Roy Michael Treur is 22 year old Creative Director of his self-titled clothing brand, Roy Michael. Through consistency, talent and thoughtful marketing techniques, the designer has been able to create a sharp rise in the space with his futuristic designs inspired by the outdoors and its scenery. Ahead of his RECON 3010 drop on April 30th, we sent over some questions to get to know the designer more.
Roy, give us a brief introduction about yourself and your brand!
Well I’m a 22 year old designer and art director from Amsterdam, I started learning how to design locally by the end of 2021, I didn’t have any form of education in design so it was mostly learning from YouTube, my internship at the time and trial & error. In the process of learning, I started showing my samples and my process on social media which already gave me a lot of attention before releasing anything yet. While doing this I was building my brand and did an unofficial sample drop back in June 2022 with some of the anticipated items I had been showing online, followed up with my first official release in October 2022 and now my second release in April this year. As far as my brand I would say my brand is heavily inspired by movies and mostly science fiction movies for the first two drops I have done, but I want to keep the concept open so I won’t restrict myself too much to a certain aesthetic in the future.
One thing I rate about you is that you’re one of the only brands that properly show the inspirations behind designs and your process of creating them. Many brand owners undervalue this. What made you decide to do this?
I think it’s good to show people where inspiration comes from so they can look at the designs and the visualization and see the whole story, I also show the design process to be transparent so people know what they’re paying for and to inspire people to start as well so they can see the whole process from A to Z.
How do you source your inspiration processes? It seems like they mostly come from nature.
It can just be anything honestly, I look at my surroundings a lot and search for concepts, shapes or patterns that could be implemented in designs. A good example of this is how I created the panel jacket, I was on the plane back home after vacation last summer and was looking out of the window, I saw the plane’s engine and how it was constructed in
these metal panels with screws and thought of how it could be implemented in fashion. So I took a picture of it and started designing which resulted in the panel jacket.
Give us some facts about your Panel Jacket. What made you want to create that and when can we expect it?
The Panel Jacket is a jacket that has 16 removable parts, so you can choose which parts to put on and which parts to take off. After doing the math we found out it will give you 65,536 possible options for this jacket, which means you can wear a different version of the jacket every day for 180 years. Like I already highlighted a bit I got the inspiration from metal
panels on a plane engine, but I wanted to make it have a function as well. So that’s how I came up with the removable panels. It’s still unknown when it could be released.
For the brand owners reading, how do you think showing those processes has helped your brand?
It helped a lot with building more awareness for the brand, it also helped people understand the prices of the products more as they can see everything is handmade in Amsterdam and how much effort is going into my process. I just like showing off my designs in a way people can learn from them as well and showing how my brand is ethically responsible helps as well. That’s why I think it’s good to be transparent sometimes.
Describe your brand aesthetic in 3 words or less.
Futuristic, outdoor, scenic.
I’ve been following you from very early in your journey, what do you envision for your brand in the future, because to me, you look like a brand that’s already well-defined and developed.
We just want to continue this path we’re on, but do crazier things. With every drop our budget grows and makes us able to do crazier things for the next.
To follow up with the last question, what were the steps you took to set up your brand?
Of course the things like design, production, website, shoots, etc. But the most important part was starting to work with others, two of my friends Yasar & Hendrik jumped in around June to help me with the brand and that has been really helpful, it’s really difficult to run a whole brand all by yourself. I would say it’s the most important part to work with others
who have a different skill set than you do. That way everyone can specialize in their best assets. When you do it all alone you will do everything halfway and by that waste your potential on your best assets.
Your page and presentation are on point. What makes you pick specific looks and locations for shoots because they all seem to reflect and blend in with your pieces well?
When I design an item I always design the item in a concept or with an idea in which universe it will fit, so that makes it easier to pick a location to create content with the item. I also put a lot of time and effort into scouting locations to have unique locations that also fit the items. It’s a bit difficult living in the Netherlands really because there’s not that much out here landscape wise, so I go to other countries for it as well.
Name your top three favourite products.
Hidden pocket cargos because they’re really comfy, I wear them almost every day
The backpack jacket, cause it’s really convenient and looks good on almost every fit
The puffer bag, because I really like the space in it and the way it looks on the body
You built up a lot of anticipation for your first collection, what was it like seeing this anticipation and how was the drop received?
It was really great to see that there were that many people invested in what I did, I never really expected to build this audience as quick as it went when I started. So it has been a good confirmation and confidence boost for me that so many people like what I do. The first drop was received well overall, there was a little confusion about the price point of
the items for some people but we practically sold out. So it went really well for a first drop.
Give the people something behind your upcoming RECON 3010: Wasteland Drop
Well, the coming drop is a sequel to the first ‘RECON 3010’ drop, set in the same universe. So some items of the previous drop will restock or come out in a different colourway with this drop as well and of course, there are new items too.
What’s your favourite piece from the drop?
I would say my favourite piece of this drop is the backpack jacket, it looks fire [in my opinion] and it’s really practical
The Looks
The Roy Michael RECON 3010: Wasteland drop is set to arrive this Sunday on the 30th of April at 20:00 CET. It includes Ghillie Masks, Hoodies, Pants and bags. Apart from plenty of Ghillie pieces, also expect the backpack jacket and vest, hidden pocket cargo and t-shirt and the long awaited puffer bag.
I personally have no doubt Roy Michael will be a household name in the future. From the aesthetic, the branding, and the designs all the way to the presentation, the Dutch designer has set great foundations to get the brand where it needs to be. Hopefully, we'll be able to create an updated version when they're further in their journey. Roy Michael is already working on its next drop and so that's something I will be looking forward to. Head to their page for more