Mohamed Coulibaly, the founder and designer of the brand Motion Apparelz, must be working near constantly. A professional soccer player and businessman as well as a fashion designer, who made around four million dollars with a sneaker business before he turned 21. Managing all of it might sound overwhelming, objectively he has a lot of roles to manage, but speaking to Coulibaly, it was immediately clear that he would not and could not be happier any other way.
“I just have to be inspired,” Coulibaly laughed when I asked him how he managed all the things, and the sound was infectious. “I could be inspired by literally someone,” he explained, meaning a stranger on the street, a person he might never know personally. “I come from the era of the Allen Iversons and Thierry Henrys. So I get inspiration from people’s attitudes. When I see someone and I see them in a certain type of sweatsuit or certain type of clothes, the attitude that they have, their confidence, that’s what makes me want to make something that gives me this feeling that they have.”
When I started reading about Coulibaly’s work, the many successes he achieved at a very young age, I was struck by a message consistent across his contemporaneous careers. He believes that we should all be striving to be our best selves, to make our best work and try to exceed any goals. Coulibaly believes that we deserve to find success, and that hard work will get you there.
My regular readers may have noticed that I am fascinated by good work done well, and of course, the people in fashion and costume who find vocations instead of careers. Because there are many of them in this world, people who care I mean, those of us who demand better from our world. I like that, the reminder that there are more people with this mindset than we may know or see. It makes me feel better about what could be.
“That whole ideology for me comes from the fact that I don’t like complacency,” Coulibaly told me. “A lot of people are okay with being complacent. But for me, that takes away from the reason for you being on this earth.” I asked him how he developed this perspective, how he arrived at this philosophical conclusion with such genuine certainty.
“It comes from a place of understanding,” he explained, “that you can’t just sit in a bubble of your own mind. A lot of people aren’t fortunate to travel all over the world to get different experiences. But we should try to thrive, to do the most we can, because at the end of the day, if you fail, you’ve learned a lesson. Taking chances and wanting to do more, to thrive for more, even if it is taking a little step, by leaving your comfort zone, you’re going to do more than the norm. I like to challenge the status quo, you know?” Another easy laugh. He smiles a lot, happy to be a happy person, I wrote that in my notes during our conversation. It never feels like he’s laughing at anyone, it’s just that he gets a lot of joy out of life.
Though the designer is well-known for his soccer career (Coulibaly started that career playing the New York Red Bulls 2, later joining the Sacramento Republic), fashion and style have always been a throughline. Born in Mali, West Africa, the designer distinctly remembers the extravagant Americana he experienced as a child; on TV, in film and through music.
“Looking into American culture,” Coulibaly said, “seeing guys like Allen Iverson come through with the baggy clothes, the shoes, the hair, you know, the swagger in his interviews. And Thierry Henry, one of the first Black soccer players who really brought that swagger into sports. Then, going into shows such as The Fresh Prince, Will Smith and Bel Air, that’s kind of where it was like, okay, this is different, I like this. That’s kind of where I fell in love with fashion.”
“You know, fashion was more of an escape,” Coulibaly shared. “An escape out of the world that I was kind of bubbling into, which also allowed me to explore and meet so many different people. I feel like fashion was a way for me to express myself. I can be this different person, but also myself in the sense of just choosing a different way of expressing how I feel by wearing something. Let’s say, if I’m not feeling confident, I’ll come in wearing all black, because I feel like that puts down the swagger of top confidence, going back to things such as RoboCop. You know, the all-black suit made him stand out, made him look better to the community. Little things that I hint at when I’m getting dressed or when I express myself through fashion. I mean, when you look good, you feel good. ”
All of these athletes, the actors in all the shows and films, the musicians who make the music he loves, you’ll find bits of them woven into the apparel he designs. I do not mean that his work ever looks like a soccer kit, it obviously does not. But there are nods to the various parts of his life, homages to the people and work that inspire him to his own best work. Looking at Coulibaly’s body of fashion work, at his designs overall, there are many hints, homages and references. The designs are never derivative, and he’s definitely not “borrowing” from other designers. Instead, the clothing feels woven through with talismans, little nods to the things that make Coulibaly remember his goals, the work he knows he needs to accomplish. Obviously, the man who grows out of a 17-year-old kid who made $500,000 (with a sneaker resale brand, The Heatkickcity, the first year he was in business) is going to have some very big goals.
“For example,” Coulibaly said to me as he showed me pieces from his latest drop, which will be available this weekend, “this hoodie, the bandanas in the hoodie right here, it symbolizes unity. There’s a bunch of gangs in America who have bandana flags. The black bandanas on the hood symbolize the unity within you, once you put your hood on, it makes you feel that power within yourself. It’s even better when you have your guys, your family and friends wearing the same hoodie with you, because now it feels like you guys are all together as one.”
I asked him about another hoodie, one made with an iconic wide, red and black plaid I instantly recognized. Even over Zoom, Coulibaly’s energy is magnetic, and he smiled again when he answered me. “I get a lot of inspiration from the West Coast,” he said. “A lot of my friends are artists from the West Coast, guys like YG, Roddy Ricch. I get a lot of inspiration from those guys. And that plays a big factor. One of my closest friends, Mont Browne, of Columbia Records, he’s also a big inspiration when it comes down to that world as well. I’m big on feeling inspired, when I feel inspired, that’s when it’s time to go, because I don’t ever want to force anything.”
One of the things I have always loved about clothing (and this counts for fashion and costume equally) is that there are as many solutions as there are people designing apparel. The peek behind the scenes, understanding how a designer works through the various creative and logistical issues that come with producing clothing, it is one of the most fascinating subjects I can think of. “I like to inspire other brands to do more so I do a lot of community service work through my brands,” Coulibaly said. “I have an aviation company and management company with a lot of different big name rappers, athletes, some guys of the Eagles, Lakers, all the way down to some platinum recording artists and Super Bowl champions.”
“You know, I’m not the type of fashion designer that’s going to go with the trends,” Coulibaly told me. “My new collection comes from wanting. It’s all about the items being true to yourself. It’s all about self-confidence. My last drop was almost a year ago, and we completely sold out, it went completely global. From then on, I’ve seen so many different fashion trends come and go. And people are asking me, ‘hey, why aren’t you making jorts? Why aren’t you making this? We’re going to buy it.’ And I’m just like, I don’t want to just do anything for the sake of money. I love fashion. I want to do something that actually matters to me. There’s a story behind this collection that I actually love, that’s where my drop came from. But I have so many different ideas now, I’m looking to drop maybe two or three times a year.”
I do my very best to tell you the stories that move me, to share work with my readers that highlights what is possible, to bring attention to the designers making work that makes me want to climb up on my little soapbox and yell about why clothing matters. What a culture chooses to adorn itself with, what we assign value to, what we love, hate, hope and fear, all of that literally comes out in the clothes. I can’t make myself write about work that I do not love. Luckily for me, luckily for all of us really, there are a lot of people out in our world doing excellent work. Emerging brands like Coulibaly’s Motion Apparelz do more than sell beautiful, well-made clothing to clients. I think this is because the founder and designer of the brand is communicating with us through his designs. He is sharing himself, his ideals and his hopes for the world’s future, and asking you to dream as big as you possibly can.
“A lot of people do this now because of their love for fashion,” Coulibaly said to me. “But then, some people are doing it because of the money. But with money, you have to think about why some people make fashion. For me, you can’t prioritize clothes more than the community. Because fashion is such an inspiring tool. Going back in the day to Brooklyn, the Harlem Renaissance days, like still today Harlem is a big fashion hub. Fashion helped the community there so much.
Black people used fashion to express themselves. The fashion came from helping a community become one. And then, not just Black people, it’s anyone in fashion. We use this as a tool to inspire, or to come together collectively. I feel like I just put all of those things into my work and I just pay it forward. This is not a dream anymore. Someone has accomplished it, someone has done it.”
Check out the Motion Apparelz website to see his latest drop. And if you’re in need of inspiration, I highly recommend following the designer’s social media accounts. Because Mohamed Coulibaly will convince you that doing the work you love most is the best thing you can do for yourself, and for the world. And he’s not wrong.
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