Dame Powell
Dame resides in his hometown of Buffalo, NY with his partner, Dayna, and their two German Shepherds, Ahsoka and Tano. He began his crafting career almost a decade ago designing and sewing hoodies, bomber jackets, and outerwear. His hand-sewn garments have reached clients all over the nation and includes custom pieces for players of the NFL, NBA, and social media sensations.
You can read our conversation with Dame Powell below, or watch the entire conversation here.
Could you tell me and the community a bit about yourself and how you got your start in fashion?
I think it starts with just wanting to live off my own two hands. One of the very few lessons my dad always gave me was that at some point you’re either doing the grunt work or you're issuing it. I always knew I’d rather be on the other end, so I just decided that I would take the route of learning how to do things myself and pushing forward that way. All the things that I got into are really just because I thought it was cool, if I'm being honest with you. In High School, I really wasn't the best dressed; I didn't have anything to really be fashionable with, but I just kept evolving, and then eventually I just saw myself just being like, "Is it out of the realm of possibility to have one of the largest fashion houses in the world? Is it out of the realm of possibility to really try to be great?"
The idea was to always just be busy and keep my hands busy and find a way to be my boss. Before bag making, I was designing clothes, engineering, producing, and writing songs, creating content for some of the biggest sports media platforms, and eventually I fell into something that I was like, ‘I can't see myself not doing this.’
It's such a good path to share with the community. I think a lot of times when you look at someone successful or doing what they love, the path looks linear and each step makes sense. So it's cool to hear how you were kind of probing around different stuff you thought was cool but didn't exactly all connect together but still got you in a position where you're doing what you enjoy and finding success with it. So that's a cool, non-linear story. I'm curious, what kind of uncapped your sights to a really high potential? Like, were there any limiting obstacles that you had to mentally push through? What inspired you to say, "All right, screw mediocrity, I'm gonna push for something bigger?"
I grew up in the projects in Buffalo, New York, and our life expectancy was what, 21-22? So the first goal was to live past that number. That required cutting off a lot of friends, you know, separating myself from people, folks who I grew up playing football with. It was like, I gotta be different because I can't do what y'all doing, because at some point in time you wake up and you look out the window, and you start seeing the same folks sitting on their porch year after year after year, and you know, like, "What's next?" And that's really what sparked the need to just keep going because to some extent for a lot of us, we look at our parents, and our parents have had the same job for umpteen years or whatever, and they do the same exact routine day in and day out, and you can set your watch to it, and I'm like, "Wow, that sounds miserable," you know?
The only other people who have lives like that are prisoners, so I just couldn't see it. So in my pursuit of a different kind of life, one day I find myself homeless. I was living out of a work van, keeping the keys overnight and sneaking back into the yard to sleep in the van, just run the gas so I can keep warm until, you know, one day I was just like, "I gotta figure something out." This was in between shooting music videos every once in a while, and I think I might have just been like dabbling in graphic design and just trying to find my way. And one day I was thought, you know what, I'm gonna get me a sewing machine. I had wanted to start my clothing line, and the issue was I couldn't afford the samples, let alone a full order, but I just couldn't afford samples, and I was like, "I'm just going to learn how to make my own samples." I woke up, banged on my mom's door at two in the morning, and I was like, "Hey, I bought this sewing machine from Walmart, can I at least bring it here?" And she let me in the house, and because me and my mother were estranged for a few years and stuff like that, so I just went over there, I left the sewing machine, I called off work for the next day, and I spent that entire day that I called off learning how to sew. I’ve been going ever since.
It's a reminder when you're down and out to just stay busy or like you said, always find the next thing. I'm also curious about how your perspective on masculinity might be woven into this. Was there any thought of like, what does it mean to be a man in fashion? Did that influence your start, how you thought about yourself, and where you could go?
In my mind, all I wanted to do was provide for myself and be able to provide for, you know, like my immediate family, like Mom, brother, nephews. It was just an inherent thing in me where it was just like, "Figure out how to make money, figure out how to take care of and provide, and do what you have to do in order to not ask anybody for anything." And even within that process, you learn that no one man is an island; you can't do everything by yourself. It really takes a community to build an empire, for real. That and a hefty bit of luck.
To be a black, straight dude in fashion is not very common, I suppose, but I didn't even think about it until I started spending time and money at Joann's and other fabric stores. The older women would look at me and be like, "What are you doing here?" And I’d be like, "I'm making a jacket!" At some point in time, they started just recognizing me. I was spending so much money because I didn't know any better. I was buying whole bolts of fabric, right? Never once did it cross my mind that I could just buy a couple of yards. But like I said, it didn't really cross my mind until these women started asking me like, "Really? You're into this?"
Masculinity is a word that has been tossed around so much, and it starts to be vilified in a lot of spaces. The only thing I can ever think of when it comes to that word is like, "Who are you protecting? Who are you taking care of? And what are you doing to secure a future for your family?"
I'm glad you brought up that idea of no man being an island. A lot of guys will feel that pressure to provide and work hard, and that's a great positive influence, but the reminder that human beings are social creatures and community is what we thrive on is so important for men's mental health. What are the things that will get you off your island, either asking for help or looking for advice?
I've been fortunate and blessed enough to surround myself with older men in my life who I would consider mentors or something of that nature. I think with time, these men realize that I can't keep all this to myself. I would start to keep stuff to myself, and they could read me and be like, "Hey, man, you might want to talk about something because if you don't, you're gonna end up hurting yourself or someone else." The pressure of being able to make sure bills are paid and food's on the table and not knowing how that's going to get done can really drive you up a wall.
I think I've been blessed with some really great men in my life. When you look at them, if you heard them talk, you'd be like, "You know, those are some really tough dudes," but they'd be the first ones to be like, ‘Hey, man, this is messed up in my life’ [laughter]. We all express ourselves a little bit differently; you know, women want to cry on a shoulder while dudes might be like, ‘Come through and bring a bottle of whiskey and let's play video games,’ and the conversation happens and develops, and we figure it out. We talk about it, and sometimes it's not really to come up with an answer but rather to just say it out loud because sometimes that's enough, and a lot of times, you just start talking and you can start to answer your questions.
I also have a younger core of friends, and we consistently talk, letting each other know like, "Hey, someone's around," and I think at least for me, that's enough, you know?
I am an introvert by nature, so I am very much okay with, like, I don't show up many places, but I like to be invited, if you know what I mean, like, I love that. That is enough to let me know okay people care about me, and I'm not going but I really appreciate it.
If we're thinking about the idea of men's mental health, I think a sense of community is very important. I play Call of Duty religiously, almost every night before I go to bed that's what I'm doing, and it's not because I want to go play video games, but because I get to sit with a special set of dudes every night and whether we're talking about business or emotions, it's good to know that you're not the only one going through life.
I think a lot of guys can relate to that. I do the same thing with my little brother; we play Fortnite, and we're just talking the whole time, and that's our time to connect.
I think some people make fun of guys in their gaming and their gamer friends, but all around the country, guys have had their group, they may be in different states or different time zones, guys are really bonding with their gaming groups. And if that's the thing that keeps you together for years, it's nothing to take lightly; it's a real thing to just get that time with your friends.
It's 100% necessary for me. There are some really frugal, cut-throat entrepreneurs out there who say, like, no games, no nothing, and I can admire that, but at the same time, I need at least two hours with the homies. I've been able to build relationships with some really great guys over Modern Warfare.
I'm glad you brought that up because a lot of the content I engage with about masculinity or guys, the hustle culture, the grind culture, like you said, no one's doing that and feeling great about it. I'm sure there are times as an entrepreneur you do need to do that, but we're all human, and to deprive yourself of friends and connections is just not what you need to sustain your mental health. So I'm glad you brought that up from your perspective as an entrepreneur that you have that kind of balance.
Don't get me wrong; I think even in my current state, you know, whatever, I have this conversation with my girl all the time where I'm like everything else is secondary, you know, you kind of get this bit of tunnel vision. But for me, it's not something I'm proud of.
I think it helps that my partner is a dietitian. We tend to have balanced meals every night, but I still struggle to eat three times a day. But we'll have the conversation of well, like, you know, you want to go outside for a walk, and I'm like there's no money out there, I'm not going, you know; I'm sitting in my house, and I'm gonna sit in this shop because I put tens of thousands of dollars into this, and it needs to all work. So it's a hard balance to maintain.
Any words of advice to guys out there on the entrepreneurship journey?
I got a couple of things I'd like to say. One: it's okay to say you need help; it's okay to acknowledge that you're struggling, and it's okay to find yourself not the strongest that you could possibly be. I think if you can acknowledge your problems, you're that much closer to actually solving the issue. The second thing I would say, in conjunction with what I just said, is get a solid core of friends and make sure you're not the richest or the smartest person in the room because it's not going to do you any good. I think on the other side of that, I would say get a good woman. Someone who can navigate around you and guide you in the right way and keep you grounded.
I love this, I love this. I appreciate you sharing and I wish you all the best of luck with your pursuits.