Dec 3, 2013 | By Tim Stoddart

Getting to Know New Lyfe Clothing Co.

Addiction & Recovery News

new lyfe clothing ownerI recently caught up with owner and founder of New Lyfe Clothing Co. – Josh Butcher. Josh is a young man who found recovery 5 1/2 years ago. With the emergence and mainstream influence that recovery has had, it is no surprise that recovery has found its way into the fashion world. New Lyfe Clothing is one of the leaders in this market. Their message and following grows on a daily basis.

I sat down with Josh because we wanted to know more about his brand, and his vision behind his clothing line. It excites us to see recovery being a part of pop culture, and Josh is at the forefront of the expressive art that it is fashion.

Josh and I had a long conversation, and his answers have been paraphrased to better fit this article. I quoted Josh directly to portray the casual nature of our conversation. Josh has given his approval on all the content, so believe us when we say all the answers, come right from the mind of Josh.

Josh, thanks so much for sitting down with me today. I can’t tell you how impressed I am with the explosion of your clothing line.

Not a problem, and thank you for the compliment. It has been a wild ride so far. I’m just grateful to be noticed by a site as known and respected as Sober Nation. It’s awesome to be here.

Let’s get right to it.

Q – Starting with the obvious question. What inspired you to start New Lyfe Clothing Co.?

A – New Lyfe Clothing is an idea that my partner and I came up in casual conversation. We’ve always wanted to spread the word of recovery in our own way. Everyone has their own opinion on how people in recovery should live and what they should or shouldn’t do. New Lyfe Clothing is a representation of us as individuals in recovery. We may not do things by the “book” so to speak – hints the Menace to Sobriety and Original Gangster Tees – but we live honest lives and do our best everyday to help another person whether it’s in or out of recovery. We want people to understand that there’s multiple ways to get and stay sober and no particular way is the only way. Our line is inspired by those views and opinions. We want all the people that are in some kind of recovery to be able to wear their thoughts and opinions for the world to see.

Q – You are a pretty new company, and it seems as if the response has been very quick and you have built a strong fan base. Did you ever expect for this to happen so fast?

A – We are definitely very new and inexperienced in this industry, but we try to speak for the people that don’t have a chance to make a t-shirt and get it in front of thousands of people that have the same views and opinions as we do. Our fan base is literally the most important thing to us. We didn’t get in this to be rich or make tons of money, all we honestly care about is people getting the chance to be apart of something larger than themselves and that’s what the “Bee Team” is all about. All the people that join the “Bee Team” get to be apart of what we do and it doesn’t cost them anything and there’s not a sign up fee, all we want is people to be proud of who they are and what they’ve become. The Bee Team is a little play on words expressing the idea that you can “Bee – anything you want to be.” Bee Team members get a lifetime 20% discount code to have and share with their friends and family.

To be honest we had no clue people would actually buy our shit. It’s becoming more of a full time job and it was only supposed to be a part time project we would do for fun. We’ve had to hire someone to keep up with the orders and making sure all the designs are done on time. My number is still on the website and I get about 5 calls a day from people who need to change something or just say thanks for doing what we do, it’s a bad-ass feeling!

Q – The message of sobriety seems subtle in your designs. Other popular clothing lines portray their message of sobriety very loudly. Is that something you did on purpose?

A – Some designs are subtle and some are pretty straight forward, but we don’t see this as just a “sober clothing line”. There’s a good avenue with the sober clothing but when you close off your options by labeling yourself it limits your potential for success. We plan on always giving everyone in recovery a voice but we will also make designs that don’t scream sobriety, but hint towards more of a positive lifestyle with healthy thoughts and actions.

Q – Tell me what New Lyfe means to you.

A – New Lyfe Clothing is literally exactly who we are. We have our own way of doing things and our own opinions that we refuse to change. We are a wild group of people who live life to the fullest. We don’t shy away from going out and partying just like we used to (minus the drugs and alcohol obviously) and we think that you can do anything you want to do and still have fun in recovery. Some may not think we are always appropriate, but like I said before we are honest people who do the right thing, but we are definitely rebels and we have never stuck to the “rules”. That’s just how we are and that’s what makes us New Lyfe.

Now that I think about it though, it’s more than that. Yes, it is a way for us to express ourselves, but really… it’s a way to show people that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. My partner and I, yes we got sober. We know what it is like to be beaten down and totally hopeless, but not everyone shares our experience. Other people may have depression, or may have lost a loved one, who knows? The point is we all go through hardship and New Lyfe Clothing is our representation that nothing is permanent, and anyone can find their path to a new life and a new way of living.

Q – Tell me about your thoughts on some other Recovery Clothing Companies. How do you measure up with your competition?

A – Are you trying to get me in trouble? *laughs* You want me to talk shit on our competition don’t you? haha I bet that would make a good article.

Well I am a fan of a little controversy here and there, but what I mean by that is that within the few recovery based clothing lines, you all have very different cultures. For instance, Party Sober seems to speak a lot to the hardcore, punk rock community. Then Sober is Sexy really seems to speak to the west coast scene. Who do you think your market is in comparison?

A – Okay that is a fair question. You know… we don’t worry too much about what other people are doing. We know the guys at Party Sober well, they’re real cool guys. We don’t know anything about Sober is Sexy, it seems like they are doing well I guess. I think as far as style, we speak more to the street wear and urban market. That would still not really be fair for me to say though because we get pictures from stay at home Moms and Dad’s with their kids, skaters, both boys and girls young and old. I don’t think it would be fair to label us because our response from our fans has been anything but narrow.

I think that is what we are most proud of, and why recovery is so cool. Men, women, young, old, black white and purple… it seems as if people from all walks of life have connected with what we are doing. The pictures we get sent to us on instagram cover the whole country, the whole world actually. We’ve shipped to every continent except Antarctica.  It’s wild to think how far this idea as come. It just goes to show that if you get sober… you literally can do anything. You can chase your dreams!

I think that is the perfect ending to a great interview. Thanks Josh.

Thank You

Follow New Lyfe Clothing on Instagram – @newlyfeclothing

Like New Lyfe Clothing on Facebook – facebook.com/newlyfeclothing

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