We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful SmokePhi Apparel . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with SmokePhi below.
Hi SmokePhi, thanks for joining us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?
Our story begins with a group of young college students who were looking to make a name for themselves. These like-minded individuals shared a bond/friendship that exemplified a brotherhood, so they had to come up with a group name to exemplify the same. Searching for a name, the creator of the Group: Brian Minor was given a suggestion by a family member to use the name “Smoke Phi”. The word Smoke would represent the idea of being “smoking hot” or “on fire,” which translates to someone being very good at something or someone/something being very “dope” or “cool”. The word Phi would give the group’s name a fraternity feel as well as serving as a play on words: Smoke Phi (Fye or Fire).
SmokePhi, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Smoke Phi Apparel is a black owned, unisex streetwear clothing brand. It’s designs are based on an idea personifying fruits, giving them relatable characteristics our customers can identify with. Items include everything from short-sleeve and long-sleeve tees, fleece shorts, hoodies, sweatshirts, joggers, trucker hats, socks and more.
Co founder of Smoke Phi Apparel (SPA), Jalen Johnson, was instrumental in the creation of the brands colorful & eye-popping designs. Highlighting Florida culture & the state’s roll in the citrus industry, the first logos created were orange and lemon characters (the orange being the state’s fruit). Our cool fruit characters display different expressions, which gives our customers a variety of colors and designs to choose from. We pride ourselves on being a brand any & everyone can get into.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
The brand consists of a plethora of designs, all having a unique and distinct characteristic that sets itself apart from the others. Every character or design contains a different color way and expression which catches a lot of our clientele’s attention.
We also like to highlight seasonal themes and certain movements of awareness with our designs. For example, we have our Surf Club Orange that caters to the idea of summer time, beaches or spring break. We even have our Vibe Cool logo which has an image of a young boy meditating. This design promotes peace and mental health awareness amongst our communities.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Since the pandemic began we’ve placed a huge focus on social media as a way to promote our brand. We like to post memes, videos and holiday challenges on our platforms (Facebook, TikTok and Instagram) to keep our audience engaged. Staying consistent is vital when it comes to building a fan base on social media especially when people are always in their phones checking updates or notifications. The brand’s page also serves as a means of contact for followers who want to purchase an item.
Furthermore staying consistent and putting in groundwork helped us in growing our fan base as well as building our reputation in our market. Our ambassador Brian Sigler was instrumental in opening the door to us being a leading vendor at pop up events. We try to attend 2-3 pop up events a month while doing at least one photo shoot every 3 months. We’ve networked with many people from attending pop ups and many of our supporters appreciate our consistency. The photo shoots help present our apparel in a professional light, because every clothing company should have pictures to market and advertise their items. Between our social media, pop up events and photo shoots, our audience will never get bored with our work. Our target audience is mostly made up of people between the ages of 18-40, so staying active is a must when it comes to building our reputation and keeping the customer’s attention.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.smokephiapparel.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/smokephiapparel?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smokephiapparel
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCJ_BZlpkpFV8gosDUu_rBhQ
- Other: https://linktr.ee/Smokephiapparel
Image Credits
Photographer: Captain Canon Photography LLC Model: Dasiah Aldridge