The third, and last, in my mini-series paying tribute to the t-shirt and graphic design…today I’m sharing an interview with Jay of Locomotive Clothing. Jay and I go way back, we were friends when I was in high school, we spent many hours in skateparks and coffee shops. Jay always impressed me with his creativity, his honouring of tradition and his huge heart. Almost 20 years later, our lives have taken many turns and different paths, but we’ve somehow ended up on a similar page, living creatively, putting family first, and following our passions (well, I’m trying…). Our long history has little to do with how much I love Jay’s line. I’m genuinely impressed by his unique graphic style and refined printing technique. Locomotive is a line that translates across age and gender. Not to mention, Jay has created some pretty amazing Canadiana. Not just for Canadians though, this line speaks to all of us with adventure in our hearts, wanderlust on the mind, seeking new places to leave footprints.

Tell me a little bit about yourself. What is your background?

My name is Jason Matte, and I am the owner and founder of Locomotive Clothing Company, an apparel and lifestyle brand that specializes in well-designed quality goods for the whole family. I grew up in a French Canadian household in Ottawa, Ontario and migrated out west to Vancouver in the early 2000’s. My background is originally in retail skate shops and professional skateboarding, and then wholesale distribution, special events, graphic design and the film industry.

What part of the world do you live in?

I live and work in the beautiful Fraser Valley, just outside of Vancouver BC. We left the city and moved to the country two years ago and love being surrounded by beautiful forests, mountains and farmland.

How many children do you have and what are they like?

My wife and I have one very spirited 4 year old son. He’s hilarious and adores his friends and family. He loves being active outside and swinging on his tree swing I built him in the yard. He calls his swing “French Fry”.

What are your core family values?

We are really big on having fun together as a family. ‘Adventure’ is our magic word and we are at our best when we’re exploring the great outdoors. We like keeping things simple and believe strongly in keeping our schedule pretty loose and manageable. Work feels so busy sometimes and the hustle is real. My wife and I try not to let it creep into our family time.

How do you spend most of your days?

I’m blessed to have a beautiful home-based workshop and I spend my workdays designing, screen printing and putting together orders for my retail stockists and online customers. Other workdays are spent inspiration-gathering with my wife, hiking and exploring and going on mini-roadtrips. Several times a year, we participate in great handmade markets like the Make It show in Edmonton and Vancouver as well as Got Craft? in North Vancouver. We love these shows because we get to meet our customers and social media friends in person and see our talented fellow Makers.

What is your favourite thing to do as a family?  

When it’s a family day with our son, our favourite times are spent making breakfast together and then heading outdoors to play and explore, or do some building and yard work. He is all about helping and we love to work as a team to accomplish a task. We like to cap it off with a fire in our yard with s’mores and a beverage.

What are you passionate about?

Family first, then business, the hustle and hard work, music, art, health, simple living.

What inspires you?

For me, the answer to that question is always “EVERYTHING.” I’ve been really inspired by topography and hand lettering recently though. Watch out for some new hand-lettered designs soon.

What is Locomotive Clothing all about? What do you design and sell?

The foundation of Locomotive Clothing has always been really cool, minimalist and heritage inspired men’s tshirts but in this past couple of years I’ve branched out quite a bit to more women’s pieces – great slouchy sweaters and cozy hoodies for both men and women. Some sweet new housewares and soft goods are now on the horizon. I’ve also extended the kids line. My goal for the kids was that they deserve cool, well-designed clothing too! They also get to match their hip parents.

What does the name mean?

I have always loved trains but Locomotive Clothing is so much more than that to me. It’s about forward motion, energy, positivity and heritage inspiration.

What is compelling about working with t-shirts that keeps you interested?

They are just this great basic item of wearable art and I have always been interested in designing usable items that can be a part of someone’s everyday life.

How did Locomotive get started? How long have you been in the business? How has your business evolved?

I started Locomotive Clothing in 2003 while working as a distributor for all kinds of rad skateboard brands. Locomotive was a side project during this time, and consisted mostly of spray painted, stencilled t-shirts and vintage pieces, as well as appliqué work. I loved making these unique items and it remained a part-time gig for a decade while I moved into the events industry and worked on film sets. As Locomotive grew and developed this rad base of loyal customers and collectors, I finally retired from my other gigs in 2014 to focus full-time on the line.

Locomotive is a family business, how does that work for you? What is each person’s role?

I am primarily the graphic designer and screenprinter, and my wife, Aaron, helps me out with my social media, design direction and inspiration, and customer communication. She’s also my partner in crime at all our handmade markets. I couldn’t do this without her.

Tell me about your graphics, who designs them and what are they inspired by?

I primarily design all my graphics, with some of the ideas and direction coming from my wife. She has a wonderful sense of design. We also use the occasional vintage illustration if we come across something really great.

Tell me about your printing process and what is unique about it?

Everything is printed by hand with no automation and no fancy machinery. I use a really light touch in my printing and my pieces have a unique vintage feel and look that is pretty specific to Locomotive. It takes a lot of focus and attention to detail but it is so worth it to get just the right look and feel.

What has made you the most proud of yourself and your business?

I think our True North t-shirt design is one of the coolest and most well designed Canadian Pride graphics out there, and it’s pretty amazing that it seems to have been discovered by a whole new customer base lately, and is starting to be noticed by museum gift shops and galleries. I am also loving the response to our Life is Rad line. It’s so cool that this positive statement has really resonated with people of all ages.

What are your dreams for your business?

I’m really excited about the overall growth this year and my move toward more lifestyle and houseware products. I started 2015 with only a small handful of retail stockists and am adding several per month. Wholesaling into the USA is the next focus and that is going to be really fun.  I just feel blessed and am enjoying having my work being appreciated by a whole new customer base. Locomotive Clothing could not be where it is without those who have supported along the way!

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Thanks Jay! Friends and readers you can purchase from Locomotive Clothing direct here from their online shop, and don’t forget to find them on Instagram @locomotiveclothing. They are also on Facebook and Twitter.

DISCOUNT CODE: Locomotive is offering free shipping in North America until the 30th of November, 2015. For Canadian customers, the discount code is FREESHIP_CA and for American customers the discount code is FREESHIP_USA. Visit their shop.

Read the other two interviews in this series: Pop Kids USA and KLTworks

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