Keith Herron has maintained the same goal for his Brooklyn, New York-based Advisry fashion brand since he started working on it at age 13: creating a creative community that’s a hub for artists.
For Herron, whose designs have been worn by the likes of Tyler, the Creator, Steve Lacy and Heron Preston, it’s always been important to not just produce fashion under Advisry, but also focus on his other interests in the art world, such as filmmaking and music.
Herron launched Advisry roughly a decade ago creating T-shirts and hoodies. Over the years, he explained, his designs evolved and he started collaborating with other creatives to experiment with different mediums. He designed his first full collection for Advisry for fall 2022, which was solely a menswear line.
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“I see the brand as something that fosters a creative community and integrates and expands upon the art conversation as a whole throughout these different mediums that we interact with,” Herron said. “A longstanding goal with the brand is to become a heritage brand in terms of fashion, but expand the conversation of integrating these different mediums.”
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This focus is integrated into Advisry’s business model. Herron hosts one fashion show a year for the label and creates a piece of art for the other season, like a short film or a music video.
“The conclusion I came up with was wanting to do one runway show during one season and then another one be a different art project,” he said. “That’s just the model moving forward, especially with it being so difficult to stage runway shows every six months. Also, it’s kind of limiting as a creative if those are the sorts of worlds that you want to occupy.”
Herron’s most recent runway show was for his spring 2023 collection, where he debuted his first womenswear collection alongside the brand’s menswear. The designer explained that his design aesthetic has evolved over time, first leaning more toward streetwear and now blending it with more ready-to-wear and couture elements.
As a film lover, Herron stated he typically looks to the medium as his source of inspiration for his collections. His spring 2023 collection, for instance, was inspired by the 1966 French film “Masculin Féminin,” which was also the title of the collection.
He also uses Advisry to create his own films. For the spring 2022 season, instead of hosting a runway show or presentation, he created a short film that featured some of the looks from his collection.
Over the years, Herron has embarked on a consistent slate of footwear collaborations for his collections. The designer has worked with Adidas, reimagining the popular Samba style with a molded platform, and with Ugg, creating a laced version of the brand’s boots.
Herron’s skills in the fashion industry were furthered by the designer winning the Gucci Changemakers Grant in 2021. Through the grant, Herron received a $20,000 scholarship and mentorship and internship opportunities across Gucci America.
He explained that seeing the inner workings of various departments under Gucci helped him learn best practices of operating his own brand. Herron highlighted his biggest learnings from the internship were seeing how Gucci handled event production and merchandising across its different stores.
“I didn’t know that getting attention from a luxury brand was even possible,” he said about the program. “I never went to fashion school. I was just someone from Sacramento [California], so I didn’t think it was possible and that was a big thing that opened my eyes to dreaming bigger within the field.”
For the rest of the year, Herron is gearing up for his next runway show as part of New York Fashion Week in September and is working on other various projects within the art world.