WETMOJO - Shirts: 2009

Wetmojo,
The name of the company had to be something that really didn’t make sense but made complete sense once people saw the shirts. The idea was to have a name that made people think “what on earth does that mean”. A short catchy name that really helped shape what today is the brand. Wet translated into Spanish is mojo (past tense) so it’s basically the same word just in different languages. Mojo was chosen as it is by far quirkiest word in English. Best used by Austin powers, the iconic son of Nigel Powers in the 2002 film by Jay Roach, Gold Member. Funny enough, time after the name had been chosen, the true meaning of the word mojo popped up = from an African descent, some sort of clothe with magic powers…perfect fit.
The planning of the brand took at least 6 months, where everything had a reason of being and had to derive from the name. There were a few rules that were set from the start. No models, no crazy designs but no boring colours, no ties, plan everything to the last detail, crazy photo shoot on a very tight budget, beautiful catalogue and above all have fun building the company with a group of close friends.
It all came down to a process. First and foremost, how many shirts would there be, a very scientific and profound process. The founder chose his lucky number and birth date; 15. Once that was settled, the aim was to produce a photo shoot that wasn’t like anything seen before. Therefore there was no need for models, the shirts had to presented in another manner. A friend of the company (we call him harry potter) blasted a couple of ideas on how to communicate slogans or sentences without the usual boring letters. One of the ideas that was discussed was that of the semaphore language. A system of conveying messages through the use of flags in different positions each representing a letter. This was an obvious match, as ships relate to water and wetmojo relates to...
Now the task was to find a message to convey, a message to communicate what wetomojo is all about. Now, linking this up to 15 shirts, it was time to grab a pen and brainstorm slogans of 15 letters. Leading to I W I S H I W A S A S H I R T.
The actual photo shoot wouldn’t make sense with a model as the aim of tailor making is to have any person, any shape fit perfectly into whichever shirt he likes. The great majority of men and women in the world are physically very different to the models shown on catalogues and though we wanted to show how the shirt would look like, we didn’t want people to focus so much on the person but more on the shirt. This unless we could find a way of having a catalogue which would exhibit the shirt as it is and the shirt in a completely different context where the shirt wouldn’t be the main focus of the photo, but the photo itself would be a “work of art”.
Luckily the company’s founder was living in HK and was inspired by this magnificent city, full of life and contrast. The missing element was Pompino, our model and hero of the whole story. Pompino’s skin was made out of synthetics leather, and tailored made to have moveable arms and no legs. Why the name? Well it was the first Italian word learnt by the designer, but best not explained on the website.
Pompino arrived in a box, he was easy to carry, didn’t need to feed him, pay him extra hours, he never complained for any single reason and behaved like a professional model. Unfortunately one of the shareholders was going to take him home one night and left him alone for just 2 seconds outside the building. Someone couldn’t resist and to the date no one has seen him again. He is and will be dearly missed.
Hong Kong has beaches, mountains, tiny islands, Ferraris, cows, bamboo scaffolding, Very high end products and very low end products. Hong Kong is a magnificent city and ideal for wetmojo. As a matter of fact, thanks to Hong Kong this company was possible. Finally, it was decided Pompino would be placed in 15 different locations around Hong Kong, locations, some completely unknown to tourists so others a bit more familiar. In each location, with his arms, we would display one letter of the 15 letters of the slogan.
The photographer of the photoshoot, Pierre is the most amazing guy ever. Pierre was introduced to wetmojo me by his girlfriend Furze (who did all the graphic design for the catalogue). Pierre uses a camera from the 60s that has no battery, no flash and we could only see the photos once the film was developed. I thought this was so romantic, and best of all he wasn’t so much interested about the money, but he fell in love with the brand and the chemistry between us took the photo shoot to a completely new level as we were looking for the ideal photo. Both of them gave it all out to help us achieve the perfect photos, and from the photos, we think they did a superb job. That is a story on its own, it really was hilarious. All the shareholders had to help the founder and photographer at some stage. Everyone had a turn in carrying Pompino around Hong Kong, we had to go on trains, boats, taxis, and you name it. We even had to feed some cows in Tap Mum Island to get the photo of the year of the ox, which also attracted some wild boars and we had to leave Pompino for a while whilst the boars finished eating the cow’s food.
The photo shoot finished and we had to get on with the website. For this task we were extremely fortunate to meet the guys from Kite systems and Eva, the graphic designer for the site. Not only are they good friends, but their professionalism and dedication have made our life much easier in the back end of the system. We couldn’t have hoped for more, and for that and a lot more we are extremely thankful to all of them.
The catalogue was inspired on the book by “Things I have learnt in my life so far” by Stefan Sagmeister. Which we think is the most amazing way to interact with the customer. This bit we owe a huge thanks to Furze who not only helped us with the photo shoot but also created a dream of a catalogue for the team.
Finally it was the products photo shoot, once again an angel fell from the sky to help wetmojo. Fatema, a beautiful friend of the team that didn’t rest until all the product photos were completely finished. Needless to say, all the shirts look fabulous and we owe it all to her.
Wetmojo consists of 5 partners, a combination of organized, unorganized, mathematical, photographic, methodical, hardworking, asian and south american team of individuals that have one goal in life; do everything with a big smile and passion.
If by now you are not board and want to know more about us, join the wetmojo family. But above all, take a break, buy a wetomo shirt. Because honestly; I W I S H I W A S A S H I R T.