Graphic designer and founder of the streetwear brand Prgrssn, Oluwaseyi Adeleke, who goes by Olu, is building a universe rich in Blackness. With each piece he creates, the 28-year-old first-generation Nigerian American hopes to educate and inspire. His shop is in L1, a creative business accelerator program and storefront spearheaded by U. Chicago, located under the Garfield Green Line el station. Adeleke has turned the lack of support and direction he felt from the program into a positive by utilizing the location as a community hub, rather than solely a retail space. As trains rumble overhead and he prepares an outdoor set for a live music event that evening, Adeleke shares his thoughts on his journey as a designer, the art of telling Black stories, and the future of Prgrssn.
I got into the [UIC] School of Public Health, and at the same time, I got into the School of Design for grad school back in 2020. I always thought I was going to be a doctor, and I did the art thing for fun. I used to have this saying where I was like, “Immigrant parents make the first sacrifice, which is leaving the only home that they’ve ever known.” Then, first-generation [children] make the second sacrifice, which is basically foregoing what they really want in life to make sure that they establish a good generation for the next ones in line. I had to completely shatter that expectation.
It was a very adult decision for me to be like, “Oh, yeah, I could go to medical school and do this very clear, concise path, or I could really roll the dice, because you only got one life.” I’m going to figure out how to pay my bills, and I have been. I feel like I’m making the ultimate sacrifice, which is proving the whole reason why my parents came here in the first place—just for me to pursue my dreams, even if it might not be the dream that they initially wanted. It’s my life.
The work that I make is inherently Black. With the last collection, we were celebrating Black fatherhood. Not only is it trying to highlight this idea that Black fathers are good fathers—I don’t really care about that—what I’m trying to do is preserve aspects of Black culture and vignettes in a way that anyone can look back on it and understand this slice of life that we’re talking about. My ultimate goal with the brand is how do I decolonize myself to remove the white gaze from what I’m creating?
The number one question I get from people who aren’t Black is, “Can I wear it?” And it’s just like, of course, you can wear it if you want, but just understand that the clothing that I’m making is specifically for Black people. The lookbooks will always be about Black people. The collections will always be about Black people. We will also always be trying to tell Black stories. And even trying to actually break out of the mold of telling historical stories, but also telling stories as they’re happening in real-time. The next couple of collections I’m working on are really fun because I’m creating my own stories now, inspired by Black people in my life.
I did a really amazing sculpture earlier this year for my mother. The sculpture was a fake statue of water bottles. My mom, growing up, she was a hawker, which is defined as the get-it-how-you-live type of job. Like you literally got to go out there and hustle. My mom literally was able to work hard enough and had enough favor in her life to then open up her own studio to sew clothes. Then she met my father and was able to emigrate to the United States. Now her children are all college-educated, following their dreams. But you don’t know who my mom is. Oftentimes we are forced to tell or listen to stories of people like Dr. King and Malcolm X, who did absolutely amazing things. But for you, probably your biggest superhero in your life, no one has actually heard of.
I have a concept, and it’s called Building a Better Universe. That’s essentially what I call my work: universe-building, world-building. There’s a Saba lyric [in his feature on “Sacrifices” that’s] something along the lines of, “I’ll put my all in this art, and to everybody else I’m alternate.” I really love that bar, because it’s this idea that the world outside is so loud and toxic and hates Black people so much that I had to learn about myself through the historical knowledge of Black people that came before me. I would say the first seven years of the brand have been about that. So, if the first seven years were about learning as much about your Blackness as possible, then the next seven years will be now that you’ve learned so much about yourself, why are you trying to retell stories when you’re witnessing Black history in real-time?
I have a product that’s about to come out, and it’s a safety pin bracelet. The story goes like this: There’s this little girl and she runs up to this woman at the park and she says, “Oh my goodness, that’s so beautiful!” And the woman says, “Thank you very much. It’s my bracelet. I’ve had it since I was a little girl. Every time I came a little bit closer to one of my dreams, I would gift myself a safety pin. This one was for kindergarten, eighth grade, high school, college, medical school, when I finished my residency program and became a doctor.”
The little girl says, “Oh my goodness, that’s so cool. I have dreams too. Can I have one?” The woman says, “Of course you can.” The little girl says, “Really?”
The woman says, “Of course you can, I can always make another one.” So she gives the little girl one of her pins and the little girl remembers the woman said she gifted herself one every time she came a little bit closer. So the little girl says, “Wait, what’s this one for?” And the woman says, “It’s for starting, it’s for dreaming.” Before she runs off, the little girl hugs her and says, “Thanks, Pepper.”
If you’re familiar with my brand building, you know who Pepper is, which is a metaphor for Black women. The Pepper in this scenario is actually my girlfriend. She became the backdrop for this fictional story inspired by very real Black women in my life and to help tell the story about hope. It’s been fun being able to tell the stories of impactful Black people in my life.
We will also always be trying to tell Black stories. And even trying to actually break out of the mold of telling historical stories, but also telling stories as they’re happening in real-time.
I had a crazy realization yesterday when someone came to the store, where she was like, “I don’t really know how to build an audience.” I told her I have a very strong belief that you can’t create community, you can only facilitate it. What I’ve learned most from this space specifically is if you are someone who enjoys clothing, streetwear, Black history, you’re proud of your Blackness and all that type of stuff; I didn’t create that. There are communities of people like that already. It’s up to my brand to kind of create this space for those types of people to meet each other.
My favorite compliment people tell me is, “Whenever I see somebody on the street wearing your brand, I’m very comfortable walking up to them.” My belief is that you have to be a very specific type of person to want to participate with the brand. On a surface level, it’s a brand about Black people who are proud of their Blackness, but I think on a deeper level, it’s a brand for just very kind people who are looking for other kind people to collectively build around their identity.
This was originally published in the 2024 edition of our People Issue, the Reader’s annual special of first-person stories, as told by your neighbors, classmates, and the weirdo at the end of the bar.