From Traveling Sewing Machine To Enduring Mark On Fashion - Forbes

Christopher Bevans’ fine tailor’s esthetic has always attracted the attention of big global brands and high-profile influencers. Whether working alongside Kanye West on YEEZY, designing custom menswear for John Legend and Jay-Z, or advising LeBron James on an early athletic collection for Nike, Bevans has always had the right stuff in the right place at the right time.

“Design is the most empowering medium, because beautiful design has no color. But I aspire to design in a world that has different expectations for Brown and Black folks.”

—Christopher Bevans, fashion designer and Senior Creative Lead, Shopify

Jessica Pliska: Your path is made up of one notable career stint after another. If you had to pick a fateful career moment that got you started, what would you choose?

Christopher Bevans: When I was kid in Rochester, New York, an R&B group was recording an album there and my girlfriend at the time worked next door to the recording studio. They were like celebrities, with a Lamborghini parked out front. I had my own tailor shack and they wanted an outfit, so I made some things for them and it was my first foray into that lifestyle. I'm 21 years old, and I’d never seen it before. Working for them helped me understand the mentality of folks in the limelight, and seeing they liked what I did inspired me to take my skills to another level.

Pliska: You left Rochester for college at FIT. The fashion experience in New York is singular, and it must have been an education just walking down the street. What was most pivotal for you about those years?

Bevans: While in school, I worked as a tailor at one of the most expensive dry cleaners, where stylists came in to drop stuff off. I got tight with a circle of stylists and started to build a little name for myself. One of them asked me if I could show up at a set for some quick nip and tuck while they filmed a music video. I didn't even care about the little bit of money. It was just to be in that scene. I ended up working on a lot of sets. I’d bring my traveling sewing machine—it was like a big briefcase—to music videos, commercials and catalog shoots. It put me on a path.

Pliska: After graduation, even in the earliest days right out of school, you worked in senior roles at companies like Rocawear, Nike and Ecko, well before you launched your own brand at Dyne. How did you get those jobs so young?

Bevans: Being in the right place at the right time, where the culture was concerned. The way streetwear culture was evolving in sports fashion at that time was a fit with my style of design. I'm a finer fashion designer; my esthetic comes from a tailoring background. My look is clean and refined. Brands like Nike and Rocawear had an established esthetic, but they were looking to branch out into newer styles defined by cleaner esthetics, and that was me.

Pliska: Besides Kanye and LeBron, you’ve also worked with Pharrell Williams, Diddy and Roger Federer, to name just a few. What about you makes influential people want to work with you?

Bevans: I know how to communicate with people. I knew how to articulate concepts in ways that translate. I grew up a Jehovah's Witness. If you've ever had a Witness knocking at your door, you know we have to learn how to talk to folks from all backgrounds and denominations. I learned at a young age about communicating with people on the spot, learning to read people, and picking up on their vibe. So, I knew how to talk to these guys in ways that inspired trust.

Pliska: You’re like the fashion entrepreneur ‘whisperer.’

Bevans: High-profile folks have so much going on around them. When they recognize you as a reliable, go-to person, you’re trusted with important tasks and when you execute them, you get noticed. I was good at listening, asking the right questions and delivering. You might not get recognition each time, but I was never looking for that. I just wanted to be a strong link in the chain. And to learn from these folks as my friendships with them grew. You soak it up if you pay attention.

Pliska: Like what?

Bevans: Damon Dash taught me to be persistent and to believe in yourself. Damon can move mountains. I have never seen so much confidence in a person. I would watch him believe in his vision and know how to get everyone to buy in and believe in it, too. You look at the people around him and they're all focused on the same thing he's focused on. It vibrates off people that they can get it done. He's empowering you to believe you can get it done.

Pliska: You serve as lead mentor for the inaugural Google Black Fashion Founders Forum for aspiring fashion creatives. As a Black designer, how did race factor into your trajectory?

Bevans: Design is the most freeing, empowering medium, because pure, beautiful design has no color. It's just an expression of yourself. But I aspire to design in a world that has different expectations for Brown and Black folks: ‘Oh, you're Black, so you have to be a streetwear designer. You have to be the urban guy for us. That's the esthetic we expect from you.’ Early on, I'd walked into interviews and it would be like, ‘We appreciate your skill. You can sew and you have a keen eye. But we still need a certain fit from you, a certain fabric, a certain shape.’ Baggy meant urban. But I was wearing suits and ties. That was my style. I would come into a room wearing a three-piece suit and people would say, ‘Who is this dude?!’ I’ve found it challenging to break free of that stereotype.

Pliska: Is there a lesson there for young people coming up in the industry?

Bevans: Those experiences just told me when I was in the wrong place. When it was time to look somewhere else. And how important it is to look to role models. That’s why [luxury designer] Virgil Abloh was so important to me personally, and why I’m so glad to be working with his scholarship fund as a mentor to college students coming up in the industry now. I’m a firm believer in passing information to and helping the next generation achieve their goals.

Pliska: I know you and Virgil, who died last year at 41, were friends. How did he influence you?

Bevans: I think a lot about where he came from and how he looked—a dark-skinned man, when complexion seems to matter so much. It’s extraordinary for him to have had the role he did. I know the challenges he had to go through. For him to break through and have a seat at that table, to just shatter all of the stereotypes that I faced coming up myself—it was affirmation for me. It said to me that I belong here and I can crush it.

Pliska: Now you’re devoting your talents to Shopify, because you believe in this notion of ‘‘democratizing fashion.’’ What does that mean?

Bevans: Shopify levels the playing field for entrepreneurs and creatives. I want the next generation to understand they can add great value to the economy of fashion and get paid in this business. Shopify makes it easy for them to build their websites, build their brands, upload product shots, link to their phones and to social, have all the plugins to showcase their work and get back-end support. We make it all more or less open-source—it's not free, but it’s the destination to scale your business.

Pliska: Your daughter just walked into our interview to show you her outfit before leaving for school. What's it like watching your daughter find her style?

Bevans: It’s a proud moment for me right now. She's really into her whole style, developing her own looks. She comes up in the morning and shows me each outfit she puts together. It's the best.

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