When it comes to designing a clothing line, creating a brand image and successfully executing a vision, creativity, critical thinking and collaboration is crucial. For 14 Black male teens and one auspicious Black young woman, these elements for triumph aided in cultivating their esteemed street-wear, unisex, minimalistic brand, Industry Plant.
Industry Plant is the brainchild of the Columbus Fashion Alliance and the My Brother’s Keeper summer internship program. An industry plant embodies a positive presence in the fashion space.
“Think of the Little Nas Xs and think of the Cardi Bs, even like these people that are intentionally placed into a surrounding to be disruptive and disrupt the culture and push conversations and agendas forward,” Bobby Couch, the future of fashion marketing lead for the brand, said.
However, though those influential figures are defined as an “industry plant,” the term frequently carries a negative connotation.
“An industry plant is often labeled as a liability or something that you should proceed with caution when approaching,” Couch said.
As a result, the interns and the team have attempted to play a part in reforming the interpretation of this term.
Industry Plant was established in just 12 weeks and was open as a pop-up-shop designed for the kids and by the kids, on North High Street in Columbus for a running total of five days (Aug. 9-Aug. 13). During these five days, if a customer was between the ages of 14 and 21, they would receive a complimentary item once registered online at industryplant.org. To retain social buzz around the brand and its products, Industry Plant also gifted PR packages and seeding boxes to different local influencers to create a “hypebeast movement around it,” Couch said.
The collaborative team consisted of a marketing lead, design lead, merchandising lead, a production lead and a program director. In addition, there were videographers, photographers and media positions as well as, obviously, the interns. In addition to being the future of fashion marketing lead, Couch serves a hybrid role as both a mentor and educator. As an educator, Couch’s lessons are very much curriculum-based, yet the kids are still being paid for an enriching experience.
Reggie Thomas — better known as Oso — worked on the marketing team, Kenttwon Brown worked on the merchandising team and Joshua Dailey was the lead designer. These young men are just three of the 15 interns who helped aid in producing a clothing line and brand image as a summer project which, in the end, turned into something greater.
About 65 applicants applied through CFA, with only 15 teens, ranging anywhere from 14-19 years old, earning positions.
“Each kid is so different and has such a different experience and asset as well as even lifestyle,” Couch said.
These lifestyle differences included living in different origins of Columbus — from Upper Arlington and Gahanna to inner city Columbus.
“We've really intertwined what Columbus is in a scope, but they all have one common denominator, and (that’s that) they're all African American,” Couch said.
These kids, though they were able to intertwine and reflect their connection through their work, they still faced social adversities, such as discovering how to remove one’s ego and also “focus(ing) on the whole being greater than the sum of its parts,” Couch said. “But the biggest challenges are definitely creating that raw organic connection and figuring out what that chemistry is. It's almost like building a boy band in a way.”
“It’s a brotherhood. We all had each other's back. We all had our ups and downs, but we always stuck to the bigger project that needed to be done,” said Brown.
“One thing I learned is that nothing's about you. It's about the bigger picture, especially when you're working on a brand,” Dailey said.
Before the program, Oso had no previous experience with marketing. He had identified as a stylist but, by working through the entirety of the collection, came to realize how essential marketing is in the fashion industry.
“It’s a key factor in any successful brand. I’ve learned a lot of marketing tactics. There’s things I wouldn’t have thought of before the program, just being a marketer,” said Oso. “So, now I have some knowledge and know that I need to gain a little more knowledge on marketing before I get into my own stuff outside of the program.”
As for Brown, one of the merchant leads, he worked at Aldo in the past and, therefore, was familiar with floor setting and also was proficient in strategic product placement. Despite this, he still grounded new skills and abilities, including understanding the amount of inventory that is taken into account and steamed before preparing a floor set.
The same goes for Dailey. “I’ve been designing for a minute, but I didn't know there (were) that many levels to it really. Like when it comes to creating a whole collection, I've never (designed) clothes or anything like that. I normally just do branding,” he said.
Dailey took on a lot of responsibility at the mere age of 17 by being the design lead. He is credited with producing the majority of the product designs. His job was “getting ideas formatted” and “collecting all the ideas from our other departments, and then compressing them and then getting a final product.”
By gaining real-life work force and, in this case, merchandising, designing and marketing experience, the interns were able to build a network, develop problem-solving skills, advance efficiency and discover what it is they want to do with their prospective talents.
“We have made connections that will suffice for what we need if we wanted to start our own brand, or if we get called onto a project ... We’ve made so many crazy connections that, without this program, could have (taken) us years to make,” Oso said. “The biggest takeaway I got from this is that it is not really even about who you know; it's about who knows you and what they know you for, right?”
When it comes to the clothing pieces themselves, a lot of the interns’ sense of style and individuality influenced the final designs. Oso, Brown and Dailey have all always been acquainted with trends, not always necessarily by following them but, instead, dressing themselves in what made them feel most comfortable.
For example, Oso said he always seemed to do the opposite of what society and surrounding teens were telling him to do, and even went as far to define himself as a “weirdo,” when it comes to dress.
“Before big pants was cool, I was rocking big pants, and people was like, ‘Bro, what are you doing? Skinnies is in, bro.’ And I'm just like, ‘Nah, bro. I'm rocking my big pants,’” Oso said. “If I could find a way to rock it, and nobody else is rocking it, I'm gonna get it, and I'm gonna make it drip.”
Industry Plant values and embodies both the individuality and the versatility Oso described, which Dailey said is seen in the products Industry Plant created as a team. When looking at any article of clothing, some people are going to want to wear and buy it, and others aren’t.
When it came to the brand’s box tees, Dailey knew some customers would love them, and others would have a totally different perspective. Most importantly, though, “You really have to be comfortable in your own skin. Especially as a man wearing a box tee, you have to be comfortable or else it just will not look good. It doesn't matter how you're built. If you're not comfortable and confident, it's not gonna work,” Dailey said.
A lot of the items feature the saying “Made to Grow,” which is fitting for Industry Plant, as these grass-rooted, organic interns have been watered by creativity from mentors and inspirations of theirs. In addition, Couch said “Made to Grow” relates to the expansion process of Columbus to what many think of as a farm town to an unassailable fashion hub.
“We’re made to grow and constantly evolve,” Couch said, which is what the interns undeniably accomplished from the beginning of summer to the end.
The future of Industry Plant is currently unknown, as it was the first project of its kind to happen under the administration of My Brother’s Keeper. It’s a capsule collection, but no doubt will those kids who already manage their own brand, and the ones who will go on to do so, prevail.
Couch said this isn’t happening anywhere else.
“Columbus is kind of the guinea pig test market for a faction summer camp. So, the hope is that this becomes something that is not franchised out but essentially scaled to other cities and other states in the future,” Couch said. “So, why not future fashion near future fashionL Chicago, Atlanta, whichever cities have a need or a niche for this type of interest in demographic?”
The experience these 15 determined, resourceful Black individuals received was unimaginable, and the metamorphosis they underwent was even more extraordinary.
“It all paid off. It’s all worth it. At the end of the day, we did it. We succeeded,” Oso said. “Stay tuned, man. Stay tuned.”
