Meet S3an Alexander
Meet S3an - The St.Louis clothing designer, painter, and all around creative whose work and work ethic is hardly unrecognizable. With 7 back to back sold out releases in 2020, and the ability to thrive despite the pandemic, there is no sign of S3an stopping anytime soon. Read below, S3an’s outlook on the St.louis creative community and how he maneuvers through it.
Instagram:@bms3an
WHEN DID YOU START BRLLANTMNDS?
“It started for me in 2011. I hadn’t dropped anything until 2017 but I spent that time cultivating and building the brand. I was trying to figure out exactly what I wanted to accomplish. When I first started out, the brand looked similar to other brands I was inspired by such as Billionaire Boys Club or Bape. 2017 was when I actually found my style and I dropped my logo hoodies.”
WAS BUILDING A CLOTHING BRAND ALWAYS YOUR GOAL?
“I actually started off with music and art. When I was doing music it was wasn’t enough visibility and exposure for me. I feel like especially in St.Louis. It’s hard to break that surface and blow up as a music artist here. So once I realized music wasn’t it for me, I was looking for something that I could do by myself without needing a producer, or engineer, or somebody to help with the music. That’s when art came in. I was inspired by Swizz Beats doing the no commission art shows and Chris Brown was doing the graffiti back in like 2011. I remember I was always good at drawing but I hadn’t really devoted myself to it before.
Then I remember in 2014 I met this girl who introduced me to VIBES - the biggest art show in St.louis. I remember going in there and seeing so many different creatives in one setting and was inspired to be in the show from that moment. After being in the show I revisited the Brllantmnds brand and realized that I can not only sell art at these shows, but merch as well. VIBES also inspired me to throw my own art shows which turned out to be Capacity.”
YOU MENTIONED YOU WANTED TO FIND SOMETHING YOU COULD DO YOURSELF. WITH THE BRLLANTMNDS BRAND, ARE YOU THE ONLY ONE ON THE TEAM RIGHT NOW?
“Everything is me. Im head designer, head creative director, the owner. Im everything right now. Having a team would make a lot of stuff easier for me. I want a team for more of the business side of things though, like a marketing and public relations team for example. I want somebody that could facilitate collaborations with big brands I would like to work with such as New Era. I would need a team that could help get me to the next level. Creatively, I can do it myself. My team right now I would say are the creatives I contract to help me out, like my models and my photographers. I also consider people who spread the word about the brand on social media as my team too.”
HOW DOES ST.LOUIS INSPIRE YOU AS A CREATIVE?
“Without St.Louis molding me to be who I am today, I wouldn’t be here. I feel like St.louis taught me to have that tough skin to push through no matter the circumstances. Even the different schools I went to and the connections I’ve made plays a part in me being a creative, because all of those experience has led up to me doing what I do today. If you change anything in the past - things could look way different for me today. St.louis is apart of me wherever I go from the way I talk to the way I dress.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY HERE IN THE CITY?
“We just need more camaraderie here. It seem like we fake support each other and don’t really want to help each other grow. People would rather watch you and support you from a distance. It’s a lot of ego and misunderstanding. People might get offended that you’re confident at what you do and misunderstand that as you slighting them.”
WITH YOU BEING APART OF THE SCENE HERE FOR A WHILE, WHAT PROGRESS HAVE YOU SEEN?
“I’ve seen nothing but progress. In my opinion, we were at the height of everything right before the pandemic hit. The 314 day at the Contemporary Art Museum was going to shake. That shit was going to be nuts! That could’ve been the turning point for us here as creatives. The fact that it was at the Contemporary Art Museum was huge because so many people would’ve tapped in from all demographics. Plus it’s a lot of people doing some cold shit right now here in the city.”
HOW HAS THE PANDEMIC AFFECTED YOU?
“Man, I would be in a totally different space. If the world was open, and my 2020 was anything close to the year I had in 2019, so much would be different for me right now. I couldn’t do pop ups, shows, any of that. Say you add an art show and pop ups in the midst of 7 back to back drops in 2020, it would’ve been up for me. But it did lead to me learning a lot and try new things. Like cozy conversation for instance. I only did the cozy conversation on instagram because I had to adjust and find a way to stay consistent. The thing about cozy conversations is the fact that it was selective. I picked who I wanted to talked too. Where as a pop up, it gives the opportunity for anyone to pull up and talk to me or buy some clothes in person.”
WOULD YOU RATHER EXCEL AS A CLOTHING DESIGNER OR AS A PAINTER?
"I’d have to say both because I cant have one without the other. The way I design clothes helps how I paint. Me learning how to make logos and working adobe illustrator honed my painting ability. Then me doing art helped me with color placement with the clothes, so it really goes hand in hand.”
5 YEARS FROM NOW WHAT DOES YOUR CAREER LOOK LIKE?
“If I could pick how I wanted it to look, I see me having a storefront in the city but being able to move around. I want to build community off of that. I see major collaborations, I see fashion week, and financial stability with all that I’ve built with my own two hands. Honestly, I see financial stability off of all this within the next year.”
ARE THERE THINGS YOU WOULD HAVE DONE ALREADY HAD YOU BEEN PROVIDED THE RESOURCES?
“A piece that I’ve always loved to do is a varsity jacket. I’ve done one before, but not at the scale that I would like to do it at. I want all leather sleeves, wool you know, the whole thing. Everybody know I want to do a New Era collab. I started this whole thing with doing hand painted hats so a New Era collaboration would be ideal to jump start my career into the next level.”
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE DROP AND WHY?
“I would have to say Flowers from 2020. I put so much into it. That was my first time set designing for the photoshoot. The commercial I had for it was cold. Everything just flowed so well.”
