Local clothing with a global message
Copyright © 2021 Albuquerque Journal
Cole Hughes grew up in Spain wanting to wear trendy clothes.
About two years ago, he and his friends started making clothes under the clothing brand Asymmetric.
Since graduating from high school, Hughes, along with Santi Romero, Keanu Gurule and Jared Henlock, has gone to great lengths to push the brand forward.
“We wanted to create cool things,†says Hughes. “It’s kind of developed into something more than that.”
The inspiration for the line comes from their daily life and their drive to make change.
“We’re all from a small town in northern New Mexico,†says Hughes. “Life can be tough and making a difference in the community takes a lot of work. Being able to make money and change people’s minds with our clothes is special.
Running the business has certainly come with some learning curves.
Each member has a day job and / or school, so any downtime is spent developing the next fashion drop.
“We didn’t know how to run a business,†Hughes laughs. “All we wanted to do was make T-shirts and work on our digital art. For us, this becomes more than just a side project. It really is something that we love to do.
A recent Asymétrie line dropped in the spring was called “Do it for Donny”.
Hughes and his crew wanted to pay tribute to a friend, Donovan Lujan, who committed suicide in January.
“It was devastating and he was one of our best friends,†says Hughes. “Her mother (Misty Lujan) started a scholarship fund for people who want to get into the mental health field. Once we heard that, we wanted to create a piece of art that people would happily buy. In return, we would donate the money to help fund the scholarship. Suicide is a huge problem, and as a society we are somewhat lacking in the means to help. If we can make a little change with this, we’ll be happy to. “
Hughes said all the shirts in the “Do it for Donny†line were sold out and the company was able to donate over $ 1,000 to the Donovan Lujan Kanye Lujan Memorial Fund.
Hughes says the clothing brand plans to restock the “Do it for Donny†line.
The brains behind Asymmetric keep the entire creation and production process in-house.
Hughes is usually the one who draws what is on the T-shirts.
“One message is to save the planet,†he says. “We want it to really permeate. After doing the ‘Donny’ drop, we realized that people care and want to make a difference. This is what it is for us.
