Meet Reginald Battles | Velour Stripes

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

Hi Reginald, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My thought process was that there was great college apparel being made, but for my alma mater, Tuskegee University, I wanted to bring something that felt vintage and at the same time a breathe of fresh air. I wanted to bring apparel that was high quality and new ideas that students and alumni would love to wear.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I have always been able to draw. It came naturally. My dad can also draw. When it came to Velour Stripes, I always had an interest in college apparel and felt like clothes looked good, but everything was starting to look somewhat similar. I make sure that all of my clothing is original. I don’t want anyone to look at my apparel and suddenly are reminded of three or four other clothing lines that have done the same thing. Professionally with clothing, I have another clothing line with my best friend, Brandon Sewell, called Home Grown. We have been running Home Grown since early 2018 and through that experience, I learned so much when it came to running a clothing line. One of the lessons I learned along the way is to never be discouraged and stay true to yourself. There will be slow days where you will not always be happy with the productivity of your brand, but those are the days to buckle down and spend some time with yourself on what can be improved. Some people notice their brand lacking and sell out by copying trends or even somewhat taking ideas from other brands. I never want Velour Stripes to become a clothing line that sells out. My clothing line will be top quality, college apparel that the customer will love to wear. I want the people to experience something when they put Velour Stripes on.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I currently live in Corpus Christi, Texas. I’m originally from Athens, Alabama, but I’ll talk about some spots out here in Corpus Christi. I love wings and Texas somewhat lacks on wings, except this one spot called The Pointe. Their wings are amazing. I even have my own wing flavor there called the “Reggie Miller”. There’s a brunch spot called The Post. They got this chicken bowl that’s nice. They got a couple lounges and some rooftop spots. There’s a couple more spots, but I see Corpus Christi as a relaxation spot, to get away from the everyday life and stress. It’s normally sunny and it’s surrounded by the beach, so you can just walk around and chill here. Whenever I want to have a more fun weekend, I’ll drive to Dallas or Houston (my personal favorite). Have a lot of friends from college that live in both cities.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I first want to give a shout out to my friend Tyrin Kirkland for pushing me to even start this. Thank you to Makkenzye and Jabare for helping with the first release and photoshoot that I ever did for Velour Stripes. Charity who helped with all my questions and the website. George and Joe, who help me out with designs and content for the page. Kaci and Nandi for all their help and to my boy Amos. He’s always there whenever I get stuck during a creative process and helps bounce new ideas and push me to do my best. I know I’m not saying everybody names, but for my friends that I haven’t mentioned yet, I appreciate y’all for helping Velour Stripes grow every day. And to everyone that has followed the page, bought anything, or just sends me encouraging words, I thank y’all so much.

Website: Www.velourstripes.com

Instagram: @velourstripesco

Other: Personal accounts: IG: @carl.batt2 Twitter: @battlesreggie