OGR PUNX Breaks Down Its Rebellious Spirit & The Apparel Industry In Exclusive Interview

Our magazine’s motto ‘Fuck your standards’ started as a cultural movement and kind of social resistance, much like punk music. Though this may not have been our intention, the same occurred to Malcolm McLaren, the promoter and manager of popular punk rock and new wave bands such as Sex Pistols, Bow Wow Wow, New York Dolls, and the like. Well, one might be able to appreciate our modesty. In fact, McLaren was an early commercial architect of the punk subculture. One of our proteges, Marc T’Syen, has been a friend of McLaren ever since, and later on, he landed a job as Cecil Beaton’s assistant. We live in a small world. God damn!

Well, enough with the brag! Besides the music itself, the very first aspect of punk that catches the eye is the hairstyles and fashion. And that’s what led us to today’s interview. We’ve recently chatted with the one and only OGR Punx, those guys fighting against whatnot, low-quality products, genetically modified seeds or dangerous chemicals, poor labor conditions in garment factories, and animal testing.

If you could tell us more about OGR Punx. What it is today and what it started as. What’s been the journey from your first day to today?

Danciu: Like almost everything/business it started as a joke and started from the bottom. We knew nothing about garments, cotton, stitches, or embroidery. But as time passed, we learned so many things about all of the above.

Even though the idea started in 2018, it was only in 2022 that we really got to work. Since then, we have changed a lot of things in our process. Starting with our “release into the world” name, we rebranded a few times and now we’re OGR PUNX and we’re here to stay. We did bad screen printing, we misspelled words on t-shirts, and we made some pretty expensive mistakes.

In the early days, we used mock-ups for our product photos & social media. Meanwhile, Cosmin started photography and now all our photos are done in-house. So, we have made a lot of changes from day one ‘til now. Hopefully good changes. But there’s one thing that hasn’t changed since day one. And that’s our love & use of ORGANIC COTTON. It’s simply the best.

Fane: We strive to become a streetwear brand for people who do things their own way and to offer the same quality products that you might get from high-priced brands but without the huge price tag.

In a world filled with SHEIN and TEMU, here you are making great custom stuff-why?

Danciu: First of all, we wanted to change the mentality of people buying those really really bad “brand with the fruits” tees or merchandise from bands just because they are cheap. And cheap usually doesn’t mean quality.

Fane: We’re not yet to the level where we can do truly custom stuff, sourcing quality materials is a huge pain because most Romanian companies want to work with you if you order thousands. However, each garment we create has to be high quality and can stand the test of time. I don’t see the point in buying a tee and scrapping it after you wash it 2 times.

What are some positive trends you see in the apparel industry?

Danciu: Last year I went on a tour around Europe with Cold Brats and I saw a couple of bands that were using the same organic cotton t-shirts that we also use. And that’s pretty encouraging because besides being made from organic or recycled cotton they are also certified as GOTS ( It guarantees that cotton is organically grown without the use of genetically modified seeds or dangerous chemicals), OEKO-TEX (standards for the assessment of harmful substances in fabrics), PETA-approved-VEGAN (I guess this one speaks for itself) and Fair Wear Foundation (FWF) which is an independent organization that works with apparel brands, garment workers and textile industry influencers to improve labor conditions in garment factories.

Fane: Heh, yeah, that sort of green or eco-friendly approach is (as always) more visible in the West, I feel like we’re still 10-20 years behind. Even though upcycling is beginning to take hold in Romanian society today, we’re still not going to get rid of the fast fashion, “three euros for a tee” companies.

What are the emerging trends and technologies in the custom printing and manufacturing industry that can revolutionize product creation and delivery?

Fane: I saw something really cool a while ago. It’s a machine that can print highly detailed silkscreen for screen printing. Basically, you can feed it a photo and it will create a one-color screenprint template and the result is so clear and detailed. However, it’s expensive AF and it’s not quite worth the price yet.

Tell us more about your collab with Perky Sean.

Fane: As we said, we do collabs with various local artists. The current collaborative collection came naturally to us and Mihai.

After we worked together on the Tourist tees and hoodies, we found out that he’s a huge fan of streetwear so we decided to give a capsule collection a try. We wanted to take a step forward in the quality of our products and we went for some really heavyweight hoodies and sweatshirts. You can even say it’s Carhartt quality without the steep price tag.

By the way, Mihai is also now working with us part-time (well, we all work part-time) as a creative director & graphic designer.

What would people be surprised to learn about you?

Danciu: We also listen to other genres of music besides punk, haha.

Fane: I like listening to Taylor Swift when playing World of Warcraft.

What was the craziest idea you had – whether feasible or not – that you really wanted to go forward with?

Fane: To have the OGR Punx house, an entire house just for us where we can do our daily work. Open up a showroom, organize merch fests, and beer tastings, and maybe even have a live concert space.

Guilty pleasure time. What would you say are some of your current most guilty pleasures? All is fair game-food, books, video games, or even cock n’ ball torture, whatever floats your boat. Let us have it.

Danciu: Blast music really loud when I drive and I don’t own a BMW. (laughs)

Fane: Definitely shaorma, I have my personal 2024 challenge to try 50 different shaormas/gyros. It would be great if I could do that without getting fat, but that’s a whole different story (laughs).

Who among you has the oddest work habits? We’ve heard it all while interviewing bands on tour, from ice t-bottle collections to guerilla-tactic swimming missions in a random hotel. How does OGR Punx rank?

Fane: Who really works anymore in 2024? We have AIs now that do all the work for us. (laughs) All jokes aside, I can’t really start working without hitting the gym first or if my desk is full of random stuff. I first have to clean it and only then can I start working.

What other creative outputs do you engage in that we may not suspect?

Danciu: I used to play in some bands a few years ago and sometimes I still play my guitar alone in my room. Lol.

Fane: I like to cook and I can also fix anything that’s already working.

I want to ask you about the bands that have continuously influenced you, but also about new bands and new records that you think are exciting in the punk/rock scene. What do you look at and say “That’s the future of this scene”?

Danciu: Personally, music has always had a big influence on me, so I have a lot of bands that I love. It would take ages to list them all.

I’ve been on the local scene now for 16 years or so and I have seen a lot of bands come and go.
Still, right now these are (some) of the local bands that people should definitely show’em love & support by buying their music/merch and of course, listening to their music: Avoid Humanity, Tourist, Plant, Church of Cthulhu, Take No More, Benza Minții, Bluebell Creeper, Grinder, Crossbone, Leather Brigade, Slicer, Mossman, Rotheads, Jahmolxes, King Solomon, Mars and Daemons, Taxawal, D.E.N.I.S., Roadkill Soda, Vandaal, Tragic and Avoid Evrthin.

I dunno what to say about the future of the scene, but these bands are present and are making music, and playing shows right now and we should enjoy them now, not later or in the future. And by showing support you encourage and help them to do more music and more shows which hopefully will lead to seeing these bands in the future. Our future.

What I’d love to see in our local scene is less hate towards a genre(s) of music, less homophobia, less racism, sexism, and other „-isms”. And definitely more unity in our small scene. Enjoying music & having fun (in the pit or not) should be for everyone.

Fane: Fusion, that’s the future of this scene. Like the Take No More reunion show where they had a death metal band (Rotheads) and then a trap duo ($uicidJego$) as supporting acts before their hardcore show.

Can you provide a sneak peek at OGR Punx’s plans?

Danciu: Some new collabs coming soon. And maybe a small local festival. MAYBE.