Meet Pierre Nelson | Owner Of Ode Clothing

We had the good fortune of connecting with Pierre Nelson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Pierre, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
The reason I started making clothing is because at a very young age I was into fashion. When I was in the 9th grade I started collecting Nike Sbs and other shoes; because of collecting shoes I wanted a new outfit for each shoe. This lead me to explore different streetwear brands online but, I notice none of the brands were from South Carolina and if they were they weren’t making South Carolina inspired streetwear. This sparked the idea of me starting a clothing line when I was in the 11 grade called Ode Clothing(Ode for short) . I wanted to do a brand that represented South Carolina and the things around me growing up in the lowcountry of South Carolina.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I learn majority of everything in my fashion career from trial and error. Growing up in South Carolina I didn’t have a fashion mentor or anybody in the field that could direct me on how to source clothing and how to grow my brand. I don’t come from a wealthy or middle class background so, coming up with capital was main challenge starting off. To come up with capital when I went to college at USC Columbia full time. I would work either 2 part time jobs or a full time job(Walmart, Bilo, Big Lots). I was honestly probably sleeping at max 4-5 hours a night because I would go to class all day and work at night. I would also use some of my overage refund checks in college to help stay afloat. I have been doing Ode for over 12 years but it wasn’t until about 2-3 years ago that I was able to work on Ode Full time. The period before I would work various legal jobs(lol). Even though these were challenging it gave me the motivation to go harder because I know I didn’t want to be working from someone else that the rest of my life.

Another obstacle starting off was sourcing because i didn’t know where to get shirts and other items made.My hometown of Varnville, SC( population 1,800) they didn’t have any place around that could make quality shirts. I eventually found a screenprinter online and that eventually lead me to find production online from alibaba because they have a variety of wholesale vendors.

Growing my brand came from word of mouth and social media. When i first started making clothing instagram had just started but, wasn’t big yet. So I started off promoting on facebook and then twitter. I would also do random pop up shops and vendor at different events. I was able to get my brand worn by numerous celebrities such as J.Cole, Ja Morant, A’Ja Wilson, Charlamagne Tha God,The Game, Joey Badass and many more. So overtime the brand has amassed a pretty good following, The brand has been around for 12 years and has overlapped generations at this point. So a-lot of the fans of Ode are from different age groups.

One of the highlight of my career is that I helped designed merch for 2 of Jcole tours( 4Yeo & Kod). I designed alot of merch for these tour and it was my first time designing for a global artist. It was a new challenge for me but, I enjoyed doing it. He actually wore one of the Ode “Crafted in the Carolinas” t-shirt a few time; which bought new exposure to my brand.

I want the world to know that if a person like me that grew up in a trailer on a dirt road In South Carolina and was able to have a successful brand; that anything is possible if you put effort towards it.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I stay in Irmo,SC(outside of Columbia, SC) I would take them to KiKi’s Chicken And Waffles. They are black owned and they chicken is pretty good. I would also either take them to 5 points or the Vista. They have a pretty good variety of clothing shops, bars, and restaurants .

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I think I wanted to shoutout to my brother Clementia Nelson( Ment Nelson); he’s a prominent painter in the lowcountry of South Carolina. He has given me a lot of words of wisdom over the years and has been a huge inspiration in my career.

Website: odeclothing.com

Instagram: shopode

Twitter: twitter.com/shopode

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OdeClothingFanPage

Image Credits
Winter Frazier Brigton Galvan Shayne Antony Ariana Smoak