Ohio native John Dean, who runs a company with R&B singer Chris Brown, discusses how his humble beginnings in Akron led him to partner with the soulful recording artist.
In an interview with the Akron Beacon Journal, the 33-year-old designer tells the media outlet that reaching out to the “Run It” singer’s stylist in 2014 led to the two becoming partners in The Auracles. He most recently created merchandise for the “Breezy Bowl XX” tour, which is celebrating Brown’s 20-year singing career.
“Chris and I have a really close relationship now, I’m in tune with his design aesthetic just naturally because we’ve had so much time together just working on the brand,” Dean said. “I’m glad he trusted me with his vision to be able to create clothing that represented and embodied his work.”
While attending St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, he found inspiration for fashion, and in his senior year, he started his own company, Renowned.
“When I ran my brand Renowned, I reached out to one of Chris’ stylists because I’m just a big fan of his and I wanted to get him some of my Renowned stuff,” Dean recalled. “Basically, Chris ended up wearing the stuff, and he liked it. The stylist came back to me and said ‘Hey, Chris would like more of your stuff, but can we have these colors? Can we do this, that?’ and then I started making custom clothes for Chris.”
That led Dean to create pieces for his first Brown tour, “Between the Sheets Tour,” in 2015. He went on to design merchandise for Brown’s “Under the Influence Tour” in 2023, “11:11 Tour” in 2024, and the most recent, “Breezy Bowl XX Tour.”
“Basically, our brains were on the same wavelength and at the end of the conversation, we were like ‘we should do something together, we should do a little art project,’ and to make a long story short, that art project is our brand, The Auracles,” Dean said.
The Auracles footwear was sold at the “Breezy Bowl XX” tour, and after releasing boots in 2024, the brand is prepping to release a new shoe on Black Friday, as well as a new toy, Dean said.