Foot Locker has launched All City by Just Don – a lifestyle brand created with Don C and highlighting basketball and sneaker culture.
“I’m excited to partner with Foot Locker in the creation of All City. Their proactive commitment to lifting up the Black community is something I wanted to be a part of,” explained Don C. “With everything I’ve ever created, my inspiration has been from the Chicago neighborhoods I grew up in. As a designer, I want to lead the conversation and push the boundaries where my story intersects with fashion, travel and the real people who inspire me every day.”
All City by Just Don is a hybrid of luxury fabrics and modern streetwear with a vintage aesthetic and features hoodies, t-shirts, mesh shorts, and matching track pants and jackets.
Speaking with The Source, Don C highlighted the importance of community in creating this line and his idea to challenge the fashion creative community.
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The SOURCE: What pieces of fashion history and basketball were in mind when you were designing these pieces?
Don C: Man, I will say on this first drop it was more basketball-inspired fashion. So I was heavily inspired by when I grew up and the community I grew in. The starter jacket era, where sports played a huge role in what we was wearing on a daily basis. So that’s where my inspiration came from. How sport-inspired lifestyle from when I came up.
You drew from the community and what that felt like for you. How do you aim to replicate that within this new line?
I think it’s really important because when you first build community it is usually to neighbors or your mother’s friends or people that go to your church or a similar setting. So community matters because I think the reason is because you guys come from similar backgrounds, you come from a similar situation. So I think it’s just important. There’s a lot of stuff going on digitally where people are trying to separate themselves from others to show like, oh, you ain’t got this. And I feel like we should use these communication mediums to draw us more together, to point out the similarities between us and then just everybody celebrate the individualism.
I’m sure tackling a new line is tough. What steps do you take in order to ensure that you have the proper development of what not only the pieces look like, but what you want the meaning to be toward the consumer and for yourself?
Man, that’s very difficult and that’s not a one-time job, that’s ongoing. So we’re just at the start of this. Being able to communicate a brand is something that it was gonna take us years to do because it takes years for a child to develop. You know, Michael Jordan, wasn’t hooping as a toddler, so anything great must be built on and developed and nurtured. And so that’s what we’re going to do with this thing here and the home. Main point is the messaging we’re trying to communicate, whether it be through the marketing, through the clothes, through the voice, whatever community we’re trying to market that people want to. I want people to be involved, feel involved and feel that their voice matters and their ideas matter, and their ideas will be included and will add value to what the whole community is doing. So everybody has a specific value to add.
You’re moving into this collection with Footlocker? What lets you know, that they were the proper partner for you for this?
Their validity and their resources. Like at the end of the day, what other brand has been a staple of sneaker culture since the seventies? No one, Nike and Adidas and that’s it. So I think that’s a true testament to the value they bring to our community. When I was coming up in the ’80s and ’90s is where my source for my heat was. And so I feel like that’s the common denominator for a lot of people in our community. So if I can influence, I want to influence the biggest medium, you know, to do the best they can do.
Not only are you working on this launch, but you have other brands and partners, what is the tactic that you use to ensure that you’re properly handling everything?
Making sure that I’m passionate and care about every project because that makes give it the proper attention that it deserves. So as long as I’m in interested, I’m going to still be involved. Once I started losing interest in stuff, that’s when I need to step aside.
Are there any pieces of this collection that are your favorite already?
The knit sweater because we was able to deliver something knit, which is something like it’s a step up above from streetwear. When I was coming up, my aspiration was Polo and Tommy Hilfiger. A lot of times today it’s very inspiring to see young kids doing their own line. Sometimes it lowers the playing field when people are putting out like the same sweatshirt, but we’re all using the same vendor for these sweatshirts. So I definitely want to encourage people to step their game up when it comes to apparel production.
