In the studio: Blackstock and Weber

This story is featured in the May/June 2024 issue of ESSENCE.

A few days before New York Fashion Week begins, I'm scheduled to interview Chris Echevarria, founder and creative director of Brooklyn-based fashion and lifestyle brand Blackstock & Weber. Armed with my list of questions and some background research on etiquette, I hurry home from the subway, ready to dive into our hour-long video chat. However, our exchange is evolving into more than a quest for answers to the right questions. It becomes a frank discussion about how to channel nostalgia to feel grounded in the present, and how navigating the space between adversity and insight allows Echevarria to sit in her own power.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Echevarria, 36, has been concerned with fashion for as long as he can remember. When I was young, I loved clothes, he said. My mother remembers that even at the age of 4, I cried when she wouldn't let me choose my own clothes. The child who had a strong sense of personal style was later voted the best dressed in school. The designer says he inherited his appreciation for quality clothing and his taste from his mother, who always loved beautiful things.

Although his appreciation of clothes and designs progressed throughout his adolescence, he never considered a career as a fashion designer. Fashion was simply something Echevarria enjoyed, a constant interest in his life, from the friends he chose to the way he spent his time and money. He would skip class and take the bus from near his high school in New Jersey to SoHo in Manhattan to hang out at stores like APC, Bape, KidRobot, Billionaire Boys Club and Alife Rivington Club. He says it was a time when people didn't try so hard and just did what they wanted. It was also the era of MTV TRL and BET 106 & Park, so Echevarria saw what it looked like aesthetically to be a superstar like Notorious BIG or Mase.

These are people I considered style icons, he recalls. Not only the clothes, but also the lifestyle they lived on television through music videos appealed to me, as a child sharing a room with my great-grandmother. At that point I was looking at them like, “Oh, can I have that?” It's incredible.

Young Echevarria knew he wanted to be recognized for the work he did and that he was quite intelligent, so he went to college to become a doctor. After spending two semesters on medical prerequisites, he said, “F— that” and packed his things to go home. While his family was concerned about his decision, Echevarria knew he understood and began his journey to becoming an American fashion designer. With medical studies no longer standing in the way of his true desires, he transferred to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York to study men's clothing design. During his time at FIT, he worked at J.Crew Liquor Store, the brand's first men's concept shop, and as a corporate researcher for their third-party partnerships.

Following his career at J.Crew, Echevarria became an agent for European companies wishing to have a presence in America; this led him to participate in the Stone Island menswear relaunch from 2014 to 2019. His experience as an avid shopper, frequenting and working in clothing stores, helped him discover what drives the market in different parts of the world. Visiting store after store, he studied the difference between more traditional American brands and contemporary streetwear lines.

Echevarria noticed that modern brands catering to a younger demographic knew how to connect with customers through Instagram content, eye-catching copy, and consistent engagement. More traditional brands, anchored in the archaic ways of operating with which they had operated for decades, did not know how to speak to this new generation. Realizing this, Echevarria was able to identify a gap that needed to be filled. A sneaker enthusiast himself, he knew that the peak sneaker moment he was seeing at that time would pass to the other side of classic shoes at some point.

I said to myself: I have this traditional high-end product, well made and without skimping, but I also have this other side that can communicate well with the young consumer, and it creates buzz and enthusiasm for the new products, new colors. , said Echevarria. They talk about these things at an accelerated pace because they engage in new things every week. And I just put the two sides together. This is what Blackstock & Weber have become.

Named after the two streets the designer grew up on in New Jersey, Blackstock Road and Weber Road, the line launched in 2017, with the moccasin as its main product. To make the best moccasin in the world, Echevarria's strategy was to communicate with new consumers by launching a moccasin in a new color every week. He saw it as a different way for the consumer to interact with American design classics. By owning a product, Blackstock & Weber became a popular name in the loafer sector, leading to Echevarria's appointment as creative director of Sperry by Chris Echevarria, a limited-edition capsule collection from iconic brands Captains Oxford and Original Boat Shoe, within the Sperry Shoe Company. in September 2023.

Yet amid the success of his own brand and the beauty of his designs, Echevarria faced daily challenges as a designer and entrepreneur. When asked what challenges he faced and how he overcame them, he warns that I might not like his answer.

There is a challenge every day, he said. I think the biggest challenge was understanding that there were challenges every day and being able to overcome them gracefully. Doing this work and taking the world at face value, not accepting the downside of someone picking on me, or the universe not wanting me to succeed, or introducing negativity in my own life because of my feelings was the biggest obstacle and the biggest job. I had to do. And it was the most important work.

This is an honest, relevant and valuable response. Echevarria now accepts that as we continue to grow in our work and personal lives, there will always be challenges. The true unlocking of our superpowers comes when we learn to transform our mindset and free ourselves from the unhealthy ways we have seen obstacles handled.

It’s powerful, says Echevarria. When you realize that you can sit on your own, in ways you never could have imagined, change happens. When this happens, everyone notices. The way to access your power is to work on things that you might consider weaknesses. That’s when you understand who you are.

Reflecting on his journey, we consider the impact of his creative vision on the fashion landscape and the human spirit. His story serves as inspiration; a beacon that illuminates the path forward for others as they embrace their unique identities and pursue their passions with unwavering conviction. His ability to move to the beat of his own drum and stand firmly on his vision sets him apart, providing an influential example of resilience and determination in an industry often constrained by labels and expectations.

As we wrap up the interview, I can't help but be grateful for the opportunity to look back on the lasting lessons Echevarria had learned. In a world mired in conformity, Echevarria reminds us of the beauty found in authenticity and self-acceptance.