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We are proud to present the TAIKAN x Cali XX Anniversary collab and we took the time to talk to the founder, Garret ‘GMAN’ Louie, the Canadian brand while we were at it! Read about how it went from distribution to events and eventually TAIKAN.
Tell us about yourself...where are you from and what’s your background..
I’m born, raised and living in beautiful Vancouver, Canada. I cut my teeth pretty early at 18 as a sales representative before starting a distribution for streetwear brands in the mid 90’s (Stussy, Freshjive, Conart, Pervert etc.). While doing this I started promoting events (to help market the clothing) which eventually led me to opening a club/ live music venue called Fortune Sound (@fortunesound) that is now going on 14 years. The club has brought a lot of musical talent through our city before the artists got big. Acts such as Grimes, Logic, Drake, Mac Miller, J.Cole, Jack Harlow, Barrington Levy, SZA, HER, The Internet and so much more have all performed at the spot which acts as a cultural hub for the city that is street wear/ skateboard/ art friendly. 19 years ago I co-founded a sneaker/ streetwear store called Livestock that grew to 5 stores in Canada that I recently sold over Covid to focus on TAIKAN.
Tell us about TAIKAN! How did it all start?
We started to see brands from Vancouver blow up like Arcteryx, Lululemon, Reigning Champ, Herschel, Purple Denim which was inspiring. Vancouver is such a melting pot as 80% of our population is within a 3 hour drive from the USA, we are part of the Commonwealth and people speak French in parts of our country so there’s a huge European influence. We have a massive asian population with lots of Chinese, Japanese and Korean influence. This all really helps create a Global perspective when creating a brand.Being a distributor for 25+ years and working with so many great owners and brands plus having a retail shop we felt the market was still missing something. We thought that there could be a need for a unisex, minimally branded yet clean, quality product that was attainable in price with a lot of culture behind it in the way of street, design, art, skate & music.
What’s your favorite TAIKAN piece?
I use at least one of our bags every day. That would be our Sherpa Tote bag which I travel with and take to work daily. As far as the apparel, I think I have almost every colour of our Chiller Pant. Super comfy and the right bagginess.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
I get inspiration from so many places! For sure a big one is traveling the world & seeing the different fashion and vibes as each city is so different from the next. Recent trips have been Tokyo, Seoul, Copenhagen & Paris. Each so stylish yet so different. On the day to day inspiration comes from art, music, skateboarding & just keeping can eye on the streets.
What is your favorite item in your wardrobe?
Right now aside from TAIKAN it’s these pants from Nanamica that are in this Alpha Dry material. They are pretty baggy and since I’ve been travelling lately they have been comfortable and nice to wear in hot weather.
What’s your go-to outfit?
Lately it’s streetwear styles with a little fashion twist. Comfortable baggy pants, less T-shirts lately and more nice tops to go with and comfortable shoes (usually outdoor sneaker vibes) or maybe some dressier shoes.
Tell us more about Vancouver, what’s your best local tips?
I absolutely love my city. It’s huge on nature so we are surrounded by mountains ( 3 that you can snowboard or ski within 25 minutes of the city). We are also on the farthest coast of North America so we are also surrounded by ocean. Lots of trees and massive hikes you can do too. As I said before we are so multi cultural that we have every type of cuisine so the food is always A+. Hit me up @garretgman for any local tips and I’ll sort you out!!
