Q: I know you read a lot and watch a range of films and television shows with different elements you take from creating. I’d like to start by asking what have you taken inspiration from lately in the world?

A: A lot of my inspiration lately comes from music, specifically hip hop. I’ve been fascinated with music since I was a child as my mom listened to a lot of soul at the time (70’s). Heading into my teens, I fell in love with Hip-Hop and B-Boy culture – I’ve been in love ever since. Lately, I listen to a lot of Nipsey Hussle as his philosophy of life being a Marathon really resonates with me.

Q: How has fashion transcended into you wanting to pursue your own brand?

A: It goes back to B-Boy culture – Adidas track suits, Adidas Superstars, blue jeans, Kangol hats – the style in combination with music and dance just took clothing to another level for me. Coming out of junior high school and into high school, I always wanted to look fresh. Naturally, when a family member first talked to me years later about possibly starting up a brand, I jumped on the idea.

Q: I’ve seen you grow and become a very smart creative over time. With all that I have to ask, how have you felt from the moment we started 02 Veedá up until now in terms of your creative evolution?

A: Fashion should be an endless process. I feel I evolve with every design or concept I’ve either created or helped create because of the new experiences I encounter. A few years ago when we began 02 Veedá,I started just trying to create as many designs as came to mind. Nowadays, I really put thought into the emotion I want the piece(s) to convey.

Q: It’s hard to say since we’re both fairly new and our ideas are always changing but could you explain what you see 02 Veedá becoming in the future in terms of where its place could be in the next few years?

A: I’d really like 02 Veedá to be a brand that elicits emotions. I used to want our brand to tell a story. However, it seems like a lot of fashion brands talk about their fashion “telling stories” to the extent that the theme now feels a bit watered down. Now I want us to tell the world what we feel – joy, happiness, excitement, fear, and gloom – the complete spectrum of emotions.

Q: Since we grew up with similar stories of finding fashion, what do you feel like was the most impactful start to helping YOU realize your love for fashion?

A: Again, I go back to Hip-Hop and B-Boy culture. This is when I realized the symbiotic relationship between music and fashion. Wind breaker, jeans, and some Adidas...here let me get this piece of cardboard, let me break out my boom box, insert the tape with Hashim’s Al-Naafiysh (The Soul), press play, and let heaven into the room.


Q: What are your favorite things you're learning about yourself as you immerse yourself deeper into the art of making clothes?

A: I think there is 02 things that are my favorite. First and foremost, I absolutely love the process of unlearning through learning. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve made mistakes because “I thought I knew” only to find out otherwise. In this industry or any other industry, key knowledge can be the difference between a successful startup and a failing line. The other thing I’m learning about myself is that I’m capable of putting myself in uncomfortable positions and still flourish. Like Martin Margiela, I definitely prefer and feel more comfortable behind the scenes. It’s not a necessity for me to be front and center because I am more team-oriented than I am individualistic but I definitely have learned that certain situations call for a front and center approach.

Q: Are there subjects or themes you’d like to touch on in future drops that you feel would make the world see things differently, whether it’s something that's already been done or not?

A: The zeitgeist of fashion is universal...you see it in New York one day, a week later it’s in France. You see it in London one day, next week it’s in Los Angeles. This has been going on since the early 1900’s with the advent of film and has exploded now with the birth of social media. So I think it’s safe to say that at this point in fashion, most if not all subjects have been touched in one way or another.The key is to use fashion innovation along with particular themes to let the world see one’s vision. A good example of this is using digitized fashion in the metaverse to convey a theme. Digitized fashion is limitless in design so themes can be explored infinitely. Can you imagine conveying the theme of t(w)ogetherness in the metaverse by creating, say, a digital t-shirt that through contact in said metaverse, stamped the 02 Veedá logo on their clothing? Travelers through the metaverse would wonder that that logo is and through research, would come across our website which embodies the notion that everything that happens, happens twogether.

Q: Is there advice you can offer to people our age or something you’re still figuring out that could help other young creatives?

A: There is a book I want to read by Charlie Mackesy called “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse”.It’s a book of illustrations and handwriting that gives simple yet complex advice with a touch of humor.There is one illustration that stands out to me. The Boy is talking to The Horse and says, “I can’t see a way through”. The horse asks, “Can you see the next step?” The Boy responds, “Yes”. The Horse then tells the boy, “Just take that”. It’s so simple and profound. Sometimes we get caught up in how long the journey is, especially when you spend a good portion looking down the road at how long you still have to go...like looking up at Mt.Everest from basecamp.But rather than looking up or down the road, look right in front of you for the next step, and take that.Hopefully, if you are doing something you are passionate about, the journey will be remarkable, and the views from the top, incredible.