Onethousandfour

Wayland Brinkley Jr. on his experience witnessing the growth of his brand.

By: Bryn Palmer

Wayland Brinkley Jr. roots his brand One Thousand Four in selflessness

“My goal with the brand is really to take care of the people around me. I want to get to a point where my parents, my sister, my niece, they don’t really have to worry about nothing.”

Founded in November 2016, the brand(abbreviated as Ten Four) started during the Virginia native’s high school years. His creative director A.Frē equipped him with resources and helped him develop designs. ”Everytime me and A.Frē have something together it’s always out of the box,” said Brinkley. Today, the two share a highly collaborative creative process in which the 22-year-old shares a specific idea and his accomplice executes it with flair. Beyond designing, their releases drop with coinciding skits intended to promote the clothing in an engaging and original manner. After high school, Brinkley attended college for a short time before realizing he wanted to pursue fashion instead.

Though his pursuit of a degree in mechanical engineering went unfulfilled, the social aspect of college built him a customer base to sell his custom hoodies. Also during this time, he advanced his knowledge of clothing production. Switching from vinyl and heat pressed hoodies, he now sells screen printed clothing because of its better durability. “I want my customers to have the best experience,” he said. Comparing the past quality of his clothes to now, he said the improvement speaks for itself. His consistency paid off as his customer base extended beyond friends and family to unfamiliar faces as well. He said the feeling of knowing people enjoy your work is unparalleled.

“I can’t even tell you who half the people are that buy my clothes now,” he said. “My niece is in middle school. She’ll text me and be like ‘Aye, somebody at my school got your hoodie on.’”

His most notable design, the chrome head logo, results from inspiration from Virginia fashion icons like Pharrell Williams. After seeking a staple item for the brand, he developed the 2D image, advanced it into a 3D mode, added colorful rhinestones and gave it reflective properties to differentiate his hoodies from competitors. Being from Portsmouth, a city far from the U.S.’s fashion capital of NYC, Brinkley encourages a collaborative environment amongst local creatives. “It’s kind of like crabs in a bucket,” he said of Virginia’s fashion community. “Everybody wants to do it, but the support isn’t there with everybody.” Despite the lack of fashion events in his hometown, he takes advantage of networking opportunities elsewhere, like the Atlanta Streetwear Market. Ultimately, his efforts advance him towards his goal of providing for his friends and family. “I see myself being in the position that I want to be by 25,” he said. “At the pace I’m working now, I feel like it’s possible. Nothing can stop me but me.”

For more visit: onethousandfour.com