Off The Rack

[October 19th, 2005] As the trendy, tattooed founder of Entrust Clothing—Portland's answer to former Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker's Famous Stars and Straps clothing line—Sean Paisant wants nothing short of world domination. And a cool T-shirt that fits.

The 23-year-old Louisiana native started his own emo- and punk-centric line of hoodies, tees and star-emblazoned trucker hats in his Hillsboro home last year with little more than $300 and a hatred of all things Abercrombie. Today, Entrust is ridin' the crest of the emo and extreme-sports craze and preparing to unveil its winter line. This summer Paisant played dress-up with bands like Hawthorne Heights and A Thorn for Every Heart on the Warped Tour, and now he's outfitting up-and-coming national acts like Surrender and the Classic Crime. Locally, Entrust has struggled to make a mark but did sponsor a rock-concert-cum-fashion show for the punk teens at Southeast Portland's now defunct Solid State last fall.

According to Paissant, Entrust is centered around "music, people and the lifestyle they live." But is it all about the music—or all about savvy marketing? WW put this maven's anti-mainstream ethos to the test with our own pop quiz: a set of musical-fashion flashcards.

WW: Ready? (shows flashcard)

Sean Paisant: Oh, who is that? Is that the Coldplay guy?

Yeah, Chris Martin. Pretty much he's the emo male fashion icon.

It's either him or Radiohead, 'cause they're the same thing. Yeah, he's got that whole ringer T-shirt thing goin' on.

Paris Hilton. At least she matches. Can't fault her for that. I mean what she's wearing is not bad—she could wear a bra and eat something. At least she matches.

What's wrong with mainstream fashion?

There's no style to it. How many times can you put Abercrombie on a T-shirt and make it look cool? Then there's that whole side of mainstream fashion that's tryin' not to be mainstream fashion but is just as bad, like PacSun. PacSun is the worst example of crap ever.... It's safe. And I hate safe. It's just boring to me. Nothing in life is perfect, so I don't think fashion or style should be perfect.

Are your clothes not safe?

They're not perfect. This is one of my own designs [gestures toward the shirt he's wearing]. I like stuff that's hand-drawn here or there...it's not perfect because you can't emulate perfection on a T-shirt. It just doesn't look cool.

Travis Barker. He has "self-made" tattooed across his hands 'cause he self-made himself. He's made a million off of just his own ideas and image. He's unique, and his clothing line does something nobody else really does. He crosses the line between punk and gangster clothes and hip-hop.... If I had his money, I could do it, too.

David Bowie. Good singer. Good actor. Don't know about his fashion, though.

The Clash.

Nope. The Sex Pistols.

I should have known that. I feel like an idiot.

They used fashion to help bring about their popularity.

Fashion is what gets you noticed. A band goes out there all dressed in polo shirts. No one's going to remember them. One of the bands I sponsor, Roses Are Red, is one of the most fashionable. The singer's got this crazy '80s-lookin' hair. And then their guitar player—every time you see him, his shirt has got the sleeves cut off. That's his shtick. If you find something that works, stick with it 'cause that's how people remember you.

Kurt Cobain. I named my cat after him. Music now is fashion-driven. They weren't fashion-driven. They were here to make a point. And to play their music. They could give a fuck what anybody thought.

They were so anti-fashion they influenced fashion.

I know. That's the funny thing.

What type of music do people who wear your clothes listen to?

Emo. Pop-punk is dead. It's deader than dead. And emo has taken over. What I like about the direction music has taken is that it's not really hate and anger anymore. When I was straight-edge, people [were] beating people up. That's not what music is about. You can get called a fag for wearing makeup or girl pants or whatever, but it's not about being a tough guy. It's not about beating people up.

Gwen [Stefani]. The love of my life. I have a cat named Gwen after her.

Are women in music stronger fashion figures than men in the biz?

Women care about fashion more. Most guys don't give a shit. I've always been a label whore. I can't go to Old Navy. And I can't go to Payless and buy shoes, even if they're the same.

50 Cent, yo. Bulletproof vest. I should make an Entrust bulletproof vest and send him one. He made it cool to be ghetto. Do you know what I learned yesterday? Michael Bolton was in a heavy-metal band before he did his sappy love music. Michael Bolton was in a heavy-metal band named Blackjack.

I did not know that.