The Immersion of African and Dutch Cultures
Amsterdam-based fashion and lifestyle brand Daily Paper originated as a blog focusing on music, culture, and fashion by Hussein Suleiman of Somalia, Jefferson Osei from Ghana, and Abderrahmane Trabsini of Morocco, who'd all known each other since childhood. As the brand grew, in 2012, Suleiman, Osei, and Trabsini decided to build on their passions by launching branded t-shirts and started testing different cuts and designs before eventually releasing their first men's clothing collection in 2014.
After a few successful clothing drops, Suleiman, Osei, and Trabsini began rearranging the company's business model to become more product focused. Hussein would handle the marketing efforts, Jefferson would lead sales and community engagement, and Abderrahmane would manage clothing designs.
Formation of their Logo
Inspired by the Maasai tribe's shield from the 17th and 18th century, the brand's logo features a warrior shield with two spears crossing the front of it. Known as a semi-nomadic tribe, the Maasai people are known for moving their herds to follow the seasons in East Africa. Their shields include cultural designs and have historically been used not only for defending themselves in battle but also as a rite of passage and a way of self-identification. Thus, inspiring the founders of Daily Paper as it encapsulates the brand's identity of how we can create a home based on our heritage and culture regardless of where we might settle geographically.
Pushing the Boundaries on Eurocentric Designs
From their experience of growing up in the Netherlands, Suleiman, Osei, and Trabsini got a first-hand point of view of a Eurocentric way of fashion. They stated that many of the luxury clothing collections, that were produced by some of the long-standing fashion houses, were "...very black and white", with no real soul to the designs and lacked stories around why certain pieces were constructed in a particular way, outside of keeping up with the latest trends.
To combat a saturated Eurocentric world, they decided to create vibrant and colorful clothing by introducing patterns inspired by the African diaspora into their pieces. Ultimately, Daily Paper has stayed true to their design principle: Keep it fresh, continue to make progress but..., Never forget your roots.
Establishing a Global Presence
After a few years of Daily Paper's success, the brand has expanded outside of Amsterdam through flagship stores in New York City in SoHo and, as of late, on the east side of Grand Pulteney Street in London. Outside of their brick-and-mortar stores and website, pieces can also be found in luxury stores and e-commerce platforms, such as Selfridges and Co., Farfetch, and Galeries Lafayette, to name a few. The Yours and Ours team had the pleasure of seeing some of their work, as well as meeting members of the Daily Paper team during NYFW this past summer.
The brand continues to grow year after year, having collaborated with brands such as creating a custom kit for the Dutch professional soccer club AFC Ajax, partnering with the clothing brand Off-White to build a skatepark in Ghana, and curating customized earbuds with Beats by Dre featuring 90's inspired graffiti font and markings across the case and earphones themselves.