We were lucky to catch up with Victor Umeh recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Victor, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Circa Holiday season 2010 I was in college and off for holiday break. I was spending some time with friends and we were talking about clothing. We were all connected with the diaspora and somehow or another the conversation went to what brands we could shop that actually catered to the cultural things we cared about. As we thought about it and tried to ponder on a few we couldn’t come up with any that were still relevant and servicing that niche. Always being heavily into streetwear fashion, one of my Brothers suggested that “I should create something like that..” Kinda brushed the idea off at the time as we were more chilling and vibing but when I got home I sketched up 6 concepts and reached out to an aspiring Designer I had just met a few weeks before in Portland. He was a barber and had cut my hair and in the midst of being at his shop he started showing me some of his artwork and designs he had done for people. It was more for tattoos but I asked him if he thought he could work on some concepts for me. I scanned my photos and sent them to him and the next day he sent me back 6 of the designs fully revamped and at that point I knew we had something! We released the first 3 designs the spring of 2011 on t-shirts and the rest is history. Been learning and growing ever since.

Victor, 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?

My background is so different from fashion from the traditional sense as I actually went to school for Civil Engineering but through the years and as I’ve grown in the business I have learned there are a lot of skills that are transferable. My passion for fashion was always there but my passion with BOSHOK is more about the message and the culture that comes along with it. Wearing BOSHOK for me is empowering, it’s like a badge of honor to be affiliated with something so culturally entrenched. For me, that’s what drives me and how we create for the brand. It’s important our Members (how we refer to our brand supporters i.e. Members of the BOSHOK Global Regime) feel a sense of pride when they support the brand. It was also always important for me that the brand was global not only in design but also in the representation. That’s why doing our first photoshoot in Africa was such a BIG moment of accomplishment for me. Felt like we made it!

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

I prefer the direct to consumer method with a streetwear business because we are focused on growing the ethos and community surrounding our Brand. I like to people to control the Buyer experience and don’t want someone to just come on our site and shop and go away but shop and then checkout our latest blog post then peek at the latest celebrities that have been spotted in the brand. I just don’t feel you could get that feeling when you are competing on a marketplace. That said, I do see the benefits of it just don’t think it’s meant for a business like ours.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

The first funds I used to start my business was leftover financial aid funds while in college. Through the years, I’ve worked in engineering and have infused money into the business for things we needed to do but couldn’t necessarily afford to do. My longterm goal was always to have the business fully fund/pay for itself.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.BOSHOK.com
• Instagram: @boshokclothing
• Facebook: BOSHOK Clothing
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victor-umeh-entrepreneur/
• Twitter: @BOSHOKClothing
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Boshok

Image Credits
@BOSHOKFred @devin_armstrong_visuals