1997 Appeal Clothing
Never forgetting your roots is the mantra Martivias Musa lives by.
The quote “Endured the Wildest Storms" stems from one of Martivias Musa’ best selling pieces, Southside Baby.
By: Bryn Palmer
Growing up in Englewood, the southside of Chicago, the designer was surrounded by gangs, drugs and violence at a young age, but he allowed his experiences to shape his designs.
-His signature ‘Lakeshore Drive’ jacket’ epitomizes this inspiration. The 25-year-old intertwines themes in the present to convey experiences from his past.
Bryn Palmer: So, What's the story behind the Lakeshore Drive jacket?
Martivias Musa: Lakeshore Drive is a very popular street in Chicago. It's pretty much like the E way, you can get from point A to B real quick. If you stand on Lakeshore Drive, the lakefront, you get to see the skyline of Chicago…Whenever you go to a lakefront, what do you do? You start to reminisce and contemplate about everything you’ve been through. Lakeshore Drive perfectly captures this moment. As a poor kid coming from the South side of Chicago, I loved the CTA(Chicago Transit Authority) because it showed me something that was bigger than my environment. So that's why the jacket says, "Struggle didn't break me, it made me." That within itself was really powerful because I’m speaking from the perspective of, "Man, that almost broke me, but I made it through that."
BP: I know you put a lot of effort and thought into your designs, they're really elaborate. So I wanted to ask you, how easy or hard is it to translate those ideas into something physical?
MM: I start with a few words and I create around those few words. Whatever emotion I feel, I want to show that within the actual piece itself. I think working that way is easy. Once I put down that phrase, the hardest part is really just coming up with the imagery and coming up with the subliminals. For some of my concepts, I don't want everything to be literal, but I also know people don't like to think hard. I try to stay in between. It takes a lot of creativity to take something that was originally blank and turn it into something that's dope.
-Recognizable by its fox logo, 1997 exists to empower our communities. With “Rise above it all” as its motto, the brand inspires consumers to tackle their obstacles head on.
BP: Where did the idea of the fox mascot come from?
MM: This was around a time where I was in college. I was hosting a lot of programs with my frat. I'm a part of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated. I love my people. And that's when I thought of the idea of the fox. The fox’s name is Trench. Trench pretty much stemmed from ‘trenches’. In a very subliminal way, I wanted to showcase us. Trench, is Black people. When you initially think of a fox, you think of something that is creative, something that has finesse, something that is very clever, and can move through any situation. I feel like us as black people, that's what we have done.
His “Designer is History” piece further conveys this message. A masked Trench sprints away from a mall that is engulfed in flames. The mall fire is caused by Trench, who’s carrying an oil can marked, “They never cared about us”.
BP: What does "Designer is History" mean to you?
MM: I was taking a kick at designer brands because we all know especially in our community, we eat these designer brands up. But me, I'm wearing my own stuff. If I'm going to spend $1700, it's on me. This is something I can call my own. I'm a brand who legitimately cares about things that you are experiencing. If you are going to invest money, invest that in brands like mine, because we legitimately care about the community.
The biggest thing is designer brands, they never cared about us at all. Right? So, for that reason, you should allocate your time, energy and effort into brands that do. It’s like, I'm saying, screw them because they are screwing us.
-This marks just the beginning for 1997. With a couple of pop-ups under his belt, Musa plans to keep Rising above it all.
For more visit: 1997appealclothing.com
