Means Cameron is the owner of the clothing brand BlaCk OWned outerwear. Since its launch in 2011, the brand has been recognized as Brand of the Year, Top 3 Cincinnati Men’s Boutiques, and has had Nov. 16 proclaimed as “BlaCk OWned Day” in the city of Cincinnati. Cameron and his team are using the growing notoriety to create a brand that transcends race, generation and location.
Cameron attended Black Tech Week and spoke with rolling out about the clothing brand and supporting Black-owned businesses.
What was your vision when creating this brand?
Back in 2011 when we launched the brand, we wanted to carve out space to be ourselves in the city that we were in. There are a lot of Black people in the city of Cincinnati, but it just never really felt like it. It was also about ownership and feeling worthy of who you are, and we believe we can wrap that message in a clothing brand, promote it that way, and inspire people to think about those things. What would it be like to live in a city that had successful Black businesses and Black operations? That was the mindset we wanted to create for our brand, and we’ve been doing that for 12 years now.
What message do you want to get across with the brand?
The message is in the name, which is why we chose it. That’s the special thing about BlaCk OWned, it’s not for you to go find that message, it’s right there on the shirt. The message is BlaCk OWned, and how we promote that is through community, and we hope that the more successful Black-owned businesses we have, the better the communities will be that we live in. That’s on a simple level, but the message has always been about ownership and for us to see ourselves in that light, and to understand that we can and we’re doing it.
Where have you seen the most progress in Black-owned businesses over the years?
With social media, brands can reach audiences much quicker, at a much cheaper rate, and it’s allowing some of the true stories to get out there. If you compare it to music, you think about the underground hip-hop era. There are artists that were important to the culture, but they were underground, and people didn’t know about them because they didn’t have a platform. I would say you can look at fashion the same way. You have these underground brands like BlaCk OWned that may not be able to get national exposure, but through social media, we’re able to reach wider audiences. It’s pushing new creativity. I’m even seeing a lot of the bigger brands take ideas from smaller brands, which means that something is happening in this underground market.
Where can people find you?
You can follow us on Instagram @imblackowned and our website is www.blackowned19xx.com.
