One of the beauties of growing up in Broward County is the creative environment you’re constantly surrounded by. Whether it be music, art, poetry, or clothing, there is no ceiling to the potential that comes out of that county. This time, we’re highlighting Broward’s own Roberto Lujan. Other than his passion for gaming and graphic design, he’s taken up his own clothing brand, “Besides”. It came about after a couple summers of frequent psychedelic trips that left him with tons of creative motivation. Because of it’s double meaning, (in addition to & apart from) he felt the word “besides” encompassed many concepts of everyday life so he ran with it.
Although the brand is considered his own, he comes up with a lot of the ideas with one of his best friends, Bryan Payan. For this first drop, his love for graphic design played a significant role. Although Roberto is not too fond of his own art, this particular design was one that Bryan liked and managed to convince him to put on a hoodie. In the brand’s sole and first “Heaven or Hell” hoodie, you see an Angel reaching down to a normal guy. He tells us it’s meant to represent the idea that sometimes in life you feel like you’re grasping so much you don’t even know where you’re gonna go. You see the angel trying to pull him back up. Interestingly enough, the design was created before Roberto even had a concrete idea of what the brand was going to be.
When speaking on the goals for the brand, he pointed out his realization that people try too hard to get their brand known quickly. Instead, he looks for the growth to be organic, with a lot of word of mouth. Essentially, the main goal is to be known as a brand from Broward County that made it out of the mud. No pressure, nothing forced, just creation & collaboration. Major influences of his include brands Absent & Half Evil. He makes it evident how much he loves simplicity & the joy that comes out of creating something & wearing it regardless of what others think. With so much creative and collaborative motivation from Besides & its creator, there’s no doubt this brand will soon lay its own blueprint on how to naturally create & embrace a vision. Keep up with all his drops and future releases including his next tee’s (pictured below) via the social media icons below.
