A Lesson in Conscious Design: Broadway Local

A catchy brand name. An oversized fit. And the logo of some 70s rock band of which you know zero songs.

Sounds like a shirt you own? If so, it comes as no surprise as modern-day streetwear brands have used this simple formula time and time again (perhaps not the rock band aesthetic, but you get the point).

Yet not all brands have taken the beaten path to profitability. My conversation with Andrew (Drew) Clark, founder of Broadway Local, served as a reminder that streetwear – and fashion as a whole, is less about logos, and more about using fabric as a medium to convey a story and express oneself.

Broadway Local is an independent fashion label based out of New York City. The label’s design influences stem largely from the experiences of people and places closest to Drew, including public landmarks, historical figures, cultural movements, and family history.

Drew started the label as a student at NYU. Despite his concentration in finance, Drew gravitated towards the arts – taking up cinema studies as a minor and participating in acting classes throughout his tenure. Like many finance students, an internship in investment banking was enough to encourage Drew to abandon his dreams of Wall Street and pursue his love for the arts. From this decision came Broadway Local which serves as both an individual side hustle and as a canvas for Drew to immerse himself creatively. Since its inception, the label has sold its merchandise through pop-up shops across the city, establishing a fan base along the way.

In his latest winter collection, Drew draws inspiration from the mass exodus towards outlying suburban towns and the so-called “death” of New York City. In his eyes, Drew does not believe the city is dead but rather undergoing a rebirth similar to the “70s era NYC when, faced with urban degeneracy from an economic collapse, the big apple turned rotten.”

During this transformative period, the city became a playground for creatives to enter and etch their mark. Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Bil Rock, Lady Pink – the list goes on and on. In Drew’s own words:

“They made something new of the city that was reportedly left in ruins. We find a similar energy in New York City today. Headlines proclaim the city dead, but New Yorkers have never stopped caring nor creating. For those of us still walking its streets, we know the energy will never die.”

What’s more, Drew’s ability to intertwine his message into his collection is carefully crafted. Rather than leveraging standard typeface, Drew scanned fonts from a 1970s typography book. Moreover, the Statue of Liberty graphics on the collection’s socks are directly scanned from his grandfather’s license plate while the leaves screen printed across the collection’s bandanas signify the city’s growth.

After sitting down with Drew, it became clear that he is going a step further and diverging away from mainstream, logo-centric streetwear brands. Like many great artists before him, Drew is consciously creating, with each collection serving as a manifestation of his thoughts and experiences. While he is just getting started, I cannot wait to see what Broadway Local has in store.