Studio Visit and Interview with SLAY L.A.

10:39 AM PDT on October 11, 2013

A couple of weeks ago, L.A. Taco's Desilu was invited to step inside the studio world of SLAY L.A., a graphic designer who also runs a screen printing company based in an undisclosed location in Los Angeles. The playful yet fresh designs on Slay's shirts have been seen everywhere from streets of Downtown LA to Tokyo and beyond. Read the interview below, check out some photos from the studio, and at the end take a look at the 2013 Lookbook shot by EdisEveryWhere.

How did Slay L.A. begin?

Growing up I always wanted to do graphic design, especially for shirts. In 2007 I started taking Graphic Communication (Screen Printing) classes at PCC. My first design was the sLAy logo. My original intentions were to print shirts to give to friends, and pass them out for free to people of the streets of L.A. After I started getting the shirts to friends, their friends started to show interest in the shirts. Which motivated me to continue with that design, and eventually move on to others.

Did you get into screen printing before Slay L.A. began?

I took Graphic Arts in the 7^th grade, but I didn’t get back into printing until I thought of the sLAy logo.

We've spotted Slay shirts all over the streets and internet. For example, we noticed Slay shirts on Kat Von D to sweet ladies selling flowers on the streets. How did you manage that?

My buddy Asylm managed to get some of my shirts to Kat Von D, and I was psyched to see that she was into them. As far as sweet flower ladies, I’ve passed them out to paleta boys, homeless people, skaters, and basically anyone on the street that looked like they needed a clean shirt.

What's the inspiration behind Slay LA?

Anything L.A.; I love my city, especially the North East. Most of my ideas are just parodies of classic logos, but I try not to limit myself in anything I do. Most of my collaborations have nothing to do with L.A.

How would you describe Slay L.A.?

I would describe it as an exciting accident, because I didn't really think it would catch on like it did. Growing up I used to see skate brand shirts at places like Atomic Garage and ever since those days I always wanted to be involved with design and screen printing.

You've done some pretty cool collaborations so far, if the possibilities all worked out, who would you want to work with?

At the moment I’m working on a second shirt with Brendan Lee, I think his designs are genius. I’m also working on one with Veins RGK from Texas, he's got some next level art that I think will look great on a shirt. Also got one with Dbaser D2R, LiterSoTiny, and TheSickestPuppyOnTheBlock coming soon. Ruets and Esque PDB are two of my favorite artists, and I’d love to do shirts with them. Other people I’d like to collaborate with: Clown TITS, David Jien, Evan Skrederstu, Hour PIGS, Horfe, Michael Alvarez, Panic SH, Vales_Verga, Zoueh, and Marc Echo (JK).