Darshil Shah - about the man who eats Boulders for Breakfast
Darshil Shah
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Giri Giri
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Darshil Shah ⇢ Giri Giri ⇢
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Photo: Andy Donohoe
I was born and brought up in India and moved to the UK 15 years ago. I started graphic design in the UK and then went on to work as an assistant photographer for a while, always bordering creativity and creative industry.
When I started climbing 5/6 years ago I was so drawn to it because I felt like I was struggling to fit in, being from a different culture. Climbing was the place it didn't matter.
I would get annoyed with daily questions being ‘Where are you from? What is your accent?’ - I was never asked this in a climbing wall, instead I was asked, ‘What climb are you trying? Do you have beta for this route?’ and suddenly I felt accepted.
It was here that coming up with a brand which would represent this climbing culture became important to me.
How did you start climbing?
I was doing an internship in Cologne Germany and a friend of mine knew I was into going to the gym and asked me if I’d like to come with him bouldering, he thought I’d like it (what a great judge of character).
I was in a new city trying new things so I felt like it would be a great experience. I was instantly hooked.
I came back to London. The first thing I did was unpack, the second was looking for a climbing wall.
Photo: Andy Donohoe
What sparked you to start Giri Giri
There are so many brands representing sports such as surfing and skateboarding - you see these everywhere, and it struck me that there weren’t many/any brands that represented the culture of climbing/bouldering.
Later in London came this massive wave of interest, bouldering walls opening up all around London, people talking about it, you would go onto trains and see climbing shoes hanging from peoples bags and I would think - ‘This is definitely a culture which needs addressing.’
T-shirts are just merch, it was more about that culture that I felt needed representation.
Tell us about the name Giri Giri.
Initially when we started we were 3 partners and through the planning process of the brand I came up with the word Giri which is the sanskrit for Mountain
My friends said Giri [on its own] sounded too serious, Giri Giri sounded a bit more playful and fun.
I liked it instantly but first thought that I would do the smart thing of checking what it meant first, before naming the brand after something inappropriate. It turned out to be a Japanese [mimic] word meaning - ‘barely’ or ‘by the skin of your teeth’ - and I loved it, it just fit.
About The Design
About The Design
Photo: Andy Donohoe
So how did you both come to work on this project together?
[Kate's Story]
I was looking for ways to contribute to projects with illustration at the time and I kept seeing this great [Send It] T-shirt in every wall I would climb in. I did a bit of digging and after seeing all of the bits he had put together I could already tell that Darshil’s brand was going somewhere.
I decided to touch base and asked if he was open to collaborations and we were having a climb and a coffee in the next week talking about his ideas.
[Darshils Story]
So I actually found Kate before I had even started with Giri Giri and had seen her do some illustrations for a competition.
I was really into isometric designs at the time and the designs I saw of Kate’s were such cool versions of this! I was straight away adding the @sketchysends account and sent a message telling her I really loved her work - this was on my personal account before the Giri Giri account existed.
I had the initial thought of working with Kate back then and so the fact that she came to me was like it was meant to happen.
Photo: Andy Donohoe
So who’s idea was the Boulders for Breakfast T-shirt?
[Kate] The idea was all Darshil!
[Darshil] But then Kate built on it. The first draft was ‘I eat Boulders for Breakfast’ but it wasn’t looking and sounding right so it became shorter… and then the design process started.
[Kate] We went through a lot of versions! I had previously made designs of climbing holds and it was Darshil who put two and two together and thought of the cereal concept. He was really open about the process, saying there was no timeline, but because I can be an anxious person I started sending design after design. I’d send him one, he’d start reviewing it and before the feedback came back to me I would send another. I probably ended up really stressing him out [both laugh]
[Darshil]The best part was that they were all amazing contenders.
So what then made you settle on this design?
Photo: Andy Donohoe
[Kate] I think because Darshil finally said Stop! [both laugh again]
Honestly at the beginning I think we were both trying to find our feet with a combined style, because I don’t really have my own style. I like trying different things.
I have actually put the other designs on my instagram because I love them all. In the end we both met up in Yonder, cut it down, and really nailed down one design.
Do you remember when you thought of the design idea?
[Darshil] I was asked this not long ago and managed to pinpoint where it came from.
I remember watching an old video of Andrew MacFarlane with Louis [Parkinson @captaincutloose], and I believe the thumbnail for the video was ‘He eats Comp wall for breakfast’ or something like that. I remember thinking ‘phwoar’, and I think that line just stayed there and manifested until I was trying to come up with something for a design idea.
Photo: Andy Donohoe
Are you going to keep working together in the future?
[At the same time] Absolutely, for sure!
[Kate] I had such a great time.
[Darshil] I think it was a great learning curve for me as I’ve never done a collaboration like this before. Sometimes designers can completely take over your design idea, this feels very give and take. I liked that she [Kate] took my idea and worked with me to make something very cool that we both felt such satisfaction with in the end.
See more Giri Giri - IG handle - @girigiriapparel
Kate - Freelance Illustrator - IG handle - @sketchy.sends
Darshil - Graphic Designer - IG handle - @darshilshah
All photography - Andy Donohoe - @andydonohoephoto
