'MO - August 2008 - (Page 12)

community ‘mo BiZ Gay-Owned Business Proﬁle The Shirts Are Clean; It’s Your Mind That’s Dirty! By Bryan ochalla Ask Bill Sherman when Ajaxx63, the designer t-shirt company he started with (business and life) partner Andy Fraser in 1997, hit the big time and he’ll likely answer, “When we started working with Gay.com.” Gay bloggers, on the other hand, may give a different answer—such as, “When they launched their summer 2008 ad campaign.” One look at the ads in question and it’s easy to see why they’d say such a thing. The photos, taken by Gabriel Goldberg, showcase Sherman’s wares in the best possible light: Hanging (literally) off a sexy, sweaty, jockstrap-sporting model (whose name, according to a quick Google search, seems to be “Ricky D”—just in case you were wondering). “Everyone seems to be talking about them,” Sherman says of the ads, which have been discussed and dissected on numerous gay blogs and sites since they were revealed in late June. Most folks are talking about them in glowing terms, of course, though Sherman admits he’s heard a few glowering comments as well. “A few people have said, ‘You’re using sex to sell clothing.’ Which is funny, because that’s exactly what we were doing!” Sherman says he wasn’t just shooting for sexy when he came up with the idea for Ajaxx63’s latest line of slogan-splashed shirts (and its accompanying ad campaign): “The idea was to mix a 1982 COLT model with Eyes of Laura Mars,” a kinky thriller from 1978 starring Faye Dunaway. The pairing isn’t as odd as it seems after you hear what Sherman went through while working at Polo earlier in his career (he’s also had stints at Eddie Bauer, Gap/Banana Republic and Vogue). “They always asked us to come up with very speciﬁc themes,” Sherman says of his former employer. “’Think south of France, in the 1920s, at the Hotel Negresco with the people Coco Chanel would have partied with,’” Sherman imitates with a chuckle. “Our designs had to be very speciﬁc.” Sherman displays the same attitude and discipline while working on designs for Ajaxx63. “I really think of what we do as fashion,” he says. “That’s why I center each season on a particular concept, and that’s why we release our shirts in seasons.” At the same time, there’s a playfulness and raciness to Sherman’s designs that are a far cry from something you’d expect to see in a store window on Fifth Avenue. That’s probably because Sherman imagines his wares existing “in a Tom of Finland world, where everyone is gay, gregarious, hot and having a great time.” Isn’t it difﬁcult to come with designs that ﬁt into that world season after season? “At ﬁrst it was,” Sherman says, “especially since everything I had done in the past was done as part of a team. When we started, I was the design team, so I often asked myself, ‘How am I going to do this?’” Photo creDit: GaBrieL GoLDBerG One of the sexy images from the AJaxx63 2008 summer ad campaign. The process has gotten easier over the years, he says, despite the ever-changing tastes and preferences of the gay community. “I keep an eye on what’s going on in New York and L.A. I keep an eye on what the kids are wearing. That makes everything a lot easier.” Coming up with designs is just one piece of the puzzle, of course. “That’s just a small part of what goes on in a clothing company. There’s also quality control, production management, order fulﬁllment, shipping. Thankfully, we’ve gotten really good at all of those things,” Sherman says of himself and Fraser, who handles all the “back-end stuff” as the company’s operations director. That hard work has paid off handsomely for the pair, whose wares have appeared in episodes of “Queer as Folk,” “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” “What Not to Wear” (in a good way) and more than a few gay porn videos. Sherman says such sightings still bring a smile to his face. “I was just watching YouTube videos of people dancing in the fountain [during Seattle Pride 2008] and I saw a few guys dancing with our shirts on. That’s the kind of thing that makes me think, ‘I’m so glad we do what we do.’” after researching the ajaxx63 website for this story, Bryan ochalla has discovered some sexy must-have additions to his wardrobe. 12 celebrating seattle’s gay community http://www.ajaxx63.com http://Gay.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of 'MO - August 2008

'MO - August 2008 Contents Letter From The Editor Voices Coors Joins the Fight to Erase Hate Pet Project ’mo-BIZ: Ajaxx63 Northern Xposure Returns Lambert House Offers Youth Support Beijing, China The 2008 Gay Softball World Series in Seattle Form & Function: Vacation Nutrition An Account of the STP Bicycle Classic Book Review: Family Outing by Troy Johnson Capitol Hill Guide Live Event Review: Teatro ZinZanni’s Quest for a Queendom SceneOut: People@Places

'MO - August 2008

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