FLAY Apparel: One-of-a-Kind Belfast Streetwear
Emily Hanna
FLAY Apparel is an up-and-coming Belfast-based streetwear brand run by Matthew Johnston, who works under the name FLAY. The flagship store, located on the Upper Newtownards Road, provides a studio for FLAY to display his screen-printed garments, and also works as a personalised space to display the rest of his art. When you walk in, you are met with a space that is entirely and unapologetically FLAY, from his GCSE and A-Level artworks, to his current FLAY Apparel collections. I met up with FLAY following the drop of his spring collection to discuss the brand’s success so far.
When did you start FLAY Apparel?
The first drop I ever did was January 2018. I think I did a drop of twenty-five items of clothing that I bought, I basically [went] to, like, Primark and vintage stores and just bought lots of random clothes, and then decorated them with actual acrylic paint, which I learned over time isn't good enough, and everyone will complain that they can't wash the clothes.
Why did you start FLAY Apparel?
I've kind of converted my love for fine arts and printing, because I find that the sort of demographic of spending amongst young people is in fashion and clothing, not in displayable artwork for their homes. Because it is such an economical climate, nobody our age is kind of capable of owning homes yet, so nobody wants to buy art. What I've done is sort of realised I want to be an artist [but] maybe it's a dead medium. I want to be a painter, and I figured out a way to kind of convert that into the sort of trend of streetwear and fashion.
Can you talk me through the process of making a piece?
Oh, there's a million different ways to go. Come up with a design that you like to print on a background. Yeah, and then to go, okay, that looks really nice. Let's do that. And every single possible colour combination that exists. So, there's probably like fifty, let's just do like fifty different colours of that. Because people actually want those options sometimes. I, as a clothing brand, have always had, like, so many options to choose from. Because I can never settle on one design or ten designs or twenty. It's like there's too many. And every day I can come up with more. Like, the way I was just doing [a] black print, that's something I've done before. And I have determined that I like it, I know it's good. So I was just repeating it there. But every time I'm doing it, I'm thinking, oh, what if I did it in like green, and then threw, like, a pink splash over that. Every time I'm ever working, I come up with new ideas and that's kind of a fun game for me. It always kind of comes to me really late at night when I’m in my room super late, often when I’m very tired, I find that everything has to come from an instance of delusion.
What about your recently launched Spring Collection?
It's really interesting because sometimes the collections and the way in which I present my ideas I don't find works very well, but it's very nice to even be asked that because I don't think that the sales for this collection have been very good but for you to ask it means that there is something there. It's simply just a quick, maybe thirty-three new products that I've made that are all kind of prints we've seen before. Maybe all new coloured hoodies but I basically found a new white pant that's really good and it lasts well, it works well, so I just wanted to put out a new collection of bright items with these prints on them. [That] was mainly the theme […] what I wanted was for them to be products I could recreate. I made a whole collection of the sweatpants and hoodies and then I got models in. I find people that I know are stylish and I invite them in to do a photoshoot.
Who do you consider you inspirations?
The whole concept of Brockhampton, the band, they were really smart with that. There's an energy there that exists and doesn't exist anymore – it's dead, because they have evolved – but that's what I'm saying, that energy could be reignited anywhere. And what it is, is the whole: we’re the underdogs, we’re kids like you making low budget stuff, but were doing it really well.
Tyler, the Creator is hugely influential to me in terms of his business and the way he presents himself, and he kind of has no talent, but he’s so amazing, that's what I love about him. I went to his festival In LA [Flog Gnaw] and that was hugely inspiring for me just to sort of witness that energy, because it doesn't exist here, it’s unfathomable
What are your goals for FLAY Apparel?
The goals change a lot, it depends on how realistically I'm thinking. I'd love to have a shop in LA, but I don't even know if there would be any point for that, that's just something I want. I'd like to improve the location to somewhere deep in Belfast that’s like right in the city centre. I'd like to build a team so that FLAY Apparel exists outside of me, and it’s some sort of recognised style and recognised type of art and content creation that a team of people can work on – and then I, Matthew Johnston, can also just be an artist and exhibit art and film in a museum but also run a brand to make money. [I’d like to] fund spectacular events, to host and sponsor big events, a lot of stuff is very boring, and when I go out to events, it’s often very boring, and I think the only way I’m going to be happy with it is if I take the reins.
FLAY Apparel is no doubt going places, with Belfast locals even taking their FLAY Apparel pieces on trips across the world – with one fan in particular wearing their FLAY Apparel sweatpants to Milan, where another Belfast holiday-goer recognised the brand instantly. So if you are interested in purchasing your own one-of-a-kind streetwear item, FLAY Apparel have you covered.
Find out more at www.flayapparel.com and @flayapparel on Instagram and TikTok.
Emily Hanna is a Culture reporter at The Scoop and an English student at Queen’s University Belfast.