We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Bonita Jalane Canady a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Bonita Jalane, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Music has always been my passion but I never thought I would want to get involved in fashion as well. Starting my apparel line Retro Apparel has been fun and inspiring. It all started with just Merchandise for my single Retro when I appeared on shows or engagements as the singer songwriter Bonita Jalane. Then it became a passion project to continue building and growing my brand.

Bonita Jalane, 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 Bonita Jalane just a girl from Brooklyn who moved to ATL to persue a dream of doing music. 10 years later I’m sti doing music on my terms but exploring so many other facets of my talent. Blessed to have grown and met some many people whole traveling and opening for some of your favorite artists such as Chris brown, fantasia, monica, Trey Songz, Jadakiss, Mario, Sammie, J.holiday and many more. Being an independent artist has not always been easy but I’m prove of my many accomplishments. Write ups in magazines such as Vibe, Sheen, Texture, Essence, Famelive and many more. But all though I have accomplished much I have also faced many closed doors, not for lack of talent but lack of backing, support and/or mainstream popularity. All have made me gring harder and push towards my goals. I have developed into a better artist. I have worked on my own press releases I have worked on my own marketing and promotional material all making me an all around multitalented boss. I have learned to record myself, brought my own equipment to write and make social media content as well. It’s hard yes but if you don’t believe in yourself the most who will? I have developed ways to make more money by not only selling my music at shows but also making merchandise that later turned into a apparel line. The money made for the purchase of my apparel has helped pay for studio time, mixing, mastering, shows and photoshoots. Now I’m learning more or design and partnering with Merchants to develop and expand my apparel line evenmore. I’m excited what the future holds. So far my apparel has caught attention of celebrities like Yandy ( love and hip-hop fame) Maggie (love and hip hop NY) Sammie (singer songwriter) and Jennifer Williams (basketball wives of LA) just to name a few.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Most of my new clients come from referrals and from my supporters of my music. I’ve pet so many people that love my music and buy from my apparel line because they love my music. When they meet me at shows they are excited to support my brand.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

I manufacturer my own apparel line. I used to hire ikia designs owned by my bestfiend/ sister and she was becoming super busy so I asked her to teach me how to make my shirts. She taught me with at least 3 classes ( and was there to walk me through as I worked out a few kinks on my own. I started using drop shipping from Wix and kept going and never gave up even when I messed up a couple of shirts. My next step is to partner with a vendor to help manufacturer more when I start working on my next music project. My best advice is to do that when you start getting alot of orders in. But if you are afforded the opportunity to learn first I would definitely recommend it, it’s an amazing experience.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bonitajalane.com
• Instagram: Bonitasings
• Facebook: BonitaJalane
• Twitter: Bonitasings
• Youtube: Bonita Jalane

Image Credits
Pictures of consumers purchasing merchandise at shows includes Brand and PR specialist Rae Holliday, Maggie Carrie (love and hip-hop NY),Terrence “rayboy” nelson (producer and engineer)