We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Daaimah Reid. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Daaimah below.
Daaimah, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
During June in quarantine, I sent myself outside of my house in the sun. Being home everyday for about three months at this point, I found peace with self, and I didn’t want to let the time go by untapped. With a sketchbook and markers in hand, I told myself I couldn’t come back inside until I had a tee shirt idea. Once I created “Self Content” with six potential colorways, I looked up a sustainable manufacturer in the United States. For years I’d researched sustainable fashion, and I aimed to align my new business with my values. This month of June was about gathering all the design details since I was at the end of my savings that I started quarantine with. Covid was still fresh, and I needed to make money to start my business. By July 2nd, I’d gotten a job at Target, and that same day I received my unemployment check. This was a miracle — my money madness was no more. So I took $500 for 36 tees in 3 colors to get embroidered. Setting up the administrative details were very important for me to start with organization. Therefore I set up a PayPal account for the business to exchange money and keep it separate from my own, and I also set up a spreadsheet tracking the transaction history. From here, I created an Instagram and started to create a lifestyle and ideology around the brand: genderless clothes that are made sustainably, with the core message of self love. It became fun to design everything from the very beginning: first stickers, shipping bags, even thank you cards. A template on Canva with a ribbon ended up being the brand’s logo for the last three years. Once all the materials and the tees came in, I was ready to launch! I’d taken some product shots in my living room of the tees, and posted them for everyone to get a first look. A couple weeks later, I teamed up with one of my high school friends with a camera, Paola, we’d taken a trip to Fairmount Park in Philadelphia to put together the very first Self Content Co. photoshoot. The first 36 tees were a major success. They sold out in the sneak peek post, so I had to immediately order a second batch. The first few months were a wild ride, but extremely fun for my first execution.
Daaimah, 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?
I am a 22 year old from Philadelphia, PA that has loved fashion since I was about 11. I was introduced to fashion from a designer’s standpoint at the age of 10, when. a friend asked me to join her in taking sewing classes taught by her grandmother. I’d gone in just wanting to spend more time with my friend, but I ended up really enjoying creating clothes and accessories. At the end of the program, the instructor told my mother, “She’s going to be a fashion designer.” We were both shocked because I had been a sports-loving, tomboy up until then. Just a couple years later, I started sketching designs, researching fashion terms, watching runway shows, and putting together outfits that suited my style with my own clothes and digitally.
From about 14 on, I found an interest in sustainability and minimalism. I watched people who lived the environmentally friendly lifestyle all around, and I learned about how much really went into the shift away from fast fashion. Learning about all of this, I began to work towards feeling less guilty about my clothing, starting to thrift more instead of buying new things. I even started to teach my classmates any chance I had about my discoveries in free-write essays and projects. Gathering all of this information throughout the years, I didn’t expect to start a brand anytime soon, it seemed like a far dream.
In every school I attended, I was known as a fashion girl though, taking every opportunity I had to express myself through my clothes. Coming from a fashionable family, I’d always joked that I would be kicked out of my family if I didn’t have style. And beyond my interest in fashion, I’ve always had great interest in music and pop culture — red carpets, interviews of actors, behind the scenes of music videos, singing — I studied all of this casually from childhood. Things became to come together and make more sense with how I executed my time though. My use of Polyvore caused a major leap in my style and the range I had. I was creating looks as I was learning about designers, and building upon my aesthetic. I’d started to use Tumblr around 12-13, and that cultivated my color stories and peak interests. Once I reached tenth grade, I knew what I was into, and that’s when I wanted to get down to technical skills like sewing and illustration.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
My third new release was reworked denim, and this collection was a dream to create because it really encompassed all of the characteristics of sustainability I had in mind for my brand: second hand pieces, in-house work, and low-waste. I’d come up with some designs for the direction I wanted to go with this, but sometimes in my design journey it’s better to just go right in with my hands. So I thrifted some denim to use, I also was given a duffle bag of denim from one of my managers from work. This was great! I just had to execute. I was spending pretty much 8 hours almost everyday pinning pockets, cutting straps and sewing this collection together. Some days I would be walking mundanely to the basement where I was working, and my mom would give me some encouragement on my way down. I had minimal sewing skills because I’d pivoted to learning how to draw better over the years. Therefore I didn’t feel the most confident executing this, but it was something I really wanted to do. Instead of taking apart jeans to sew on pockets easier, I was hand sewing them on, which took days for most of them. After about three months of this, I was sick of seeing a touching denim! That’s the hardest part of being a designer or artist in general. You fully envelop yourself in a medium, and then once it’s time to get it out to the public, you don’t wanna be bothered by it. My resilience was definitely tested during this process. Some days were extremely hard, and I was running out of ideas and patience. Eventually, with some support from my boyfriend at the time, and encouragement from my new consumer base, it all got done.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Quality. In this age of quick turnaround, pop up brands, and trends, there has to be something that definitively sets you apart to make it. The main compliment that I get from my products, especially my hoodies, is that they feel amazing and lasting. I have taken time to curate the heavy weight, organic cotton designs with embroidered details that will never go away unless they’re literally ripped apart. No cracking or fading. I always want to have the confidence to tell customers that they will have a piece for years to come, not just as a hook to get an initial purchase. With pieces that tell a story, why not have that story last?
Contact Info:
- Website: selfcontentco.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/selfcontentco