Quade Cooper
Kiwi-born Quade Cooper may be more commonly known from years of spotlight around his rugby escapades. However, since his first foray into fashion earlier this year, which saw items from his SHOSAI Collection 001 sell out in a few hours, he’s had a renewed focus and energy around unleashing his creative side.
The international rugby player grew up in Tokoroa. In between practicing his legendary kick in the backyard, Quade’s early introduction to fashion came about through his mum’s role as a seamstress.
“People are often surprised to know that I grew up around clothes and fashion. As kids, we didn’t have much going on, so would play themed dress-ups and make our own costumes instead of buying them.”
While Quade went on to experience the roller coaster ride of professional rugby, along the way, he also discovered the importance of acknowledging other interests, including expressing himself through fashion and creativity.
He’s always had an eye for colour and design and known what he wanted from clothing, often having his everyday streetwear altered through struggling to find clothes that fit his physique properly.
“The fit was frequently off for me, so I’d have to get pants shortened or tightened or tops altered, to the point that it sparked the thought around why I didn’t just make my own clothes.”
SHOSAI is a carefully considered collection of streetwear, delivering t-shirts, hoodies, joggers, and accessories, with a focus on comfort, fit, quality, and meaningful colours and graphics.
SHOSAI’s Collection 002: Roots is available online now and the unisex range is priced from $20 to $135. It’s a surprisingly meaningful collection with strong nods to Quade’s sporting past and his family.
The collection is all about getting back to his roots and exploring the impact his past (particularly in sport) has had on shaping his future.
Using colours and graphics, Roots dives deep into the archives to bring traditions to the forefront of the collection. Taking inspiration from teams Quade has been part of throughout his career, the combination of heritage colours with contemporary fits results in a clever blend of things old and new.
What feeds your fashion creativity in terms of design?
These days there’s so much inspo at your fingertips with social media and so forth but for me, it’s all about colours and textures. I am a visual person so I love being out, seeing them up close and being able to see how things fit on different people.
What is non-negotiable about your brand and designs?
The fits. I take pride in how things fit, and I have a keen eye for every little detail that contributes to making the fit how I like. I’m also passionate about the integrity of our brand, what we stand for, and not just doing things the way everyone else does, conforming to whatever is trending. To me, it’s about the journey and the process rather than the outcome.
What element of SHOSAI do you enjoy most?
The ultimate personal satisfaction comes from opening my wardrobe and seeing my vision filling up the space. As we continue to grow, SHOSAI takes up more and more space, which means that we are getting further down the path on this journey. The other part is learning about business and challenging myself to learn something new. Being the rookie has been a welcomed change.
What’s the biggest challenge of a fashion label for you personally?
Like everything worthwhile, you start at the bottom of the hill and you climb. So for me, that hill is learning about the business and how garments work because there are so many intricacies with each item that I really had no idea about.
Some information behind your new collection?
Roots is about looking back to move forward. It represents the connection between my past, present, and my future. The collection takes inspiration from details in my past, which I believe were small windows looking to the future path I’d come to travel. Blue and grey – the colours of my high school in Tokoroa and then also my high school in Australia, which are the same colours where I started my professional career. Tokoroa Pirates, my first ever club from the age of four is maroon, white, and navy, and then my professional team QLD Queensland colours are maroon and navy, so I’ve carried these colours throughout the collections. There’s a baby blue, which was the colour of my bow tie and my sister’s dress for mum and dad’s wedding, so that moment wasn’t to be missed as without them, my future does not exist.
What gives you the most pride with regards Collection 002: Roots?
I’m incredibly proud of my team who have worked so hard for this collection to be brought to life. When I think back to my roots and journey in life, for sure, there was some luck, but it was the sacrifices and hard work that gave me the opportunity to be where I am today. To pay homage to my ‘roots’ in life means a lot.
What was the most difficult thing to achieve?
It’s all difficult in fashion, that’s the fun part. But I’d say getting the colours exactly how I wanted would be up there.
Future plans with SHOSAI?
As we grow, we will continue to express ourselves and explore the fashion landscape to one day be leaders in the industry.
What’s something people might be surprised to know about you?
I don’t have any fillings.
Images supplied