The first idea for OILL originated in 2018. I was heavily inspired by the loud rising streetwear culture, which was driven by a few new upcoming names and brands. I started with customizing my pieces, mainly shoes and jeans jackets by adding details, distressing them, or painting on these products. Through that, I very often started crossing out things. First, I just liked the look of it, but suddenly I realized that crossing out a word in a sentence or even just the word can give the word or sentence a whole different meaning.

 

I was amazed by this idea, and I tried to develop it further.

 

I tried my first brand name but could not pull together a name that has meaning on its own and the idea of crossing something out to give it a whole new meaning.

 

This was the moment the name OILL was born. OILL means creating meaningfulness for the ones who desire it the most from the scarce resources of the world. Mark your cross OX.

 

This idea must be broken down. OILL itself originates from my last name: Oellig. However, OILL links back to the Idea of the product itself “Oil”. This product “Oil” itself is a product which is very scarce but needed by nearly every person in the world. Furthermore, you cannot live without “Oil”, meaning the sentence is to create a deep-rooted desire inside a human being. What is meant by meaningfulness in clothing? Meaningfulness can be expressed through many features a piece of clothing can hold. It could be the way it is put together, the artwork or print that is being placed on the fabric, or even through the embroidery. There are many ways to give a piece of clothing meaningfulness and that is why clothing is a piece of art itself. All these features and details are pulled together to describe a moment, reaction, or feeling, which in the end causes the clothing to be meaningful to a person.

 

The other idea of marking your cross simply resembles a checklist with all the things you want to have to link back to the desire that has been described beforehand. It works perfectly in balance with the name itself since the letter “O” is the circle, you would cross out on a checklist.

 

OILL – creating meaningfulness for the ones who desire it the most. Mark your cross. OX – Max Oellig 2021