About Us

Van der Merwe

The Story of VDM

VDM was born from a simple spark of inspiration in 2023. At just 13 years old, I got the idea to start creating clothing when my auntie walked in wearing a custom T-shirt she made herself using an iron and heat transfer paper from Kmart. Seeing what she created, I immediately saw an opportunity. With her help, I made my first ever design, printed it onto transfer paper at her workplace, and pressed it onto a blank shirt using a household iron. That first shirt was the start of something bigger.

After making a few pieces this way, we decided to take things more seriously. We bought our first heat press for $130 off eBay and began producing custom clothing. My grandma, who had a background in selling handmade clothing and signage back in South Africa, joined in to help. Every time we got an order, we would create a gang sheet — a sheet filled with multiple customer designs — and send it off to our printing supplier. Once we received the printed sheets, we would manually cut out each design and carefully heat-press them onto garments, one by one.

By mid-2024, VDM began to shift focus. Rather than making custom orders for others, we leaned into creating our own original designs — pieces that felt authentic to us. We spent countless days learning Photoshop, experimenting with ideas, and developing our own creative style. We found that the designs we loved most were the ones that reflected what we found cool, raw, and meaningful.

Today, VDM is more than just a custom-printing business. It’s a brand. It draws heavy inspiration from the ancient, artistic, and brutal aesthetics of predate Greece and Rome, blended with modern vintage streetwear culture. We create limited, story-driven pieces for people who value creativity, meaning, and individuality in what they wear.

VDM still proudly offers custom DTF printing and will soon expand into embroidery, staying connected to our roots by working with my grandma at local markets. But our vision is bigger: to grow VDM across Australia and eventually around the world — all while staying true to our journey, our creativity, and the spirit that started it all.

The Process

Idea, Creation, Product

The Idea

Before every design there is an idea or inspiration that leads to the creation of the artwork. This ensures each design is unique, one of a kind, and only from VDM.

Creation

Each piece is either drawn in a lined sketchbook or created straight on the laptop. If the design is drawn, it is either linked with pen or pencil. we do not use erasers, if a mistake is made we continue on, this makes sure our designs look unique and sometimes messy and gives the work a piece or ourselves. If the design is assembled on the laptop, we use the latest versions of photoshop, lightroom, and Illustrator to not limit our creative expertise.

The Final Product

After multiple days of final touches, peer feedback and small details, the design is finalised. printed on to the garment and is ready for purchase.