Today we’d like to introduce you to Dejeę Jenkins and Ryan Lewis.
Dejeę and Ryan, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
From 2012 to 2014, Ryan & I would go to parties all over the Los Angeles area. We would plan and write down the outfits we wanted to wear to the parties or events. The goal was to look completely different from any & everyone at the party. Â1 was just a slogan or phrase we would scream at parties or throw up in pictures. It was just A “US” thing, for our little circle. On a trip to the Bahamas in 2015, Ryan had an idea to put “our” phrase Â1 on a Cap. After we did that everyone from man, woman, to child was asking for an Â1 cap. So, January 1st, 2016, we released five colors in the Â1 caps. From there on, we just kept releasing pieces for the people have. We never planned on this, we never talked about this, it’s just fell in our lap. We always love fashion and love to dress differently from the rest. So, it’s destined that this happened to us. We just want to inspire everyone, it’s okay to be different, to be weird, to be you, to be Â1!
Has it been a smooth road?
There are challenges and obstacles every day. Because there are so many other fashion designers and brands coming out every day in Los Angeles Alone. There’s the challenge of coming up with new ideas that another brand probably has already done or came out with already. There’s the challenge of finances, having enough money to still pay bills at home and fund the thing we love, as in our brand. We wouldn’t pay our phone bill or car note because we had to fund more hats or hoodies for anxious customers.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the UpsidedownÂ1 story. Tell us more about it.
UpsidedownÂ1 is a clothing brand. Ryan & I do it All, come up with Ideas, from Logo, colors, fabric, style. We’re known for the Upsidedown Â1 Logo across the state of California. What set us apart from the rest, is we are not scared to be ourselves. True to ourselves, and don’t care what people think about us. We wanna give the people Freedom to be who they wanna be. That’s what Â1 is all about. Being YOU. We are most proud of all walks of life wearing our clothes. It’s just unbelievable seeing people wearing what we created. They could’ve chosen to wear Gucci or supreme, but they chose us. That’s what we are happy and proud of. It just keeps up moving forward to create more and new clothes.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
What would change in the industry in the next decade is very hard to guess. Because the Fashion industry changes every day, a new trend or style can happened over night. But to give a wild guess, people are going back towards the late 90s early 2000s look. The millennium Tour, got people in they creative bag lol.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://upsidedowna1.us/
- Email: a1upsidedowna1@gmail.com
- Instagram: Upsidedowna1
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