Q- What inspired you to start your streetwear brand, and how does the culture of London influence your designs?
A- So actually, before I owned LYKZ, I had an anime brand, but that restricted me in terms of what type of clothes I could create. Obviously, an anime brand caters to the anime crowd, so I really wanted to venture out and be more creative with my work.
So that's the beginning motivation to create my own brand. But actually growing up, not being able to afford a designer, I wanted to create a brand which I could call my own, which I could wear out myself and be proud of. So I actually thought of the Yakuza, first things first you're thinking Yakuza is a crime syndicate. But then I did more research into it and found out about the game called oichokabu, which is basically like baccarat, where 893, which in Japanese phonetically sounds as Yakuza. The worst number in the game. It is crazy because in the Yakuza's beginnings, they started off as lonely people, but through time, they raised a lot of capital and power. This is what I want to share to other people. Obviously, the Yakuza is in their way, but other people can do it in their own way as well. So that's where the slogan “another underdog story” comes from because everyone has their own path.
Everyone wants to make it to the top. So, as a person who’s been doubted in life, you can't give up. And I really want to put that into my brand and make that known through my clothing. Obviously, right now, at the beginning steps, I haven't really done that. In the future, I need to implement that in my brand story. But that's essentially why I created a brand.
Growing up in London, being surrounded by this picture that black people equals gangs. The only way to make it out is through gangs. Black people have to have a hustler mindset in London. And if you don't hustle, you're not making it out. And it's true. It's harder for us to even, I'm gonna say this as a black male. It's hard for us to provide when there's so much placed on us. Coming from London, the centre of everything. You're given the best opportunities as a black person, the best of the opportunities.
And it kind of ties in with the whole story of being the underdog as a Londoner you have to work your way up. You always have to keep on working and working, and that's something that influences my designs in a way. For example, I took the lyrics from 50 Cent ‘Hate It Or Love It’. I took that since it's hip-hop culture and implemented it into one of my hoodies, and now I see people just wearing them around with it saying, “Hate It or Love It, the underdog’s on top”, and it’s kind of like a message to people saying don’t doubt us.
Q- How do you balance staying true to your brand's identity while also keeping up with ever-changing trends in the streetwear industry?
A- To answer that question, I make clothes that I'd like to wear. That's why I focus on the quality of it and how it looks on an everyday basis. And when looking at streetwear trends, it doesn't really have that much of an impact on my brand or my brand identity. I've set out the vision for my brand and what I want to do with it, and I'm just going to follow that. I want to build a community for my brand that's loyal to the brand and understands our values. So, my brand identity isn't shown by my brand but by my community.
Q- What challenges have you faced in scaling your brand, particularly in a city as competitive as London, and how have you overcome them?
A- I do agree London is very competitive, it has a lot of creativity behind it. There are a lot of brands popping up, but there are also a lot of brands dying out. The biggest challenge in scaling a brand is being able to actually connect to people. People can like a product, but making people part ways with their money is a separate thing.
My friend once told me that making people part ways with their money is good, but anything beyond that is just a blessing. You really have to treat customers as your own people. They are the ones who are building a community, and this is why I want to create a community. So they understand that if they shop at LYKZ, they are getting the best quality. They're representing our brand identity. And that's why I'm trying to create more of a brand story through my marketing techniques.
Q- What is a moment or success story your brand has had since you started?
A- I'd say a moment of success would be, in fact, the first drop. I didn't really expect to sell out like I did at all. I ordered around 20 to 30 tracksuits and it surprised me how quickly they sold out and how people started asking for more.
Even now, people are still asking for the tracksuits from back then. There's been a lot of sales since then, and even though that's technically that's the second most successful drop so far, there's been another one that was much more successful than that, but that really set the stepping stones for my brand and its kind of my motivation to carry on doing it.
