Brooklyn Sky (BSKY Brand) is a clothing line conceived by a collective group of creatives from Brooklyn, New York. The five owners (Mike, Matt, Gabe, Vlad, and O) are all from the Flatbush section of Brooklyn and are childhood friends. Since 2005, BSKY Brand has grown in popularity with hip hop luminaries like Prodigy of Mobb Deep, the world-famous DJ Clue, Fabolous have all been spotted wearing their clothing. Even up and coming artists like Wink Loc, Kidd Kidd and Nefu Da Don were seen wearing the clothes. The clothing line has grown to the point where the owners decided in 2014 to close their physical location on Nostrand Avenue in Flatbush and focus on their online store. In addition to BSKY Brand, they are working on the Does It Even Matter project (Diem) project, and have plans to expand BSKY Brand product line and reach bigger markets. The Source spoke to one of the owners, Mike, about the clothing line, its history and future of BSKY Brand.
How did the clothing line start?
So it was basically friends in the hood with an idea that came to life. It started from an idea from the Paper Chaser shirt and we brought it to the Vinnies Styles in Downtown Brooklyn. It just got bigger from there.
How long have you been in business?
I have been in the business since 2005. We started doing trade show runs like Magic, Agenda. The store initially was set up for shipping for processing wholesale orders. The retail stores never full collections, they used to dibble and dabble with certain styles. A shirt we designed called Paper Chaser gave us a chance to build a name. Vinnies Styles keeps us in the loop about certain celebrities buying and asking for our stuff.
Where did the name BSKY come from?
BSKY is short for Brooklyn Sky. It came from Digable Planets song called Flying High In The Brooklyn Sky. I had glaucoma at the time, so while I was self-medicating I heard the song. My tag name when I went to school in Miami was Brooklyn Sky.
Where are you from?
I was born and raised in Flatbush right around the corner from the store. My parents are from St. Lucia.
Why did you decide to put the store in Flatbush?
It’s a double edged sword, it is in Flatbush and not everybody travels here. The people from the area support it. People from as far as Japan, Sweden and London came to our store. While people from all over the world support, some people within the borough don’t. We are going to close the store, we kind of reached our plateau here. We want to do more and push the online store. We are super niche. In the past we have consulted for different clothing lines like Slowbucks, Bridge Boys, Vault, and Artful Dodger. We started the Diem project and we are working with Phil the Mayor who promotes parties in Miami and New York.
How do you feel about Kanye West and his thoughts on the fashion industry?
Actually, before the Jimmy Kimmel interview, I thought the BBC interview he did was much more informative about the issues. We (Black People) don’t have the infrastructure to compete at that level. It’s great to do what we do, but you realize you need more to do bigger things and that’s what he was talking about. He doesn’t have a lane in Louis Vuitton, Nike. There are limitations to what we are doing. We can pick and choose our destiny with the right backing. It’s different because he is black, Kanye and he is a Gemini. Kanye understands his power and trying to take that to the top.
What has the support been like?
We do live events, People come out and support. The list of people who support is huge. Diem project is the same way, we are involved with that. A lot of athletes support BSKY and Diem as well.
Where do you see B Sky five years from now?
I see us being global, bigger than where we are right now. We affected so many people and we inspire a lot of people to follow their dreams. Just imagine if Jay-Z just stayed in Marcy rhyming nobody would have ever heard of him.
Any last words?
I want to thank all the supporters, fans, everybody who helped us get to where we are thus far. The best is yet to come, we still hungry and motivated.
-Written by Lulaine C.
