We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ken Williams. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ken below.

Hi Ken, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

My mission is to take everyone on a nostalgic journey back to the 90’s and 2000’s. Whereas the only thing we had to do is live and hangout with friends. We get so wrapped up in what is happening right now, that we often forget to do things that make us happy and experience life. So I want SummerOf96 to bring that happiness. I want people to feel warm in the inside when they hear, see or even wear SummerOf96 clothing.

Ken, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

SummerOf96 was created from my desire to find good quality clothing in my size. I’m a big guy and most of the clothing I could find was either too tight, too thin, or cheaply made. I really missed vintage styles that were heavy weight, durable, and over sized. SummerOf96 is a brand that brings all those qualities back. While SummerOf96 is a clothing brand, it’s also much more. It’s a lifestyle that encompasses everything I do. From the cars I drive to my style of photography, I live my life like everyday is in the Summer of 96.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Competition and value are all subjective. When I first began establishing my art and my brand, I compared myself to others alot. I would look at other photographers who were popular on social media and clothing brands that would sell out in one day. It was discouraging because I knew that my quality was exponentially better. Briana told me one day that I determine who my competition is, no one else can do that. It took me a minute to understand what she meant but now I live by it. My brand provides quality and value so I can’t compare myself with people who are just working to make money. I’m working to build a legacy, a movement.

We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.

Yes I do my own embroidery. I really love the fact that I’m hands on with everything. It wasn’t always like this. The reason I started doing my own clothing, I was outsourcing and the business pushed my order back because it was a small order, causing me to wait over a month. Lost out on some money due the fact of some customers wanted a refund. Then when I received the order it wasn’t up to pare with my standards, the job was rushed and that’s something I didn’t want give to my customers. I’ve learned to test your materials, make sure that they hold up during and after multiple washes, the embroidery stay intact and that it feels good after every wash. Also learned to stop listening to everyone about what to drop. Because I’ve dropped products based on that, I receive a lot of likes but no orders. That left me in a deep hole and it hurts because this is my 9-5. The biggest lesson I’ve learn is to keep my head up, stay prayed up, stay consistent, give myself breaks and stay true to myself.

Contact Info:

• Website: summaof96.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/summaof96/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCGKgZ93CknrgDl3Edj5gc3A

Image Credits
Ken Williams