Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bee Johnson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Bee, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

Thanks for having me!

Purple Ghost Apparel is a streetwear brand focusing on the concept of creating art in all forms. I think as a human race, our lives are enhanced by the fact that we can take an idea in our mind and bring it into a physical and tangible form such as clothing. My goal, when I first started my brand, is to create collaborations with artists of any genre, in any form of art. Everyone from graphic artists, dancers, writers, musicians and the list goes on. The purpose of the collabs are to give these artists a new platform that they may not have previously considered as a means to get their art as well as their message out to the world in the form of a garment while also promoting Purple Ghost as well. I wanted to be tap in to multiple communities and learn from them while bring their story to new audiences.

This is basically the idea and meaning of my brand, Purple Ghost (PG). The next element of the brand centers around color. Color means a lot in my life and of course, I wanted to reflect this in the naming of my brand. Purple really has been a stand out color in my life, especially lately. Purple, in nature, is a rare color. It’s most known to represent royalty, but it also represents being in a state of creativity. The best way I can describe it is much like how other colors can represent feelings and emotions. Red, for example, can be known to represent anger. People will say “I was so mad; I just saw red”. Or green representing jealousy, thus the saying “green with envy”. There’s a Pixar movie called “Soul” that came out in 2020, which I reference all the time. It was about a jazz piano player and whenever he was in his “zone,” there would be different hues of purple as he played. So, as he created music and zoned out, the more purple hues surrounded him. The purple in PG, represents that same idea of being “in the zone” creatively.

As for the Ghost in PG, it’s just another name for “spirit,” so, literally, Purple Ghost is creative spirit or the celebration of the creative spirit & being in the zone, at your best, in the creative element.

I really wanted to express the importance of being creative and being an individual while living in our mass society. We all have something to learn and appreciate from ourselves and others, artistically and otherwise.

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.

My thought process behind starting my own business was first my love for artistic expression. When I was a child I started drawing at the age of eight. By sixteen, I was making homemade comic books with my friends (shoutout to Vinai and Marcus). Looking back, I feel like were ahead of our time because back then, we were completely into Anime before it became as popular and mainstream as it is now. Unfortunately though, I didn’t feel my comics were as well received as I wanted them to be and that was discouraging. I sent my comic out to a few comic companies back then and they all told me they weren’t interested. Eventually, I decided to stop drawing completely in my twenties. But as I got older, my passion for drawing and creating never stopped calling me and eventually I picked it back up.

That feeling of creating art and desire to have it appreciated resonates with everyone, I think. People put their entire heart, soul and life energy into making things for others to enjoy. So, it just made sense to me that putting these creations on garments would go hand in hand. People love clothing and here is a distinct opportunity to wear something you care about or a message that your into from someone you may follow, all while that artist is being backed by an apparel company. And the icing on the cake is that they receive a portion of the profits! It seemed like an awesome idea and a great way for everyday people all the way up to influencers have specifically designed merch.

Also, back before the pandemic, collaborations from big name streetwear brands and high end fashion brands became popular. And with the rise of social media and the way the world is connected via internet, that further made me think: “There are so many artists in the world. I know that they have more opportunities to display art, but, why not give up and coming artists of any genre an additional way to not only get their art and message across, but possibly make a little money doing so?”. And that was basically the idea behind starting PG and why I also think Purple Ghost is different than all of the other brands out there. We want to work with the everyday creative person; not just big brands for clout and popularity. Our message means more than just making money.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Purple Ghost is still a work in progress as far as having a social media presence. We definitely post content, especially for new drops and other things that may happen. But we are still growing our followers organically, mostly through word of mouth. As far as advice goes, I feel like this is something that can take time. I’ve seen brands/companies or people’s followers change overnight and then I’ve seen some that steadily grow. I think it all depends and various factors and contribute to the overall. I’d say to the ones out there that don’t have the following they want, be consistent as much as possible and be patient. We are in that category as well.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source of new customers for me has been word of mouth. I’ve advertised on Instagram, TikTok and google but, so far, the majority of people I’ve gotten in my store has been from someone who’s had a Purple Ghost shirt on their back. I’ve heard stories many times from friends and family of them just doing daily life tasks and someone compliments their shirt or jacket – just whatever PG apparel they have on at the time. And then, like that, that person is browsing my store. Most of the time, that usually ends up in a sale and a new customer.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.purpleghost.shop
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/purple_ghost_apparel/

Image Credits
Makana Boyles, Dee Hartford, Jordon Mendoza, Jonathan Arreola