Heresy Menswear
UK-based illustrators Dominic Owen and Jasper Dunk explore fashion through art
Serial creatives Dominic Owen and his Heresy partner Jasper Dunk are a London-based duo making wardrobe staples that span band-collar button downs and classic pocket tees to ball caps and beanies. But through it all, the modest illustrators stick to a monochromatic color palette with illustrated highlights screen-printed by hand.
Heresy was initially started as an ambiguous side project for both Owen and Dunk as a way for the two to continue collaborating after finishing university, and has since grown into what might very well be a real—and perhaps even profitable—business. “Chasing illustration work can be really frustrating and selling screen prints is a bit of an insular market, so printing onto clothing seemed like a practical, more accessible application for our drawing,” explains Owen. “It also meant that we didn’t have to go searching for commissions at the mercy of others, as selling clothes was a way of creating our own paid illustration work.”
With little to no previous experience in the apparel industry, the two have used the opportunity to explore with both interesting designs and unique graphic applications. “Fashion is a really interesting and weird world, it was cool coming at it as outsiders,” says Owen. “We get a chance to learn lots of new things and there is loads of stuff to engage with and poke at as illustrators.”
Both Owen and Dunk sharing responsibilities in the art direction and design departments—and Dunk’s brother Rupert providing crucial support by way of typography, coding and web design—Heresy has developed an unconventional, yet attractive style. “Everything we do in terms of art direction tends to flow easily between the two or three of us. Most of the time we forget who comes up with an idea or makes a particular decision,” says Owen. “We’ve known each other for over a decade so the working process feels very natural, we’re usually thinking the same things—its just a case of who says it first. Even our illustration has started to merge a bit. We work on more designs together than when we started and it’s become harder to tell who has done what, which is nice because it feels like we have accidentally developed a ‘house style.'”
Visit Heresy online to browse the entire collection and visit the respective sites of both Dominic Owen and Jasper Dunk to see even more of their artistic work.
Images by Dan Wilton and courtesy of Heresy
