When Akron native John Dean started his first clothing brand while he was still a high school student, he didn’t know it’d be the first step on a journey to the world’s stage.
“I had a dream and I said I was going to go for it and do it, but I didn’t know things would turn out like this,” Dean said.
Fourteen years later, Dean has made a name for himself in the world of graphic design, blending art, music and fashion through his work with numerous artists, most notably music superstar Chris Brown.
Dean, 33, most recently created merchandise for Brown’s “Breezy Bowl XX” tour commemorating the singer’s 20-year music career, and co-founded the clothing brand The Auracles with the Grammy-winning artist.
“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.”
An Ohio beginning
Dean’s first interest in fashion came from visiting a variety of clothing stores, including Nick’s and Mr. Alan’s, or the Randall Park Mall that displayed the latest trends.
“Now, I couldn’t afford any of the cool stuff I wanted to wear, but I just loved being able to go to those stores and see what’s cool, what the celebrities are wearing,” Dean said. “Especially during LeBron James’ first run with the Cavaliers, I was just so interested in what [the Cavaliers players] were wearing. Was it the big oversized jerseys with the big hats and the baggy pants with the basketball shorts underneath? That sort of style I was in love with.”
Dean said it was having access to such local stores that sold streetwear that “shaped my fashion presence and my design aesthetic.”
“Akron was very foundational to my growth and my career and honestly, while it’s not known as a fashion [mecca], it allowed me to venture out and determine how I could stand out from the crowd – it helped me to find my individual style,” Dean said.
It was during his time as a student at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School when he was drawn to fashion design.
“When I went to St. V, that was the first time I ever had to wear uniforms, and the thing we couldn’t wear was jackets,” Dean said. “So my thing was, ‘all right, let me get an [amazing] jacket.’ You know, if we have to wear a white shirt, navy pants, my shoes got to be fly, and then my jacket got to be fly.”
Dean said at first he would buy and sell the “knockoff” versions of the clothing brands that he couldn’t afford, and he would sell some of his collection to his classmates to provide financial assistance to his family as well as to keep buying clothes for himself.
He said after awhile, he wanted to give creating his own clothes a try. After starting an online company called City Fashions, his senior year he created Renowned a clothing brand he ran for almost 10 years.
Dean graduated from STVM in 2011 and went on to Ohio University, where he majored in business marketing and continued to grow his fashion brand. While at OU, Renowned would see a level of success that convinced Dean to move to Los Angeles while he was still a college student to try and further his brand.
Dean, who graduated from OU while living in Los Angeles and running Renowned, found success after his move to California, and would go on to have his clothes worn by celebrities, including singer Bryson Tiller and rapper Tyga. His clothes were then featured in publications including GQ, Elle, Complex and Forbes.
Working with Chris Brown
In 2014, Dean made the decision to reach out to one of Chris Brown’s stylists to see if Brown would like and possibly wear one of his Renowned shirts. To Dean’s surprise, Brown loved his designs and wanted to keep wearing them.
“Basically, Chris ended up wearing the stuff and he liked it,” Dean said. “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.”
Eventually, Dean was contracted to create pieces for Brown’s tours, starting with the “Between the Sheets Tour” in 2015.
“After I designed some custom pieces for him, he brought me on to do a collaboration with his brand called Black Pyramid at the time and we did a special edition tour collection,” Dean said. “It was just a one-off collaboration that we did, and that was the first time I designed tour merch for him. But it wasn’t the stuff that would be at the shows ‒ it was this online special edition stuff.”
He has since designed merchandise for Brown’s “Under the Influence Tour” in 2023, “11:11 Tour” in 2024 and the “Breezy Bowl XX Tour,” which just wrapped up earlier this month.
“Me working with Chris all came from me just randomly DM’ing his stylist one day on Instagram, which has led to all this,” Dean said. “That just shows the power of what a DM could do.”
Creating The Auracles with the music superstar
Dean was dropping off some Renowned clothing to Brown’s home in 2021 when the seeds of their fashion brand were planted, he said.
“I just had a new Renowned collection coming out and it was based around very historic Black things, specifically the [1921 Tulsa Massacre] and I was kind of explaining to him the details of the clothing, and he loved it,” Dean said.
Eventually, the conversation turned to what the two artists were working on, which is where Dean and Brown continued to click.
“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.
Dean said he took a leap of faith that day by texting Brown to personally deliver some clothing, instead of sending a package, as was the usual practice.
“I remember texting him and being so nervous, because usually I just send him a package but at the time, I’m like, ‘I’m going to just try to do this,'” Dean recalled.
Dean said he didn’t take Brown’s offer to collaborate lightly, and he went home right after and went “right to work.”
“He could have just been talking, but I just got right to creating designs after that night, I was so serious about this project,” Dean said. “My girlfriend was pregnant at the time and she was in labor and when I had some downtime, when she was chilling or sleeping, I would open my laptop and work. That’s how dedicated I was to this thing.”
The Auracles sold footwear at the “Breezy Bowl XX” tour and the brand, which just released some boots in 2024, will have a new shoe coming out on Black Friday, as well as a new toy, Dean said.
Advice on breaking into the fashion industry
Want to make a name for yourself in the fashion world? The best advice may be the most cliche, Dean noted.
“Be true to who you are as a creative. There’s a lot of times that we find ourselves chasing trends or chasing what’s cool right now. But my thing is create things that you genuinely enjoy and that you can look at yourself in the mirror and be like, ‘I’m proud that I made this,'” Dean said.
“Always create for yourself and be proud of what you do,” he said.
Determination and perserverance also go a long way in this industry, Dean said.
“Everyone has a dream, but who’s going to put it into action? You’ve got to really sacrifice some things, whether that’s your time or energy, you have to really put in that work for your dream to come true,” Dean said. “I’ve always told people I was tucked away for 10 years. I wasn’t in any clubs. I wasn’t popping any bottles or partying. I was tucked away working.”
Keep up with Dean as he continues to grow his business and endeavors in fashion by following him @deano_32 and @theauracles_ on Instagram.
This story has been updated.
Reporter Anthony Thompson can be reached at ajthompson@gannett.com, or on Twitter @athompsonABJ