Alan King is the twenty-three year old founder and creative director of NYC-based clothing brand AKINGS. Worn by Lil Nas X, Amber Liu, Dave East and many more, AKINGS carefully crafts its pieces with the finest materials and highest level of expertise in order to ensure the longevity of their items with every wear. Specializing in Japanese raw denim, AKINGS combines the selvedge denim and rope dyeing techniques devised to produce jeans with characteristics singular to the wearer. SHEESH! had the opportunity to chat with Alan about the concept of his brand, company goals, and fondest memories while running his own label.
What experiences influence your personal style?
ALAN KING: Growing up in New York City definitely is my reference on fashion. A lot of my brand reflects the melting pot of different styles found within the city, so I think my style is very fluid and a mixture of the layers that make up New York.
What are your fondest memories dealing with fashion?
ALAN KING: The people I’ve met so far and I continue to meet through fashion and social media. I really appreciate how everyone is able to express themselves through their clothing and social media.
When did you know you wanted to start creating clothes?
ALAN KING: I was maybe fourteen or fifteen and one of my earliest memories of fashion began when I realized fashion was valued and seen as art or a collectible. When I realized there was this wider community that valued fashion it piqued my interest and made me realize I also wanted to create something that had value for others.
Model: @cheriealexis
How would you define your pieces?
ALAN KING: My clothing is very timeless and makes you feel like a king. When I make my clothes I think about how this item is going to be in someone’s closet for a very long time and is an item they will want to continue to wear in the future.
How did you come up with the name AKINGS?
ALAN KING: The concept of the name originated from my own understanding and importance of believing in myself and building what’s within me. This translated into “AKINGS” because I felt ‘Kings’ was very empowering and can give a sense of belief within oneself.
What are your favorite pieces?
ALAN KING: I definitely have pieces that mean a lot to me and I keep as signatures. The Kyle Cargo was one of my first designs and is a best seller to this day. The Omari, a waxed jean we have, is also a top favorite of mine, but I wear every single piece we have. The best way to put it is like having kids, you don’t have a favorite.
What was the mission of establishing the brand from the outset?
ALAN KING: From the beginning I never wanted to make fast fashion. I’ve always wanted to pick out quality fabric and cuts and gravitated to creating a brand dedicated to cultivating custom and quality fits.
How did you acquire your first client?
ALAN KING: The very first start of AKINGS began with denim and Facebook. I posted the first sample of my denim on Facebook and a friend of a friend saw it and posted it on Reddit. From there it blew up and the traffic on my site skyrocketed. The stock image of me literally sitting on a laundromat in my denim blew up and circulated and soon after an order was placed from outside of New York. When I saw that first order from someone outside of New York it really instilled in me a confidence in my product and reinforced my sense in continuing to make my clothes.
How would you describe the ethos of your customer?
ALAN KING: I want to establish and build a community of ‘AKINGS’ that pushes us forward, shares the potential that the natural cycle of human growth can elicit, and surround yourself with people that support you and us creatively. Even if it helps a subsection of my community and helps a few of these people to achieve what they aspire to do I think is really important.
What do you attribute your success to?
ALAN KING: A lot of it is due to a very strong belief in myself and stacking upon that with working consistently. The consistency and realizing when things weren’t working out and trying to change the way and why it failed helped me grow. I have always tried to find core commonalities in the success of different people in order to figure out what made them successful and then tie it into my life by connecting those dots and executing them out.
Any advice for anyone starting out?
ALAN KING: The biggest reference I can give is that it’s like skydiving. When you initially go skydiving you have this intense nervousness the day before as you get ready to go out on the plane. As you’re preparing to go out on the plane, you have to sign a waiver that removes all forms of liability if something potentially goes wrong. So, not only have you signed this form and are super nervous and you see all these jumpers before you who are all landing safely and celebrating, you’re still doubting yourself up and till the moment you get the edge of plan and jump off. Once you jump out and you see the plane in the air and the parachute is out, you realize ‘Wow, I just jumped out of a plane’ you begin to enjoy the moment and have faith in landing. When starting out I think it’s similar to that and you question what you got yourself into but you realize you need to have faith in the process and you’re going to enjoy the process and everything is going to be okay at the end. You’re no longer going to have that sense of fear because you already jumped out from the plane and now you’re just going to enjoy the view. So my advice for creatives starting out is to jump from the plane and trust yourself.
Get an inside look behind the brand with more designers like Talia Eve and Parker Jeppsen next.
