Today we’d like to introduce you to Khari Bernard Tilbury.
Khari, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Starting making T-shirts’ when I was 19, my second year of college at Lamar University in Beaumont. It’s was my first business venture and help me understand what I wanted to do in life. I went to the fashion organization to build a team around my Tshirt company and I recruited four students that’s where older to help me organize and sell my Tshirt designs. I even organized my own social events locally to bring awareness to my brand, where I invited other artists to showcase their talents as well as mine. I did three events where I sold my brand T-shirts and invited artists until I eventually left college and moved back to Houston, where I picked up a sewing machine. I taught myself how to sew my own T-shirts first out of fabric from local fabric stores, Joanna’s and High Fashion. I marketed myself by showing the process of making a shirt online Through social media then wearing it out to the parties around the city where my peers took notice to my style and I was able to promote my brand to them. Me doing this, I was able to peak people’s interest on social media and connect with other fashion designers from around the nation.
I was inspired by a guy from New Orleans that was a fashion designer/customized and reached out to him to link. He invited me to New Orleans, where I modeled for him in his city-wide fashion show and from there, my Instagram following started to rise. I and the guy Tvche from N.O bounced ideas and were able to create a lot of cool stuff that people really liked at the time. I traveled around to New York to experience NYFW and got casted to model in some big shows like HOODBYAIR Fall 2015. Gigs like that gave me a lot of exposure and I was able to see the behind the scenes of a big fashion brand. Those experiences motivated me and inspired me to design more.
From there, I was able to create this comic patched jean pants and Swae Lee from Rae sremmurd took notice and reached out to me to wear some of my pieces. I was able to connect with him at sass in Austin and he wore my jeans at a big festival like the Ulta Festival in Florida 2016. From there, I designed many pieces that did well for my brand, catching the attention of other big artists like SouljaBoy, YoungThug, Desiigner, and More. In 2019 I moved to Los angles to learn more about my craft in production and manufacturing and was able to gain a lot of knowledge of the industry. Today I’m working on my next 2020 Fall collection, where I’m taking everything I learned so far into an affordable collection I can share with the world and appreciate.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The road hasn’t been smooth and still isn’t smooth but from the start, I was willing to go through whatever to learn and grow in the field. In the beginning, it was tough leaning how to create graphics on Photoshop. After making a T-shirt throughout college, I wanted to grow and making something with better quality and more complex design. So I reached out to a guy I thought was a production manager at the time from Dallas. I sent him a box full of references and $1000 to no return of my emails or phone calls. That was a big disappointment in my journey but help inspire the idea of me picking up a sewing machine. I didn’t was to depend on a production manager at manufacturing anymore so teaching myself was my only option at the time.
Looking back, I’m glad I did. Another bump in the road was wanted to make heavier garments like jackets and jeans and not being able to because I wasn’t knowledgeable of the clothing manufacturing business. I moved to LA, intentionally trying to learn that process and looking back at it now. I’m glad I moved to learn that skill in the industry. The latest bump in my road, which makes to journey that less smooth is that I live in Houston currently and my production in based in LA, so I been communicating back n forth without being hands-on with the material and production process. This has been my struggle lately and I’ve realized I have to be hand on everyday with my brand if I expect to keep expanding my business.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
My company and brand is a fashion brand that makes men’s and woman’s clothing. I specialize in coming up with unique designs and fabrics that I put together in making new looks and styles. I’m known for my comic style designs as well as unique basics that you can wear everyday. What sets me apart is that I create clothing that have never been seen before using unique fabrics and silhouettes. What I am most proud of as a brand is the level of quality in production. I am able to bring as well as my network of people I’m connected with through fashion design.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My mother and little brother Kavin defiantly deserve credit to why I am where I’m am and why I am who I am today. My mother gave me my first initial investment to start making T-shirts in college. And my brother Kavin for always telling me as a kid that I looked fly in anything I put on and that I can create anything and make it look good.
Pricing:
- T-shirts range from $30 to $90
- Sweat pants and hoodies range from $75 to $150
- Jackets and Jeans range from $200 to $400
Contact Info:
- Website: KhariBernard.com
- Phone: 8324650985
- Email: khari@kharibernard.com
- Instagram: @kharibernard & @kharibernarddesigns
- Twitter: Twitter.com/kharibernard
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