Prayr Studios: Daniel Adetona PT.2
‘We just have to let them understand. We have to use these platforms to the fullest. Then take over, our friends on and make ownership because we have to get paid.’
Daniel is in his newly acquired fashion studio. The setup is pieces on racks, inspiration on the walls, shoes on the floor and a Mac. Daniel looks calm and excited at the same time like he can’t believe he owns such a place.
The mood is very serious as a shoot is ongoing in the background and all the people around are contributing.
The first thing I notice about Daniel is his all black outfit. This uniform can be traced back to most designers who solely want to change the clothes that people wear but need a standard appearance for themselves with their busy schedule such as Raf Simons and late Virgil Abloh.
I’ve seen on your instagram stories, you’ve got back into the gym. How important is physical training for your mental health and how does it affect your creative process?
When I’m at the gym it's like I’m in a different zone. I reached a stage where I could sort of chill. I have someone that takes care of the day to day marketing duties, I have someone that designs from my direction, the website’s in a good place so I have a lot more time on my hands now. You can’t just chill all the time, so that’s why I’ve been in the gym. It helps me unclog my brain. When you hit those reps it helps my brain just let go, I just let go. When you’re outside, it’s you versus the world but when you’re in there it’s just you versus your body. If you can do it, if you can push yourself in the gym then you can do it in the real world.
How do you feel about being so young trying to push functional fashion in this fast fashion driven space?
I feel like the odd one out. I step into places and it’s hard to fit in cause I’m neither Streetwear nor proper luxury, yet. It’s insane how the concept of innovative ideas are just used for ‘wow moments’. I wanna show people that we can build not just pieces from ideas that are sustainable and fashionable but build an entirely new market which is severely under tapped.
What are the biggest opportunities and challenges you face in this untapped market?
My biggest opportunity is that people really under-rate it. A lot of people don't believe in it, a lot of people don't see it. It’s like Drake, nobody considered this mixed-race kid could change history. A lot of people right now might overlook it [functional fashion] because there's not a lot of statistics. There's not a lot of people doing it and I really do it so well. So I feel like that's an opportunity for me. It means a lot of people are afraid and when there's a lot of people afraid, there's a lot of money on the table. Nobody is rushing to try and take that spot. So if I can take that spot; solidify it, get investors, solidify the brand, solidify my image, solidify everything I’m building and properly individualise every piece and every project. Then in a few years this meeting won’t be in just this studio, it’ll probably be in a private jet.
Do you find the demand for constant streams of content a positive or negative aspect of the current fashion landscape?
It’s positive because it gives the youth power. I'm talking to kids that are 17, 18 and my head of design is 17 and they have 200k followers because they understand the algorithm. Then you have people that don't understand anything, they are 40 and have been businessmen most of their life but they don't know how to get market. I have people that come to my studio and this guy will tell you, post this time, use this, use that and then you do a video and it goes big. People pay for this kind of information but these young people know. The only thing this boss, this big brand, the only thing they have now is money.
So the power is now in the youth's hand. I like that, I like that it's more content driven. That's why I did my thing with Nike. We have to let them know we're open for business, and it's time. That's why a lot of folks are working with all these big organisations because we now know that there’s a bigger piece of the pie on offer and you can stay independent. These people spend millions on marketing, so if you can look for a way to take £100,000 of that every two months and get them to invest in you, you're good. Or if you can get them to invest all that in you because they see your vision, even better. We just have to let them understand. We have to use these platforms to the fullest. Then take over, our our friends on and make ownership because we have to get paid.
That's how I feel, I really want all my people to get paid.
In the current age of AI and copy and paste design, how do you create authentic pieces?
I start with why? There are too many clothes in the world. We are literally living on a rock which could implode any minute due to the lack amount of unnecessary things we make. Data and AI is here to stay, we cannot fight it so I have to internally ask myself why a piece needs to exist and that's something we have over AI. Human emotion and real life experiences.
What experiences jump out to you as the most important/influential to your journey so far?
The detachable stuff, I remember how I came up with the idea. There was a guy [on instagram] and I saw he posted a picture wearing a trench coat. The trench coat was long and then in another picture, he had a jacket. The exact same pattern and it clicked like immediately. I said to myself, why can't it be both? Why can't it be the same?
I went through his page and I saw that it was actually two different jackets. That was in 2017 and I didn't have the resources. I only could make shirts at that time , I didn't have [the information], so many things I just didn't have. So I kept it to myself. Then when I had my partner like in business, Osmund Taylor, I chose to tell him the idea. I told him, I don't want to just make a jacket. I want to make a jacket that turns into a bag. Honestly, with my ideas, it's kind of delusional a lot of the times. [For example] that one, it was not possible but I said, we have to make it possible. We tried it so many times, it all failed. The first ever sample is literally right here [in the studio]. So we tried and tried and tried. It wasn't even a design [to me], it was as if I had someone in my head telling me, you have to do this. It wasn't like you were pushing me, I just knew to keep going. It wasn’t even conviction. It was like I was being controlled to make it. We did the first one and could have stopped there, but we did the second one, did the 6th then the 12th snd we got it. I mean, we just knew.
Yeah, AI can't create that. Maybe like literally it can, but the way it was expressed. The way it was put out, the emotions, the fact that we are, as human beings, as designers, AI can't do that.
Who inspires you?
Due to my love for design and people pushing boundaries. My biggest inspirations are Issey Miyake, Junya Watanabe and Martin Margiela(Maison Margiela). This people really tried to do the impossible in their lifetime. That’s what I am trying to do.
What seems impossible to you right now that you’re trying to overcome?
Everything seems impossible, it's like every day is a battle but I'm going to do what I'm doing. I don't like saying some things are impossible. So what I'm doing now is I'm creating ways to make Prayr [studios] one of the 10 biggest brands in the world. It's not like I don't have a direction of how I'm going to do it but sometimes it just feels like, ‘how am I going to do it?’ As it's not like I don’t have the right connections to some people. However, sometimes I ask myself how are you going to make your brand this big? If you don't have 10 million pounds of funding from Nike it bothers me sometimes, I ask myself how am I going to do this?
With so many brands closing and many being bought out to make more profit by bigger corporations, what do you think the future holds for Prayr studios?
That's simple. I have that answer on our website in ‘The Goal’ section. It's quite self explanatory honestly. I plan on staying on my path and doing this as long as I can be alive.
What's the most important thing to you when designing?
Models. I mean mental models, I try to envision myself as the character who I want to create like. I have a pool of influences and I distil down to the question ‘how would he/she create in this situation given they have my similar life experience’ and it all takes off from there. I really also try to bring in as many creatives on board because a lot of young people are just as talented as me but just need someone to believe in them and give them a chance. Yunno, the chance we always wished we were given when younger. I now have a platform to change the industry... So I should.
What are you looking forward to in the coming years as a designer?
I wanna go beyond fashion. I want to create a world around the brand Prayr. I want everyone to be involved in building that world.
What’s one passion in your life you would never turn into a revenue stream?
Music. I was a singer before, and was nominated for Nigerian Teen Choice Awards. I was a good singer if I could say so myself. I have such a distinct understanding of music. I can predict so much from music. I have a good voice and so many times my friends will tell me to get back into it, but I don’t want to. I just want to do fashion. Music is just something I enjoy. I'm not thinking about streams. I really don't want to do it. I verified the fact that I'm doing this, I want to do fashion. But I love music. I love reading about music. I love feeling it, I love listening to it. Music is like my medicine. So, it's something I would never want to turn into a business.
