BRADEN SPEEDS UP / STUFF
Gabriel Boote started selling vintage clothes and shoes online at 13. Now 17, he has his own clothing label and is gaining recognition abroad, including from American rappers.
At the age of 13, Gabriel Boote realized that his dream of becoming a rapper was “unrealistic”.
But it wasn’t the end of the world; teenage online forays into rap culture fueled another obsession: fashion.
“I started doing rap clothes,” said Boote, now 17. “Fashion and rap go hand in hand.”
The teenager, who lives in Wakefield, south of Nelson, started researching the brands, looking for everything, entering the whole world of it. “Every little detail, I’m so invested,” he said.
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BRADEN SPEEDS UP / STUFF
Boote said he sees himself more as a creative director than a designer, involved in all creative aspects of the brand.
Around the same time, looking for some cash for some clothes, Boote scoured op shops, boutiques and online listings for vintage clothes, which he sold online.
By the age of 16, he had raised enough capital to start something of his own and Archangel was born.
“I wanted to have something of my own and work,” Boote said.
By watching online tutorials and scouring the internet for information, Boote built his small brand from scratch. He found a designer and manufacturer and persuaded a friend to model the T-shirts he created.
He then worked in promotion, teaching the intricacies of Instagram advertising and pitching producers and rappers.
Delivered/Gabriel Boote
Boote taught himself about design, branding and promotion by searching online resources. His friend Kaleb Sainty modeled the shirts for him.
One was Nino Andretti, a producer and DJ from New Jersey. By the time Andretti posted on his social media, the 50 shirts Boote had produced had sold out.
A second batch of shirts was also looted – including one that Boote had reserved for himself, which he intended to wear for the interview, he said.
Boote has also had support from other rappers, including Kiwi musician Melodownz, who sent him an encouraging message after receiving two Archangel T-shirts.
Boote spent hours watching videos of people who inspired him, especially Louis Vuitton’s Virgil Abloh, who passed away in 2021.
Like Abloh, Boote sees himself more as a creative director than a designer, involved in all creative aspects of the fashion label, he said.
Boote has one year left at Waimea College. She then intends to study at a fashion design school in New York.
After that?
“A job at a big fashion house: like Givenchy or Louis Vuitton.”
You can find Boote on Instagram at @gabrielboote.
BRADEN SPEEDS UP / STUFF
With one more year of school left, New York is next, and Boote is ready and willing to take a bite out of the Big Apple.