We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Asia Monk. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Asia below.
Asia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
Starting my brand and business was a risk on its own. Jumping into an already overly saturated industry with so many artists and creatives wanting to be “different” and “unique”, all I wanted to do was just be myself. My first big venture/project for my brand, was me taking my first design collection to New York! I took to Instagram, decided to reach out to a bunch of models that I never met or spoken too before and plan a content/photoshoot event for my brand. It was my first time going to New York as an adult and my first time doing a full blown collection and having models in my designs. I had no idea how it would go, what it would look like or where it would take me, I just did it and had faith that it would be great. And it was. It was so much better than I expected! So many people came out for me to support and meet me! It was beautiful, and although things didn’t go exactly the way I planned I still got to do my photoshoot and build a bond with people that I know to this day. If it wasn’t for me taking that risk and putting myself out there I would’ve never met so many amazing people and build a name for myself in one of the most influential place in the world! Just do it, you never know what could happen and where it might take you.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Asia The MONK, I’’m the founder and CEO of my fashion brand “The MONK Collection”. My brand specializes in custom street couture fashion and unique fast fashion clothing. I give my customers the freedom to feel themselves and be their most confident and authentic when wearing my designs. To me it’s not just clothing it’s like wearing your soul on the outside of your body and I portray that everytime I create something new. I’m very proud of how far my brand has come since starting it back in 2020, we’ve accomplished so many milestones and it’s only up from here. What I love most about my brand, and I think my supporters could vouch for this too is how freeing, and creative it is! I give my supporters a sense of comfort and warmth along with a spark to do more and create more. That’s always been my goal!
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
The number thing that has driven me from the moment I started my brand was to bring people together. I wanted to cultivate safe spaces for creatives of all kind to come out feel free in my fashions and express themselves through art and connection. And that’s exactly what I’m doing. Being a creator you notice that in a city like Baltimore there wasn’t many spaces for us to thrive in and I’m happy to say in 2026 that’s a totally different story! More creators in coming out, having events and bringing people together and I’d like to think I had a little to do with the growth and expansion of our community!
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
Society could accept us for who we are and allow us to express our creativity without being fear of being punished for it. Give us public spaces specifically for us to showcase our talents and artistic expressions. Don’t shut us out and make us hide ourselves, shine a spotlight on us and we will be the best change that could possibly happen.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asiathemonk?igsh=NmFyb2FnbzlxaXZk&utm_source=qr
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn9pE3_0Mj-JTjLHH0oyaIQ
Image Credits
Instagram: @asiamonk2.0
Instagram: @V3highschool
Instagram: @Static_visualz