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Shirt Heads: Copson St.

True or false: Maria Falbo started Copson St. after seeing some pictures of near-naked beefcake models in a German calendar?

I've lost count of the times that I've seen something that would look amazing on a t-shirt and psyched myself up into a state of near frenzy about how I'm going to buy a load of screen-printing equipment, fuck the big brands, and just go it alone on a one-man mission towards the perfect tee. Unfortunately, I'm lazy and forgetful, so those plans always fizzle out roughly 15 minutes after the initial delusion. Maria Falbo is either far more organized or far more reckless than me, and started Copson St., her t-shirt company, on a whim after seeing some funny photos of near-naked beefcake models in a German calendar.

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Copson St. t-shirt, vintage bracelets and ring, Topshop tights

VICE: Hey Maria. So when and why did Copson St. start?
Maria Falbo: It started in 2009. I took a year out of university in Manchester to go and film for a skate video in Barcelona and started the Copson St. blog in my spare time, just to have somewhere to put everything that I liked. Then I saw this calendar in Berlin called Masculine which had all these hench dudes in it and it made me laugh so I thought it would be good on a t-shirt. The Copson St. blog was already pretty established, so I thought I'd just release the shirts with that same name.

I love how that Masculine shirt makes guys who wear it look totally gay. Was that the idea?
Yeah. Well, it wasn't, but it completely turned out that way, because you had all the girl skaters wearing it at the time who, stereotypically, are quite butch-looking girls, so they'd wear it and look like they were into these beefcake guys. Then the skaters wore it and everyone was saying it was a massively homo look.

I like the tropical vibes on your blog.
Yeah? Well, it's just anything I like, but it seems like I only like tropical stuff. It's what I live for in a weird, geeky way. If there was gonna be a soundtrack for Copson St. it would probably be the Pet Shop Boys track "Domino Dancing". The video for that was one of the first posts on the blog.

But none of your t-shirts look remotely tropical?
Ha ha, I know. We're planning a big spring/summer launch with a new collection, new website, everything, which is all ongoing, so the tropical vibe will be working its way into the SS12 for sure.

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I see you're big into De La Soul t-shirts. Who else rocks your boat? 
Well, I guess there's always loads of streetwear influences, like Norse Projects and Warriors Of Radness. I'm definitely into color, but then I also really like that sort of Jil Sander-style minimalism, which I try to incorporate sometimes, but mainly color. Anything that's got a lot of color is good with me.

Copson St. t-shirt, Topshop tights, vintage bracelets and ring Do you do any topical stuff?
Yeah, when the royal wedding was announced we did aFresh Prince t-shirt of William looking dapper in a suit with a pink background. It's always kind of cultural, just whatever pops up, you know?

What about something from the Arab Spring? Or is none of it t-shirt worthy.
Nope, too dark—it's not tropical enough. I can't see anyone walking round with, like, a picture of Gaddafi's dead face on it, you know what I mean? Maybe we'll do one of the Pet Shop Boys, although, they're super-cheesy.

What about the Shando t-shirt? The portrait on there is a painting of a friend by a friend, right? 
Yeah, it's done by a friend of mine Sophie Titherington, who's an illustrator. One of our friends, Shandana, can be a bit of a mess-head, and Sophie drew her like that alcoholic, animal drunk in the corner for a uni project and I just really liked the picture.  Normally, if we're were making a film or a lookbook, or whatever, it's just our friends chipping in for free and doing what they love.

Copson St. t-shirt, H&M shorts, Topshop tights, vintage bracelets and ring; Copson St. t-shirt, Uniqlo jeans, vintage bracelet

PHOTOS: HARRISON THANE
STYLING: SAM VOULTERS
ASSISTANT: SCARLETT VALENTINE
MODELS: ZAINA AND HARRY