Today we’d like to introduce you to Geoffrey Day Jr.
Hi Geoffrey, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I never wanted to own a clothing brand. I never thought that I would start one either. I’ve always been focused on my basketball career, but late senior year of high school (2020), I started to mess around with the idea of creating clothes. I am born and raised in the 217. Chicago & Springfield, Illinois. Where I’m from it’s all about survival and being known for the wrong things. So my family & I moved to Houston in 2017, but those 15 years I spent in Illinois will forever be my favorite. Fast forward, I remember in January of 2020, I went around all my classes asking people if they liked the name Ambrose or Bkarri. A lot of people picked Bkarri, and I personally didn’t mind which word got chosen. I also did not know that Bkarri would become such a critical word to me in the future. Covid hit in the middle of my senior year, right when my high school team was on our playoff run, and so from March to June, I was stuck trying to figure out what to do with all this downtime. Then on July 19th, 2020, I finally put into action the word Bkarri and incorporated it into a new clothing brand that you now know as Bkarri Fashion. The first official release date was August 13th though, my dad’s birthday. How I came up with the word Bkarri by looking up foreign words that meant “unique,” and Bakarri was one of the words in the language Basque. An isolated language. It doesn’t belong to any existing languages or cultures and so that makes it an even more perfect word for me. I shortened it to “Bkarri,” and I can relate to this word so much because it IS and MEANS unique. So I used that meaning to build my brand and make it relatable to people. “Being different isn’t enough; I’d rather be UNIQUE.” That’s our motto, and stand by it fully. I started out creating simple designs with unique meanings and subliminal messages. But I wasn’t getting a lot of sales, so in January 2021, I started working on a unique piece, which is now a staple of my brand come every black history month. Which is my “Beautiful Melanin” Hoodie. With different shades of melanin faces all over the hoodie it quickly gained traction and started to change the direction of my brand for the better. After that, I then lost my creative drive. I went almost the rest of that year not really making sales or hitting my marks. The pieces I dropped were mediocre and average. Around December 2021, I thought about getting rid of my brand, trashing it, or giving it to someone else to try and make it blow. But then in January of 2022, I did pre-orders for my black history month and started seeing growth again. I started to make real money, and I could see that I was making a UNIQUE impact on people’s closets. So I got back into my creative lab, and in April 2022, I released one of my biggest drops to this day. My All-Over shorts. These shorts were released in multiple colorways and had a unique design and feel to them; plus this was my first time testing the waters of “non-shrinkable” clothing. Which is now a trademark of my brand. These shorts carried me through the summer and became a fan favorite fast. It dove me right into my #1 selling item of all time that I released in October of 2022. The “Statement” Hoodie. The statement hoodie skyrocketed my sales and changed my brand’s identity forever. It is a non-shrinkable, non-stainable, puff-printed hoodie. That on the front says “Bkarri” with stars, and on the back says “You can’t afford this unique shit” with stars in a pattern. Because of my all-over shorts, and my statement hoodie, I was able to end the year with 920 sales and an average order value of $45. It pushed me into February 2023, where I sold out of my valentines hoodie twice and dropped limited sweatsuits that also sold out quickly. My impact on the Houston community grew as well from October 2022-present day (May 2023). I recently through a basketball event with a $200 cash prize with small business vendors in attendance on May 6th. Fully funded by my clothing brand, I had all the players of the event in my brand’s shorts and allowed small businesses to set up shop to grow their brands as well. I never in my life would’ve thought that at the age of 20, I would be throwing a basketball event in Houston nonetheless. Yet it happened, and I’m happy it did, honestly. I have come a long way though honestly, and being a kid from the 217 makes me even happier.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It hasn’t been easy at all. July 2020-January 10th, 2021, I barely made sales. Barely did any marketing. I didn’t even take my own brand seriously. On January 11th 2021-March 2021, I finally saw some real money from my brand. April 2021-January 2022, I lost my passion. I didn’t know what I was doing; I had no direction and was just money hungry. January 2022 was a great start to a new direction of my brand actually standing by the meaning of UNIQUE. Then April 2022-July 2022, I was productive with my shorts drop and grew mentally with my brand as I learned what it takes to make a good customer base and brand image. October 2022-March 2023. Greatest run in my brand’s history so far, and I truly got to reap the fruits of my labor now I know what it takes to make a good brand and be impactful on the community and develop loyal customers.
I say the biggest struggle I faced was consistency. I used to make one good design and think that would carry me instead of just constantly working on my craft and trying to be different every day. If I was consistent, every day, working on something new for my brand, then I would be way bigger than I am now. But I am humble enough to know I was lazy in the beginning, and in order to have a strong brand, you have to have a strong mind.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Bkarri Fashion?
Bkarri Fashion is a clothing brand. Bkarri means unique in the language Basque, an isolated language that doesn’t belong to any others or any culture. I am the graphic designer, marketing lead, and CEO of the brand. What sets my brand apart from others is the purpose behind it. Every design is unique in the fact that they all tell different stories if you truly pay attention to the designs on each piece. Then the quality is always unique because we specialize in making clothes that won’t shrink or don’t stain. Then my marketing is crazy good, I send out at least 525 emails a week, and I constantly am messaging brand ambassadors or posting on social media getting the word out about old pieces or brand favorites. What my brand offers is a unique feeling. You will always have people staring and wishing they had what you are wearing whenever you put on some Bkarri. “Being different isn’t enough. I’d rather be UNIQUE!”
Lastly, I am most proud of the fact that my brand has stayed true to itself. I have never really gained too much inspiration from other brands; everything I create or come up with is strictly from meditating and probably overthinking lol. But it pays off in the end, and I will continue to stay UNIQUE in my creative process.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
Growing up, I was always told I was a natural-born leader. I was always naturally smart and gifted in sports but also a hard head. I loved to write books and stories, as well as play a sport with my friends. I tried to stay out of trouble, but me and trouble were in a toxic relationship, and I always found myself doing something I wasn’t supposed to. Personality-wise, I was told to be pretty mean and off-Standish. When you got to know me or if I felt like you were a good person that I would turn into one of the funniest, most chill people you know though. I never really liked running with the crowd though, and depending on who you asked, I was weird or lame. That never bothered me though, because since I was an athlete and I was good compared to other guards in the city, I was always gonna be cool or accepted by some people.
Pricing:
- Everything under $100
- Yet the quality makes it really worth $100+
Contact Info:
- Website: bkarrifashion.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bkarrifashionofficial/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/bkarrif?lang=en
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BkarriFashion
Image Credits
Loyla Rose
