June 16th, 2025
Designing Stories with Nicholas Grier
Nicholas Grier (NG), the entrepreneur behind BlackStarthebrand, is redefining streetwear by reconstructing urban narratives through designs infused with the raw energy of alternative rock and the rebellious aesthetic of punk. He recently sat down with Sonali Sinha (SS), the newest interviewer for SNAKE Magazine, to delve into the evolution of his unique vision and purpose.
SS: WERE YOU CONSCIOUSLY INFLUENCED BY ROCK MUSIC OR AS CREATING, WAS IT SOMETHING THAT SEEPED INTO YOUR DESIGNS?
NG: More something that seeped into my designs. As I'm working, I usually like playing music in the background. It's either me on the aux or somebody else, and if somebody else, they usually introduce me to new sounds I never heard before. Like rock bands or alternative rock or different kinds of genres. And that inspires me as I'm working on the clothes, gives me new ideas. I may incorporate something I heard–or a feeling I felt when I heard a song–into how I make a piece.
SS: HOW HAS ALTERNATIVE ROCK SHOWED UP IN YOUR DESIGNS?
NG: Honestly, I don't even know a visual way of explaining alternative rock. I can only just explain off of what I believe my brand is and then put the song behind it. You know what I mean? Like, I don't really want to put a specific genre or type of sound with a visual thing for my brand. I feel like I can incorporate different kinds of sounds with the brand, like when it comes to runways or a video shoot or a concert. I play around with mostly rock songs, but some of them are also R&B songs or hip hop songs. And I feel like alternative rock just sticks with it the most. It's offered a sense of the brand being called Blackstarthebrand and me just trying to think of different ways to incorporate, like, a rock star kind of visual way. If I was to put it in a box, I guess I'd say I'd turn it into rock, but I don't really know a specific visual way of how that would look. I just feel like you gotta feel it, you know? It's a feeling.
SS: DURING YOUR DESIGN PROCESS, WERE THERE SPECIFIC SONGS OR ARTISTS THAT YOU GRAVITATED TOWARDS?
NG: Yes, a lot of The Strokes currently, especially one song from their 2020 album called “Those Who Are Talking.” That song has been inspiring me lately. I usually get inspired by music. It just takes me to a phase of taking a break before I get back to sewing. So this is my two-day break before I sew today or tomorrow. You have to be able to walk away from sewing sometimes so you don't get stressed out and overwhelmed, burnt out, too lost in it.
SS: WHAT IS THE STORY THAT YOU WANTED TO TELL THROUGH YOUR DESIGNS?
NG: Originality. A genuine discovery. Like if somebody were to see my brand for the first time, they would not get that feeling of seeing it before, or it's the same thing they've seen already, you know? I want to push off with my specific style of how I make clothes and how I sew with zig-zag. Like, “oh, okay, this is somebody else's style, this is somebody else's originality of how they sew.” It's the same concept, but I could see the difference in how they do it, you know? And that's really all I'm just focusing on doing. Not trying to be so different, but just trying to get my own routes.
SS: WHAT ARTISTS HAVE YOU COLLABORATED WITH SO FAR?
NG: Mostly my friends. My friends all do music. So it's funny. But they always remind myself while wearing the hats, maybe, or wearing a shirt by me, maybe. One artist is Slick; she's in Atlanta. And another artist is somebody named The Activist. He has a jacket I made before I left to move here in New York.