Stylin' and Profilin' with Branëu Founder Dawayne Taylor

We’re back with another Stylin' and Profilin' series. This time around we’re highlighting fashion brand Branëu, a men's & women’s luxury brand located in the heart of Richmond, Virginia. Inspired by Rap moguls and streetwear alike, rap moguls and streetwear alike. Founded in 2013 by Dawayne Taylor, Branëu seeks to push the culture forward by presenting “Brand Nëu” products, which consist of quality fabrics and fittings to develop clothing for those who share the company’s creative vision and appeal.

Those ideals include financial literacy, small business management, public speaking, leadership, and entrepreneurship, as well as day-to-day business logistics. It’s rare to see a fashion brand so intertwined in other areas such as entrepreneurship, and yet Branëu encapsulates that day in and day out. ONE37pm spoke with Taylor more about the brand.

ONE37pm: How did you first develop the concept of Branëu?

Taylor: I started with the terms Brand New, then we worked on forming a shorter spelling and as we researched accent marks we liked the layout with the umlauts over the ë. As for the style of the brand, I thought about what I like to wear from street and formal, although we haven't got to formal wear yet we will in the future. 

ONE37pm: You guys are located in Richmond, Virginia. What is it about Virginia that made you specifically want to base the brand there?   

Taylor: Virginia is known for so many things but there haven't been any big fashion brands to come from Richmond, Va. So I thought why not be the first? We do have Pharrell in Virginia Beach who has done really well with fashion. Funny story: we actually moved to Los Angeles and attended Complexcon where we met and gave Pharrell a Branëu hat. After COVID happened we decided to move back to Virginia.

Living in L.A. inspired me to learn more about Richmond, Va. As people generally stay in one area although they live somewhere for a long time. We were like tourists every day in Los Angeles. So now I plan on incorporating more of Richmond VA into Branëu designs although I still travel to Los Angeles frequently as we have several designers and manufacturers there.

ONE37pm: What can we expect as we approach the second quarter of 2022?

Taylor: We are in the development of several spring/summer 2022 releases that will be launching around May and we are currently working on Fall/Winter 2022 designs to go into production. 

You can continue to keep up with Branëu via their official website.