Our story began in the heart of Saint Albans, Queens. Myself, Kevin Afuwah, and my partner, Najee Parks, have been long time friends since elementary school. We have always been entrepreneurial-minded individuals who have managed many business ventures in high school and throughout college.
Our first joint business was an event coordination company that we started as sophomores at Delaware State University. During this time, we first experienced what it was like have our own business. We did everything from managing the door, collecting money from event attendees, and tending to the needs of various people at our events. The name of our company was “Bright Future Boys”. Najee and I were able to attract other entrepreneurial-minded students to work for the brand. Our supporters believed in our positive message: We can all be successful without having to compromise your morals or beliefs. Bright Future Boys personified the educated young black male and female dreams of success created legally.
Royal Kulture was inspired by the death of my father due to cancer. My father’s African heritage and pride was inherited in me upon this tragedy. As an avid songwriter, I channeled my experiences through music. While performing on a tour throughout NYC in 2012, Najee and I, among other supporters, wore the dashiki to represent the African culture. One day, we came up with the idea to transform the dashiki into a fitted jersey. Thus was born, Royal Kulture, and the “Royal 1” that captures the soul of the brand.
From this moment, we realized in order to spread our creation to the world we must begin to hone in on what we stand for. The impetus for our brand came from a unique set of circumstances that makes our journey feel destined.
Royal Kulture is the pioneer of new generation of afrocentric clothing with a much larger perspective and global appeal than brands that have come before us. We have utilized the internet to spread our message into countries worldwide. As a result of our efforts, the African kulture is being spotlighted by celebrities everywhere, and topics of race and ethnicity have been brought to the forefront in the media.
Royal Kulture was conceived in 2012 as a music label. We expanded our brand and officially launched our website selling our merchandise on April 5, 2014 (the birthday of Kevin’s late father). The purpose of the brand was to bring attention to African kulture through fashion.
Our customers are primarily millennials who have a keen eye for unique fashion. We have been fortunate to have worldwide customers. We want to expand more into a global presence by creating compelling photo stories and visuals that symbolize unity amongst all Kultures.
Our brand has been able to garner the attention of some of fashion’s biggest influencers such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Angela Simmons and Zendaya. With these achievements, it has made us even more focused on spreading the brand far and wide. We are most proud of our ability to generate press organically aligning with current social issues.
Our strategy is to introduce the dashiki to an entirely new segment of people, many who are completely oblivious to its existence. Such a historic garment, finished with our modern touches, attract the attention of the young and old. Our resume of supporters are from different generations and ethnic backgrounds. Although we are a youth driven brand, our brand positioning allows just about anyone to embrace our dashikis.
Presently, Royal Kulture has a fairly large social media following. Several publications have featured the brand and celebrities around the country has embraced our kulture and creativity by spreading our fashions. We are grateful for how people around the world seem to relate to our message that stems from our brand:“We are all one Kulture”. Our generation is witnessing the transformation of public policy, technology and race relations with our own eyes. The world has become more interdependent and connected. Music, fashion, art and culture are now all one and Royal Kulture is the connective tissue between these areas and the millennial generation.
Our outlook for the future is very bright because we are fully aware that our brand, Royal Kulture, aligns directly with the new kulture. Royal Kulture is beyond just a fashion line; we seek to become a conglomerate company with my other companies operating within ranging from technology to finance. But on an even more global scale, we want to inspire the children watching us as an example. Najee and I have strong standpoints on social issues such as human rights, education, financial literacy and technology. We intend to take our voices to a global level by speaking directly on networks like CNN, OWN, FOX sharing our viewpoints and inspiring the youth.
The capital will be will be used for Public relations with CLD PR( Top Fashion PR firm in 2014) to allow us to spread our brand story organically through TV/digital media and aggregate through our social media channels connect with millennials.
The loan will allow us to cover PR full-service for 3 months with a month retainer of $1200. The strategy with CLD consists of celebrity endorsements, media/editorial placements, press releases, and special events. We will start with press releases to pitch to editors to spread our brand story in global markets gaining celebrity endorsements and editorial placements in those regions. In 2017, we want to embark on a worldwide pop-up shop tour to build a cult-like following.
Our business will be able to generate $75,000 over the 3-6 month period to prepare for the spring season.
fresh content (photo & video stories) for our social media following, enhancement of product quality and covering payroll for our part-time employee are 3 components are crucial for us to maintain an efficient, productive day to day operations.
We hope these efforts can inspire kids from our community to follow their dreams and never give up.
Public Relations (via CLD) – 1st Month Cost $1200 – Remaining 2 Months – $1850
Visual Campaign – Consisting of Photo/Video Stories – $900-$1000
Product Development – Altering our existing merch to be fall/winter ready – $1000-$1200
Payroll – Currently one part-time employee – $500 per month – $1500
Cash Reserve – $1400
Total – $10,000
*** Perks for Lenders: ***
Thanks for supporting my loan! I’d like to offer all my lenders a PERK for supporting me. All lenders who lend over $250 to my campaign will receive a FREE jersey worth $75 when we are fully funded. Please see the Conversations tab for more details.