Today we’d like to introduce you to Billy Fairley.
Hi Billy, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I started, “Divine Culture Clothing,” back in September 2014. I got the inspiration from the artist Shepard Fairey. But I wanted to create a brand that could last, so I began doing research on how brands survived, & at the time I kind of bounced ideas of off a guy named Ryan, who is the owner of Kong Screen-printing, about why I wanted to create a brand. He posed one question that always stuck with me. The question was, “Why does the world need another t-shirt?” Now in the beginning I didn’t know why someone would need another t-shirt, & I lost faith in creating the brand, but as I spoke to my rabbi one day he asked what is the reason for wanting to make my brand, & I told him I want to educate people on culture & their histories in an artistic & appreciative manner, & that was the moment I fully realized the scope of what I wanted my brand to be about. From there I spent countless hours on studying cultures across the world, & taking inspiration from their achievements, & accolades & I began to create designs that focused on appreciation, achievement, & expressive tones.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road has been bumpy, but I can sense it smoothing out the more I learn. I had the unfortunate journey of stepping into building my own business with no knowledge of what it took to even run a business. I made a lot of mistakes, from buying from vendors that were using cheap materials, to being scammed by fake advertisement agencies. But I have always been good at learning from my own mistakes, & my family always tells me I’m an adventurer because, I don’t fear taking the path least taken. But in all of that I’ve learned what to watch out for when I’m conducting business.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
From the time I was a child my life has been immersed in art. My dad was an artist, my second eldest sister is an artist, and my cousin who I viewed as mentor for years is an artist. For as long as I could remember I used to get in trouble for daydreaming in school, & I’m from a small town in Mississippi, so everyone knew everyone. So, we would compete with like drawing between me, & anybody that wanted to compete with me. Now from my perspective I never lost, I’ve had some close calls, but no losses, I was that competitive with art. It was only one thing I loved just as much as art & that was science. I remember giving a speech to my class about the effects of global warning in sixth grade, because I was so worried that the polar ice caps would melt, & flood the world. Thank goodness it didn’t happen that way, but as I got older I started to like science a lot less, & art even more when I entered into my rebellious teenage years I decided school could no longer teach me what I needed to learn and that I could teach myself better than anyone else could.
So, I began focusing on art all the time. To the detriment of my grades. After dropping out of high school, I decided while serving a short sentence in the county jail that I wanted to learn everything I could about art and upon my release I took my G.E.D. & A.C.T. & started my journey to become the best artist this world has ever seen. But not too long into college I was very unhappy with the strict requirements, & all the rules that come with being an artist, & began to rebel again. So I withdrew from college until moving to Austin in 2012, & that’s when I discovered artist like Basquiat, & Shepard Fairey. I began to explore neo-expressionist art, and if you look at some of my early work you can see his influence is a lot of it. Over time I began to develop my own style though. I’m not sure what to say I specialize in because I’m an artist through and through, I love doing it all. I sometimes do cover art for musicians, I still like to draw portraits, I make crafts in my spare time, I can make video game art, both 2D & 3D. The list can go on forever honestly, I always say I can master anything at an intermediate level, & it has proven true for me. But one thing I am most proud of is the fact that I picked my path early on & stuck with it. Meaning I’m an artist that creates cultural artistic clothing, & who knows where that will lead me. Also I think what sets me apart from others is I follow art, it’s like a curse because I can look at a piece of furniture & began to visualize in my mind how the artist went about sketching out the chair before it became what it is. It’s like I see through a design window.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
No matter how high the price is, if it’s for your dream, & you’re willing to pay it; pay it. Success is not determined by the amount of wins but the magnitude of losses, that you take & learn from.
Contact Info:
- Email: dcc@divinecultureclothing.com
- Website: www.divinecultureclothing.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/divine_culture_clothing
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCF6ktouG82G7Cn_-IR8J-lg
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