Anteater

St. Petersburg streetwear brand "Anteater clothing" will help awaken patriotic feelings and inspire personal achievements.

The brand was founded in 2007 by Nikita Yarutsky, the founder of "Creamshop" and the web magazine about street culture "Creammag.ru". As a school kid he was into extreme sports and was fully immersed into the world of street culture. Then he was educated as a designer, but Nikita did not have any experience in designing clothes. It all started with the fact that for a blog that he ran with a friend, a batch of T-shirts was made. After that came the idea of making T-shirts under his own label, the name of which was taken from the word "Anteater", which means "anteater" in English. The image of this unusual animal was also used as the company logo.

For the first few years the brand consisted of two people: Nikita Yarutsky himself and his father. Everything was created on pure enthusiasm. But immediately a unique style of the brand was formed. Firstly, the cut of T-shirts and sweatshirts, which was specially made elongated, secondly, the use of author's prints, and thirdly, all things "Anteater" are produced in limited quantities, which certainly gives them additional charm (okay, coolness).

To develop the logo and prints of the first T-shirts "Anteater clothing" was invited designer Dima Aske, thanks to whose fame the brand became known in various youth magazines. The first collections were sold in skate shops and other subculture stores. Times were not easy, as Russian consumers treated them with suspicion and could not believe that a domestic brand could create interesting and high-quality clothes. And, after all, the quality of the products is not in last place for the founder of the brand.

An important role in the development of "Anteater clothing" was played by successful brand collaborations with foreign designers and famous global brands of similar streetwear trends. Nikita realized that collaboration with the "kindred" brands, which have already gained success and crowds of fans, can be an excellent impetus to the popularity of his brand. Joint works were with the large American manufacturer of sports shoes "Saucony", with the famous magazine "Sneaker Freaker", with a small Spanish DIY-brand "Laser Barcelona", with the American brand "ELM Company", and also with many talented artists and designers popular in subcultural circles. Probably many people learned about the brand after its collaboration with Saucony, because there was really a lot of writing and talking about it. The first sneakers, released in 2011, were a great success and positively evaluated by fashion magazines. Funny was the joint collection of sneakers "Nature of the Beast" in 2013, because they resembled an anteater because of the brown fluffy suede used in their construction. But the most interesting for the Anteater team itself was the third Sea and Sand collection, because they were allowed to rule the design, which they took advantage of by placing perforated suede on the nose of the sneaker. This was new both for the sneaker model and for consumers, who quickly sold out this interesting product.

"In the beginning, Anteater was one of the first Russian brands to collaborate with foreign designers. Designer Elna and American artist Damion Silver contributed to the development of clothing. Among other things, "fresh blood" is actively involved in the brand's clothes design, i.e. young, beginning artists, independent art studios and simply talented creative individuals: illustrators, graffiti artists, musicians. "Anteater" gives all of them the opportunity to self-realize, reveal themselves and jointly create a unique product. And, of course, the brand, constantly supporting street culture and various thematic events on extreme sports (skateboarding and snowboarding competitions), could not but work with such companies as "Jaws Brewery", a domestic manufacturer of cans "Rush" and skateboard manufacturer "Union", with the St. Petersburg manufacturer of snowboards and clothing "Terror", musicians "Da Boogie Crew", etc.

At the moment, clothes of the brand are presented in stores in many cities of Russia, as well as in Belorussia and Ukraine. However, the brand does not pursue universal love and world fame. Being pop is not the limit of Anteater's dreams, because being in the rank of mass-market means being depersonalized. Nikita Yarutsky likes the fact that the brand is "own" in the street culture, that it is imbued with its philosophy and aesthetics. The brand's simple but comfortable clothes are designed for those who were at the origin of various youth subcultures and for those who lead an active lifestyle, are into extreme sports, like to create or just to be in a creative environment. Things are created for people like Nikita himself and with their help, as all comments and tips on how to improve these things are taken into account. For example, not everyone can understand why the cut of pants implies wide hips, but a graffiti writer will appreciate this detail, because in these pants it is more convenient to make forays into the place or to escape from the guards.

Speaking directly about the things "Anteater", apart from the lengthened shirts with author's prints and elongated hoodies the brand is famous for its anoraks, which appeared in their range in 2012. Their distinctive feature is the original silhouette, reminiscent of a hoodie, and the presence of kangaroo pockets. In addition to outerwear (club jackets, windbreakers, raincoats), the brand offers loggleyes, shorts, pants, sweatshirts, as well as various accessories (bags, glasses, hats, etc.). Most of the products are made in Russian factories under the keen control of the Anteater team. Materials and fabrics also used are Russian or Turkish. The result are solid, concise items suitable, in fact, for everyday wear and those who do not represent a particular subculture, but like to dress in the forces of Street-casual or Sport-casual. The same "Hoodie-One" elongated hoodie, which has become a bestseller, can keep anyone warm in cool weather, whether they skateboard or not. Besides, there is one more positive moment in the brand policy, which "Anteater" tries to adhere to even in times of crisis - all its products have a fairly democratic price.