There once was a spirit abandoned by his mother in the woods for being “different.” He lived for years in the jungle among the bushes with no reminder of his family other than a mat given to him by his mother. It became a legend that whoever possessed it would get great wealth and that the only way to get the mat was to fight the spirit known as the Bush Boy. People would often come in search of this magical object and discard the spirit, abusing him and throwing him around. Little did they know that the Bush Boy would have given them the mat if they had simply asked. This Nigerian folk tale was one of the many elements of Nigerian culture that inspired Samuel Oni when he was just twenty years old to start his unique streetwear brand, Bush Boy, which incorporates traditional Nigerian fabric into the streetwear style. Being a Nigerian-American himself, he deeply resonates with the story. This tale really shows what being in the United States is like, feeling alone and only having a little bit left of your culture and family as a guide. “Bush Boy stands for generation 1.5, kind of like the generation of people brought to other places but ultimately were brought up in America and its meaning is to embody those aspects of ourselves that aren’t from here but stand out, it’s who we are,” says Oni.
Being his first year in Upcomers, he feels less alone. Upcomers has helped him stay more focused on what a brand is capable of by giving him a community of people who understand what it’s like to run a brand.His journey all started three years ago when he was developing a fashion show for minority-owned brands. That is when he got the idea to start Bush Boy to tell his story about being Nigerian American while also incorporating his love of fashion. It wasn’t as easy as it seems though. His biggest challenge was learning self-reliance in order to save money. Instead of hiring someone to do the marketing and assembling for him, he does it himself. When he first started he didn’t know how to sew, so after some trial and error, he eventually learned with the help of his mother. Looking back on the start of his business he wishes that he would have known not to spend so much time planning, but more time doing, because that is how you learn and gain experience.
“Being a designer is ultimately combining aspects of yourself with trends while not conforming,” Oni says that this is the key to keeping your brand consistent with its original vision, but still staying trendy to increase customer satisfaction. His background in both theater and marketing helps with consistency by being able to get his stories across using various visual forms.
A few years from now, Oni hopes to focus more on keeping Bush Boy consistent and sustainable by getting a handle on his production quantity. While still just a clothing brand, he wishes for Bush Boy to one day put a greater emphasis on visual messages so people can understand the culture, music, and story behind the brand. Whether it’s through a short story or a film, he hopes to retell the folktale and the story of “Bush People.” “I don’t just want them to commodify my product, I want them to very much be a Bush Boy” – Samuel Oni
Author: Alianny Vargas, Editor: Yelissa Lopez