Photo Courtesy of  Instagram: @phenomenalmark

This past weekend, former NFL player, Duke Ihenacho, hosted a soft launch of his new lifestyle clothing brand, Law17. The launch took place in Downtown LA and featured an exclusive sneak peak from the new line. But why the name ‘Law17’?

Law17 represents urban sophistication and was inspired by cultural movers and shakers, resting on four main pillars: Patience, Culture, Substance, and Quality. With a Nigerian background and being exposed to a variety of different living environments including LA, New York, and Washington D.C., to name a few, Duke used those experiences as inspiration to set a solid foundation on the idea of culture as it relates to the brand. Then he added a little bit of substance and quality to the mix so that people, no matter their age or background, will have an experience that is meaningful as well as that will allow them to appreciate their quality of life. Then finally, Law17 was thrown into the oven and cooked on a high temperature of good ol’ fashion ‘patience’, explaining that patience helps you to ‘get it right and not just get it fast’.

What inspired you to create this clothing brand?

“I just wanted a really vintage, clean, but edgy line and it’s something that I’ve always wanted to do. I’ve always been INTO fashion. While I was playing ball I couldn’t really dive into it like I wanted to but I had an opportunity to not play and I got a chance to just kind of immerse myself into fashion and to just learn the ins and outs and I felt confident enough to do it.”

How did you learn the ins and outs of fashion?

“I just asked people, you know. I just kind of reached out to people and used my resources. I’ve been working on this for over a year now so within that year I’ve learned a lot. It’s been a slow process but I’ve been patient. So it just took me not being afraid to ask for help and to ask for advice whether it be from stylists or just people in the industry overall and this has been the first moment that I’m able to kind of showcase and share what I’ve been working on with people.’

What has been the most CHALLENGING part of this entire process?

“I guess the most difficult part was it being a new field. It being a new industry and me having to start all over again and learn everything from scratch, because I’m an athlete and I’ve been playing ball for over 10 years so things like that come second nature to me, but fashion is like another ball game. It’s just like I had to go back to square one and be comfortable and embrace that I didn’t know anything. The first step was just me being able to say ‘okay cool you’re a rookie in this and you don’t understand any of this yet so you’ve got to learn’. Then also, I’m a very hands-on person so it was a little bit challenging allowing other people to help because it’s my baby.”

What’s next for you?

“There’s no limit really. I started off with sweats just to have a foundation of what I wanted the brand to be, but the sky’s the limit. I’m interested in everything. I’m interested in bringing different ideas and different personalities to the team so it can just grow. We won’t just do only sweats, we’ll do everything. We’ll do purses, we’ll do bags, and hopefully we can do suits one day. The plan is to keep expanding and to be a brand that can do different types of things.”