Keeping It Personal
The decision to separate the clothing from Pauzeradio took shape in early June 2025. Within days, the name and URL were set and work on the site began. What followed was a slower, less predictable process than expected, with delays along the way. The Pauzewear website eventually launched in mid-September, and that extra time proved valuable in ways I didn’t fully appreciate at the start.
Looking back, I kept returning to the same thought throughout the year: Pauzewear only makes sense when it stays human.
The brand was never meant to feel distant or overproduced. From the beginning, it was about staying involved, making considered decisions, and not rushing things for the sake of appearances. Giving Pauzewear its own creative space felt necessary too. Separating the clothing from Pauzeradio wasn’t about leaving that world behind, but about allowing freedom to look beyond roots reggae and dub, and draw inspiration from a wider range of influences.
Pauzeradio will always be rooted in roots reggae and dub, but Pauzewear needed room to evolve — still influenced by music, but open to a wider range of inspiration. Keeping things personal also meant keeping them flexible, letting the brand grow without being boxed into a single reference point.
Building It by Hand
A lot of that connection came from building the Pauzewear website myself and continuing to adjust it as the year went on. Writing the descriptions, changing layouts, testing and rethinking details helped me understand the brand more clearly. That hands-on approach naturally extended to the visual side too, keeping me close to how Pauzewear is seen and experienced.
The site doesn’t feel finished, and I don’t think it ever should. Working this way meant knowing when to hold back. Not everything needs to be pushed out immediately. Pauzewear doesn’t need to shout to be heard.
Choosing Focus Over Comfort
One of the harder decisions this year was stepping back from doing my radio show, The Unique Reggae Mix Show, on Pauzeradio.com, which has been a huge part of my life for nineteen years. Pauzeradio itself has always been more than just a website — it’s been a long-running creative platform and a place of connection.
Pausing the show wasn’t easy, but time and energy are limited. If Pauzewear was going to grow with any real depth, it needed space. That decision wasn’t about replacing one thing with another, but about choosing focus over familiarity.
From Idea to Collection
Designing was new territory for me in 2025, but creativity has always been part of my life through DJing, radio, poetry, and a long-standing love for art. Moving into design felt like a shift in form rather than a break from that way of thinking.
Watching an idea move from a thought, to a test product, and eventually into a collection gives the final piece weight. That process mirrors how I’ve always worked creatively — slowly, with intention — and it stops things from feeling disposable. (Learn more about our process).
Learning Through Collaboration
Working with Pascal began long before Pauzewear existed. He originally designed the Pauzeradio logo back in 2009, and that working relationship carried forward naturally. When clothing under the Pauzeradio name started in 2024, the designs came from ongoing conversations. Ideas I brought forward, ideas Pascal suggested, and plenty of back-and-forth about what felt right. Pascal’s wife, Suzanne, was part of those discussions too, offering her perspective as things took shape. The process was built on trust developed over time.
Suzanne has also been my photographer for around the same length of time, which carried through into the visual side of things. That familiarity helped keep everything aligned. When Pauzewear launched, the first drops were built around that shared foundation, and much of the stock still reflects it.
Learning from Pascal’s years of design experience shaped how I approached things. Over time, I began applying those lessons myself. Introducing my own ideas has been gradual, with collections like Burner marking the start of that shift rather than a sudden change.That balance remains important. I’ll continue working with Pascal, keep developing my own designs, and stay open to collaborating with others when it feels right.
Pauzewear isn’t about a single voice — it’s about letting ideas grow naturally.
Patience, Progress, and Pace
If there was one real challenge in 2025, it was patience. Progress often felt quiet, but those moments helped clarify what Pauzewear isn’t trying to be. It doesn’t exist to keep up. It exists to move at its own pace.
By the end of the year, the brand feels settled. Not finished, and not rushed. Just honest.
Looking Ahead
Going into 2026, the focus stays the same: refine, evolve, and keep paying attention to the details that matter. Pauzewear will keep growing, but never at the expense of the human touch that shaped it.
This is still the beginning — and that feels like the right place to be.
— Gav Pauze
Founder, Pauzewear
