We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Akira Robinson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Akira below.
Akira, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later
Although I always wanted to start a business and enter into the entrepreneurship world, I spent most of my career being driven by stability and working my way up using the skills I had been verified as good at, which in my case was science and math. So, I started AKI THE LABEL after having gained the stability I needed to feel secure and honestly, I wish I would have taken the leap earlier. I had a mindset of going “all-in” because that’s what I’ve seen work. What I didn’t realize is that going “all-in” doesn’t need to mean that you focus on one thing. Even after launching AKI, I still work full time in science, and I’m able to have my creative outlet as well. A year later, I’d argue I’m still all in on both.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Even though I spent most of my childhood playing sports and winning math and science competitions, I’ve always been a fashion kid at heart. Reading my monthly GQ became a ritual in high school and college; an essential part of my self-care regimen. I learned about personal style and how you can transform into a character of sorts based on how you put together your outfit of the day. Fashion is not always, but it can be who you are for that moment and at first glance.
AKI THE LABEL is focused on casual luxury in the streetwear vertical, and we design versatile pieces that are expertly cut to fit well and be presentable in a number of different environments. AKI allows you to be you and make the look your own. We are the world’s first travelling brand, and we design our collections around cities around the world. We travel to those locations, use creatives from those locations, and spend some time immersing ourselves in the culture. Our aim is to restart conversations and highlight that as humans we’re more alike than we’re different. We’ve highlighted New York and Malibu so far, and next year we’re planning to bring two more cities into the fold. In 5 years, our goal is to have highlighted and designed collections for over 15 cities.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
As an athlete and a scientist, having a well thought out plan to execute was always paramount for me. Undoubtedly, that method works! But in fashion, the perfect plan goes out the window. When I was designing our Core Collection and going through manufacturers and sampling, I thought I had the perfect, vetted plan in place. I had to unlearn perfect preparation because given the many moving pieces, something will always not be 100% the way you want it. If it had to be perfect in all ways, we would never launch.
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
We funded the business from savings; going back to stability and perfect planning. When I started to put together a nest egg, I wasn’t sure what the business would be, but I knew I wanted to have ownership of the idea and not be driven by investors upfront. I wanted to have the ability to prove my proof of concept without required outside interference and own the scientific method of iteration.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.akithelabel.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aki_thelabel/
Image Credits
Main photo by Josh A Katz (https://joshakatz.com/, https
@gift_gil @mathieuwauters @threefivetwofive