Many of you will have come across @erickend over on twitter, he is a huge advocate for the indie brands across the web. He’s got a huge sticker collection I’m very jealous of!

Here we got Erick aboard to talk about all things tees, indie brands and the brands we should be checking out.

What were the last five Tees you bought? And why?

I can honestly say that I haven’t bought any shirts in a while, mainly because I have been really tight on money, and I haven’t had much to spend on clothes. I have actually been winning and receiving many free shirts from several indie brands, but haven’t actually bought any in a while.

However, Labyrinth had a really nice snowflake hoodie I wanted, and I was able to get my Mom to purchase it for me for Christmas. And before that, I had met Winky Boo at a holiday bazaar she was attending, at a local school in my area, so I had met her there and purchased a tee from her for my girlfriend as a Christmas present. And even before that, I purchased a new tee that Johnsaurus had come out with, and was only selling it some select people. Other than that, it has probably not been since summer time I purchased anything else.

What are the T-shirts you wear the most out of your wardrobe?

I have a ton of shirts from many different brands, and I love to wear all of them. I wear my Labyrinth hoodie all the time, along with my Johnsaurus beanie, and I tend to wear Beast Attire, Fresh Dough, Yema Yema, and Labyrinth more often.

What has been the best experience you’ve had with an order?

I don’t think I have ever had a bad experience with an order before. I can say that the uniqueness of packaging, or being surprised with extra stickers and pins, have made it more memorable and exciting to me. From Dream Gold‘s bright gold packaging sleeve, to Candy Effect‘s large logo cutout, and Sugar Steak‘s order being wrapped like a piece of supermarket meat, I have truthfully been satisfied with ALL of my orders!

Which brands do you find interact the most and use social media the best?

If it was not for Twitter, I would have never found any of these awesome brands, along with their even awesome-r owners. Almost all the brands I have purchased from, I have talked to, and many of them talked to previously, mostly over Twitter. I find that Winky Boo, Johnsaurus, Labyrinth, Fresh Dough, Candy Effect, and Dream Gold always write back to me, but they are only the few that I can get off the top of my head, because usually every brand is cool enough to talk, or at least answer, to you back in one way or another.

Do you have any plans in the future to start your own line?

I really want to start my own brand! I’ve been inspired by so many of the people and brands that I follow, and I have been thinking about it for a while. My only setback is, is that I’m not the best drawer, and I know very little about graphic art and design, not to mention, I own a 2+ year-old Dell that is falling apart. But I say that strangest things are possible, and I definitely do not plan on abandoning the idea. I’m hoping that one day I can! I’ve already started “sketching” out my ideas.

What makes you the favourite fan of many indie brands? Why do you think that is?

I think it all started way back when I starting doing Follow Fridays for a few of the brands that I really liked, then as weeks went by, I just kept doing it, and added more and more people to my list, creating a ton of them I now feature each Friday. I think my continued support and encouragement is what makes me a good fan. I try to support all the brands fairly, giving them feedback and shoutouts when asked, Retweeting their tweets, “LIKING” their Facebook page, and even purchasing some clothes when someone has a new release or a good sale. Other than that, I’m not really sure, you’ll have to ask the brands themselves!

If you could work for any indie brand which would it be?

I would hands down, definitely say Johnny Cupcakes! His whole philosophy, work ethic, kindness towards others, and the success he’s achieved, is a company I would love to work for. He seems like a great person who can have fun, and treats his company like a family, and he’s someone I could see myself and love to work for. I’ve also had the opportunity to meet some great people and their brands from New Jersey [where I'm from], who I’d love to meet, and even help out or work for if I could! Any New Jersey indie brands hiring?

What indie brands are we all missing out on? Are there any quiet gems which we should be buying from?

I probably find a few new brands each week, and it’s amazing how many there are out there! I’m not sure if you know any of these, but some recent ones I found that you should check out: Invisible Sun, Skullastic, Refined Clothing, Abstruse Apparel, Nasty Clothes, Fortune Cookie Clothing, Edible Clothing Co., Egonomics Clothing, and Ghost Couture, just to name a few.

Thanks for reading, and our thanks to Eric for making this happen! Check out @erickend on Twitter.