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

Hi Billy, thanks for joining us today. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

I hope to create a family business, that could sustain the next generations of my family. I want to be able to lay the foundation that will provide them with enough knowledge, & capital to create freely.

Billy, 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 name is Billy Fairley, I am the creator/designer/owner of, “Divine Culture Clothing.” A clothing collective that blends, culture, fashion, & art together to create signature super limited pieces. I’ve always been creative, from drawing, & sketching dragon ball z characters in middle school to designing environmental props for video games in the 3D space. But the interest in the fashion industry has a couple of different influences. The one I will tell you about today started on a Saturday evening back in 2014. I was wondering around the city of Austin TX, when I stumbled upon this park that seemed to climb up a hill to this castle like structure, with art covering every wall, & structure. It’s was like this magical park, & you saw into the mind of so many creatives by just looking at their art, some tags some full blown murals. I was taken aback by how much creativity flowed through that place it was like a hub, from then on I started researching the park, & the more I did that the more I found out about how deep the creative rabbit hole was. I found one interesting article about how, “Shepard Fairey,” the creator & owner of, “Obey,” was supposedly the first person to tag what is formerly known as castle hill. Which led me to research his brand, & it inspired me to create a t-shirt that spoke to society, but I didn’t want to follow in his proverbial footsteps I wanted to do something different, & I started thinking about my son, & the legacy I want to leave for him and his cousins. Then I thought of how he would grow up with two different cultures in his household, so I made my first print to honor his Mexican side, & my second print to commemorate his African descendent side. Then from there, I began to think what if this is my purpose to create things based on culture, & print them on t-shirts, but I wanted to stand out in even the most intricate ways, so I started researching environmentally safe inks, that are water based, & eco-friendly t-shirts that have an awesome feel, but the process to make them didn’t cause to much damage to the environment. So, I began making cultural graphic tees. But I always had an aspiration to design and create a sneaker, so I joined a course for sneaker development which was a collaborative project between, “Complex & FITNYC.” I began to learn more about the sneaker industry, as well more of what I wanted to portray next with my brand. Now here I am pushing my own boundaries to create at a level that’s both high, & untraveled.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When I first started this business, I was a very shy introverted person. I didn’t know how to use programs like photoshop, & illustrator. So, I would take time in school to actually sit and create my artwork, until one day a teacher noticed me during lab hours doing work that wasn’t indicative to the class, & he asked me what I was doing, & I had to tell him that I was designing a piece of art for a tshirt I want to make, & instead of him telling me it wasn’t the time for that, he told me to take his card and send him my idea because he has a studio that can complete the idea for me. So, I emailed him and he was more than happy to digitize my artwork which ended up being my very first design called, “Paradise Lost.”

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn is that I need to keep up with the industry. By this I mean I need to create pieces that are similar or even the same as what’s the popular thing is in the industry:

True story my first screen printer was a company named, “Kong Screen-printing.” One day I was actually trying to design a shirt that was a riff off of Jean Michel Basquiat, but the owner, Ryan took one look at the design and he asked me, “why does the world need another t-shirt?” That prompted me to think, & it took around two weeks to actually come up with an answer that satisfied me, & I was able to actually create an original design which is my, “Legendary,” print. But from that experience I learned that following the norm of the industry that I was in by taking something popular, or following a trend does not create a lasting audience.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.divinecultureclothing.com
• Instagram: divine_culture_clothing
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/mwlite/company/divine-culture-clothing