In our new ‘Natural Born Influencers’ series, we interview young creative talents who are taking the world by storm, presented by Oakley. Jono Friend wears the Oakley Latch, available at Oakley O stores, online and at Hype DC.

If you’ve been to a music festival over the past few years, it’s very likely that you’ve seen a VOT shirt or hat pop up amongst the colourful crowd. It’s a brand with humble beginnings – starting on the South Coast before infiltrating wardrobes across Australia.

Jono Friend is the brains behind the brand, and his ambition and passion for fashion means that he has a global takeover within his sights. Aside from spreading the VOT gospel across the world, he’s also picked up a gig creating content for e-fashion giant ASOS and working with some of the world’s top brands.

Now gearing up for the release of yet another VOT collection, we took some time with Jono at his home office in Bondi and the surrounding streets to talk about his story, style and what the future holds:

When do you think was the turning point where you started to take VOT more seriously as a business rather than a hobby?

I would have to say the turning point, was the day I quit my full time job as a carpenter, I knew what I wanted to be and swinging hammers definitely wasn’t it.

When was the first time you saw a VOT shirt on a celebrity and freaked out?

The first time I saw a celebrity in some VOT gear would have to of been Alison Wonderland or What so Not, both have been a massive help in building what we are today.

You guys also have an IRL store in Darlinghurst, an area that has definitely had its ups and downs in terms of retail spaces and foot traffic. How do you find the area when running a business?

We are actually out of the shop in Darlinghurst as it was only meant to be a pop up, we ended up there for over 7 months, we were having way too much fun with Storeroom Vintage to leave. In every retail store there’s always going to be up and down days, we aimed to be more so a destination shop for people to come hang & chill out. We have massive love for the Storeroom guys, they’re still there so go and say hi!

Who are your dream collaborators? Designers, musicians, politicans, anyone?

I recently got the time to go check out Tokyo, in that time I came across the designer Jun Takahashi. Jun’s collections with UNDERCOVER (John Undercover) are insane, I swear he is a year ahead of everyone else in what’s to come. He would definitely be my dream collaborator.

How would you describe the average VOT customer?

The average VOT customer would be someone in their 20-somethings or younger, who are interested in style. Someone who doesn’t wear all black all day erryday.

You also do some work for ASOS. What has working in a global, fast-paced e-commerce site taught you about business?

I don’t have one bad thing to say about ASOS, the company is amazing and the people that work for ASOS are even better. I have definitely learnt a lot already. There is no stopping within a massive e-commerce site like ASOS.com. Working with ASOS has shown me to try and be nice to everyone you’re around, whether you work with them or not, be friendly it helps build a community around your brand & that’s exactly what you want.

ASOS has a pretty wide range of brands under their umbrella. What are your favourites and which have influenced your work with VOT?

Some of my favourites what have to be their in-house brands ASOS & Reclaimed Vintage – their style of clean lines, refined patterns & materials. Always on point!

What are some of the trends you’re enjoying in 2016 thus far?

Thus far I’m loving Scandi style, keeping it neat, but I always tend to swing back to a bit of a skater street style look.

What are your long terms goals for VOT and also personally?

We have one stocklist in NYC but My long term goal for VOT would have to be really making a few big moves over there, that’s where we want to be. My good friend Barron lives in New York so I have a few things in the works. It’s not really a long term one, but for myself I want to knuckle down and spend some quality time with my family down the coast & amazing girlfriend here in Sydney before I jet back overseas in August.

We are about to drop our 3rd collection – Pastel Party. This collection is filled with wearable day to day garments but it’s also a bit of fun with a matching denim jacket and cropped leg trousers. Pastel Party has been designed around a four colour pastel scheme, designed in within some collage graphics.