Education & Youth | Fashion | Arts & Culture | New Haven Schools | Youth Arts Journalism Initiative | Arts & Anti-racism
Xavier Langley, wearing his newly released trucker hats. Abiba Biao Photos.
Students crowded the stairwells of Amistad Achievement First High School as they made their way to their next class, taking advantage of the few minutes of downtime. A classmate wiped away tears of laughter with their sleeve while their friends leaned on the lockers.
Across their hoodie, the words "The IIconic Brand: More Than A Movement" caught in the light.
It’s an increasingly familiar sight at Amistad, where teachers and students both sport the student-grown, New Haven-based IIconic Brand. The mastermind behind it is 17-year-old junior Xavier Langley. From hand making shirts to managing social media, marketing, and photography, Langley is responsible for every aspect of his small business.
“There’s so many different types of art and that happens to be clothing,” he said. “That's just what I do, I create.”
The IIconic Brand is a Black-owned clothing business that includes hoodies, t-shirts, and joggers in a variety of colors. Langley has been growing it for the past two years. He said he doesn’t think of himself as a clothing brand owner or designer but as an artist, using clothes as a medium to convey his ideas and visions.
“There’s so many different types of art and that happens to be clothing,” he said. “That's just what I do, I create.”
He first founded the brand in 2020 under a different logo, but rebranded in July 2021, creating the current IIconic Brand. The brand’s name derived from Langley’s rap name “The IIcon'' which he later switched to “The IIconic,” using two I’s as his trademark distinction.
“I just thought that word was always amazing. Like ‘iconic,’” he said. “You think big and bold and amazing.”
Latin American History teacher Qadry Harris rocking an IIconic Brand hoodie in ivory.
The text-based logo spells out “The IIconic Brand” in all capital letters. The minimalist design of the logo was made to represent that someone doesn't have to come from a privileged background to do great things. To Langley, greatness is innate in everyone.
In just two years, the venture has fueled his academic pursuits. As he begins to apply to college this fall, he hopes to study business management at Clark Atlanta University.
He said that going to an HBCU would give him new experiences and network opportunities saying that he wants to be around “great Black minds.” He wants to be a part of Clark Atlanta’s history and use his education to make a mark on society.
He also highlighted the importance of buying from Black-owned businesses like his.
“The Black dollar leaves the Black community the fastest,” he said. “I feel like we should invest into our culture and if I could meet other people with that same mindset as me we can definitely change what's going on in the world.”
To Langley, every day is a good business day. Building the brand isn’t just about financial profit, he said, but spreading his name and message of positivity. He wants to be a positive influence in the Black community, he said.
“I saw a lot of the leaders were either going to jail, were dying or were leading other people around my age or even younger, to places that aren’t going to benefit the community. ”
He hopes to change this trend. He said that people have the motivation to “work harder” when they have role models in front of them. Through the brand, he’s sought to leave a positive message at school. To him, IIconic represents the power of love and support—one that has already spread through the staff and student body.
"Everybody wears it. If you don’t got it in school, you wack,” Langley said jokingly.
Caprice Samuel sporting a pink IIconic Brand t-shirt. “I feel iconic, my children will be iconic, the generations before me were iconic,” she said. “It means something to wear it on my chest.”
Although the legalities of becoming a small business owner were daunting, Langley had help from his financial literacy teacher, Caprice Samuel, whom he credits with being a major guide and influence.
To Samuel, The IIconic Brand represents “courage,” “hard work,” and “community,” she said. She sees the message as one that translates to real life.
“I feel iconic, my children will be iconic, the generations before me were iconic,” she said. “It means something to wear it on my chest.”
She added that one of her main reasons for supporting the brand was her student’s vision of togetherness and community foundation.
“The roots of why he [Xavier] developed the line is the reason why I will always support it.”
Behavioral specialist Justin Cogdell showing off his black IIconic brand hoodie.
Since its founding, the brand has continued to grow. One of Langley’s most memorable moments remains getting an out-of-state order from Houston, Tex. It was as if his name was springing outside the confines of New Haven.
“I was like ‘Ok, wow! My name is spreading further than just my home state and home city,’” he recalled. His smile grew from ear to ear as he reminisced on the experience.
Langley also had some advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.
“Don’t be ashamed of failure,” he said. “Don’t shy away from it. It gets hard. There's been days when I walk home like ‘Damn this is getting really hard.’ You gotta be able to persevere through it and be able to do things that you haven’t maybe seen done in your community.”
Find The IIconic Brand on their website and on Instagram and Twitter. This piece comes to the Arts Paper through the fifth annual Youth Arts Journalism Initiative (YAJI), a program of the Arts Council of Greater New Haven. Read more about the program here or by checking out the "YAJI" tag. Abiba Biao is a senior at Achievement First Amistad High School.