We were lucky to catch up with Ray Love Jr recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ray thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us 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?

Growing up I always wanted to create a brand to see everyone around the world in something I could call my own. My dad owned a clothing store and I would work in it everyday after school. Me wanting to be just like my dad I wanted to create something of my own that I could sell in his store while I there. When I was 11 years old I made that happen. I created my first brand “R.L.” which is the initials of my name. Being young at the time and not understanding that would not work because a known popular brand already uses those initials, I had to put my dreams on a hold. Just because that didn’t work did not mean I was going to give up. I started selling homemade lemonade, popcorn and other variety of snack outside his store front. Me doing this was a way to create money for myself until I could pursue my true dreams in fashion. Fast forward to 2018 I graduated from high school and worked multiple jobs in the span of 1 year. This was very frustrating and I knew part of the reason I could not stay put at one job was because it is hard for me to work for others. I grew up seeing my dad work for his self and he put me in the same mind-frame. Selling snacks outside his store felt good and I wanted that feeling again. April of 2019 I created my brand name so I immediately search for someone to make two logos for me. Both logos came out perfect with no needed revisions. I waited 2 months to save up some money to get samples and a small bulk order done. This lead up to the end of June, I went to my local t-shirt print shop so they could bring my vision to life. In July of 2019 I was officially ready to launch. When I first launched I only had t-shirts but once fall/winter season got closer I started making hoodies also. The end of 2019 and going into 2020 is when I begin to bring out more items like hats, tracksuits, crewnecks, etc. This helped grow my brand because I gave customers more options to choose from. I begin to figure out what everyone was liking the most and continue to restock those items while also introducing new items.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a 23 year old entrepreneur and fashion designer from Milwaukee, WI. My parents introduced me to the entrepreneur lifestyle and mindset while I was growing up. I grew up working in my dad clothing store everyday after school. This was a big impact on the direction I wanted my life to go. Seeing him build a business up and have something he could call his own and not have to answer to anyone else made me want to do the same. My brand is ApeModeApparel which is a brand for men and women. I built this brand off of 3 core values, power, strength, and confidence, this is how I hope all my customers feel while wearing my brand. I started July of 2019, aiming to introduce an affordable brand but give customers the luxury feel that you would get from a high end designer brand. I sell a variety of items from shirts, hoodies, hats, socks, slides, track suits and many more. All of the items I create I have multiple versions of them so its an affordable price point for everyone. My first year starting out was very slow of course with me being in the beginning stages but a few months into my second year I began to gain a lot of exposure in my city. My sister also was a help along the way, she owns a boutique in Mayfair Mall called SuiteFiveSeven, I was blessed enough for her to allow me to put my brand inside her store. My brand being in her store helped bring exposure to my brand in my beginning stages. In August of 2020 I took the risk of quitting my job and working on my brand full time. This was a huge step for me but it was definitely the right decision. Being able to put my focus into my brand full time I began to see improvement every month and this was very huge for me. Fast forward to this year 2023, I am 6 months away from my brand 4 year anniversary. Which also means I am 6 months away from being self employed for 3 years. Taking the leap of faith and quitting my job in 2020 and still standing strong today shows that I also stand by my brand 3 core values, power, strength, and confidence.

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

As of now all of ApeModeApparel products are manufactured overseas. When I first started I did not have a manufacture overseas, I purchased t-shirt and hoodie blanks from wholesale vendors and gave them to my local print shop to put my logo on for me. This is a great way to start when you have just started in the clothing brand business. Many people recommend buying a circuit machine and using vinyl but that is unfortunally a low quality method and your logo will begin to come off after a few washes. The print shop I worked with used the screen printing method which is a high quality and long lasting method that many brands still use today, this is the best method I recommend seeing has you won’t have any issues with your logo coming off after your customer washes their product. Of course after I did my research on how to get high quality materials to be manufactured for my brand I end up learning about “Alibaba.com”. Alibaba is great sourcing website to find anything you need in the manufacturing world. I worked with a few manufactures I sourced from Alibaba for a few months until I end up finding my manufacture I work with today. My manufacture I work with as of now is the best I have worked with so far in this business. They put quality first and treat my brand like its their own. I found this manufacture on instagram. I know it sounds crazy but manufactures are on instagram everyday trying to recruit new customers for their business. Now every manufacture that sends you a message on instagram is not guaranteed to be legit, some pages are scammers so be careful. If you are un sure ask to see pictures and videos of past work they have done, also ask if you could set up a video chat for a tour of their factory. If they are not able to do either of those it may be a scam. All manufacturers are not the same so don’t settle for the first one you find, do your research, get multiple samples and test out your options and always negotiate to get the best price because sometimes they will tell you a higher price just to make a few more dollars. I would also like to add because I get the question a lot “Can you tell me who your manufacture is?” Every manufacture is not the right manufacture, find the manufacture that works best for you and your brand because just because my manufacture is good for my brand does not mean it will go well for you. I always recommend finding your own manufacturer especially because you don’t want to have the same manufacturer as someone that’s bigger than you because your orders will always go out slow since the bigger brand is more likely to have more orders than you and automatically have seniority over your brand.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy that help me build my clientele was staying consistent. Yes I know it sounds so small and simple but it works and sometimes the things that are not overly complicated are the things that work the best. If customers are looking at your brand from the outside the need to see that you are serious and passionate about your business. If they sense that you are not they most likely won’t support. Why would anyone put their hard earned money towards a business that only post once a month? You should be posting your business and advertising is everyday. When someone sees that you are serious that’s when they are more comfortable giving you a chance. Once they give you a chance you should have everything else already in place to make them fall in love and want to come back to you every time.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.shopapemodeapparel.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apemode.apparel/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/ApeModeApparelMKE
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/apemodeapparel

Image Credits
@aleahstoriesmedia @shotbyjay