TRIPLE FIVE SOUL
WEBSITE
Copy by Kwyn Bader
1998 - 2002
Best friends with its founder Camella Ehlke, Kwyn was urban clothier Triple Five’s “house writer” in the mid to late 90’s. The first reading of his screenplay Loving Jezebel was held in the NY Lafayette St. store, where actors Jeffrey Wright and Wood Harris could be seen in Triple Five sweatshirts reading in the store’s front window. And he shot part of the film in Triple Five’s design loft in Brooklyn. When Camella uploaded her first website she called on Kwyn to write its content. They collaborated on the store history and her biography, part of which is included below...
TRIPLE 5 SOUL WEBSITE - CAMELLA EHLKE BIO by Kwyn Bader
Camella's openness to new ideas and techniques keeps Triple 5 steps ahead of its competition. The brand is acknowledged on the street today as one of the most innovative and imitated in urban apparel. Camella resists the temptation to minimize risk with the onset of commercial success, continuing to grow and take on influences which manifest themselves in Triple 5's designs and trademark logos.
She constantly reinvents herself through the inspiration of her friends, the glamour and grime of downtown New York and the music that you can almost hear playing out of her gear. And her early inspirations continue to find themselves expressed in the present. Fascinated with the construction of tech wear, she studied the stitching and design of everything from parachutes to sailing gear, a self-education that influences the practicality and innovation of many of the designs she sells today.
With an international consciousness, she sees that hip-hop style can absorb colors from 60's modern art, the pop culture of today's Japan, the art design and graphic elements of her favorite foreign films and elements of European streetwear like All Saints, Fire and Ice, G-Star, as well as high style designers like Miaki.
Always looking forward, Triple 5 plans to open a store in Osaka and two new ladies boutiques to compliment the stores in Soho and Shibuya. Camella envisions a future for her company in which customers drink soy latte in a Triple 5 Cafe, buy a Mos Def record endorsed by Triple 5 Sounds and pick up plates and lamps in Triple 5 Home - where her own love of a different kind of design will be showcased. She will continue grow as a designer into places that defy categorization and plans to make Triple 5 an ever evolving lifestyle choice for the next millennium.