Christophe Loiron
Mister FreedomChristophe Loiron aka Mister Freedom is a naval officer, historian, designer, painter, musician, poet, lover, fighter, but above all a man. “Mister Freedom” is his treasure that rests at the foot of the Hollywood hills. The establishment itself is a retail store and design studio so saturated with personality, it could be compared to Christophe’s own garage, a room inside his brain, or a hidden beach you never new was there. It is the love letter to Hollywood Christophe knows how to write. Mister Freedom is a road walked down wearing a perfect fitting pair of blue jeans. Christophe makes clothing that uniquely balances utilitarianism and time specific cultural fashion trends and pays the highest homage to history and attention to detail. Having known Christophe for a few years now it becomes more and more apparent, just like a good pair of fading jeans over time, that Christophe worked to make something beautiful, and now it just comes naturally.
What is Mister Freedom (the brand) - What is the mission?
Mister Freedom® today is an independent clothing label with limited runs of vintage-inspired and ethically-made garments, exclusively produced in USA or Japan. The mission is to keep it that way.
Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from? Schooling?
Born in France but mostly raised in Central Africa (Zaire/Tchad/Djibouti). Bouncing around as a kid (never stayed more than 4 years in one spot) taught me not to let roots grow too deep, and not to get too attached. I also convinced myself that grass was always going to be greener somewhere else. I made it to the baccalauréat, the equivalent of a high school diploma. I scored quite high but figured sitting still in a classroom was not for me. So I took off and did my then-mandatory military service, opting for the French Navy. About 1985, I was 19. Spent 18 months on a Marine Nationale ship stationed in the Indian Ocean.
How did it all start?
Bought a ticket for California in 1990, following childhood dreams mostly fueled by old movies and old school rock & roll. I had an urge to “make it” on my own. Growing up, I never blended in, always too weird to win the vote of confidence from my peers and family. So I showed up in America on a whim, with no work experience but something to prove. I was a 24 year old kid and had le feu (the fire), nothing I couldn’t or wouldn’t do. I did construction work, busboy, courrier, until I scored a sales clerk position in a reputable vintage clothing boutique called American Rag Cie, around 1993. They liked me because I worked hard and never acted entitled to anything. I watched, listened, learned and always did more than asked, for about $5.00/h. Got involved with vintage buying and designing recycled clothing…There I also befriended all the big league design teams, Ralph Lauren, Gap, J.Crew… I eventually went on my own, realizing that the vintage bug I caught as a kid could be an honest way of making a living. I hit thrift stores and rag houses, sold at flea markets and from my garage. Eventually led to opening a store with a partner in Kyoto, Japan, where the stuff was super hot. Heydays of the vintage boom, mid to late 90’s. I never was to much of a savvy business man, I just enjoyed the treasure hunt, but many dealers made a ton of cash at the time. No eBay, no instant knowledge from Google, experience was gold, sources kept secret In 2003, I opened the initial Mister Freedom® store on Martel Ave, off Melrose. It was all a gamble, going retail in LA was a scary move. The word got out. Doubled down a few years later and moved to Beverly, the MF® HQ’s current location. Built the store ground-up with the help of my girlfriend Tina wakino, furnished it with metal shelvings from salvage yards and beat-up props from flea markets. The store carried 90% vintage clothing, and then some customized pieces I put together, like original graphics on old T-shirts and sweats, stencils on military bags, re-makes, etc… At that time, I had already met my future partners in crime at Sugar Cane Co, the famed Japanese manufacturer of replica military, workwear and aloha styles. They had approached me for a collab in 2006. The initial deal was I’d design a pair of jeans, and they would handle the manufacturing and distribution. I pretended that I could do it, but had no idea about patterns. I just knew I didn’t want to do replicas. So, I thought of a made-up scenario, an historically plausible story of a sailor who had his clothes custom-made in different ports in the 1930’s. I designed a very weird pair of jeans and stitched a proto together about a week before the design deadline! Only about 300 of these “7161 Utility Trousers” were made. These jeans were very weird, quite a departure from mainstream five-pocket jeans, but wearable. Surviving specimen have become quite collectable today!
What is Mister Freedom (the brand) - What is the mission?
Mister Freedom® today is an independent clothing label with limited runs of vintage-inspired and ethically-made garments, exclusively produced in USA or Japan. The mission is to keep it that way.
Tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from? Schooling?
Born in France but mostly raised in Central Africa (Zaire/Tchad/Djibouti). Bouncing around as a kid (never stayed more than 4 years in one spot) taught me not to let roots grow too deep, and not to get too attached. I also convinced myself that grass was always going to be greener somewhere else. I made it to the baccalauréat, the equivalent of a high school diploma. I scored quite high but figured sitting still in a classroom was not for me. So I took off and did my then-mandatory military service, opting for the French Navy. About 1985, I was 19. Spent 18 months on a Marine Nationale ship stationed in the Indian Ocean.
How did it all start?
Bought a ticket for California in 1990, following childhood dreams mostly fueled by old movies and old school rock & roll. I had an urge to “make it” on my own. Growing up, I never blended in, always too weird to win the vote of confidence from my peers and family. So I showed up in America on a whim, with no work experience but something to prove. I was a 24 year old kid and had le feu (the fire), nothing I couldn’t or wouldn’t do. I did construction work, busboy, courrier, until I scored a sales clerk position in a reputable vintage clothing boutique called American Rag Cie, around 1993. They liked me because I worked hard and never acted entitled to anything. I watched, listened, learned and always did more than asked, for about $5.00/h. Got involved with vintage buying and designing recycled clothing…There I also befriended all the big league design teams, Ralph Lauren, Gap, J.Crew… I eventually went on my own, realizing that the vintage bug I caught as a kid could be an honest way of making a living. I hit thrift stores and rag houses, sold at flea markets and from my garage. Eventually led to opening a store with a partner in Kyoto, Japan, where the stuff was super hot. Heydays of the vintage boom, mid to late 90’s. I never was to much of a savvy business man, I just enjoyed the treasure hunt, but many dealers made a ton of cash at the time. No eBay, no instant knowledge from Google, experience was gold, sources kept secret In 2003, I opened the initial Mister Freedom® store on Martel Ave, off Melrose. It was all a gamble, going retail in LA was a scary move. The word got out. Doubled down a few years later and moved to Beverly, the MF® HQ’s current location. Built the store ground-up with the help of my girlfriend Tina wakino, furnished it with metal shelvings from salvage yards and beat-up props from flea markets. The store carried 90% vintage clothing, and then some customized pieces I put together, like original graphics on old T-shirts and sweats, stencils on military bags, re-makes, etc… At that time, I had already met my future partners in crime at Sugar Cane Co, the famed Japanese manufacturer of replica military, workwear and aloha styles. They had approached me for a collab in 2006. The initial deal was I’d design a pair of jeans, and they would handle the manufacturing and distribution. I pretended that I could do it, but had no idea about patterns. I just knew I didn’t want to do replicas. So, I thought of a made-up scenario, an historically plausible story of a sailor who had his clothes custom-made in different ports in the 1930’s. I designed a very weird pair of jeans and stitched a proto together about a week before the design deadline! Only about 300 of these “7161 Utility Trousers” were made. These jeans were very weird, quite a departure from mainstream five-pocket jeans, but wearable. Surviving specimen have become quite collectable today!
Who are you relative to the brand? Creator, designer, sailor or do you just put out the fires?
There is today a very small yet efficient team manning the MF® HQ. We run a very tight ship, nowhere to hide on deck, we all have to multitask. I still handle design and R&D, but I am able to delegate the retail and wholesale decisions to more qualified people who are key in growing the business and keeping the ship steady. Mister Freedom® wouldn’t be what it is today without its amazing team of hard-working talents.
How has fashion and vintage design played a role in your life, youth and present?
I’ve always dressed different, always liked to alter things to appropriate them. I used to customize my own clothes as a kid, changed shapes and colors by drawing, improvised music to create new sounds… I considered everything a potential blank canvas but never got any academic training in any field.
When I first arrived in the USA, all I knew were random bits of vintage Americana anecdotes. Elvis bought his flashy threads from Lansky Bros in Memphis, Cliff Gallup played a Gretsch Duo Jet, Nudies made Hank Williams’ musical notes suit… I had zero interest in contemporary fashion but knew about period styles. I always paid attention to the wardrobe and year of a movie, and scrutinized old photos. All this “useless” info turned-out to be quite helpful, and eventually surface in MF® vintage-inspired collections.
Where do you see it going 10 years from now?
No idea, I keep on keeping on. A secluded island sounds good however.
What are your major Inspirations, for clothing and in life?
I was a bit stuck in a 30’s to 50’s vortex for years, style and music.
If today the clothing and objects that interest me range from late 1800’s to 1970’s, I pay equal attention to where, how and by whom things are made. Sustainability, Country of Origin, ethical manufacturing and an aversion to out-of-hand consumerism have become daily inspirational material for me.
Do you do all the sick patchwork?
I discovered “boro” recycled textiles while treasure hunting in Japanese flea markets in the mid 90’s. Back then you could find piles of these old patched-up indigo rags for dirt cheap. The more repairs and the more sun-faded, the cheaper you could buy them, as most Japanese textile collectors were only interested in pristine fabrics. Born out of necessity, boro rags were pure folk art to me and really inspiring. I used to bring a lot of that stuff back in the US, and most of it went to design studios and interior designers. I was also emulating the same effect by customizing and repairing clothes in the early days of MF. I am a bit over it today, now that “boro” has become a fashion gimmick, and the majors are using chemicals to artificially distress new garments… But we still have a large section of antique Japanese indigo textiles at the store.
There is today a very small yet efficient team manning the MF® HQ. We run a very tight ship, nowhere to hide on deck, we all have to multitask. I still handle design and R&D, but I am able to delegate the retail and wholesale decisions to more qualified people who are key in growing the business and keeping the ship steady. Mister Freedom® wouldn’t be what it is today without its amazing team of hard-working talents.
How has fashion and vintage design played a role in your life, youth and present?
I’ve always dressed different, always liked to alter things to appropriate them. I used to customize my own clothes as a kid, changed shapes and colors by drawing, improvised music to create new sounds… I considered everything a potential blank canvas but never got any academic training in any field.
When I first arrived in the USA, all I knew were random bits of vintage Americana anecdotes. Elvis bought his flashy threads from Lansky Bros in Memphis, Cliff Gallup played a Gretsch Duo Jet, Nudies made Hank Williams’ musical notes suit… I had zero interest in contemporary fashion but knew about period styles. I always paid attention to the wardrobe and year of a movie, and scrutinized old photos. All this “useless” info turned-out to be quite helpful, and eventually surface in MF® vintage-inspired collections.
Where do you see it going 10 years from now?
No idea, I keep on keeping on. A secluded island sounds good however.
What are your major Inspirations, for clothing and in life?
I was a bit stuck in a 30’s to 50’s vortex for years, style and music.
If today the clothing and objects that interest me range from late 1800’s to 1970’s, I pay equal attention to where, how and by whom things are made. Sustainability, Country of Origin, ethical manufacturing and an aversion to out-of-hand consumerism have become daily inspirational material for me.
Do you do all the sick patchwork?
I discovered “boro” recycled textiles while treasure hunting in Japanese flea markets in the mid 90’s. Back then you could find piles of these old patched-up indigo rags for dirt cheap. The more repairs and the more sun-faded, the cheaper you could buy them, as most Japanese textile collectors were only interested in pristine fabrics. Born out of necessity, boro rags were pure folk art to me and really inspiring. I used to bring a lot of that stuff back in the US, and most of it went to design studios and interior designers. I was also emulating the same effect by customizing and repairing clothes in the early days of MF. I am a bit over it today, now that “boro” has become a fashion gimmick, and the majors are using chemicals to artificially distress new garments… But we still have a large section of antique Japanese indigo textiles at the store.
More From Issue 02
VIEW THE FULL INTERVIEW IN ISSUE TWO
