A CONVERSATION WITH DAVID TURNER

A Conversation with David Turner, one of Nashville’s most exciting and groundbreaking designers. In 2023, David first began designing as a side project and a way to repurpose the stacks of vintage clothing crowding his house.
Since then he’s been breathing new life into grungy, timeworn military bags, feedsacks, painter tarps, and forgotten textiles. No longer exclusively a vintage seller under the name @muted_pine, David is making headway with is eponymous brand.
He doesn’t sketch—he’s developed an eye for modern silhouettes and sourcing archived materials, to construct work shirts, jackets, hats, shorts, and his signature wide-leg and flared pants. While many of our favorite brands chase the same looks at scale, David is creating the real thing on his own—authentic, raw, yet functional & built to last.

CLARK BROWN: Tell me about David Turner, why go by your name instead of a brand name.

DAVID TURNER: I feel like having a brand name that's not your name, more so labels you not so much as a designer, but as a brand. So if you ever decide to change away from the kind of product that you're offering, I feel like it's harder to do that with a brand name than if you were operating as your own name the whole time, and operating with your name as an individual more attention, so you can kind of keep that until you die really….

When I was selling t-shirts under Muted Pine, I was only able to sell a certain type of t-shirt. If I didn't do that, people didn’t like it.  They were only looking at me as Muted Pine like he just offers crazy shirts. There was no person behind it to them, once you add personality it’s buying into me and not just into these desirable shirts. They didn't care about me trying something new that I thought was cool. I could see myself being part of a brand one day but right now I'm more of an individual creator who does 1 of 1 pieces.

CB: What was the process of transitioning from selling vintage as Muted Pine to actually making clothes?

DT: I started sewing in 2023 and was making clothes for about a year while I was still selling vintage. Then I decided to go separate from branding myself as a vintage seller into being more of a designer. That being said, I've been referencing and using vintage clothes. All of my fabrics are second hand or deadstock vintage materials.

CB: When people ask what kinds of clothes you make, what do you tell them?

DT: The idea when I first started making clothes is doing shit nobody’s ever seen before. Then I came to realize that it’s impossible and any modern clothing that we enjoy, it's all stemmed from good functional clothing. 

A lot of modern brands reference vintage silhouettes that were created with the intention of functionality. So once you realize that, you have no other goal than to make really high quality clothing. That’s my new goal. I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel, I differentiate myself with functionality using unique fabrics. Unique fabrics and trims to match my vibe–more grungy, almost dirty vibe. I make clothing that already feels well worn.

A lot of designer brands try, but they can't do it at large production scale. I just couldn’t see a brand literally ripping apart thousands of military bags, feedsacks, painter tarps, vintage textiles, that you know have these signs of real use. I couldn’t see an established brand doing that. At the same time from a consumer standpoint, it’s not always a good thing because the old clothes will wear fast and the cotton will break down. So it’s a balance because these things should be tested—what material is efficient and going to hold up needs to be considered when producing functional clothing

CB: What’s the plan for this year? After a successful runway last year what are you looking to do next? More events/runways? 

DT: I started this year with an editorial shoot, all styled how I curated it, made a 12-jacket collection that some cool people wore, got a new sewing machine that’s really helping my production. 

I'm really trying to get into more style shoots, incorporating my clothes. More editorial, lookbook type shoots, just having more of those that highlight the clothing with less distractions. I’m also thinking about another event, but not sure what that would look like yet—maybe later in the year. I don’t know. But be on the lookout.

CB: I loved being part of the runway in October, the whole event was fire. What were some positive takeaways for you personally?

DT: Yeah, it looked great from a legitimate standpoint. It’s opened the door for a lot of stuff that I didn’t even realize because it added validity to what I do and worked for. 

It taught me a ton about just fashion and design in general, because before that, bro, I was not taking it as seriously and did not think of myself as a designer. I didn’t even know much about trying to do an event or runway like that. It takes a ton of work and planning and coordination. But that's also the main reason why it went so well. 

Once I planned it and started realizing how many people were involved I tried my hardest to make it close to seamless and I feel like I did that and am really proud of it. Having 3 people (Tim and Yoni) involved also made it go much smoother.

CB: Ideally where do you eventually want to sell your clothes?

DT: My realistic goal is to make a bunch of clothes and consign them around town. I’ve consigned some at Music City Vintage and sold pieces from my collection at a few markets around the city. The broader goal would be to build a strong online presence and be able to sell out. 

Most importantly, I want to build an organic fan base. I’d rather take my time to truly create than to sponsor all my Instagram ads and over promote myself. That leads to just a bunch of followers with not enough actual customers. I want it to be a thing that I do for a long time, I don’t just want to be one of these Tik Tok brands. 

The ultimate goal for me is to design things while production is somewhere else creating exactly what the specifications of my designs are.

CB: Who inspires you both as designers and as people? Do you feel that you’re in a community that appreciates and motivates you? 

DT: Designer wise it has to be Rick Owens. He says in an interview, don't sketch clothes—just make clothes, and learn how to make different kinds of clothes. It’s the most real thing to me because I feel like a ton of people say they have brands or whatever, and they don't know how to make clothes themselves.

But more immediately, there’s a kid in Michigan named Maddox Spencer who people were sending me his clothes saying he copied me. I was kinda like alright I didn’t invent some of this stuff, and his stuff is really good, it’s really well made.

There's a lot of like Japanese denim brands or like just pages and they'll post like archival denim.  They’ll run the entire sheet of denim over with a sewing machine. It's pretty cool. Almost looks like multidimensional denim and I just see that stuff and I'm like, fire. They’ll also do like insane washes and distressing. It’s unreal to think how long they spend on some of these pants. 

Adam Small’s another good one, Trevor Gorji who started Fugazi, anybody my age that’s doing it I respect and it inspires me.

CB: What’s the vision for the next few years? Do you want to stay based in Nashville or move elsewhere? 

I want to independently operate as a designer who makes clothes for now. Then, still do that but also during the day work with a brand where I'm able to get my hands and feet wet in the corporate design world, without having to fully commit to my own brand.

I've experienced some failure with online drops, and I feel like having a brand flopping is just more of a financial commitment. I'd rather try to go work for an already existing brand and then, you know, just grow more as a designer being around clothes. I want clothing and designing to be a career, and I’m not in a huge rush to reach the points I want to reach right now. But I don’t see myself wanting to do much else. 

CB: How would you describe your planning process for creating? I know you don’t sketch much or have everything laid out before so how do you make things with the structure that you do?

DT: I think I'm doing the whole design process completely wrong because I feel like sketching is somewhat a luxury in terms of the design process and production. 

If I'm trying to make clothes for the public, one of my first goals would be to have it produced. If I have an idea of a cotton set for example. In order for me to see it and visualize it, I don’t second guess I just make it. 

To make a collection of stuff, I would give myself about a month to do that. And then all of it would be based on the seasons that are coming up. I'm even leaning away from small batch scales of clothes and just taking more time to intentionally design. which is hard on a low budget, but I look at it as an art form and a form of income. Because you want to start making money faster, but sometimes it just takes a little bit of time. 

Shop the new collection September 3rd on bydavidturner.com