#bake designs

I feel they are one of the best brands currently around, they are on another level to everyone and totally killing it! 

Definitively one to keep your eye on and worth buying from! 

It's been a fair while since FKOF had a sit down and caught up with one of the original brands from FatKidOnFire back in the day. Too long!

Bake Designs were just the third brand to feature here on FKOF - real OGs! Ben is one of the nicest guys I've had the pleasure of meeting in my last year of running the site and Bake are one of my favourite brands in UK streetwear. All's gone a bit quiet over at Bake HQ with Ben being in the last year of Uni but we caught up the other week to discuss where the brand is and what's in store...

It’s been almost a year since the Bake Designs x FKOF feature, what’s changed for the brand since then? It has been a while man - too long in fact. A lot has changed, it’s been a busy year for me with everything on.

I’m in my final of uni now, and that’s been a big commitment which has affected Bake. I would have loved to be dropping pieces left right and centre and perhaps pushing the brand forward more, but Uni had to be my priority.

Things have still changed though, there is a much clearer direction with the brand now, I’m much more happy with that. I always wanted the brand to have a clean graphic feel and I think at times I was pulled into designing graphics that I just felt would sell. I’m less concerned with what others think now and more interested in just doing what I want. I’m not doing designs based on what’s in the news and riding the wave of current affairs. I’m not interested in doing a ‘winning’ t-shirt, or ‘swag’ crewneck. That’s just lazy.

What’s the plan for the Bake Mix series you were doing a few months back? The first two from Synamatix and Link were absolute fire! I hear in the pipeline BD are possibly doing a relaunch soon, what’s going on there? The Bake mix series is something that I’ve really enjoyed being able to do, I’ve seen a few people bitching lately about how everyone’s doing it and brands should be more original. That's a fair point, but as far as I’m concerned I want to hear good mixes so the more the merrier.

As far as the first two went Synamatix and Link both absolutely killed it, so a big shout has to go to them. But yeah there’s going to be more on the way soon, it’s one of the areas that did take a bit of a knock from my other commitments. But it is back on track, there’s one of the way as we speak and a couple more in the pipeline for the future.

And yeah this relaunch business, it’s a funny one. I don't know if 'relaunch' is the right word really, but it goes back to the brand direction and being confident in it. I got to the point where I knew where I was at, where the brand was at and where I wanted it to go. Basically, I’m just going to do it properly now, and hopefully that will keep the brand moving forward.

When can we expect more from Bake Designs – any exciting collabs or further designs to look out for in the near future? In the future, the plan is to expand the range a bit more and like I said keep moving forward and improving what is offered. I graduate soon which I’m hoping means I will have a bit more time to focus on Bake.

There’s a collaboration on the go as we speak that’s going to be released pretty soon, and it’s definitely something I’ve enjoyed working on so yeah hopefully more in the future.

As far as new designs, there are always new pieces being planned. Got a nice little bank of ideas to dip into so yeah new designs are always on the way.

Has your opinion of the streetwear scene in the UK changed? My opinion of the streetwear scene in the UK has definitely changed yeah. I would still say there is a lot of positive people about, who are really supportive of each other and that’s what I like about the scene. Unfortunately there’s still like an undercurrent of grumpy bitches who just sit around and whine - you get that with anything but it’s just a shame. There’s a fine line between constructive criticism and the bitching of people who have nothing better. There’s a lot of new brands popping up all the time, and I think sometimes these new brands get a bad rep as just looking for quick income, but if these brands are doing a good thing I’ll back them. Credit to anyone who gives it a real go and has a passion for it as far as I’m concerned. But yeah it’s still a nice community to be part of and I appreciate the opportunity I have had to be a part of it.

It's been a quiet time for Bake over the past few months, but there are big things from Ben coming up. As always, you'll see it on FatKidOnFire when it happens. If you want to follow Bake in the mean time, catch Ben on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. Head to the Bake Bigcartel page to purchase and support!

"I intend to live forever. So far, so good"