Ekwain Akaya
Ekwain Akaya is a visionary steady at work. His designs are simple yet fresh, like his attitude. His work ethic and focus is going to land him somewhere ideal soon, but remember that you saw him here, first.
Where are you from?
I’m from West L.A, CA—the land of dreams.
How long have you been designing?
It goes back to pre-school building with blocks, that’s how long I have been designing for. Now I’m 19.
How did you get into designing clothing?
I think art and friends got me into designing clothing.
How would you describe your clothing?
My clothing is very colorful, one of a kind, special, unique, and exclusive. I feel like it will be bigger and better then BAPE and Ice Cream, you will see.
What designer have you always admired?
A designer I admire is me myself and I–just kidding. I like all designers. Each has their own taste which I get my inspiration from. My top four is Nigo, the creator of A Bathing APE. Kevin “Saer” Leong, head designer of Phat Farm, whose work is making Phat Farm look good. Lastly Marc Jacobs and Dolce & Gabbana, but first of all things is self-motivation.
How important is color in your work?
Color is a very important thing, as you can see I use a lot of color on my clothing.
How important is texture?
Texture has to be nice, something well put together that will not irritate you during the day.
What is your favorite type of material?
My favorite type of material is anything I can work on.
What is it about repetitive patterns that you like?
Repetitive patterns are like abstract art in a way. I think they were first made famous by Andy Warhol, but are now used in a lot of new street t shirt clothing lines. I think it looks better then one image in the middle of a T shirt.