Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Brandon Parks. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Brandon, appreciate you joining us today. 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.
The biggest risk I’ve taken so far with regard to my craft is realizing that in order to achieve the level of growth I envision for my brand I had to move beyond what Atlanta can offer. There is only so much fashion infrastructure in the south and that means less access to raw materials and manufacturing. Fine Fabrics is a great store for a beginning designer but when it’s time to level it up they don’t offer the highest quality materials and trims consistently enough to source solely from them. Plus the whole region of designers also shop there too. That said I found Los Angeles offers everything I need to realize my visions which gave me the confidence to make the move in spring of 2021. It’s expensive and the traffic is worse than Atlanta X100 but well worth the risk. In just about over a year I’ve been able to build an entire high end collection from scratch using what’s available right here in the fashion district.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
I’m Brandon Parks. Creative Director and owner of The Largesse Life which is a Lifestyle Brand I founded in 2013 in Atlanta, GA. The word Largesse is defined as “Generosity in bestowing money or gifts upon others” in Websters. To me that defined my vision of taking my gift of fashion and design sense and bestowing it to the world through my products. I fell in love with the word because it’ isn’t restricted to just clothing. Which doesn’t put a cap on the ideas and products my brand will eventually offer as things evolve over time. That’s why my company is called The Largesse Life instead of Largesse clothing.
When I started I thought I knew everything about fashion because I have great style but it didn’t take long to realize that means nothing in the business of fashion. This is a supply and demand business so you are only as good as your best product or rather the product that creates a demand for itself. It took time to understand that. That’s where I drew the inspiration to learn how to create patterns and cut and sew my own ideas. That allows me to come to manufacturers with my vision already laid out for them to touch and feel. That’s the language they speak. You can’t describe something that doesn’t exist to someone else and expect them to create that thing exactly the way you see it in your head. They can’t see in there so they create their best interpretation of your idea. Doesn’t always work out good that way which costs money and time which are of the essence in this game.
Before I started Largesse I spent a lot of money buying designer clothing and footwear. Too much money! When I decided to do this my goal was to compete with the brands I spent all that money on as far as design and quality goes and to be able to offer those designs at a more reasonable price. In a name driven industry it’s harder than it sounds but my focus on detail and high quality fabrics and trims is what catches the eyes of my target customers. This isn’t an overnight success type of journey so the biggest thing I’m proud of is my dedication to seeing this through to the end. For me success is seeing people everywhere I go wearing my designs. I could care less if they know it’s me who is behind it. That’s not what I’m in this for.
What do you find most rewarding about being creative?
For me personally the most rewarding feeling is when inspiration strikes out of nowhere and I see a vision of a new design in my head. I run down to the district get some fabric, zippers, etc and by the end of the day someone is wearing that vision realized. The icing on the cake is when people see that thing for the first time and lose their mind! That moment is validation for a creator. Nothing like being appreciated or receiving praise for your art. I value that over money because money comes and goes and is only good for what it’s good for but that/creation will live on long after those dollars are spent.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Man the fashion industry changes so fast nowadays that the pivot has become essential to staying ahead of the curve. When I started I had no idea the places this journey would take me or global relationships I would come to build. In the beginning me learning how to make patterns or cut and sew my own ideas was not in the plans. I thought this would blow up overnight because I had money to throw at it. I was so wrong. Every time I hit a dead end or a new plateau I had to make a choice which was Pivot, learn something new and level my skills up or quit and go back to something I already won with in the past. My passion for fashion always pushed me to go straight every time there was a fork in the road. Now this thing is closer than ever to what I imagined at the outset. That took years and a lot of patience and perseverance. All worth it though.
Contact Info:
- Website: LARGESSENCE.com
- Instagram: @Largessence