The Truth In This Art: Stories That Matter

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rOB lEE: Welcome to The Truth In His ART your source for conversations connecting arts, culture, and community. These are stories that matter, and I am your host, Rob Lee, except no substitutes. Today, I'm excited to welcome my next guest on to the program. He is the founder of a Baltimore based clothing brand that bridges family legacy with Baltimore culture through vintage inspired design.

So joining me today is Sam Furnish from BMOS Clothing. Welcome to The Truth In His Heart. Thank you, Rob. I'm happy to be here. Thank you for coming on. And it's one of those things where, you know, I'm glad we're able to do this in person. Thank you for the second hand hospitality, the hospitality nonetheless. And we're down here in, what's this, like technically Harbor East?

Yeah, yeah, Harbor East area. Yeah, so as we start off, and you're kind of like one of these figures, like I became aware of you online. And I was just like, all right, this is some cool stuff. I see a few pieces here I'm interested in.

I may have purchased a few pieces. We'll discuss a little bit later. But I want to go back to start up this conversation. It's always important for me to go back. So if you will, could you introduce yourself and sort of your background? Yeah, of course. And well, first, I wanted to kick it off to just say I think your podcast is great.

Thanks for having me on here. I think I don't know if it's just because I'm now part of the movement or if it's already been going on, but it feels to me like there's this kind of movement of arts in Baltimore and people, you know, my age, young-ish. I'm not so young anymore, but doing creative things going out on their own. And I think it's really cool. And I think you're capturing a lot of that.

I really appreciate you were talking to the president of Micah recently. And it was interesting to me, and this is kind of what lead into my answer. My background is I think you hear, at least maybe in my head, I always think of art as like, or I think of Micah. It's like, okay, that's an artist with a brush and a canvas. But listening to her talk about how, like, they're preparing people for businesses and like all the things that are not like what is kind of stereotypical art.

That all goes into art, but on the flip side, in my world, I think a lot of people think of business as business, and I think it is art. And I'd love like how you talk to, you know, I actually compare it like lots of times close to food where it's a necessity. And some people treat it as a necessity. They just wear what they need to wear.

They cover themselves. Some people just eat what they need to eat. But I think you can have really great experiences. Like you can go out and really feel good about yourself after a meal. Same way with clothes. Like I feel different when I'm when I haven't wearing an outfit I really love. So yeah, so that will lead into my background in the art of clothes. My first job out of college was at Under Armour. So that's what brought me to Baltimore.

And there could be a whole other podcast on that. But I think the cool thing with them was especially at that time, you know, my first job was a very entry level job in the operations world. But they're really good about getting people into different departments that were, you know, young after, you know, that second job there was really cool.

So I was able to move into the product world and be a PLM, a product line manager in the accessories department, which was the perfect spot for me. We were a little bit of a run of the litter because, you know, I think a lot of people were focused on the clothes where the footwear was coming up. But it was actually kind of cool because we got to kind of be a little behind the scenes and do our own thing in a cool way and be really creative, which was perfect for me. Had a lot of great mentors on that team. So did that was there. I'm Yadi Yadi on a little bit over there. I was there for 10 years and did product and then they created Merchandising, which was kind of a cousin of products. There's a lot of crossover, but there's some new functions and learned a lot there. Along that timeline, at one point I was flying back to Baltimore from California and sat next to a guy and we ended up talking and he owned a chain of surf shops along the East Coast.

And this was in 2018, I think, or 17 or 18. It's another naviner initially, but we talked for four hours. Just got to know each other. Yeah, I was just saying, we talked the whole flight. And I'm not normally the person that talks to someone on the flight, but it was great. We kind of stayed in touch.

We check in every now and then and then I was kind of looking for a change in around 2021 and 2021, 2022. And he happened to reach out and was asking and he's like, Hey, can I hire you yet? And I was like, Well, sure. So went to work for quite some surf shops and learned a ton.

I'll say it was really interesting. He was basically trying to create in-house brands in all these different areas. So, you know, we had a fishing department and they're a retailer first.

So, you know, they would sell your Quicksilver, your Bill of Long, all these kind of big national brands. And he was actually kind of a head of the curve for, I think, someone his size, which he was big enough that he could do it. But I think small enough that most of his competitors weren't even thinking this way as far as like creating actually your own product in-house and make it look like a real brand. So we had, you know, kind of a preppy brand. We had a fish brand. We had a surf brand. And through that, I basically learned how to kind of create brands from scratch, which, you know, coming from a big company, I would have thought that was too daunting. I would have never thought about it that way. But then doing it for him, I kind of learned, you know, okay, one, it is doable.

I'm not saying it's easy, but it's doable. And I kind of learned a lot of the things and a lot of the steps that are in that process that, you know, I think a regular person or even me, if I had never gone there, wouldn't have known. So, and that kind of led me into, I'm sure we're going to talk about it, kind of the genesis of the brand. So give us the name of the brand before we go into it. Yeah.

So my clothing brand is BMOS Clothing. Yes. And we'll get into the name, but yes, started it officially launched it just this past October. So October 2025. So it's only about six months old.

But yeah, so far so good. Love it. Love it. And thank you.

Thank you for that. It speaks to this that trajectory of you're on a flight, you're coming back long flight. You're at your door for the normally you wouldn't do you're having a conversation.

Right. And I'm usually the person because I travel fair amount. I'm usually got the AirPods then if I'm listening to a podcast or listening to something very inappropriate or what have you. And I find that there are instances where you have these moments that stick out. And this was a well four hour moment, if you will, that stuck out and kind of added a different layer to this career where you're where you're at. But I go back to before I move into this sort of second part of this introductory question, I go back to the first time I went to New Orleans. New Orleans is one of my favorite cities. I thought of Baltimore, right? And I went down there after a breakup. Just I was supposed to go visit her and I was like, I'm going to use this to go to New Orleans.

I'll be happy. And I just remember sitting there with a random chef and we at a like a piggly wiggly or something. Yeah.

Just so many different things that just are outside of the norm for me, right? Yep. And we're just talking food for an hour. And he's telling me about his son, randomly. And he's like, he's like, where are you from?

I'm from Baltimore. He's like, they got the ravers up there. He's like, my son played with Ed Reid in college. So he gets a son on the phone and we're just having a random reminiscence about college at Reid.

A conversation I never thought would either be like, what are we doing? Yeah. So yeah. Funny how it works that way.

It was just super random. I'm sitting there like, what are we doing? Yeah. So I read in the background a little bit, you describe clothing as reminisces, reminisces of finding like that perfect piece like in your, your parents attic. So could you describe like one of your favorite clothing memories?

Yeah. I would say, I feel like it was probably around like middle school, high school that I think I started to really pay attention to fashion. Not in a crazy way, but it was, it was something I, you know, enjoyed, you know, finding a cool outfit. You know, that was definitely the age of us kind of coming up when it was like the strokes and all the kind of like rock and roll and like image was very important.

So that was definitely a huge part. And I think we can all relate to like, and again, maybe not everyone, but I think a lot of us, you know, would, would find these old 70s people. And I think that's one of the pieces in our parents wardrobe that suddenly we were like, wait, this is like right in, you know, you know, you know, fashion, cyclical, cyclical.

Yeah. So you always have these things kind of coming around. And so you'd always like look through and these things your parents forgot about because they thought they went out of fashion, which they did 10 years ago, but suddenly they're coming back. So I mean, I remember fine sweaters. I would say the one really cool one, which will kind of speak to the brand is I remember not that Pico's have ever gone out, but it's kind of right.

Like Pico's were coming back in, in, you know, mid 2000s. And my in my mom's closet, she was kind of going through things and these were keepsakes. It wasn't even her for her clothing closet, but she had her dad, my grandpa, his Pico from World War Two. And this thing was, I still have it.

I don't wear it anymore. It's in a safe place. But I mean, it's immaculate.

The materials, it's just, it's just crazy, the quality of this thing. And the fit was like perfect for me. I don't know if I still fit into it perfectly, but at the time it was just like the perfect fit. The style was really in. So like I had the coolest Pico in the world. I probably shouldn't have been wearing it because it's a relic, but I think that's kind of a perfect example of like finding something that then suddenly I was wearing it every day.

And it was something, you know, it was from 19, you know, whatever 45 or what have you. So that's kind of a perfect example. That's great. You know, I was so like you see me in person. So you kind of get my stature a bit, right? And I was always the biggest person.

I didn't have that in terms of I would see something cool and inevitably just be disappointed. I'll never fit that. So like my dad is five nine. I'm six four.

So right there. And but I do remember in middle school that a similar sort of era I'm in my early 40s. So it's not too far removed from reminiscing over some of those like 80s things. And I remember going into my parents closet. No, actually our attic. And my dad had this old Averrex jacket in there. And I was like, yo, and for some reason just Averrex kind of popped back for a bit.

Yeah. It was in middle school, like early high school. So people were wearing it. And I was like, man, if I could somehow get shorter, I can wear this and not look crazy. Yeah. I wanted that Averrex so bad.

Speaker 2: It never happened. Yeah. Yeah.

rOB lEE: And that's it is it is cool though you're able to in some ways connect to some of the trends and have something that carries on and there is a piece that I still have. So back in the day back in a day back in a day my cousins went to a run DMC concert here in Baltimore. And they have one of the adidas run DMC co branded partnerships that was like on sale there. I've had that since 1993.

Speaker 2: Yeah. So it's just like, And you're never getting rid of that. No, yeah. I've never put it on. I'm like, no, I don't want to stretch it out because everyone's short.

rOB lEE: So moving ahead a little bit with the, you know, there's a let we're going to talk about BMO a bit and let's talk about that. Like sort of the naming and how that came about and there's a family connection I'm aware of. So please give us that connection there.

Yeah. So it was so my grand. So I was kind of thinking of a name for the brand and kind of this idea was was evolving into kind of the, you know, it started out with really looking at I was actually watching a TV show and actually perfect example of what you're talking about with like size that were fit. I was like watching a TV show and then I was like at some thrift store and I saw the shirt that looked incredible on TV and then I was at the store store like a week later and found this piece that I love within, you know, a wrong size. And I was like, man, that's that sucks.

I would really love to have that piece. And then they thought kind of don't need it like I can, I can make this. So I was like, oh, I can just make it and make it in my size or make it in all sizes and kind of recreate this piece. So that was and I think we'll talk a little more about the evolution. But then it was kind of this idea was developing and it's kind of developed into like, oh, like I was remembering, you know, finding items in your in your parents closet. And so as I was thinking of a name, there was a couple. I don't even remember where they were. There was a couple that just didn't seem right.

You got to know it's like one of those things, you know, when you know. And my so my dad, his, my grandpa on my dad's side, he was he was a character in a lot of ways, but he had given all his my dad is four siblings. So the five of them and he gave them all nicknames, which to this day, I don't think I even really know what they mean. Like there was a PV, a mule, mule, and then my dad was BMO. And but as a kid, like all the siblings are all in the other 80s now, they still use these names with each other. Like so, like when they would come to visit, they would call my dad BMO. So we were very aware of this and he was always like, you know, he would even call himself BMO. And so I was kind of thinking of a name. I was like, oh, this is kind of the idea of like stuff you'd find in your parents closet. And I was like, BMO is kind of an original name. The one thing you think about when you start a company is you do have to think about, you know, finding a name that is available and you can trademark and all those things.

Not everyone thinks of that. You do you do things. So something I was like, okay, this is original and then it fit. And so I was I was talking with one of my best friends from growing up about the brand. And I was like, yeah, I'm thinking about it.

I was like, I think BMO's could be a cool name after my dad's nickname. Or I think I didn't say that yet. And he goes, he goes, oh, like be more like Baltimore. And I was like, oh, well, I didn't think that my dad's not even from Baltimore. So but then I was kind of like, oh, that's a that's a cool connection. And so in my head of measure originally when I was like, oh, well, that's cool.

Like that could be kind of a nice little, you know, Easter egg or a hidden thing. And then my friend who's credit and he's not from Baltimore either. He was like, no, I would lean into that. I would I would lean into being from Baltimore. And you think of like, Shinola being from Detroit or Baldwin Denim being from Kansas City.

And they like they own that they make stuff that says, you know, I mean, everything they say says Detroit. So and he was like, again, he's not from Baltimore. He's like, Baltimore just got like a good raw energy to it. He's like, I think that could be really cool. And so that was like just kind of it naturally became that kind of a perfect name. And that's where I even that actually impacted how we kind of thought about the design process of like, oh, actually, let's like lean into that being from Baltimore. You're talking to a man has a Shinola wallet in his pocket currently because I was in Detroit.

Speaker 2: And I was like, yeah, I need to yeah, those those family nicknames to I got to got a comment on that. So I'm a junior right and my dad's nicknames very creative. It's Rob. Okay. Everyone else cool nicknames. Yeah.

That's bug, we did this van. That's a boo. Yeah. Rob.

I was just like, oh, this is this is literally my nickname sake. Yeah. So I wouldn't have the cool like maybe if I can apply that now just Rob, just a shortened version. Maybe that's the name just Rob. You know what you might be branding and marketing.

rOB lEE: So talk about that that moment or that series of moments that you realize that a brand was a thick. Because you mentioned like sort of having sort of sizing and having some of the ideas and some of the thinking around it. But there is a moment of this is interesting. This is something that could be a thing. I'm going to spend some time on this could be a hobby to this is the thing that I'm doing. And I say that from this perspective. We were talking earlier about what I started doing this podcast saying no money and nobody was talking about it.

So try going on a date back in a day. Would you live in your mom's basement with a microphone? Yeah.

Stuff I used to hear. But then it got to I'm committing to this and I'm doing this and this is important to me and I'm going to build off of this. I'm going to put my effort into it and there there is definitely a line where it goes from sort of the hobby. This is fun to I think I can be a journalist. I think I can build off of this. Yeah. Probably frankly when this podcast started. Yeah.

No for sure. I think and honestly for me I think the the idea kind of got good enough to me to become that. And I say that like again like I the the origin of it was you know and I'll say the show we were watching Seinfeld and like Kramer had some shirt and I was like that's just a great shirt.

I wish I could make that. So kind of the original idea was almost a joke in the group chat of like oh if I made like some of Kramer shirts and sold them you know online. As like a total side gig not like a full brand and then as it kind of developed and the idea became like oh actually like let's like let's make a little bit more than that.

Like let's actually kind of design new new and interesting things but take them from you know vintage inspirations and then as the idea kind of evolved in this my friend brought in Baltimore and I was like oh actually this can be a really cool way to kind of design into the city. And you know make something so honestly just became something that I started to believe in the idea more and more and more as it evolved to the point where I was like okay this is something that I believe is good enough and I believe in enough to kind of make that jump. And you know I always I always talk about I was kind of doing some stuff on the on the background and then I always thought there's the one scene from from Batman where they talk about he had to jump without the rope. He kept jumping up with the rope you know so there was kind of a moment for me where I was like hey you know if I'm going to do this I think I got to go all in and and and give it its fair shit because at least I also know myself personally if I'm if I'm going to be doing it as a side gig or whatever. I think it would always just kind of putter around and so that was kind of like I believe in this idea enough let's give it its fair shot and go for it. Thank you that's good and definitely I want to dive back in a bit more on sort of the building and some of the thoughts and insights on you know you had the launch piece and then you have sort of the building up the brand and I know folks will be wondering like what goes into building a brand so you know let me start off with this one. How did you prepare for the launch because you know as I was saying earlier folks are you know hey how do you start a podcast I have a various different ways but one of the things I would say is have something you care about.

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And I was like, well, I'm trusting. It's coming. It's locked in. But I didn't have to rush it. And I didn't have to do it when I wasn't ready to do that. And I think the other thing that was really cool was just a lot of the relationships. And I was actually talking to a group of college students recently where I think a lot of people, especially in the corporate world, it feels very transactional.

A lot of the relationships, which it's just against my nature and bothers me. But it was really cool for me starting this. A lot of the relationships I built that weren't transactional just because I genuinely was interested in them and they were genuinely interested in me is genuine friendships, fast forward 10, 15 years down the road.

And a lot of those came back and it helped me in a huge way. And so it's a lesson in that kind of college kids. It's like, if you're looking for immediate fruit, I think you're in trouble. I mean, some people, it works. And there's politics and some people get ahead by politics. But for me, it was really cool to see a lot of those relationships that were built years ago, bring fruit way later without the intention of that sort of the goal of them was.

And that aligns with going back to your description of the flight. Yes. Just something that kind of bore fruit to the technology not immediately. And the best fruit is some work there.

It's like, oh, this instantaneous GMO grown fruit. No, no, I'm at the real stuff. I'm at the good stuff. So one of the things I can't help but notice in it, and definitely you've covered a couple of questions that I had, which is great. One of the things I definitely notice, and it aligns to a question that I haven't asked in a while in the podcast about sort of the Baltimore iconography. That's the thing that I've seen several pieces from the Pagoda to sort of Burma Seltzer to even the Black-eyed Susans who have you. So talk about leaning into the Baltimore of it within the brand and sort of the iconography that is evident. Like, how did you go through choosing some of the iconography that's there?

Yeah, no, great question. I think the whole Baltimore thing was really great in a few ways. I think just from the storytelling standpoint, and as you're creating a brand, this brand is really you. And the cool part is you're really making stuff.

You don't have to think too much, Shaggy, because it's kind of like you're like, hey, just build something that's you. And Baltimore was really, I call it, my dad was the man that raised me in the city, is the city that raised me, even though I didn't move here until after college. But I really feel like I kind of grew up here in a lot of ways.

And being here, it has such a unique personality and flavor to it. And it really aligns like, you can just imagine, you kind of think of this idea of vintage. And I even found a couple pictures of old Tain Street and Fells from the 60s. And you can feel Baltimore in the 60s, I feel like in our 70s in a way. It just has, it's obviously an historical city, but it just kind of has a rawness that you really feel.

And so that was kind of from the storytelling standpoint of like, OK, it also just has a lot of, again, to the personality. There's, it's super easy to kind of find things. You have the Black Eyed Susan cocktail, the preakness and the flower, and you see it everywhere, crabbing.

We haven't done a ton of crab stuff yet, but you'll see crabs everywhere. Like the Bromo Seltzer is just such a unique tower. It's things that like, you put that on a hat, and I didn't say what it is, but people are like, oh, that's the Bromo Seltzer Tower.

Speaker 2: The fact that people know what the Bromo Seltzer Tower is, I think is great. And so it's just, it's kind of easy to design to, again, partly because it's where I'm from. And then on, I don't know if this was the question, but it kind of secondary,

rOB lEE: from a strategy standpoint, it was actually nice for me, because I think it felt really daunting when you start a brand, if you're thinking of like, OK, how do I, how do I, in this sea, online, nationally, whatever, how do you make an impact? But when I was able to be like, OK, well, can I, can I become something to the people of Baltimore?

That felt manageable. And it's like, OK, that's, it's not easy, but it feels doable to, to speak to these people in this city and, you know, become something here. And if you become something here, then you can expand.

And so that was kind of, from a strategy standpoint, it was, it was kind of important to, to create a goal that felt, you know, achievable. I think it does. And I, I'll add maybe two cents on it, maybe get your, your insight and your take in this area. When I think of other cities that, the Baltimore Atoms, I think, measures up to or looks at aspirationally, we look at other cities, like we look at Philadelphia, we get the Liberty Bell in terms of iconography, you look at New York, you have the Statue of Liberty, more Liberty.

Yeah. And I think at times there is sort of this fight as to, because we have so many sort of iconic things and iconic images that we're not honoring them, I think. It's just like, we're trying to figure out which one is it?

And it could be more than one. Like I remember growing up here, it was like the sort of skyline of down, how, being a harbor and all. So, you know, was that another thing as well of like, in thinking through it, or maybe it's something that, perhaps thinking through sort of upcoming works and upcoming like pieces of, all right, from an iconography standpoint, from a visual standpoint, what do I think of when I think of Baltimore? Like what image would like symbol, if you will?

Yeah. Well, and that's, if I think of I'm answering correctly, like you actually almost said it perfectly, like one of the reasons I would gravitated towards the Bromance Elf's Tower for that first hat was, I remember driving up on 95 and I was coming to the city, and that was kind of like, that was for some reason, the thing I spotted on the skyline as I came in. So for me, that was like, that was the symbol of Baltimore. There's a few other buildings, you know, I can, I can etch in my head right now, but for some reason that was kind of always the one as you're coming up, it's like, okay, there's, that's the Baltimore skyline, and that's where you're coming into. And it's also, I think kind of speaks to, it's cool, like it feels that's something for us. Like, if you talk to someone from Philly, you can say what the Bromance Elf's Tower, they're not gonna know. Oh, what that is? Yeah, but it's like, it's like the people that are here know, what the people that are outside don't know, and that's where it kind of felt like uniquely to us.

It's like, it's an in piece, but also it's a conversation piece, because I'll say, I think I was, I forget where I was at, may have been in Philadelphia actually, and I had my Burma join on, and I was just wearing it proudly, and someone was like, how was that? I was like, oh, you can't get that here. I mean, you could, I could connect you with a guy. I know a guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's one of those, it's a Baltimore thing, you'll get it later.

Speaker 2: You'll get on the walk home, you know. Yeah.

rOB lEE: So, also when I look at the pieces, I see influences from, and we talked a little bit about this on the phone, brands like Tamballo and the Silhouette. So, to talk more about the aesthetic that you're creating, and how do you balance that sort of vintage inspiration with modern materials and finishes, and what makes Demos distinctly yours? Yeah, I mean, I think, well, to make it distinctly mine, the kind of nice thing is, I'm creating stuff that I want.

So, in a sense, it's always going to be distinctly mine. I think you, like, Tombola is a great example. There's a few others, I think, of some of these online brands that are just really creating unique pieces. And it's not creating this huge inventory of whatever you can think of and filling out a wardrobe.

It's like, let's make a few statement pieces and make something that's truly original. That being said, you need some stuff for Abbey Day. And I'll talk about the shirts a little bit. But I think, especially to start, it was like, OK, how do you, one, in the online marketplace, you need to be noticed.

And that's not a reason to make shirts, but at least originally you need to, like, so if you can make something that people want, but also that catches their eye, was really important as kind of a way to break through, I think, in the sea of online stores. And then they were really interesting on a semi-related note. I actually had a piece of theirs that was a collaboration with some hotel in France. But I bought it. I've never been to a hotel.

I don't even know where the hotel is. But that kind of had my ideas as I was thinking about doing collaborations with local businesses. And I think a lot of people were like, oh, well, who would want a shirt from this bookstore in Baltimore in LA? And I was like, if you make it cool enough, I think they will. And so my ideas, with some of the collaborations that I've done or I'm doing, is like, if we just make a piece cool enough, I think it translates across whether people know what it means or where it's from. And so they were a big inspiration that way. It's like, let's just make something really cool. And it actually, for me, it was like, oh, suddenly I was looking up this hotel in France. And now maybe I'll go there sometime.

Because now I know it, and I've been wearing the jacket. But I think that they're really cool in that way. And I think the main point is making stuff that feels truly unique. That it's like, hey, this is the only place I can get it. When I travel and I go to different cities, because I'm just either on a train or on a flight, usually to train at this point. And I had this bit, if I'm gone for more than a couple of days, I always come back with something. I always bring something back for the partner.

Like, I got some beans from a coffee shop. And inevitably, I'll get a piece there. It might be something like a sticker. It might be a hat. It might be a shirt. And to your point around, why would someone care about, let's say, this very distinct, specific niche brand in a different city?

Because I'm as big as I am, I get all of these different responses from folks. I'll have some coffee shop that was in New York. And I just had it on. And someone's like, where's that? What place is that? Is that local?

I'll say no. It's the New York place. They're like, that's really cool. Yeah. And it just clicked right there for some reason because of the coolness factor. The kids say the aura as opposed to the touch to it. So I think when you're making something that is cool, as you're touching on, I think it's transferable, it's translatable. Yeah, exactly. And another thing that sticks out, because like I said, I have a hat. So that's one of the things.

And the quality and as I touched on before, the Baltimore, it just feels like this is sort of a Baltimore thing. And I think that that was sitting there before you and I talked. I saw the first, it kept popping up in my feed, right?

Yeah. It kept popping up in my feed and Instagram. And then I kind of did the vibe check, if you will. I was like, let me check this site out. And then I saw my man, Aaron, on there. And I was like, is this Aaron's brand?

I thought he was asking questions. And then I just reached out one day. So for you, what was like a really key point? Because I want you to talk about the t-shirts and having statement pieces and sort of everyday pieces.

But what was sort of attributes that were key? Like this absolutely has to be here. At a minimum, these shirts are going to look cool for a particular argument. And the quality is going to be of a certain degree.

Yeah. I say kind of the test I have for it is like, I'll think about if I'm going to make something like what's the bio going to be? And if I can't, it's almost like what's the story for the piece?

And so if I can't write the bio online for what that piece is, it's kind of like, does it need to exist? And so that's like with the shirts. It was like, OK, like we have the black eye season shirt. And it's like we have a whole story behind that. And then with the t-shirt, it was like one of the things I set out when I first did it. I was very specific. I was like, I don't want to do t-shirts and fleece.

But enough people asked for it. And then also I was like, back to the point about I'm making stuff for me. I wear t-shirts a lot. I wear t-shirts a lot.

So these are kind of a perfect example of like, OK, well, how do I do that? But what's its story? And why? What am I making it for? So it's like, OK, well, let me make a t-shirt, but let me make it a little bit different. Let me make it in a totally different material. It's more of like a terry cloth material.

It's a heavier weight. It has a little script on it. So it doesn't feel like just the t-shirts that you get at the store. It feels like something truly unique. And it feels like it kind of reminds you of those materials that are a little bit heavier from your parents' generation. But again, you'd find it's hopefully should last, hopefully to my kids' generation. So again, I think the ethos with my brand, or I guess kind of the checkpoint that I have is like, what's the story on this?

And if I can't write that bio for it and make that bio interesting, do I need to make it storytelling through clothes? And then colors, because I'm curious about that, because that's kind of a unique color. It has that almost distressed, like, gray, blue thing. You know, as far as the, when, how do you come with sort of that palette? Like the colors? It's not every color available, obviously.

No, no. I mean, that's, that's a good question. It's actually something that when I first started, and again, it kind of gets back to like what I launched was just the button-down shirts, which were a little bit more statement pieces. And I started to build the lines. Actually something I've been trying to be more cognizant of, like, okay, and I do have that background from working at other companies that were having a little bit bigger lines where you do need to be really cognizant of, like, what's the color story, how they live together.

So I do think I'm getting better at that. I'd say what I've done so far is really just kind of, and you kind of call it like things that look a little bit age that are like, because some of those, you know, more earthy tones are a little bit muted that almost feel like it's like, okay, maybe you found this and it's been around for a little bit. It's still in great condition, but, you know, it's not brand new.

It's got a little bit of a story to it itself. So that's kind of been the strategy, like, find those colors and, you know, as I'm making stuff now, it's like, okay, how does, now that I've got a little bit of a line to build off of, okay, hey, if I'm bringing in a new color, how does it live with these? You know, as I'm wearing my clothes now every day, I'm like, okay, well, oh, wait, now I, oh, I don't have a hat to go with this shirt. Okay.

So when the next time I'm wearing, making a hat, I need to make sure it's, it lives with the other stuff in the line. So that's definitely a place I'm looking at as we go forward. I mean, the way that you describe sort of that muted almost like this, then like, that's what I look for.

Speaker 2: That's what I'm for. So, you know, you're speaking to the right audience here. Yeah.

rOB lEE: So I've got a couple more like key points that I want to touch on. So one of the things I want to commend you on to give you points on, and I was touching on it a moment ago is the brand stuck out to me amidst all of the different stuff. And part because of the marketing and because it's like, I know this place.

I know this area where some of the images and the video was filmed. So the marketing is really strong and Instagram reels have this authentic and vintage feel. So, you know, seeing like your brand at, you know, be more flea, for instance, another connection, another checkpoint, it just feels right. So talk about some of the marketing decisions and sort of that component of the storytelling with, with your brand and how do you, well, I just, I'll just stop right there and then give you the other part afterwards.

So talk about some of those marketing decisions. Yeah. I mean, I think you kind of hit on, it's affirming what I was going for.

So thank you. Cause I think the main thing with the marketing is, and you see a lot of, at least in this is where it's like a lot of the brands that resonated to me that I took cues from were the ones where it's not necessarily, you know, you do need to showcase the product and you do need to show them what you make, but a lot more of it's almost a vibe. It's like, can you, can you create a vibe with your marketing? Does it feel like, you know, and the nice thing with me is I had a kind of a clear vision of what the brand wasn't, what the clothing was. So make sure the marketing matches that. So like, you know, make, make it look like it's an old video, you know, have that. It's from Baltimore.

So like have, you know, those Baltimore checkpoints in, in the video. So kind of it makes it easier to do the marketing and you need to catch yourself. Cause I think sometimes you can come up with a really cool idea, but then you got to check it and be like, okay, well does it, is it, does it live with what I also I'm doing and does it fit the brand?

You know, and even like working with, be more fleet. They're great. And it's, it's a perfect partner because of the flea aspect. And it's like, that's where I take a lot of inspiration from, but obviously he's got his own business has Sony though. So it's like, okay, how do we find that kind of middle of the then diagram? So like when I made a video with him, it's like, okay, well now I don't necessarily, I try to always use, you know, 60s Motown and my videos for his, it's like, okay, he's got a little bit more of an edge, but we can find, you know, what's that like 90s kind of punk song that we can do. So yeah, it's, you know, you kind of do it. Like you need to always make sure you're kind of staying true to your brand. But then those are kind of fun avenues because I can actually branch out a little bit from the show I've created for myself creatively to kind of, to bring that ethos to something else. So yeah, I think the main thing is, is make sure, you know, whatever marketing you're doing is, is fitting with the story that you've created and fitting again. It's, it's, it's really a vibe. And are you, are you kind of bringing people into your world with your marketing? The big sense. It's a, it's, it's an invitation.

It is. And I'll go back and one thing real quick, cause I thought it was funny. Um, because my entry point was a hat and I like hats, right? I will say that the hat is the entry is the entry point or the gateway drug. Yeah.

To me aligning with the brand. I was like, oh, is that a cool hat? Let me get one of those. Yeah. And you know, when it's for like other people, cause I'm going to go hat when it's for other people, it's like, I'll get your t-shirt.

I'll get you. And with it, sort of the conversation is, do they look like they came from the same company? And that's the thing that's in alignment there then. Cause I'm, I'm one of these people that, you know, personally, I will share the thing I'm going, I'm a, I'm a good gift guy, right?

So I'm buying gifts throughout the year. I was like, where'd you get this from? Where about it? You'll see it. You'll get it later. You'll find out about it later.

And once the person like I forget for, they see it, they get it. They're like, let me check this brand out. Yo, they're cool.

I got to get more stuff from them. It's sort of that. And influential in the sort of truest sense, not in this sort of breathy, come with me as I go to see,

Speaker 2: you know, exactly what I'm talking about. Yeah. But it's more endorsement oriented. And it's just like, I see that alignment through each layer of the brand. So shout out. I appreciate that. Yeah.

rOB lEE: And you talked about Patrick a bit as far as being more Fligo. So talk a bit more about, and I think you were, you were getting there. Um, just sort of other partners, other collaborators, like what would be that key thing that you look for when it's like, okay, I absolutely want to work with them, their brand is cool because they're obviously there are times where.

It's like, this is a really cool brand. I don't know. Yeah. Or other times it's like, I'm not sure about this brand, but I like that they're putting in the effort and they're getting the work done. Yeah.

No, I would say so. Well, yeah, when I kind of, I broke out when I, and this was one of the first papers I ever made when I was just brainstorming, creating this brand was kind of a strategy of like kind of the three pillars. And, you know, one pillar was going to be BMO is my brand. That was, you know, what I create. The second pillar was going to be, you know, collaborating with local businesses. And it was a great opportunity. You know, as I was kind of the idea of, you know, being from Baltimore, I was like, okay, this is actually a great way to feel part of the community is, is focused just on local businesses, you know, whether it's a bar or a restaurant, a bookstore, et cetera.

Um, and then that second pillar is really places where we collaborate. You know, I'm selling it on my site. It's co-branded. And then there's third pillars where, you know, I was going to, you know, be kind of a merch factory. Um, but if it didn't align with, you know, if it was two steps away from my brand, then it's like, okay, maybe my logo is not even on it or it's on a very subtly or we're not co-marketing. Um, so like to your question, like that's a, it was very important to me to like, as I look at collaborators, which pillar do they fall into? So, you know, I'll, I'll, I'll work with anyone, but you know, for the people to get into that second pillar, it's kind of like, okay, how does, how do you fit with, with my design ethos and my vibe?

And it doesn't have to be, you know, it doesn't have to necessarily be vintage or, you know, obviously mostly right now I'm focusing on Baltimore businesses, but it's like, you know, how do you, how do you kind of, can we find that crossover without, without pushing it? You know, you can always, you know, you can pay. And I think that's the struggle is, you know, if you, if you've been a pro here, if I get approached by someone that wants to do something, they may have a huge following. And as a young business, I think you, you're like, oh, well, they've got a huge following. Let's do it.

And like, let me, let me latch on to that. But I think it's cooler to actually stay and do authentic things. Like we did a great collab with like a natural wine store down in Ocean City. And she's a badass. And it's like, I mean, she's got a great following because she's does a great job and really knows her market. But it's like, it's a small store.

So it's not a huge footprint store. And, but we just were able to create something really cool and her kind of background and her business was very similar to mine. And so like the feel and what we created, the product actually just fit perfectly with my collection. So it was like, that was a natural one.

And so that's kind of what I look for. It's like, okay, what's brand? Like, what are we going to create?

And if, like, if what we create fits you and your business and also fits me, then like that's the right collaboration. Yeah, that makes sense. It tracks like, you know, well over not a hundred interviews at this point, right? And sometimes there's things that just don't quite fit and you either find out maybe beforehand, you're lucky. And sometimes you find out after, like, oh, this was regrettable. And yeah, and it's sort of the consideration. Having some of those instances, I'm really thinking through, like, who makes sense as far as like, you know, sort of the, I guess the early markers for me is when I do that initial reach out, is there any interest that the person checked out the stuff? There's so many folks that have no idea.

And they're like, Oh, there's a microphone. Let me just get on. Yeah. And I'm like, no, this is a collaborative thing. We're dancing.

We're dancing with us right now. And if the person doesn't come in taking it seriously and they're just using it as a one, a marketing channel, that is an impact to the brand a little bit. You know what I mean? Like, it's just, Hey, I just want to talk about this upcoming event. Yeah, yeah. That's cool, but that's not necessarily what I do. Yeah. And then the other piece of it where I think you were mentioning sort of maybe deemphasizing your brand, if it's something that might be a little like, I don't know. I've done that in instances where almost like a director, when they're like, I don't know if I want to put my name on this movie.

Speaker 2: I want to check. Or I wanted to do this project because I think it's interesting up to a point, but I don't know if I want to have the quote unquote truth in this art brand attached to something. And I think it's important to think about those decisions and really spend time on it because I have one person that I met actually, not in Baltimore, but they're in Chicago and they're pretty famous like comic artists.

Had them on. They have a half a million followers. And I was like, this is cool. Yeah. But it just happened to be, I like your work and I was like, Oh, you got that many followers? Wow.

Yeah. And then you met in person afterwards. I was like, Oh, this is on the road to perhaps being friends versus this with this transaction or you talking about, I don't say that's the perfect like kind of illusion to the lawyer I was talking about earlier where it's like, okay, is this a transactional or is this genuine? And you kind of find that collaboration naturally.

rOB lEE: So I got two more real questions and then we got some rapid fire questions. Okay. And maybe this is a short answer because I think we've been playing around it. So competing against algorithms and getting the attention and a very busy like vintage market could be super challenging. There's so many things to see. Like I was there to market the other day and I was like, how did I miss dude?

You know, so how do you make your brand like stand out, whether it be IRL or online considering there's algorithms and all of these different things that are actually distractions? Well, I'll first, I think we're kind of dance around the issue of AI and I'll give my little AI soapbox real quick. It was actually, I think it was an interview with Rick Rubin where he was talking about, and he was basically like, if you gave a script, you know, the exact same script to three different directors, let's say you gave it to, you know, Tarantino and Scorsese and Spielberg, he's like, you would get three different movies and they'd all be really awesome in their own ways, probably, but they'd be very distinct. And the way AI works is he's like, you give that same script.

The whole point of AI is to basically all land on one answer. And so that's what it's working towards. So in your world, in the arts, in our world, I think it's very, and I think, you know, obviously AI is very powerful and I use it in certain cases.

But I think there's going to become, I think if too many people start using it, the people that don't use it are actually, you know, it's just going to become real, but we already have algorithms and we already kind of just can blindly scroll past stuff. So I think is everything starts to look the same. Doing something that's truly unique and standing out. It kind of gets back to what we were talking about earlier with the clothing. It's like, okay, you make something that just catches your eye. So, you know, as competing, I think it's, it's, you know, and I talked to, I talked to some, when I was first starting out, some social media managers, and I was trying to tread lightly because I was like, I respect your guys' jobs, but I was like, I can always tell the accounts that are managed by social media manager because they all kind of look the same. And so I was like, how if I'm, if I was like, if I'm going to hire you, I'll basically, I want to make sure it looks different. Yeah.

Well, and I was like, I know you guys have all your science behind doing what you do, but I was like, I just, I want to make sure I don't, I'm not doing whatever the latest little dance trend is or whatever it is. I want to make sure. Oh, this will take, they'll take company?

Speaker 2: They'll take company? Yeah. I never, I never, I never got that. But yeah, I was just saying, I think the main thing when competing is, is kind of having that distinct vision. And then we'll be talking about earlier with the marketing is like making sure, you know, you put it through that filter of like, does this feel right with my brand? Um, you know, you're really selling a story. So like, make sure you're selling a story.

rOB lEE: You're not just trying to fit the algorithm. Now that being said, there's, there's ways to, to utilize, you know, the science and utilize the technology of Instagram, whatever, to get in front of people. But then once you get in front of them, make sure you're not getting skipped. And I think the way to do that is not do what everyone else is doing. It's do something a little different. I find the same way.

And thank you. I find that to be the same way with podcasting and certain topics that I just don't do now, or I don't know if I have anything to add to it now. Exactly. Um, or I think of, and I've been thinking about this a lot recently, the book by William de Veselwitz, uh, Death of the Artist. I love that book. And one of the things in there, I think he talks about the difference between, or he's regaling like sort of the difference between the marketing for old spice years ago and the marketing for McDonald's. It's like old spice's intent is to perhaps passively sell you deodorant, but they're selling you entertainment and deodorant secondary.

Whereas McDonald's, they're selling you a bunch of different things, but the product is at the forefront and those commercials aren't necessarily super entertaining. So it's sort of like, what is the intent that's there? Yeah. No, that's, yeah, great point. So here's the last real question.

Okay. You know, we got these rapid fire ones right after. Um, so looking ahead, you know, you said, uh, what, six, six months? Yeah. Yeah, we launched end of October. So yeah, we're about, what is that six, uh, bad, bad doing my, my, you're, you're getting that.

Speaker 2: I'll say, yeah, six, seven months. Yeah. So what's coming up in the next few months that you're super excited and you want to share with folks? Yeah. Uh, coming up. So as we've alluded to a couple of times, we started a collaboration with Be More Flee.

Um, I've known Patrick that runs Be More Flee for years. Um, and I was actually did a little launch thing with Be More in December, uh, at the markets. And then we got to talking.

He's like, I've always kind of wanted to do some of my own merch, but I've just never had the bandwidth or I've wanted a partner to kind of help out. And so we got brainstorming in January, February. Um, and we just launched three weeks ago doing that. Um, and so we're going to keep doing that. It's been, it's been off to a great start. We're super excited.

People seem to be loving the graphics. It's kind of a cool way. It's also, as we were talking about earlier, I can kind of, there's certain things I don't want to do within my brand, but creatively I would love to do. And this has been a perfect example of that of like, I don't, I, you know, in my brand, I don't necessarily want to do graphic tees, but it's perfect for what we're doing here. So we're taking a lot of like old graphic tea designs that we may see and, and doing what I would do with Bemos, which is like put them through our own lens, add a little Baltimore flavor into them. And so that's really exciting. We're going to keep doing that, probably bring, you know, some new graphics every month or so.

We're figuring out that cadence. On top of those markets, um, we just, they actually just launched or just announced yesterday with Broadway markets. We're doing some night markets.

It's going to be a third Thursday of every month. Um, and so that's going to be like a true Bemos booth. So there's going to have, you know, I think we're looking at 10 to 12 other clothing vendors. There's going to be food vendors to Harkabro's is going to be there, which I can't wait to get myself some honeygram again. Um, like some of the different local breweries are going to rotate in and out of there.

So it should be super fun. Get a DJ, get the bar, some night markets, everything's going to be local. So that was a bit, that's again, for these, these marks I've been talking with Broadway about, this idea for a little bit. And that was kind of the one thing we wanted to focus on is make sure any brand that's there is really a part of the Baltimore community started here, at least has ties here is still involved here.

So that's really exciting. On top of that, I've got some, some collabs in the worst, Bellini's is a really cool spot over in Harborview. We're going to have some cool shirts launching in about a month. With them, we'll do an event there.

I've got some new product coming in with Bemos line. I've tried to always make a lot of my stuff unisex. So, you know, my, my female followers can, can take part in, you know, obviously hats, et cetera. But I'm excited we're doing a true, a couple of true women's pieces just for them.

And then adding in some, some swim trunks. It's kind of getting into some new categories for us. But again, I was very intentional of making sure it fits you that, you know, filter of like, does this still fit with the brand? Does it feel like it's a vintage piece that you could have find?

Do they have some tide of Baltimore? And I'm, I'm really pumped about the way they turned out. I think they fit those filters perfectly. Great. It's good to have those checklists because there's a lot of stuff that comes up like, man, you're an ambitious dude. I'm ambitious. Yeah. It's like, man, this seems like this could be cool.

I can make this happen. Yeah. Hmm.

Does it have to check this? Exactly. Exactly. Well, thank you. And a lot of good stuff coming. So thanks to keep an eye on that. We'll definitely be in the show notes.

rOB lEE: I have two pieces of business that's to wrap up, wrap up on here. I got three rapid fire. Okay. No, four. You gave me a fourth one. Okay. You said something earlier. Okay. Um, and then I have a sage-like advice and then we'll kind of close our final thoughts. So let me give you the rapid fire first.

The way to wrap a fireworks, you don't want to overthink these. So the first thing that comes to your mind. All right. This is the one I kind of skipped over earlier, but I'm going to come back.

I'm coming back to it now. For you, if you, if someone's like, hey, Sam, I want to create a brand. What's the first step? Create a brand?

What's your story? Um, one local Baltimore in the live that you won't wear in BMOs that you want to, like, you're like, look, let me do, let me do your wardrobe. Oh, I mean, the easy answer is John Waters. Nice. And he fits. You know, I mean, he's, he'd be from when a lot of these clothes were originally, originally there. So I'll stick with John.

Good. Favorite Baltimore spot that influences your creative process and spot. I say that intentionally because it could be a neighborhood. It can be a venue. It could be the park. But what is the spot that influences you creatively? I love being right in that in downtown Fells, like in that Patango area. And I mean, some of my videos you'll see online or from there that, and then I'll give a second answer, which is I actually, we're kind of recently discovered it is the Loch Raven area.

It's up in the county. It's not technically the city, but it reminds, I grew up as a kid in Oregon and it reminds me of Oregon up there. It's absolutely beautiful. If you're in the city and you haven't got out there, I go out there and I can, you know, they, there's like little beaches.

It's a huge reservoir. Gorgeous. So I'll, I'll, I'll take my notebook out there and some good ideas come out of there. I like that. It was something you said earlier that, you know, some people wouldn't really pay attention to, but I did. You mentioned the strokes earlier. Stroke fan. So a favorite stroke song. God, oh, that is tough.

I'm going to say whatever happened, which is the first song off, uh, Ruman Fire, their second album. It's a good one. It's good.

I was like, if you say Reptilia, we're going to have to. No, no, no. I mean, that's a good tune. That's a good tune. It is, but what was the garage band whenever it killed it? Hey, I heard a little one. Yeah. Yeah. See, we're expecting a stroke question.

Speaker 2: I love it. All right. So here's the things like advice portion as we like to get ready to close out on. So I discovered BMOS through, you know, a guest on the podcast, a dedicated brother had, you know, the sort of gateway drug thing that I mentioned earlier. Then I reached out, you left an impression through your work, your social media presence and our conversation. You know, when I bring a guest on, there is a co-mangling of brands, you know, as we, you know, kind of alluded to earlier. What is your advice on making strong impressions through authentic work? You know, again, folks are, and I know we've touched on it, but this is literally given that space for it intentionally. Folks have so many different brands and doing so many different things, but really making that authentic connection because that's a through line that I've noticed from the example with the flight to having those long-term sort of relationships called in that marker, if you will. So talk a bit about the, you know, your advice on making those strong impressions.

Yeah, it's tough. I would say, because, you know, I mean, I do think, and thankfully it's kind of my nature, but I guess I would almost word it as like being intentionally unintentional.

rOB lEE: And, you know, I think I wasn't, I wasn't looking for a new job when I was talking with my guy on the flight, you know, throughout my career, I wasn't looking for a promotion or for something from their department when I was, you know, meeting people, you know, I think just genuinely being interested.

I've said before, you know, I think every person's industry is kind of my job to figure out why. Sometimes you don't see it right away, but I love meeting people. I love hearing their stories. And I think as you get to know people, and if you do it authentically, you just kind of uncover all kinds of good stuff that, you know, may not have a tangible benefit to you necessarily, but the benefit might just be getting to know them. But in a lot of those cases, if you do that authentically, you will end up getting tangible benefits.

And you make it stage-like advice from them. That's right. Thank you.

That's wonderful. It's a good piece for us to close on. So there's two things I want to do as we close out here. One, I want to thank you for coming on and spending some time with me. We've been chatting for about an hour.

Yeah. And two, I want to give you the space and opportunity to share any final thoughts, any social media website, anything that you want to close out on in these final moments. The floor is yours. Awesome. Well, thank you, Rob.

This has been great. Yeah, I remember when we first talked on the phone, I was like, within like 30 seconds, I was like, oh, this is going to be super easy. There's the conversation just flowed right away. Yeah, if you've listened all this way, please check us out. Hopefully you've already been looking us up while you were listening.

But Bemos clothing on Instagram, bemosclothing.com. And if you are a listener here, I did put a promo code in. So it's just the truth in this art, no spaces. And you put that in the promo code at the end, you'll get 30% off. So thank you for listening. There you have it, folks. I want to again, I think Sam Furnish from Bemos Clothing for coming on to The Truth in Its Art and sharing the story behind Bemos, some insight on design and branding, and how to stay authentic in your work. And for Sam, I'm Rob Lee, saying that there's art, culture, and community. Been around a Jordan neck of the woods, you just have to look for it.