to subvert military garments into utilitarian everyday wear with the needs & demands of the one wearing. The primary objective is to rework and facilitate each garment to adapt with imminent conditions.
HISTORY
GG was founded in 2013 by Andrew Chen and his partner Anthony. Both of them had no background in fashion – Andrew was major in art & marketing, Anthony was a graphic designer. Everything they created was learned by doing.
The brand started with a leather accessories collection. In 2014, they came up with the first apparel for the Guerrilla Group as a Tee-shirt. They kept trail and improved their first mistakes within the design process such as , fabric, pattern making, material etc. Then they finally started the first ready to wear collection in Fall/Winter 2014.
Now, Andrew Chen is the Co-founder and Executive Director while Anthony is the Creative Director. Guerrilla Group actually was the topic of Andrew´s graduate thesis. While working on his graduate dissertation back in 2013, he came up with the idea of starting a brand together as a practice-based project, since Anthony always was interested in making his own apparel & wanted to start a new brand. After graduation, they decided to continue working on it together.
DESIGNER
Andrew & Anthony were able to learn real quick. From their first attempt of making T-shirts, to leather accessories and ready wear collections. Both have no fashion or design background, all they can display today was learning by doing. This learning process was important and has demonstrated the value of teamwork for all. The team currently consists of only 5 people covering the complete spectrum of PR, marketing & crafting.
Most of their influence and inspiration in design came from Science Fiction, games, manga, movies and history. Anthony is heavily influenced by the first DOS games, Sega Saturn games and Dial Up Bulletin Board Systems (BBS). He was actually an ansi / ascii artist back then. Andrew Chen started using computer since windows 3.1, and is also a heavy gamer since he was a child. You can actually tell a lot of visuals direction from GG is influenced by those old digital arts and so is the childhood & youth of todays generation.
On the other side, the core concept of Science Fiction is more like a dystopian setting, the heads of Guerrilla Group truly believe that all the things /concepts described by Sci-Fi are really going to happen in the future. For that reason a lot of their collection´s themes are based on that topic like "AI", "Information War" and so on. Therefore, GG to them is not only a fashion/streetwear brand, it's more like a platform to combine and interpret the messages GG want to send out into the world.
COLLECTIONS
“Black Programme Research”
B.P.R. is the latest collection and deals with dark visions of the future and the dystopia of human existence. The designs are very graphic and mostly in black, they contain many references from Anime & Sci-Fi and therefore reflect exactly the core of GG.
”Eyes & Sins”
Eyes & Sins has been the basic line of the brand from the very beginning and is therefore always recurring in new interpretations.
Here you will find classic designs that are often very techwear heavy. These include tactical jackets, vests, bags and trousers. Functionality is at the heart of the brand's post-modern setting.
”Silent Whisper"
The leather accessory collection was the backbone of the brand's launch and is therefore always available in different designs. It includes a variety of leather rings, belts and wallets.