Andrew Chen is the brainchild and one of the designers behind 3sixteen — a New York-based contemporary men’s clothing line based on the principles of good business and good design. What started as a line of well-made wearables and tailored basics has now expanded to include key pieces for every man’s closet, from structured outerwear made for the gritty streets of the Lower East Side, to more subtle shirting that’s as perfect for a day out at the park as it is for a night out at the bar. We caught up with Chen the other day to chat about the evolution of the line, and why, six years in, he thinks he’s still just getting started.

What was the inspiration for starting a clothing line?
The line began in the summer of 2003. I started it with a friend of mine who was a graphic designer. We worked together on the line for three years – mostly as a hobby for me while I worked a day job – until we ran into some significant problems in the partnership that brought the company to the brink of having to close up. At this point I faced the tough choice of deciding whether to give up or give the brand another try. After a lot of careful consideration and support from friends and family, I brought on my current partner (Johan) and we re-launched the label. Given the circumstances that we were in, quite a bit of the inspiration behind pushing on with 3sixteen came from the realization that life is short and nothing is promised to anyone. We realized that we had the opportunity to do something creative, and we should make the most of it. We try and run our brand with this type of attitude every single day, which pushes us to do the best work we possibly can.

What is the meaning behind the name?
3sixteen comes from the Bible (John 3:16). My partner and I are both Christians and our desire for the company has always been to make the best clothes possible while maintaining integrity and honesty in all facets of our business. Whether we’re designing, building relationships or paying bills, we’ve always tried our best to be upfront and trustworthy. Our faith is important to us and our hope is that it affects every area of our life – not just our personal lives, but the way we design and work and relate to others. To some, we’re just a menswear line. To others, there’s a deeper meaning to the brand name that they may or may not adhere to. Hopefully, it’s something that people can understand is personal and important to us.

Do you have any formal training in fashion design?
Neither Johan nor I have formal training in fashion. The brand’s offerings began in graphic tees. Although they required much less technical know-how to construct, we used that experience to learn valuable lessons about running a business. When I quit my job to pursue the brand full-time two years ago, we made an intentional push to grow the brand’s cut and sew offerings. Being that we had no experience, we brought on a production manager who was able to turn our sketches and ideas into samples and eventually production pieces. Through the experience of working with her for several seasons, we acquainted ourselves with the process of designing and assembling a garment – from developing patterns and knitting our own fabrics to producing samples and production runs. This upcoming Fall 2009 season represents the first time we’ve developed a collection start to finish on our own, which is something we’re especially proud of.

Where do your ideas come from? Talk us through the process from conception to finished product.
A collection, for us, is conceived differently than how other designers may operate. Rather than starting with a mood/theme or some sort of muse, we always examine carefully what every man’s seasonal wardrobe should consist of, and we set off to develop pieces that we feel every man needs. We are a small line and don’t have the luxury of spending money on developing concept pieces that may or may not make it into production. Thus, every piece we develop must serve a purpose and must hold its own amongst our other offerings both from a design and a sales perspective. Another foundation of our brand’s aesthetic is versatility: every one of our pieces must have the capability of being dressed up or worn casually. This may limit the types of pieces we are able to develop, but it also gives the line a consistency that we hope our customers can appreciate.

What is signature or special about 3sixteen pieces?
It’s always hard for us to personally pinpoint what is special about our pieces, but I’ve been told that our attention to detail and construction are standout features. Almost the entire collection is handmade in the USA in factories where Johan and I can carefully monitor quality control. When we first started expanding the range, we used overseas factories which were able to achieve competitive pricepoints but caused us to have long turnaround times for collection development as well as high minimums that we weren’t able to reach yet. Manufacturing stateside has solved many of those problems for us and has also allowed us to build relationships with and support what many consider to be a dying art in the US – quality garment construction. The fashion district in New York City has a fraction of the manufacturers it did in the past, but we’re still able to find and support people who do incredible work that we’re sure will last a long time. And we’ve found that each of them have a fascinating history behind what they’ve been doing for so long – hearing about it inspires us to pursue longevity in what we do. So perhaps it’s our story and our journey as a brand that might set our pieces apart from others.

What are your goals for 2009? And goals for the future?
We’re eager to debut our Fall 2009 collection this August, and have several exciting campaigns in place to help promote the release over the upcoming months. Other than that, we’re working hard on future seasons and developing more creative products and collaborative pieces that fit in with the lifestyle releases that we’ve put together so far (footwear, toiletries, etc). For the future, we honestly don’t know what it holds, but we intend to keep on learning and growing as individuals and designers – we hope that the work we produce will be indicative of our journey and how we’re evolving every day.