Black Owned: Basics Company
It’s been a long time coming for our region of the world to see a surge of black designers. For a long time it was hard to find black graphic designers in the PNW, they most certainly existed but they were hidden behind tech companies and art institutions. Currently we are seeing more black owned brands than we ever have and what makes it so exciting is the quality. These up and coming brands are actually really good and progressive in ways that are impressive. Basics Co. is a branding leading that charge. Owner B. Haze, as he is often referred to, understands that being a black owned brand in our region you have to appeal to a wider audience then most niche brands. Haze has a vision for growing Basics. Co. that focuses on being inclusive to women in a way most male owned brands do not. He makes graphics and uses colors that work for females or the bolder dressing man first, and everyone else second. He enjoys using appliqué that most don’t or only use once and he makes staples out of those oddball pieces by remaining consistent in his offering. For example during his last pop up shop experience he custom dyed several different colors of green and orange sweatpants providing a unique color palette to the collection and setting himself apart with colors you can only get through Basics Co. The bedazzled branding, that Basics is becoming known for, is a positive for brand perception, it makes the customer feel as though the item is fragile and it adds value; they need to be extra careful to keep their item looking its best. The team at eTc has been fortunate enough to watch Basics Co. take shape right in front of us. We saw when the garment quality leveled up, we saw the break that was necessary to get the branding process figured out and we have seen the marketing efforts put into place to tell the story of a black owned brand coming from the Central District of Seattle. If you take a scroll through the brand Instagram account you can see the theme clearly and the attention to detail to grow themes and add to them. My favorite parts are the collage structure of the IG, the consistent use of colors and the Polaroid theme. Recently B. Haze has been doing an excellent job of documenting his process and some of the moments in between and it’s been effective in engaging Basics Co.’s brand story even more. He’s also trendsetting for other brands by using black owned spaces like Aisle 4 and eTcTacoma exclusively to run his pop up shop experiences. For his next trick he’s moving the pop-up experience to the well known (also black owned) Paradice Souf store and standing proudly on his blackness as a human and as a Seattleite. If there is a younger brand than ours to watch Basics Co. is it.
A short film format documentary about Basics Company owner and where the company began.
Produced by Aisle4OUR & B. Haze.
