May 8, 2025 • 40 mins
Go behind the seams with visionary designer Charles Harbison, founder of the
luxury brand Harbison, on this episode of Culture Raises US. Charles reveals
the powerful influences behind his designs-from the enduring elegance of his
mother’s style to the vibrant tapestry of Black culture that shapes his
aesthetic.
Discover how Charles is redefining luxury through boldness, personalization,
and empowering self-expression. He shares how his custom work helps
clients unlock their unique style and confidence, blending modernity with
cultural heritage. Charles also opens up about the central role that faith and
community play in his creative journey and business.
The conversation delves into the future of authentic cultural exchange and
meaningful diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in fashion. Charles
emphasizes the importance of representation, ownership, and pushing for
systemic change within the industry.
For anyone passionate about fashion, culture, and the stories behind the
creators shaping our world, this episode offers inspiring insights and a call to
embrace boldness and authenticity.
Key Takeaways:
- Charles Harbison’s design philosophy is rooted in honoring heritage and
embracing bold self-expression. - His luxury brand blends culture, modernity, and sustainability with a
personalized approach. - The elegance and confidence inspired by his mother’s style deeply
influence his work. - Faith and community are foundational to Charles’s creative and
business practices. - Authentic cultural exchange and DEI initiatives are critical for the future
of fashion. - Representation must lead to ownership and decision-making power in the industry
- Custom fashion empowers clients to find and express their unique identities.
- Charles’s journey includes overcoming burnout and redefining success on his own terms.
- His designs have dressed icons like Beyoncé, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Ava Duvernay.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
To who much is given, much is required. Part of
that requirement is sharing. Culture is the heartbeat within our lives,
and it's at the core of so many things. While
we live in a time when we are starving for wisdom,
I welcome you to your wisdom retreat. That culture raises us.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Boldness is central to block lifth. We celebrate boldly, We
work so boldly. We engage with one another boldly. I
don't think any other way.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Charles Harveston is a designer, creative director and founder of Harveston,
the luxury brand that's rooted in bold design elite craftsmanship.
Charles has developed a uniquely informed understanding of the fundamentals
design and the complex science behind fabrics, as well addressed
to some of the most iconic celebrities like Fonce and
able to do with the made to mention a few
damn near undercover therapists, We'll go ahead.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
That's hilaria.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Fashion has always been very personal for me, and its
usage in my life and in the lives of the
people around me has always been so personal. Being raised
in a working class environment, it was always a big
deal getting dressed. First of all, I'm working with women,
queer people, people of color, So there's so much that
everyone is dealing with. My goal is, if you decide
(01:15):
to choose harvesting, it has to make your life better.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
When you hear culture, What does that.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Mean to you?
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Well, first, thank you, You're very welcome for having me
pleasure pleasure. I think of culture as how people relate
to one another, you know, whatever those sorts of what
of the language, the vocabulary, the performance, the activity, just
the communal ways in which individuals are connecting with one another.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Was there a particular moment that you can recall where
you remember feeling how influential fashion and black culture was
to shaping overall global landscape, culture, and life.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Well, I can say that the first time fashion mattered
to me was watching my mom get dressed. And I
call upon this memory so often. It really is one
of the cornerstones, I guess, of my profession and also
my brand. But it was watching her kind of transform.
(02:22):
I have distinct memories of sitting on the bed watching
her like choose what earrings to wear, choose what lip color,
asking me like which shoe or do you like this?
Because I think she could tell that I just enjoyed
being in the room while she went through her ritual
of her process, particularly her being a working class woman
(02:46):
in the kind of mutation that would happen between like
the work clothes of her nine to five in the
evening and the.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Evenings and the weekends.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
You know, because my parents were like young and hot,
so it's like whatever they look like on the weekends
versus then what she looked like on Sunday. And how
like clothing and fashion was central to this presentation of
self so well, you know, I didn't think about it
as comprehensively back then. It was just like, oh, this
(03:17):
is fun and this matters for her, and I like
being a part of this process with her.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
But when was there a moment where you realized for
the world how influential I say, our culture, black culture
and fashion or fashion and or both have been to
influencing global culture. Like that moment where you saw some
of You're like, oh, this is when I knew this thing,
this is real, this is it? You know.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
I can't I can't say that I've ever thought about
it in such a grandiose way. I think I came
to see that through my career. But fashion has always
been very personal for me, and it's usage in my
life and in the lives of the people around me
(04:01):
has always been so personal. Think it has a lot
to do with being raised in a working class environment
from North Carolina, the foothills of North Carolina, a mill
town really as mail as mill yes back then, like
everyone worked in either textile mills or tool factories like
that kind of context. And so the process of getting
(04:24):
dressed always mattered because your dress for your day to
day was filtered through utilitarianism, right, it was filtered through
your nine to five, which was the day, was filtered
through your job. And so it was always a big
deal getting dressed us getting dressed as children for holidays,
(04:46):
like certain holidays aligned with certain purchases, and you know,
Easter you got new shoes and you know, in a
new suit, and that would like go through the season,
and in the beginning of the school year you got
another pair your shoes. So it was always very personal.
So I can't say that I'm still well, I can
(05:07):
say that I'm still led by that idea. So when
I think about, like, oh, this is when I realized
it it mattered, particularly like black culture's performance of dressing
mattered on a global scale. I can't say that I've
ever really thought about it in that way because I
was just raised so black, and so it was just like,
(05:31):
you know, so because I was raised by black people
in a very like small town that was quite segregated,
and you know, it was always black faces that loved
me and cared for me, and you know, the faces
of aspiration were black and all of that. And I
saw blackness on the television. And then when I went
to school, obviously I began to engage with, you know,
(05:55):
people across the color spectrum. But it's always been so
personal and tight for me. I appreciate how, you know,
the clothing that I make that's filtered through my life
and my taste is appreciated by people.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
Around the globe. But I'm still not like led by that,
you know.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Yeah, so you're led by the found the principles that
you grew up in and that you were exposed to.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Yeah, and that matter to me, That that shirt mattered
to me, that shoe mattered to me. I watched that
dress matter to her. I watched that suit matter to him.
The brooch that like my mom would wear would end
up on my lapel.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
You know, because my dad would do it was just.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
All very personal person and the globalization of it or
the global impact of it, I think is beautiful and amazing.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
So when you talk about mattering to me and you
talk about the personalization, I think about within your custom offering,
you say our vision, your moment a true celebration of style.
And when you say our, is that inclusive of the
client or is that of the harvesting vision?
Speaker 2 (07:13):
It's all comprehensive, right, Like, yes, there is that harvesting vision,
and it is led by me and my experience in
the world. But then that's my experience, and largely with
the collection that's basin women's wear, I'm siphoning in and
distilling the experiences of the women in my life, past,
(07:34):
present and future, right, and how clothing makes them feel.
So it is our in that sense, right, It is
a conversation that I'm having with them, and which is
a conversation that I first had with her, which is
my mom back then and it's still happening, and I
appreciate that. I think that's the first time I've ever
(07:54):
made that connection.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
That was the thing I was just about to jump on,
like how impactful your mother has been and not only
what you become for now, but even infused into what
you're creating.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Oh yeah, like that, because that she's still the woman, right,
like her, my grandmother, my aunt, the muse, like it
still starts with her. Funny enough, I actually did a
brand video when we launched two and a half three
years ago, and I think I even said that it
(08:30):
started with her, like or it's for her, you know,
but that her now has mutated into a myriad of people, right,
It includes men, women, people of a myriad of identities
across like race and culture. But it's still started with her,
and so in many ways, like every customer is still
connecting to that one woman's experience.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
In the world.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Because then that's how I fell in love with this
tool of clothing.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
Right hm.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
And how you know first I was the customer, right
because I then was taking that process that I saw
her love and I also saw my father love made
it a part of my life, and then now I'm
seeking to transfer that to more people around the world.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
But yeah, it's definitely.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Yeah, you reference Bold a lot, and I feel that
consistency across what you do. I also feel a level
of elegance. Elegance and why do you deem it so
important though, to be so bold and show us in
such a bold, elegant way.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
It's clothing is such an opportunity. It's a daily opportunity
to visually represent yourself to the world before you speak
or anything. Right, it is such a wonderful privilege, and
so I take privilege. I don't take privilege lightly. And
so it's like, okay, if this is something that I
(10:02):
get to do every day, like, let's do it bigger, bolder,
and more exciting.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
I also make clothing that I.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Want to be covetable and it's filter through art, and
so I want you to love it in a legacy
sort of way. I want it to be a talisman
that you're handing down, or it's a moment you're you're
kind of memorializing a moment in this in this look
and this item.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
So in that sense, I also want it to be bold,
because I want it to be worth your time and
your money, you know.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
And then also my identities are such that boldness is
very much a part of just First of all, boldness
is like central to blackness.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
You know.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
So that was something you know, as a youth, we
celebrated boldly. We worship boldly, We engage with one another boldly,
We dressed boldly.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
So why wouldn't it be bold and everything that?
Speaker 2 (10:57):
I just can't I don't think any other way because
it's just like central to who I am. My queerness
is bold, like you know, being raised working class, you know,
like the the idea of up.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Mobility is very like bold, right.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
And audacious, audacious, beautiful word. So I think, I just
this is just who I am. And then I find
so many clients and customers who are either inherently that
themselves or you help to bring it out.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
And that I really love. That's true.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
So yeah, how are those interactions because I'm sure there
are clients who come through the door and you're just
like they already have that I don't say it, but
that it. But then they're the clients who come in
and they don't have that it. How do you approach
those scenarios to kind of pull offer.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Get to Well.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
I love connecting, Okay, I can see that with my clients,
well with most people, thank you, because I do. It's
just you know, I'm curious and like I can only
know as much as I know, and you garner knowledge
through experience connection all of that, and.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
I love that you damn ne're undercover therapists.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Well, go ahead, that's hilarious.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
I mean real talk. I mean with customization at the
level of what you're doing, you you got to peel
back some layers to get to the real unlock of boldness.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
No, no, no, I've never done that. Let me add that
to the invoice. But Chambers Group account, thank you.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
I I've done a decent amount on myself, or you know,
I've gone through a decent amount of therapy and counseling.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Uh So I do love that. Hm hmm.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
I've noticed that when talent comes through the door, they
are like, Okay, I am bold and I am known,
and so your clothing is consistent with, if you know,
my presentation in the world already. So it's kind of
like it's like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, Like
it's together, easy, breezy, right.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
And I love that.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
And I love those those men and women, women and
men who when that happens, when they come through the
door and they're like your mind, there's a very consistent
sort of relationship that I get to have with those individuals,
like a Kelly Rowl and like a Sophia Bush, you know,
like that are consistently coming back and I love that
NISI Nash like they just come and I appreciate that.
(13:34):
But then clients who are like, actually, Charles, I'm really
nervous about oil and water, or rather it's maybe it's
im I don't know, currently a cloud and I want
to become rain, right, It's just like it's sort of
like a It's just like there's a there's a an
(13:55):
evolution that they want to happen within themselves, and they're like,
this is a bit of either a shield or a
cloak or something that allows me to move in the
world in a way that I want to that maybe
inherently I don't feel like I'm capable of right yet,
but when I put on that exactly like when that
code is on me, when that dress is on me,
(14:15):
I feel and particularly through the custom that I do,
when we're working with my client's bodies, and it's my
not even my goal.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
It's my job.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
It's my task to take who they naturally are and
to filter it through some sort of.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
To filter it through.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
My image of beauty onto them that they can then
see themselves as beautiful in a different way, you know,
And that's what clothing one of the many things that
clothing can do.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
One of the many things.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
That I want to do and wish to do, and
I'm really excited and grateful when I get to.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Do, you know, and you've said it already, but you know,
clothing and fashion, I think can be such a great
outlet that lets you tell stories without words, which is wild,
and talk about that power and the opportunity in using
a medium with no words to impact culture in the
way that it has. There's no words.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
We use words to communicate with one another. I feel
like experiences are how we communicate with ourselves. And you know,
like the many things that we love, whenever you procure
a garner a thing that you love, it actually changes
(15:39):
your experience in the world and you begin to have
a conversation with yourself like, oh, this thing makes me
feel x y or z right, even more empowered or
easy or soft or soft or you know, more joyous
or a bit more mysterious whatever, Like many things can
do that.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
You know.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
That's generally why we buy things, you know, because of
what it makes us feel, or like how we want
to perform through the world. And these things are theoretically
supposed to help us do that. So I think that's
the interesting thing about fashion is it does end up
shifting you because you are having a conversation with self
(16:22):
through putting on these These things are on your body,
you know, you know, a lover is occasionally on your body,
like your clothing is always on you, right, and so
it at its best, it's very personal.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
So I think, yes, I'll go with that. That's my
final answer.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Find it you sure?
Speaker 3 (16:41):
That's what? No?
Speaker 1 (16:44):
And I feel you on that As you were talking
about it, I just think about how, you know, I
came up in an era where, in particular footwear because
those are oh thanks, No, I have somewhat of a problem.
I've been doing this for a while as a first
generation consumer to then an executive and working in this
industry that wasn't even an industry when I was, like
(17:05):
to your story of growing up, like, footwear wasn't sneakers
weren't a thing, but there were many of us who
then helped it to become a thing. Meaning I didn't
buy the running shoot to actually go running in it.
I bought it because I thought it was kind of
cool and it was a means to express my personality.
And this is circa thirty plus years ago, you know,
(17:29):
And so as I listened to you and how you
just broke down the power of fashion without it having words,
and what it does for the individual, and how personal
it is and how close it is, it's very real.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
I remember it's being the speakers I played sports wearing.
My dad was a college football coach for a long time. Anyway,
playing basketball. I can't remember these particular sneakers that I
wanted and Mom wouldn't buy them for me. Yeah, but
on the soul this was easily like this is mid nineties.
The soul had these giant like black bubbles on them.
(18:05):
They were Nikes, clearly, yeah and something like that, right,
but like they were really big. Anyway, she brought me
a pair that had a thick soule but didn't have
those circles, so I drew them on and I felt
so much better, like after having these giant black circles
on the souls of my sneakers for the game. Right,
(18:28):
but it was really like, oh, yeah, this item looking
this way made me feel better and hints likely you know,
performed better in the game or whatever.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
So it really is about like.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
But look at your your tendency to customization. Look how
early that started.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
I mean that's true.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
I mean that comes out of being like breaking class
and poor, right.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Like making it happen by any meanings necessary.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
The ingenuity that comes out of that is wonderful. And
my family also encouraged me artistically when I was young.
But it's inn to people groups that occupy that space.
You know, immigrant families understand that. Raised poor and working
class people understand just the mending of.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
Things or like the tailoring of things.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
There's longevity, which is a very sustainable kind of way
to live. Not kind of sustainable, it's actually the rooted
sustainability is actually rooted in how those people live their
lives because of the true connection to and desire to
like elongate the life, life long sort of experience with
(19:37):
a thing. But yes, that's totally what was happening when
I was young.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
You just made me think back to you know, my parents,
they came here in the early seventies from Jamaica and
in doing that, moved straight to New York. And when
I was born and when I was raised, I never
was raised with the weight and heaviness of segregation and
say why because that wasn't a thing for them. Coming
(20:02):
to the States was Oh, no, I'm going to the
States for a better life, and it's the land of opportunity,
and I can if I put my work in, I
can do whatever I want to do. And they both
excelled in their respective areas. But there's a very strong
correlation to I think what you were saying of this
longevity and this thought that is imparted in us in
(20:23):
so many different ways. We're talking about it through clothes
and through the sneakers, but even through just the culture
and environments that are within the home that you now
go out into the world with. Because I did go
into certain situations with a naivety about somebody judging me
by the color of my skin. What do you mean really? Oh,
I'm sorry, not too familiar with that. I got things
(20:44):
I'm trying to get done, and I'm gonna get it done. Now.
Did people in situations chip away at that, absolutely, But
at the core I always had this notion of anything
is possible, and anything is possible, and what a great
trampoline or springboard that is. Now, Please don't get it twisted.
(21:06):
Don't think I've never faced the implications of the races
and all the things that exist. But it helps you
to maneuver through. And I look at what you do
as with your brand, you're equipping people to actually walk
out into the world with those type of tools.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
That is my goal one hundred because you know, the
first of all, I'm working with women, right, so they're daily,
like in the home and in the world, navigating misogyny
and sexism, right, And then I'm off a lot of
my customers are queer people. You're regularly navigating that. And
then for the customers who are people of color, who
(21:46):
are immigrant people, there's that extra element as well. And
then on top of that like anti black racism, which
is the thing unto itself, So there's so much that
everyone is dealing with. My goal is if you decide
to choose Harveston, it has to make your life better.
(22:10):
That's the only reason why I do this. And yes,
it is me kind of looking back at what a
particular suit would do for my father when he would
go to a place, what a particular dress would do
for my mom, what a particular look would do for me,
you know, like I remember going to school for the
(22:32):
first I think it was like the second grade or
something like that. And it's a memory that I love
so much, but it can easily make me cry because
I was nervous. I think I was like heavier this
particular first day of school. And we also things were
hard at home, and so we went to a place
called Roses. This is such a personal story, it's funny.
We went to a store called Roses, and I think
(22:54):
Mom got me like an oversized tea. It may have
been like a Duke Blue Devil's tea and some like
exactly some shorts and some like Chuck Taylor's or something
like that. And I remember like I felt so great
going to school. I felt like equipped to navigate all
(23:14):
these insecurities that it built up. I was probably like
first showing the signs, not first because that was at birth,
but like you know, early bold signs of queerness, you know,
whatever was happening for me. I just remember being really
afraid and nervous about that first day of school. And
that's what this look did for me. That's what that
that outfit kind of prepared and emboldened me and gave
(23:37):
me arms armor, right, And so yes, there's so much
that everyone is navigating and there's so many things that
one could choose, But the choice back then was this
boot Devil's T shirt in these shorts that made that
little boy's life better. Today, if the choice that someone
makes is harvesting, I have to be making your life
(23:57):
better and the yeah, I'm.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
A back to that in a second with some I
thought about, have you styled anyone in your family yet?
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Oh? Yeah, my mom has too many clothes.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
Wow, my mom is able to.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
See regularly requested.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
What was the first time do you remember that first
time that you were able to customize something for your
mother through your brand? Well, hmmm, or the most memorable.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Exactly one, there is a particularly memorable memorable thing. There
was a particularly memorable thing two and a half.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
Three years ago.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
I had a Banana Republic collaboration and my mom was
the central muse for that collection. It was a capsule
collection that I did with Banana Republic.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
It was released.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Internationally online and in stores, and Mom's face was the
face of the campaign. She had large images of her
at Banana Republic stores basically on billboards and flanked by
two models, and she was in a full harbison for
Banana Republic.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
Look, and it.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
All revolved around her, and that it was in that
moment that I was like, oh, I have done the
thing that I've always wanted to do, which was like
really visibly, intangibly show my appreciation for her because I
could put her on this platform. And also it was
a bit of a distillation of the brand because everyone,
(25:28):
you know, like women of every color, men across like
sexual orientation, We're all going into this store purchasing clothes
that were reflective of this black this you know, working
class black woman's story, and all of their lives were
being made better by it. So that for me was
(25:49):
just a huge deal. Now when she wants a dress
because she has this wedding to go to, Oh, she
wants to dress because she has this church team, It's like, okay, girl,
Like that's a whole other come on.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
But she she can make those calls. I mean, you
should be able.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
To You know, I too have limits. Okay, wow, you
know I too.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Matter the therapist has boundaries. Well, I mean I should hope, hilarious.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
The therapist has to go get therapy at some point.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
What what's the what's the mindset shift that changed everything
for you?
Speaker 2 (26:20):
I had a mindset shift in twenty sixteen when I
left New York, and it was that saving my life
was more important than anything else because I had prioritized
my profession. I prioritize kind of upward mobility with a
lot of self sacrifice. And my grandmother passed away and
(26:43):
I was like, this is not the legacy that she
would have, Like this isn't reflective of what she meant
to me and meant in the world with me kind
of like face down in this city trying to make
something happen that wasn't happening. And so I prioritized myself
(27:03):
and left New York for LA and that has shifted everything.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
What's the best piece of advice a mentor ever gave
to you?
Speaker 2 (27:13):
I remember often being told to be patient, and I
didn't have that in my twenties. I can't remember who
told me this. I just feel myself sitting across the
table from someone who I respected and them saying Charlie
(27:34):
and say they would use that as opposed to Charles
when you're really trying to get in on me, Charlie,
be patient. I think that it was either like Charlie
be patient or Charlie slow down. It was one of
those two things that is resonating right now, in this moment,
right in a really impactful way.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
So you were talking about making people's lives lives better
is a big thing for you, and I guess, given
the state of things right now, we're in a very
interesting time for me, and I would like to hear
what are you doing specifically to ensure that the cultures
and the spaces that you frequent are being nurtured properly,
(28:18):
and what would you also recommend other creatives and consumers
to do given the times we are and given your
goal and everything that you do, of what making people's
lives better.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
If there ever was a time for creators to create,
it's now, and I think that's always the case. And
I also don't want to be nihilistic. I want to
maintain a thread of optimism, which is really important to me.
But the data is the data, the context, the environment
is what it is right now, and so it's so
(28:52):
important that whatever your creative output in the world is
is very important that you act in that right now.
I think one of the best ways to nurture culture,
to nurture our environments, our contexts, our relationships. Right now
are to like have things to exchange, right, so that
(29:15):
we are giving to one another, we are garnering from
one another because it ends that process creates more confidence
intra culturally and it makes it it makes us.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
All that much more capable of taking on.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
Whatever outside forces are seeking to compromise our cultural performances
in the world. I think those things are really really important.
So whether it's you know, your pies, or whether it's
you know, your scrapbooking, whether it's you know, I like
to lead meditations or I like to do yoga in
(29:56):
the part from my friends, whatever it is my rioting.
I write letters and poems and I send them to
the people.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
That I love.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Whatever that is, I think it's so important because it
it's our opportunity to feel.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
Just supported internally.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
And that's what culture is like, that's what is That's
the fuel that builds the ammunition, the strength. You know,
every oppressed identity group under the sun like they've been
able to take on whatever outside force because they were
(30:39):
fortifying one another. And I feel like that fortification can
happen now creatively by creating and exchanging, purchasing from one another,
giving to one another, whatever it is. I think that's
really really important right now.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
You know, another thing that's been a hot topic is,
you know, these D and I conversations and when you
look at how D and I really ended up helping
white women more than anyone else, what are the things
we need to do now to ensure that diversity, true diversity,
is reflected in the spaces where we've made so much
(31:15):
impact culturally, I mean over the last couple of decades.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
You know, I don't even know, to be honest with you,
so much of like the DII conversation exists in corporations.
Speaker 3 (31:28):
Which is already dare I say inhumane?
Speaker 1 (31:36):
Listen, chuckle said a whole lot before making a statement
that was classic, rightfully, so, So.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
You know, it's.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
The expectations of corporations to perform in a human way.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
I don't think we should be foolish enough to actually
have that.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
They're comprised of people humans.
Speaker 3 (31:58):
Yes, I know, but I think that that's why I
go back to.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
What kind of exchange can we perform with one another
so that we're less dependent upon There's so many businesses
that we can build that are led by and centralizing
of a myriad of identities that diversity equity inclusion either
(32:25):
said it was going to center and didn't. It's just
such a like tempestuous world because I just never want
to expect something that is set up.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
For my demise to ever be anything other than what
it is.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
Managing your expectations.
Speaker 3 (32:49):
Kind of right.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
And this isn't me exonerating anyone of anything whatsoever, you know,
but it's just like, Okay, it's always been.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
What it is.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Can we build how can we build new tables which
we are actively doing that the seats that are preemptively
secured for you know, everyone who's outside of the privileged
circle and those individuals as allies who see it important
(33:20):
for them to be in those contexts as well.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
I don't know, like that's just kind.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
Of how I think about it right now, you know.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
And it sounds like you're leading by example.
Speaker 3 (33:30):
Well yeah, I mean like I'm a black queer man
race sport.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
My product director who's my number two is a Chinese
American first generation the my visuals director who's the number
three is Mexican American biracial.
Speaker 3 (33:50):
Queer.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
You know, I think about, you know, people of various
identities when I'm designing these clothes. It's just I've created
an environment that is inherently a reflection of something because
that DEI wishes to represent, just because it's inherently who
(34:13):
I am, who you are exactly, And I think if
we are continuing to center those experiences and those individuals,
then we set up a different landscape. Again, this isn't
any exoneration of it, or this isn't even like minimizing
the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion, because it has
(34:33):
always been important, you know, and has shown up in
different ways with different nomenclature over different generations. But at
the same time, there are so many individuals who are
building exciting, beautiful, amazing things that you don't even have
to have the expectation for it to be anything other
(34:55):
than diverse, equitable and inclusive.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Love it. Where did your faith play in all this?
Speaker 2 (35:05):
I mean, it's who this little country boy is at
the end of the day, you know, like it was
very much the place. It was the communal spot for
my family. My hometown was, well, my neighborhood, the nucleus
of it was a church, and so much of my
family because they were all like within a bike ride, right.
(35:27):
I grew up in a very sort of communal, familial
context where everyone fed me, everyone raised me, everyone kind
of ended up and converged on the church on Sundays midweek.
I mean I was there all the time, you know,
And churches where I come from were those kind of
(35:47):
community centers. Because of that, my faith was not only
how I related to myself, so how I related to others.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
My faith is cultural as well. I love it so much.
It's key for me.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
Even as my life has grown and evolved through like
travel and understanding more about like faiths around the world.
For like, I've landed even deeper in my faith, finding
the places where it is so universal, and it's also
the thing that keeps me going. This thing that I
built is not easy. Like entrepreneurship.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
I saw somebody posted some the other day, So the
life of an entrepreneur one day could be you look
at your bank account and you have sixty four thousand
dollars in it. In the evening, it then has sixty
two cents.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
When I tell you it is a regular experience, it's
one that I even had today, Like I screenshot something
and sent it to Michelle what the balance was in
the morning, and then when it became and like the
sense of relief. But then that's also going to go
out to bring in something else. So there's always that
that's happening, and it requires so much faith, yeah, so
(37:00):
much faith and risk taking. You know, you're betting on yourselves, right,
which means that you're trusting and something unseen, betting on
God's plan. Right, So there's all these unseen sorts of
like this faith we by faith, not by sight. And entrepreneurship,
you you can't if you walk by sight, it's a
non starters. You are not doing You're going back to work,
(37:23):
you back your life.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
Movie documentary is about to air in movie theaters. The
first scene is rolling what song is playing? And why
Good Days?
Speaker 3 (37:38):
Sayss A.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
I just adore that song. I always feel like it
paints a picture like I'm in a field of beauty flowers.
Maybe it feels like a reflection of like my favorite
youthful moments because I grew up in the country in
the woods, and it just feels like I'm in a fantasy,
(38:01):
idyllic land of eating listening to good Days.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
You know, in seasons of fasting, which I'm sure you're
very familiar with, can obviously be way more than just food,
you know, social media or alcohol and all those things.
Is there a communal fast that you would advocate we
move on to further align focus, move forward.
Speaker 2 (38:23):
A boycott of I don't know, you know, there are
many that are like bubbling up warranted, you know, and
when warranted based on the previous conversation, that could be,
you know, that's a valuable fast, right because it is
this sort of like how do I remove myself from
this thing that I seemingly need yep to kind of
(38:44):
garner some clarity about myself and that thing, and hey,
that's a communal one right there.
Speaker 1 (38:52):
Well, we always end these conversations with what are the
three seeds that you would want to share with the
stewards of culture moving forward to put these cultures in
the right hands with the right tools. What are the
three seeds or tools you'd want to share.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
I like this question a lot because it goes back
to something that I decided day one of Harveston, which
was the three cornerstones or style, play, and intellect. And
so for me, those when it comes to stewards of culture,
if we're centering style, right, which is this honest performance
(39:29):
of self in the world, If we're centering playfulness, a
sense of youthfulness, ease, curiosity, you know, all the things
that we see in young people right that will definitely
perpetuate culture. And then intellect, you know, like intelligence is key,
you know, like learning about ourselves in the world and
(39:49):
taking that information in to fortify, to correct and perfect style. Play,
intellect are my three seeds all the time.
Speaker 1 (40:00):
I love that way to get straight to it. This
has been a super enlightening conversation. I'm so glad I
was introduced to you and now I feel like I've
known you.
Speaker 3 (40:12):
I know forever. This is great.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
Thank you and going to know you moving forward and
support you because you needed you so needed. I'm so
glad that you're grounded and focused on your purpose and
your why, because when you are, you know, you know
the roads that are not going to take you to
where you need to go, where many people you know,
not knowing their why roads are going to take them anywhere.
(40:36):
You're locked in, stay locked in and here to support you,
and thank you.
Speaker 3 (40:40):
Thank you, Sam.
Speaker 1 (40:42):
We truly appreciate your support because it helps us fulfill
our mission of promoting cultural awareness and personal development. Please
click the subscribe button below to help ensure and solidify
our mission
To who much is given, much is required. Part of
that requirement is sharing. Culture is the heartbeat within our lives,
and it's at the core of so many things. While
we live in a time when we are starving for wisdom,
I welcome you to your wisdom retreat. That culture raises us.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Boldness is central to block lifth. We celebrate boldly, We
work so boldly. We engage with one another boldly. I
don't think any other way.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Charles Harveston is a designer, creative director and founder of Harveston,
the luxury brand that's rooted in bold design elite craftsmanship.
Charles has developed a uniquely informed understanding of the fundamentals
design and the complex science behind fabrics, as well addressed
to some of the most iconic celebrities like Fonce and
able to do with the made to mention a few
damn near undercover therapists, We'll go ahead.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
That's hilaria.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Fashion has always been very personal for me, and its
usage in my life and in the lives of the
people around me has always been so personal. Being raised
in a working class environment, it was always a big
deal getting dressed. First of all, I'm working with women,
queer people, people of color, So there's so much that
everyone is dealing with. My goal is, if you decide
(01:15):
to choose harvesting, it has to make your life better.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
When you hear culture, What does that.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Mean to you?
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Well, first, thank you, You're very welcome for having me
pleasure pleasure. I think of culture as how people relate
to one another, you know, whatever those sorts of what
of the language, the vocabulary, the performance, the activity, just
the communal ways in which individuals are connecting with one another.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Was there a particular moment that you can recall where
you remember feeling how influential fashion and black culture was
to shaping overall global landscape, culture, and life.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Well, I can say that the first time fashion mattered
to me was watching my mom get dressed. And I
call upon this memory so often. It really is one
of the cornerstones, I guess, of my profession and also
my brand. But it was watching her kind of transform.
(02:22):
I have distinct memories of sitting on the bed watching
her like choose what earrings to wear, choose what lip color,
asking me like which shoe or do you like this?
Because I think she could tell that I just enjoyed
being in the room while she went through her ritual
of her process, particularly her being a working class woman
(02:46):
in the kind of mutation that would happen between like
the work clothes of her nine to five in the
evening and the.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Evenings and the weekends.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
You know, because my parents were like young and hot,
so it's like whatever they look like on the weekends
versus then what she looked like on Sunday. And how
like clothing and fashion was central to this presentation of
self so well, you know, I didn't think about it
as comprehensively back then. It was just like, oh, this
(03:17):
is fun and this matters for her, and I like
being a part of this process with her.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
But when was there a moment where you realized for
the world how influential I say, our culture, black culture
and fashion or fashion and or both have been to
influencing global culture. Like that moment where you saw some
of You're like, oh, this is when I knew this thing,
this is real, this is it? You know.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
I can't I can't say that I've ever thought about
it in such a grandiose way. I think I came
to see that through my career. But fashion has always
been very personal for me, and it's usage in my
life and in the lives of the people around me
(04:01):
has always been so personal. Think it has a lot
to do with being raised in a working class environment
from North Carolina, the foothills of North Carolina, a mill
town really as mail as mill yes back then, like
everyone worked in either textile mills or tool factories like
that kind of context. And so the process of getting
(04:24):
dressed always mattered because your dress for your day to
day was filtered through utilitarianism, right, it was filtered through
your nine to five, which was the day, was filtered
through your job. And so it was always a big
deal getting dressed us getting dressed as children for holidays,
(04:46):
like certain holidays aligned with certain purchases, and you know,
Easter you got new shoes and you know, in a
new suit, and that would like go through the season,
and in the beginning of the school year you got
another pair your shoes. So it was always very personal.
So I can't say that I'm still well, I can
(05:07):
say that I'm still led by that idea. So when
I think about, like, oh, this is when I realized
it it mattered, particularly like black culture's performance of dressing
mattered on a global scale. I can't say that I've
ever really thought about it in that way because I
was just raised so black, and so it was just like,
(05:31):
you know, so because I was raised by black people
in a very like small town that was quite segregated,
and you know, it was always black faces that loved
me and cared for me, and you know, the faces
of aspiration were black and all of that. And I
saw blackness on the television. And then when I went
to school, obviously I began to engage with, you know,
(05:55):
people across the color spectrum. But it's always been so
personal and tight for me. I appreciate how, you know,
the clothing that I make that's filtered through my life
and my taste is appreciated by people.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
Around the globe. But I'm still not like led by that,
you know.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Yeah, so you're led by the found the principles that
you grew up in and that you were exposed to.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Yeah, and that matter to me, That that shirt mattered
to me, that shoe mattered to me. I watched that
dress matter to her. I watched that suit matter to him.
The brooch that like my mom would wear would end
up on my lapel.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
You know, because my dad would do it was just.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
All very personal person and the globalization of it or
the global impact of it, I think is beautiful and amazing.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
So when you talk about mattering to me and you
talk about the personalization, I think about within your custom offering,
you say our vision, your moment a true celebration of style.
And when you say our, is that inclusive of the
client or is that of the harvesting vision?
Speaker 2 (07:13):
It's all comprehensive, right, Like, yes, there is that harvesting vision,
and it is led by me and my experience in
the world. But then that's my experience, and largely with
the collection that's basin women's wear, I'm siphoning in and
distilling the experiences of the women in my life, past,
(07:34):
present and future, right, and how clothing makes them feel.
So it is our in that sense, right, It is
a conversation that I'm having with them, and which is
a conversation that I first had with her, which is
my mom back then and it's still happening, and I
appreciate that. I think that's the first time I've ever
(07:54):
made that connection.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
That was the thing I was just about to jump on,
like how impactful your mother has been and not only
what you become for now, but even infused into what
you're creating.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Oh yeah, like that, because that she's still the woman, right,
like her, my grandmother, my aunt, the muse, like it
still starts with her. Funny enough, I actually did a
brand video when we launched two and a half three
years ago, and I think I even said that it
(08:30):
started with her, like or it's for her, you know,
but that her now has mutated into a myriad of people, right,
It includes men, women, people of a myriad of identities
across like race and culture. But it's still started with her,
and so in many ways, like every customer is still
connecting to that one woman's experience.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
In the world.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Because then that's how I fell in love with this
tool of clothing.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
Right hm.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
And how you know first I was the customer, right
because I then was taking that process that I saw
her love and I also saw my father love made
it a part of my life, and then now I'm
seeking to transfer that to more people around the world.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
But yeah, it's definitely.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Yeah, you reference Bold a lot, and I feel that
consistency across what you do. I also feel a level
of elegance. Elegance and why do you deem it so
important though, to be so bold and show us in
such a bold, elegant way.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
It's clothing is such an opportunity. It's a daily opportunity
to visually represent yourself to the world before you speak
or anything. Right, it is such a wonderful privilege, and
so I take privilege. I don't take privilege lightly. And
so it's like, okay, if this is something that I
(10:02):
get to do every day, like, let's do it bigger, bolder,
and more exciting.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
I also make clothing that I.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Want to be covetable and it's filter through art, and
so I want you to love it in a legacy
sort of way. I want it to be a talisman
that you're handing down, or it's a moment you're you're
kind of memorializing a moment in this in this look
and this item.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
So in that sense, I also want it to be bold,
because I want it to be worth your time and
your money, you know.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
And then also my identities are such that boldness is
very much a part of just First of all, boldness
is like central to blackness.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
You know.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
So that was something you know, as a youth, we
celebrated boldly. We worship boldly, We engage with one another boldly,
We dressed boldly.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
So why wouldn't it be bold and everything that?
Speaker 2 (10:57):
I just can't I don't think any other way because
it's just like central to who I am. My queerness
is bold, like you know, being raised working class, you know,
like the the idea of up.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Mobility is very like bold, right.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
And audacious, audacious, beautiful word. So I think, I just
this is just who I am. And then I find
so many clients and customers who are either inherently that
themselves or you help to bring it out.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
And that I really love. That's true.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
So yeah, how are those interactions because I'm sure there
are clients who come through the door and you're just
like they already have that I don't say it, but
that it. But then they're the clients who come in
and they don't have that it. How do you approach
those scenarios to kind of pull offer.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Get to Well.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
I love connecting, Okay, I can see that with my clients,
well with most people, thank you, because I do. It's
just you know, I'm curious and like I can only
know as much as I know, and you garner knowledge
through experience connection all of that, and.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
I love that you damn ne're undercover therapists.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Well, go ahead, that's hilarious.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
I mean real talk. I mean with customization at the
level of what you're doing, you you got to peel
back some layers to get to the real unlock of boldness.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
No, no, no, I've never done that. Let me add that
to the invoice. But Chambers Group account, thank you.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
I I've done a decent amount on myself, or you know,
I've gone through a decent amount of therapy and counseling.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Uh So I do love that. Hm hmm.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
I've noticed that when talent comes through the door, they
are like, Okay, I am bold and I am known,
and so your clothing is consistent with, if you know,
my presentation in the world already. So it's kind of
like it's like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, Like
it's together, easy, breezy, right.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
And I love that.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
And I love those those men and women, women and
men who when that happens, when they come through the
door and they're like your mind, there's a very consistent
sort of relationship that I get to have with those individuals,
like a Kelly Rowl and like a Sophia Bush, you know,
like that are consistently coming back and I love that
NISI Nash like they just come and I appreciate that.
(13:34):
But then clients who are like, actually, Charles, I'm really
nervous about oil and water, or rather it's maybe it's
im I don't know, currently a cloud and I want
to become rain, right, It's just like it's sort of
like a It's just like there's a there's a an
(13:55):
evolution that they want to happen within themselves, and they're like,
this is a bit of either a shield or a
cloak or something that allows me to move in the
world in a way that I want to that maybe
inherently I don't feel like I'm capable of right yet,
but when I put on that exactly like when that
code is on me, when that dress is on me,
(14:15):
I feel and particularly through the custom that I do,
when we're working with my client's bodies, and it's my
not even my goal.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
It's my job.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
It's my task to take who they naturally are and
to filter it through some sort of.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
To filter it through.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
My image of beauty onto them that they can then
see themselves as beautiful in a different way, you know,
And that's what clothing one of the many things that
clothing can do.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
One of the many things.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
That I want to do and wish to do, and
I'm really excited and grateful when I get to.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Do, you know, and you've said it already, but you know,
clothing and fashion, I think can be such a great
outlet that lets you tell stories without words, which is wild,
and talk about that power and the opportunity in using
a medium with no words to impact culture in the
way that it has. There's no words.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
We use words to communicate with one another. I feel
like experiences are how we communicate with ourselves. And you know,
like the many things that we love, whenever you procure
a garner a thing that you love, it actually changes
(15:39):
your experience in the world and you begin to have
a conversation with yourself like, oh, this thing makes me
feel x y or z right, even more empowered or
easy or soft or soft or you know, more joyous
or a bit more mysterious whatever, Like many things can
do that.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
You know.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
That's generally why we buy things, you know, because of
what it makes us feel, or like how we want
to perform through the world. And these things are theoretically
supposed to help us do that. So I think that's
the interesting thing about fashion is it does end up
shifting you because you are having a conversation with self
(16:22):
through putting on these These things are on your body,
you know, you know, a lover is occasionally on your body,
like your clothing is always on you, right, and so
it at its best, it's very personal.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
So I think, yes, I'll go with that. That's my
final answer.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Find it you sure?
Speaker 3 (16:41):
That's what? No?
Speaker 1 (16:44):
And I feel you on that As you were talking
about it, I just think about how, you know, I
came up in an era where, in particular footwear because
those are oh thanks, No, I have somewhat of a problem.
I've been doing this for a while as a first
generation consumer to then an executive and working in this
industry that wasn't even an industry when I was, like
(17:05):
to your story of growing up, like, footwear wasn't sneakers
weren't a thing, but there were many of us who
then helped it to become a thing. Meaning I didn't
buy the running shoot to actually go running in it.
I bought it because I thought it was kind of
cool and it was a means to express my personality.
And this is circa thirty plus years ago, you know,
(17:29):
And so as I listened to you and how you
just broke down the power of fashion without it having words,
and what it does for the individual, and how personal
it is and how close it is, it's very real.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
I remember it's being the speakers I played sports wearing.
My dad was a college football coach for a long time. Anyway,
playing basketball. I can't remember these particular sneakers that I
wanted and Mom wouldn't buy them for me. Yeah, but
on the soul this was easily like this is mid nineties.
The soul had these giant like black bubbles on them.
(18:05):
They were Nikes, clearly, yeah and something like that, right,
but like they were really big. Anyway, she brought me
a pair that had a thick soule but didn't have
those circles, so I drew them on and I felt
so much better, like after having these giant black circles
on the souls of my sneakers for the game. Right,
(18:28):
but it was really like, oh, yeah, this item looking
this way made me feel better and hints likely you know,
performed better in the game or whatever.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
So it really is about like.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
But look at your your tendency to customization. Look how
early that started.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
I mean that's true.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
I mean that comes out of being like breaking class
and poor, right.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Like making it happen by any meanings necessary.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
The ingenuity that comes out of that is wonderful. And
my family also encouraged me artistically when I was young.
But it's inn to people groups that occupy that space.
You know, immigrant families understand that. Raised poor and working
class people understand just the mending of.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
Things or like the tailoring of things.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
There's longevity, which is a very sustainable kind of way
to live. Not kind of sustainable, it's actually the rooted
sustainability is actually rooted in how those people live their
lives because of the true connection to and desire to
like elongate the life, life long sort of experience with
(19:37):
a thing. But yes, that's totally what was happening when
I was young.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
You just made me think back to you know, my parents,
they came here in the early seventies from Jamaica and
in doing that, moved straight to New York. And when
I was born and when I was raised, I never
was raised with the weight and heaviness of segregation and
say why because that wasn't a thing for them. Coming
(20:02):
to the States was Oh, no, I'm going to the
States for a better life, and it's the land of opportunity,
and I can if I put my work in, I
can do whatever I want to do. And they both
excelled in their respective areas. But there's a very strong
correlation to I think what you were saying of this
longevity and this thought that is imparted in us in
(20:23):
so many different ways. We're talking about it through clothes
and through the sneakers, but even through just the culture
and environments that are within the home that you now
go out into the world with. Because I did go
into certain situations with a naivety about somebody judging me
by the color of my skin. What do you mean really? Oh,
I'm sorry, not too familiar with that. I got things
(20:44):
I'm trying to get done, and I'm gonna get it done. Now.
Did people in situations chip away at that, absolutely, But
at the core I always had this notion of anything
is possible, and anything is possible, and what a great
trampoline or springboard that is. Now, Please don't get it twisted.
(21:06):
Don't think I've never faced the implications of the races
and all the things that exist. But it helps you
to maneuver through. And I look at what you do
as with your brand, you're equipping people to actually walk
out into the world with those type of tools.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
That is my goal one hundred because you know, the
first of all, I'm working with women, right, so they're daily,
like in the home and in the world, navigating misogyny
and sexism, right, And then I'm off a lot of
my customers are queer people. You're regularly navigating that. And
then for the customers who are people of color, who
(21:46):
are immigrant people, there's that extra element as well. And
then on top of that like anti black racism, which
is the thing unto itself, So there's so much that
everyone is dealing with. My goal is if you decide
to choose Harveston, it has to make your life better.
(22:10):
That's the only reason why I do this. And yes,
it is me kind of looking back at what a
particular suit would do for my father when he would
go to a place, what a particular dress would do
for my mom, what a particular look would do for me,
you know, like I remember going to school for the
(22:32):
first I think it was like the second grade or
something like that. And it's a memory that I love
so much, but it can easily make me cry because
I was nervous. I think I was like heavier this
particular first day of school. And we also things were
hard at home, and so we went to a place
called Roses. This is such a personal story, it's funny.
We went to a store called Roses, and I think
(22:54):
Mom got me like an oversized tea. It may have
been like a Duke Blue Devil's tea and some like
exactly some shorts and some like Chuck Taylor's or something
like that. And I remember like I felt so great
going to school. I felt like equipped to navigate all
(23:14):
these insecurities that it built up. I was probably like
first showing the signs, not first because that was at birth,
but like you know, early bold signs of queerness, you know,
whatever was happening for me. I just remember being really
afraid and nervous about that first day of school. And
that's what this look did for me. That's what that
that outfit kind of prepared and emboldened me and gave
(23:37):
me arms armor, right, And so yes, there's so much
that everyone is navigating and there's so many things that
one could choose, But the choice back then was this
boot Devil's T shirt in these shorts that made that
little boy's life better. Today, if the choice that someone
makes is harvesting, I have to be making your life
(23:57):
better and the yeah, I'm.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
A back to that in a second with some I
thought about, have you styled anyone in your family yet?
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Oh? Yeah, my mom has too many clothes.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
Wow, my mom is able to.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
See regularly requested.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
What was the first time do you remember that first
time that you were able to customize something for your
mother through your brand? Well, hmmm, or the most memorable.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Exactly one, there is a particularly memorable memorable thing. There
was a particularly memorable thing two and a half.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
Three years ago.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
I had a Banana Republic collaboration and my mom was
the central muse for that collection. It was a capsule
collection that I did with Banana Republic.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
It was released.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Internationally online and in stores, and Mom's face was the
face of the campaign. She had large images of her
at Banana Republic stores basically on billboards and flanked by
two models, and she was in a full harbison for
Banana Republic.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
Look, and it.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
All revolved around her, and that it was in that
moment that I was like, oh, I have done the
thing that I've always wanted to do, which was like
really visibly, intangibly show my appreciation for her because I
could put her on this platform. And also it was
a bit of a distillation of the brand because everyone,
(25:28):
you know, like women of every color, men across like
sexual orientation, We're all going into this store purchasing clothes
that were reflective of this black this you know, working
class black woman's story, and all of their lives were
being made better by it. So that for me was
(25:49):
just a huge deal. Now when she wants a dress
because she has this wedding to go to, Oh, she
wants to dress because she has this church team, It's like, okay, girl,
Like that's a whole other come on.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
But she she can make those calls. I mean, you
should be able.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
To You know, I too have limits. Okay, wow, you
know I too.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Matter the therapist has boundaries. Well, I mean I should hope, hilarious.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
The therapist has to go get therapy at some point.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
What what's the what's the mindset shift that changed everything
for you?
Speaker 2 (26:20):
I had a mindset shift in twenty sixteen when I
left New York, and it was that saving my life
was more important than anything else because I had prioritized
my profession. I prioritize kind of upward mobility with a
lot of self sacrifice. And my grandmother passed away and
(26:43):
I was like, this is not the legacy that she
would have, Like this isn't reflective of what she meant
to me and meant in the world with me kind
of like face down in this city trying to make
something happen that wasn't happening. And so I prioritized myself
(27:03):
and left New York for LA and that has shifted everything.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
What's the best piece of advice a mentor ever gave
to you?
Speaker 2 (27:13):
I remember often being told to be patient, and I
didn't have that in my twenties. I can't remember who
told me this. I just feel myself sitting across the
table from someone who I respected and them saying Charlie
(27:34):
and say they would use that as opposed to Charles
when you're really trying to get in on me, Charlie,
be patient. I think that it was either like Charlie
be patient or Charlie slow down. It was one of
those two things that is resonating right now, in this moment,
right in a really impactful way.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
So you were talking about making people's lives lives better
is a big thing for you, and I guess, given
the state of things right now, we're in a very
interesting time for me, and I would like to hear
what are you doing specifically to ensure that the cultures
and the spaces that you frequent are being nurtured properly,
(28:18):
and what would you also recommend other creatives and consumers
to do given the times we are and given your
goal and everything that you do, of what making people's
lives better.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
If there ever was a time for creators to create,
it's now, and I think that's always the case. And
I also don't want to be nihilistic. I want to
maintain a thread of optimism, which is really important to me.
But the data is the data, the context, the environment
is what it is right now, and so it's so
(28:52):
important that whatever your creative output in the world is
is very important that you act in that right now.
I think one of the best ways to nurture culture,
to nurture our environments, our contexts, our relationships. Right now
are to like have things to exchange, right, so that
(29:15):
we are giving to one another, we are garnering from
one another because it ends that process creates more confidence
intra culturally and it makes it it makes us.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
All that much more capable of taking on.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
Whatever outside forces are seeking to compromise our cultural performances
in the world. I think those things are really really important.
So whether it's you know, your pies, or whether it's
you know, your scrapbooking, whether it's you know, I like
to lead meditations or I like to do yoga in
(29:56):
the part from my friends, whatever it is my rioting.
I write letters and poems and I send them to
the people.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
That I love.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Whatever that is, I think it's so important because it
it's our opportunity to feel.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
Just supported internally.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
And that's what culture is like, that's what is That's
the fuel that builds the ammunition, the strength. You know,
every oppressed identity group under the sun like they've been
able to take on whatever outside force because they were
(30:39):
fortifying one another. And I feel like that fortification can
happen now creatively by creating and exchanging, purchasing from one another,
giving to one another, whatever it is. I think that's
really really important right now.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
You know, another thing that's been a hot topic is,
you know, these D and I conversations and when you
look at how D and I really ended up helping
white women more than anyone else, what are the things
we need to do now to ensure that diversity, true diversity,
is reflected in the spaces where we've made so much
(31:15):
impact culturally, I mean over the last couple of decades.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
You know, I don't even know, to be honest with you,
so much of like the DII conversation exists in corporations.
Speaker 3 (31:28):
Which is already dare I say inhumane?
Speaker 1 (31:36):
Listen, chuckle said a whole lot before making a statement
that was classic, rightfully, so, So.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
You know, it's.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
The expectations of corporations to perform in a human way.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
I don't think we should be foolish enough to actually
have that.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
They're comprised of people humans.
Speaker 3 (31:58):
Yes, I know, but I think that that's why I
go back to.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
What kind of exchange can we perform with one another
so that we're less dependent upon There's so many businesses
that we can build that are led by and centralizing
of a myriad of identities that diversity equity inclusion either
(32:25):
said it was going to center and didn't. It's just
such a like tempestuous world because I just never want
to expect something that is set up.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
For my demise to ever be anything other than what
it is.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
Managing your expectations.
Speaker 3 (32:49):
Kind of right.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
And this isn't me exonerating anyone of anything whatsoever, you know,
but it's just like, Okay, it's always been.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
What it is.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Can we build how can we build new tables which
we are actively doing that the seats that are preemptively
secured for you know, everyone who's outside of the privileged
circle and those individuals as allies who see it important
(33:20):
for them to be in those contexts as well.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
I don't know, like that's just kind.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
Of how I think about it right now, you know.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
And it sounds like you're leading by example.
Speaker 3 (33:30):
Well yeah, I mean like I'm a black queer man
race sport.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
My product director who's my number two is a Chinese
American first generation the my visuals director who's the number
three is Mexican American biracial.
Speaker 3 (33:50):
Queer.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
You know, I think about, you know, people of various
identities when I'm designing these clothes. It's just I've created
an environment that is inherently a reflection of something because
that DEI wishes to represent, just because it's inherently who
(34:13):
I am, who you are exactly, And I think if
we are continuing to center those experiences and those individuals,
then we set up a different landscape. Again, this isn't
any exoneration of it, or this isn't even like minimizing
the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion, because it has
(34:33):
always been important, you know, and has shown up in
different ways with different nomenclature over different generations. But at
the same time, there are so many individuals who are
building exciting, beautiful, amazing things that you don't even have
to have the expectation for it to be anything other
(34:55):
than diverse, equitable and inclusive.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Love it. Where did your faith play in all this?
Speaker 2 (35:05):
I mean, it's who this little country boy is at
the end of the day, you know, like it was
very much the place. It was the communal spot for
my family. My hometown was, well, my neighborhood, the nucleus
of it was a church, and so much of my
family because they were all like within a bike ride, right.
(35:27):
I grew up in a very sort of communal, familial
context where everyone fed me, everyone raised me, everyone kind
of ended up and converged on the church on Sundays midweek.
I mean I was there all the time, you know,
And churches where I come from were those kind of
(35:47):
community centers. Because of that, my faith was not only
how I related to myself, so how I related to others.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
My faith is cultural as well. I love it so much.
It's key for me.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
Even as my life has grown and evolved through like
travel and understanding more about like faiths around the world.
For like, I've landed even deeper in my faith, finding
the places where it is so universal, and it's also
the thing that keeps me going. This thing that I
built is not easy. Like entrepreneurship.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
I saw somebody posted some the other day, So the
life of an entrepreneur one day could be you look
at your bank account and you have sixty four thousand
dollars in it. In the evening, it then has sixty
two cents.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
When I tell you it is a regular experience, it's
one that I even had today, Like I screenshot something
and sent it to Michelle what the balance was in
the morning, and then when it became and like the
sense of relief. But then that's also going to go
out to bring in something else. So there's always that
that's happening, and it requires so much faith, yeah, so
(37:00):
much faith and risk taking. You know, you're betting on yourselves, right,
which means that you're trusting and something unseen, betting on
God's plan. Right, So there's all these unseen sorts of
like this faith we by faith, not by sight. And entrepreneurship,
you you can't if you walk by sight, it's a
non starters. You are not doing You're going back to work,
(37:23):
you back your life.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
Movie documentary is about to air in movie theaters. The
first scene is rolling what song is playing? And why
Good Days?
Speaker 3 (37:38):
Sayss A.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
I just adore that song. I always feel like it
paints a picture like I'm in a field of beauty flowers.
Maybe it feels like a reflection of like my favorite
youthful moments because I grew up in the country in
the woods, and it just feels like I'm in a fantasy,
(38:01):
idyllic land of eating listening to good Days.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
You know, in seasons of fasting, which I'm sure you're
very familiar with, can obviously be way more than just food,
you know, social media or alcohol and all those things.
Is there a communal fast that you would advocate we
move on to further align focus, move forward.
Speaker 2 (38:23):
A boycott of I don't know, you know, there are
many that are like bubbling up warranted, you know, and
when warranted based on the previous conversation, that could be,
you know, that's a valuable fast, right because it is
this sort of like how do I remove myself from
this thing that I seemingly need yep to kind of
(38:44):
garner some clarity about myself and that thing, and hey,
that's a communal one right there.
Speaker 1 (38:52):
Well, we always end these conversations with what are the
three seeds that you would want to share with the
stewards of culture moving forward to put these cultures in
the right hands with the right tools. What are the
three seeds or tools you'd want to share.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
I like this question a lot because it goes back
to something that I decided day one of Harveston, which
was the three cornerstones or style, play, and intellect. And
so for me, those when it comes to stewards of culture,
if we're centering style, right, which is this honest performance
(39:29):
of self in the world, If we're centering playfulness, a
sense of youthfulness, ease, curiosity, you know, all the things
that we see in young people right that will definitely
perpetuate culture. And then intellect, you know, like intelligence is key,
you know, like learning about ourselves in the world and
(39:49):
taking that information in to fortify, to correct and perfect style. Play,
intellect are my three seeds all the time.
Speaker 1 (40:00):
I love that way to get straight to it. This
has been a super enlightening conversation. I'm so glad I
was introduced to you and now I feel like I've
known you.
Speaker 3 (40:12):
I know forever. This is great.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
Thank you and going to know you moving forward and
support you because you needed you so needed. I'm so
glad that you're grounded and focused on your purpose and
your why, because when you are, you know, you know
the roads that are not going to take you to
where you need to go, where many people you know,
not knowing their why roads are going to take them anywhere.
(40:36):
You're locked in, stay locked in and here to support you,
and thank you.
Speaker 3 (40:40):
Thank you, Sam.
Speaker 1 (40:42):
We truly appreciate your support because it helps us fulfill
our mission of promoting cultural awareness and personal development. Please
click the subscribe button below to help ensure and solidify
our mission
Host
Astor Chamber
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