Diop

The inspiration to start your brand seemed to come as early as childhood. When did you first decide to start the company?

While the product is informed by my experience, the brand itself did not start until my dear friend and co-founder Evan Fried asked me where I got my Ankara shirt from at a cookout three years ago. We tinkered with prototypes for six months until in the spring of 2018, our friend Lauren Warner implored us to do a crowdfunding campaign. We were fortunate to raise tens of thousands of dollars in a little over a month. This enabled us to join a startup accelerator run by our postgraduate fellowship called Venture for America. We put out our first collection on September 20, 2018.

You use the same Ankara that your mother would return home with from Nigeria. How important is your West African heritage to the brand?

It's important but what is essential is that it resonates with like-minded people. Wax print fabric originates with batik in Indonesia in the 13th century. It was the Dutch who brought it to West Africa during the colonial period where it was then popularized and the concepts further exported. That's not to dismiss indigenous textile production or methods (which it is just as important we acknowledge and respect) but for the fabric we use, it wouldn't be possible to make the clothes we do without openness to different cultures and ideas. The history of wax print is long and we're just stewards of one current iteration.

What was your experience opening up a business as both a first-generation American and as a Black person in America? What were some of the challenges?

The challenges were and still are related to running business. You have to keep more money coming in than going out. And while that sounds clear, it is also what makes business difficult. Ask anyone early enough in their business and they'll tell you that it is not what you don't know, but what you don't know that you don't know. In other words, how does one look for answers when we aren't sure we're asking the right questions. We're fortunate to be a part of a community of startup and business leaders to both learn from mistakes they've made and grow from our own mistakes.

How has Covid-19 affected your business? What have been some of the challenges or opportunities?

COVID-19 has affected our business in many ways, some unique and some not. With regard to the former, we've had to build more resilience into our supply chain and reimagine our customer support process. As for the latter, the transition of retail formats to online has greatly benefitted direct-to-consumer companies like ours. The time we make to build relationships with people, no matter where they are, has made all the difference in navigating the new landscape we all inhabit.

The community section of the Diop webpage is incredible. What drove you to create a collective space of inclusion for your brand?

Beyond just products that fit your lifestyle, our aim is to build a brand that reflects the world you live in. We set out to interview every single customer we can, not only to learn who they are but what drives them. And we learned that it wasn't just important that people see themselves in our brand but hear themselves too. Among others, one way we do that is to regularly hand over the platform for them to discuss what is most meaningful to them. Although there are many different narratives from people of many different backgrounds, what ties them together thematically is that each and every person is on a journey and we're right there with them.

You define and contextualize cultural appropriation on your website. Why was this important for you to include?

We talk about what it means to us and I must stress that others should feel free to disagree. We don't speak for everybody, nor would we claim to. "Who Can Wear This?" is a question we answer regularly and we believe, from our vantage point, it would be more constructive to dedicate a live page on our site. We feel fortunate to have such a sensitive, thoughtful and engaged audience.

What has the Black Lives Matter movement meant to you and your brand?

When Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi started Black Lives Matter, we had just started college. And because of the work of activists, organizers, and volunteers like them, there's a broader understanding of the systemic challenges we face as a society and deeper meaning to the personal choices we make within that framework. With DIOP, we focus on how to build and share good habits, from representation and inclusion to sustainability and transparency. We take a narrow view of what companies are meant to do (capitalism as a vector of racism is a challenge we all face) but since a brand is simply a point of view, we can use brand strategy and creative direction to further articulate our values.

What message would you like Diop apparel to convey by those who wear it?

We make clothes for whomever wants to wear them. It isn't even really about the garment but how it makes you feel and what you do in it that is important. We might make them but you give it meaning.

What do you see for the future of Diop?

More products, goods and services to help you feel more like you.