Archie Clay III is no stranger to the world of luxury fashion. As the founder of Brain Love, a conscious luxury brand, Archie is on a mission to merge style with mental health advocacy, creating a space where fashion isn’t just about looking good—it’s about feeling good, too. Born and raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Archie’s journey from a successful hat brand, WEAR BRIMS, to the creation of Brain Love is a testament to resilience, self-discovery, and the power of community.
Inspired by his mother’s teachings on confidence and mental health, Archie is determined to challenge the stigma around mental wellness, particularly within the Black community. In this Q&A interview, Archie opens up about his entrepreneurial journey, the importance of self-love, and how Brain Love is using fashion as a vehicle for change.
[Editor’s note: This is a truncated transcription of a longer video interview. Please see the video for the extended version. Some errors may occur.]
Could you tell our community a little more about what you do, your background, and your brand?
Yeah, man, my name is Archie, the third, founder, CEO of Brain Love, which is a conscious, luxury fashion brand focused on simply changing the steam around mental health and wellness within our communities. Our whole focus is to use fashion as a vehicle to show people that you can be fly on the outside, but also fly mentally on the inside. Right? That’s our philosophy.
One of our stands is your evolution starts with you. We’re a firm believer that in order to be great, to achieve your dreams, your aspirations, and whatever that looks like for you, it starts within, right? So, we want to be a brand, a lifestyle and brand, that’s focused on making sure our customers and our community are reaching that pinnacle.
What inspired you to start this brand?
Man, it is a traumatic reason why I started the brand, but a good thing, right? So, I had a brand called WEAR BRIMS. We launched it in 2016. It was a very successful hat brand. We did over a million dollars in sales over seven years. All about Oprah’s, one of the top hat companies that are becoming? We were in Nordstroms, Neiman Marcus. Had a lot of amazing things happening for us, but unfortunately, my business partners split. During that time period, I was very depressed because I was upset with God and confused on why I had to, I’m going through this.
I sacrificed everything to build this company. I went full-time for my corporate career. I started my career in retail and operations for big companies like Target and Burlington and Marshall. So, I went full-time and invested all my time into the business, and it did well. So, at the peak of the business, that’s when things unraveled. So, I was very confused and afraid and not really understanding what was next. At that time, I was in the process of proposing. So, for me, I don’t even know what my career looks like right now.
So, what am I going to do? So, for me, it really took a step back and really aligned back to my spiritual side and really figured out what is the journey that God has for me. And during that, my own soul was searching and reaching within myself and, of course, having my community to be there for me and say, ‘Hey, Archie, you can do it again. You can rebuild and create something special.’ I realized that as I’m going through this, I know other people are going through maybe similar situations, but maybe not even dealing with businesses, just going through issues, not having support, not having a community.
And some people are not making it out of it. Some people are having more struggles and becoming homeless, maybe suicide, depression. All these things can happen from a one single situation. And my father had a mental breakdown when I was three years old. So, all these things are going through my head. I don’t want that to happen to me. I want to make sure that I’m mentally sustained. So, my main focus was making sure I’m here. I’m strong here.
And then, God is everything. God had the journey for you. God showed me another idea. That’s when Brain Love came into a point. I remember being in the car, and me and my wife were talking about a bar concept. And I remember her saying, ‘Maybe we could call it Brainchild.’ I was like, ‘Man, I think I like that name.’ Let’s kind of figure out what that looks like. And I remember looking at it, listening to a Warren Buffett podcast, and he was talking about how it’s important to really invest in your mind and invest in your inner self, right, before the financials, before anything tangible, right?
Because at the end of the day, your mind and your spiritual and your holistic thought process are more important than anything. That can allow you to push any success that you need to be, right? So, from there, man, I thought it created me. I created the company, literally, in two months. And then from there, man, we launched officially in September 2023 with Bloomingdale’s and a lot of Fashion Week. And it’s kind of been history from there, man.”
Why do you feel it’s important to address mental health through fashion, especially in the Black community?
Yeah, man, I just think that, I look at this, we say like this, man, we are a brand that’s there to soften the conversation, right? Mental health has been around for a long time, right? I think that mental health is a taboo. People don’t like talking about mental health for some of our reasons, right? I think it’s because, honestly, thinking about how we were talking about what mental health is, right? I think it was something that was, ‘You’re crazy to be talking about mental health,’ right?
But for me, I look at it as a sense of, this should be a part of your lifestyle, right? Mental health is not when—I think people forget that mental health is not when you got a disease or you have depression. Mental health is the mind. I think people forget that. That’s what it is. I think, but when we talk about mental health, people normally say, ‘Oh, something’s wrong with you. You need to go there.’ ‘Oh, wow. What’s—’ No, we need to erase that thought process when we’re saying mental health.
Mental health has nothing to do with something being wrong with you, right? You focusing on your mental health doesn’t mean that something’s wrong with you. You’re just focusing on becoming a better version of yourself. Now, yes, there are other things from depression. It’s a very—I think you want some things when it comes to mental health, right? But there is the beginning factor of mental health, which is the beginning factor, that’s a minor therapist, but the beginning phase of it. Some people are born with mental health issues, of course, right?
Then there are also people that issues happen in their life that turn into other things within mental health, right? So, I think for us is that culture plays a major role in how people think and how they dress and how they show up and how they feel confident. People get confidence from hip-hop. They get confidence from fashion. They get confidence from playing basketball, right? We look at fashion as a vehicle to say, ‘Hey, this is a vehicle to soften the conversation and get you to understand that mental health is very, very important to your lifestyle.’
If you want to be successful, you want to get more money, you want to be an amazing husband, an amazing father, you can’t do these things without having this sustainability, right? And I think we’re not talking about these things enough, and that’s where Brain Love wants to come into the picture, not only just from the storytelling from our products but also doing programming as well on the back end for our customers and community.
Are there any cultural or historical references you incorporate into your designs to convey mental health themes?
Man, that’s actually an amazing question. No one’s ever asked me that question. Well, I have an answer for that question. So, we get a lot of inspiration from the 70s and the 60s, 60s and the 70s. 60s, 70s, and 80s. Reason why? Because those—oh, I’m sorry, 70s and 80s. Reason why? Because those times, where it was a lot of—of course, we still had a lot going on within us as Black or African Americans, things of that nature. But also there was a period where there was a lot of freedom of expression, right? From the music.
That’s when Motown Records was going crazy. There was love and joy in the parties and the different things that were happening within a culture for us. And I think that when you think about those, that era, it just honestly feels so much joy. When we listen to the 70s and 80s music, it feels so joyful, right? They’re talking about their struggles. They’re talking about their pain. They’re talking about the things that they’re going through, right? Through their music.
Even from sports and all those different—the periods where we were really like finding who we were as a culture and really going after it. And for me, I just think those periods, even from a fashion standpoint, that’s why the 70s and 80s are my favorite periods of fashion, right? With the flares and the polos and you got the rendezvous sea vibes. You got the Adidas Jumpsuit. It was a full movement of just being yourself.
And I think we’ve gotten away from being truly yourself and not worrying about anybody else. I can be myself and be impactful in myself, and I don’t have to focus on what everybody else got. And I think we draw a lot of inspiration from those periods. And honestly, just love. I know it’s a cliché thing to say, but love. Our first collection was called ‘Love You.’ And it was really, honestly, focused on me loving myself.
That’s really where it came from, coming from the situation I came from and getting back to the core of my belief of being creative and wanting to make an impact. And I realized that, before anything, you have to love yourself first. And they always say in a relationship, you don’t want to get into a relationship when you’re still—if you’re not loving yourself, it’s going to be very difficult.
What are some challenges you’ve faced as a Black designer and mental health advocate?
Man, first and foremost, the first challenge is myself. I literally was talking to my wife earlier today about some strategies I’ve been working on, but I haven’t implemented it because I’m afraid of just whatever that comes with. I don’t even know what I’m afraid of, honestly. I think sometimes we get in our heads and we keep ourselves from really reaching our full potential. I know that’s a cliche thing to say, but I do believe that, us in our mind, having confidence around mind, you’re telling yourself, because I know, I know that I built a business before.
So, I know what to do, but you’re thinking that since you’ve done it already, you don’t have to do those basics. Right? That’s the confidence I’m having in my head. This is already, why do I do the basics again? But realizing that the basics play a role in your building community. Right? So that’s the first challenge. It’s really myself, having these conversations with myself and saying, yo, just do what you know you need to do and just do it well. You can do it well. You’ve done it before. I think that’s the first challenge.
And I think the second challenge, I think it’s always funding, right? Especially when it comes to a fashion brand, you want to make sure that you’re filling in demand, right? For your consumers and your customers. So, you have to always make sure you kind of figure out that strategy when it comes to funding. And I would say last and not least, man, is acquiring customers, right? We’re in a space right now where Meta is very expensive to market on Meta right now. Very, very expensive. And it can be very costly, right?
Especially in the beginning, right? Where you’re trying to figure out the balance of investing in product. But also, you have to acquire more customers until you sell a product. Right? So finding unique and creative ways to do that. And I think, I’ll fight it myself. Content and social media and creating these engaging contents when it comes to your brand and storytelling and things of that nature play a major role in how you acquire customers organically.
And there’s putting your brands out there that have done it successfully without having to utilize ads in the beginning. And that’s not saying that you won’t eventually do that, which is part of business. You want to have a singular funnel where you’re generating new customers into your funnel and they’re following the journey. But I think you’ve got to figure out unique ways because we’re in a unique time right now where everything is expensive. Right?
So, you have to find unique ways. And I think for us, what has worked very well for us is that our product does very well in retail. We’re focusing on retail first.
Where my first company we focused on e-commerce. So, it’s flipped. All right, cool. We know that we move units directly to consumers within a retail store. Let’s continue to feed that engine, allow that cash to feed our marketing back in. Right? So those are the three things that I think can be challenges, but I think you can also face on being consistent, knowing what you need to do. You can also fix those challenges as well.
What’s the ultimate vision for Brain Love?
Man, we just want to save one life every year. That’s the main goal. Of course, I could say we want to do a million dollars and 10 million, 30 million. I think that comes with it, right? One thing I’ve been paying attention to in my spiritual journey, it’s not solely focused on the financial first, it’s focused on my impact first. Right? So that’s kind of one thing I’ve been practicing myself. When people ask that question, normally you would say, ‘Hey, win $10 million next year.’ What should we do?
Man, I understand that we don’t want to do that because we are a business. But honestly, man, if we were going to impact change in one person’s life a year right now— We can do that. We can impact. We can change one’s perspective on how they can live their life and get them to see power in one’s mind and understand that if I’m even about the financial side, then you can change your mind. You can have a better relationship. You can be a better husband, a better wife. I realized that, man, life is very short.
I’ve lost a couple of moments last year. And I realized that nothing’s promised. Me losing my company at the peak of the business. I’m in a different zone. And most people may not be in when it comes to being an entrepreneur. I hit the pinnacle, right? But also, it ended. So, my thought process was a little different where— Yes, I want to be able to just exit within the next five to seven years of the business, but more importantly, man, we just want to be able to make an impact and be able to stay on this journey that God has paved the way for us. And I thank that God, right?
People ask people all the time, God was the one that put this idea in my mind. So, it’s my job to do what we can to help change and align with people that believe in what we believe in. I think it’s a movement. There’s a lot of thought processes going on, even with yourself, man. We connected based on this movement, the thought process, and its energy. And I think that it could keep us looking good, looking healthy, being the best version of ourselves, being good for our friends.
And we talk about wealth. I think wealth is in the mind. I think once we conquer our mind, the money’s going to come. Because look what we’ve been doing. Look what we’ve done without really focusing on that thought process. So, once you become aware, God is going to pave that way for you. You’re going to be able to impact people. You’re going to be able to— because you got to make, in order to impact, we got to have money.
If not, you can’t do one or the other. You can’t make an impact in the world and make an impact for people without cash. That’s what it is. So, but two things can be true. You can do both. I truly believe that you can do both. You can have a good life. You can change your family’s life, but you can also make an impact around people that are around you.
How do you stay balanced as an entrepreneur while managing your mental and physical health?
Made my homies, man. And I like talking with y’all, I think friendship and community and family is a core of who I am and I’m a firm believer that. Family is everything. If somebody can, of course, we know that family can be a testament as well, but I am grateful to have a beautiful wife that believes in what I’ve done. She’s always believed in what I’ve done.
So, I can’t, I can’t fail. That’s not even, it’s not even an option. For someone to believe in you so much and to give, to allow you to be an entrepreneur, that night. Say, Hey, where are you going to get this job? So I am, I have so much gratitude. Because I’m in a space where I can really push forward. And also, from a standpoint I do muay thai, that’s my safe space.
I’ve been doing since I was three years old. So that’s always my safe space. So, I love the art of martial arts, which most people don’t know is the spiritual art martial arts. So that’s, that’s another safe space. And just laughing, man. I’m a, I’m a jokester. I love to just have fun and love a party, man. I just turned 35 and I feel good. I feel great. And I have a niece now, she’s two. So, it’s just, it’s so much to look forward to.
And honestly, man, it’s just understanding that it’s just being grateful, man. I think I wake up every day and I pray and I meditate every single day. I mean, so I’m about to start back up therapy. Nothing’s wrong with me, but I just realized that I want to be the best version of myself, I want to be a powerhouse.
What message do you hope to leave for the Black community?
May your evolution start with you. I think we have to truly embrace ourselves and understand that we can change. It may change, but we got to want to. And I think we also got to understand this. It’s going to be difficult. It’s going to be tough, but nothing worth having comes easy. I think that’s a real last quote. If you want to be the 1%, it’s a 1% for a reason.
If you want to be great and you want to do these things, or even if you just want to have a great career, just continue to get better 1% every day. You may not want to be in there. You may just want to make good money and just be okay. That’s fine. Whatever goes in a problem that you want to do, at the end day still starts with you. It starts with people around you. It starts with you cutting people out there and not benefit to you. Everything starts with you.
And I say your evolution is not just your only personal evolution involving. It’s keeping people away from you that keeps you from evolving. I think a lot of times people are, I got to keep these friends around me because I’ve been these friends since I was three years old. I don’t care if I’ve been in front of you. If you’re not adding value to me, then I don’t have to be a friend. I think we put too much pressure on ourselves to be there for other people when they’re not there for us. I’m very, very grateful for a man.
I’ve had a solid group of friends since I was 18 years old. A very successful black man that have done amazing for their families, but also are working to be better every single day. And to see that happen and see it happening is that we can do better. We can’t want more and we can’t have more. So even just seeing you guys, me, you guys, taking what you guys made, I can see that.
But we also got to remember that the people that we see and connect with, that’s not normal. It’s not normal to have educated black men that are in the same space and want to be in the same space and once we evolve it, be better, mizzly and physically. Let’s have fun. At the end of the day, bro, we can have it. Oh, you just got to know. You just got to know when to have it, and when not to have it. This point. So very, very grateful.
I just think that is, just be grateful and gratitude because, a lot of times a lot of people don’t get a chance to make it to the next year. So just being grateful for every year that God gives you.
Where can people find more about Brain Love?
Thank you. Yes, you can follow us at brain love underscore official on all platforms, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. Our website is www.brainlove.store. You can shop us at Bloomingdales in Atlanta market and ladies mall. And of course, you can follow me at Archie Clay III.
Archie Clay III merges style with mental wellness
Archie Clay III is more than a designer—he’s a visionary using fashion to spark conversations about mental health and self-love. With Brain Love, he’s creating a movement that proves style and substance can coexist, one conscious design at a time.
