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There comes a time for change...the knitwear story
There comes a time for any person, brand, company etc, when change is needed and more time it’s not an easy transition as it was for me.
As a creative and fashion-head, I’m always aiming to make the sickest piece, but not the crazy runway-type pieces, the practical ones the everyday man and woman can wear calmly. And this is pretty much been the plan from the brands' inception, however, one thing led to another and this just slowed down this change and process. I can’t lie the wait was longgggg. And you see as some Bible translations list patience as “long-suffering” as a fruit of the Spirit, that’s somewhat how it was for me…or am I being dramatic?
Back in 2020 I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t know the brand would take off with its first product and as grateful as I am for that happening as the t-shirt still sells until this day, it came at a cost. For example, whenever I tried to pivot away from loud and colourful designs, that in their own right were great, I wouldn’t get reception like that as the people only wanted JCSL tees. So eventually it came to a point I had to humble myself and be like “ite cool run it” and cater to what people wanted. Even though this one design to print was more difficult to make than a cut and sewn technical piece with bare detail and maybe slower too.
I remember this day like it was yesterday (lowkey it’s weird how I can pinpoint certain days I made certain designs or made a pivotal decision), it was late 2021, I was in my living room, the light was off, the tv on, my dad sleeping on the sofa beside me. And I designed the BYS logo. I took inspo from high fashion logos, as I love the LV and Burberry’s now old logo. I put the logo on a jacket I never got around to making and that was that. I didn’t make anything with it or design incorporating it until maybe May 2022, when I had an idea for the new BYS Varsity Jacket that’ll drop next month. Slowly I started to play with it, thinking Ite cool, maybe I should put it here and there, maybe I should retire the S Logo and replace it with this etc. and so I did.
Another day I remember vividly. It was maybe October 2022, I was on my way to work on a bus from Vauxhall to Clapham/Battersea area and I was replying to DMs. And a customer (shout out Mo) said I should make a knitwear piece and at the time I was going thru a madness trying to get simple t-shirts screen printed but I was like Ite lemme try something for Spring time. And it’s funny how God works cuhhh, I had this knitwear sweater idea in my mind for probably well over a year but a mix of procrastination, fear, doubt, and busyness pushed it to the back of the queue. But now, someone is asking, so I put on my thinking cap, did research into fabrics, what other brands are using, shapes, sizing, patterns, types of knitwear etc. and I went on Adobe Illustrator and drew the idea I saw in my mind (crazy how I do that too, still shocks me til this day). And honestly I dunno why I was dulling, it wasn’t difficult at all.
I now had my template, now I needed to fill it in with a design. So if you know me or my brand you know I love to manipulate pictures, so I did exactly that. I was thinking to use a mountain and refer it back to Psalm 121 but Marino already did that with Cetra Vision and I’m not a bredder loool. So I started to scroll thru my gallery to see if I see any inspo. And I came across this picture of me at church during worship and I thought it was perfect.
Even tho it’s black and white I know how to add colour and finesse it and that’s what I did. I started to manipulate the pic with crystallisation and I thought I was done, I dunno why but I decided to add a gradient from the bottom rising up, introducing the ombré. I added the BYS to the chest and on the body using bitmapping and skewing as I’ve used since the first JCSL tee and the rest was history. And that same session I made 2 more colourways and I remember hearing that oh-so-familiar small still Voice say “orange” when I was thinking which one will be the first. And so it was.
I found a manufacturer and she got to WORK boyyy. Bare people were telling me they couldn’t do it and she basically said “say less”. She did tell me that it may come out 90% accurate cuz the digital design has too many shades, colours and detail. And so she picked 3 colours, I said to add one more for the details. Maybe a week or so later she came back and I was blown away. I was in love. I felt like I’m finally gonna leave the hood loool.
There are details on the ribbing I didn’t even ask for but I love, it fits a bit wider than I wanted but it’s what was right for this piece and most of all, the design isn’t exactly what I asked for but I can tell you honestly, it’s what I needed. When I got the sweater in hand, it was softttttt omd. Like I hate calling things luxury cuz what does that even mean?? But this joint right here can sit in Harrods beside your favourite brand, toe to toe.
Fast forward, I’m introduced to the perfect model, Jed, for the shoot by my shoot-curating girlfriend and we did what it does. Honestly, I couldn’t be happier with this piece. It is by far one of the best things I’ve ever made and I hope you all enjoy it too.
All in all, I've gotta slow down on the JCSL tees, they're not going away but I have to make room for new ideas, not only to help the brand grow but to display growth in my own life and journey with God thru imagery and fashion. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for your support over the last almost 3 years. This brand was literally a dream and now it's my everyday reality.
The BYS Ombré Jacquard Sweater will be available for only 72 hours from 7PM (GMT) on Friday 24th February until 7PM (GMT) Monday 27th February.
Only on bysunmonu.com
With love,
Dolapo from BYS