Origin Story

The story of kinda handsome starts in a New York apartment bedroom dualing as an office. The same bedroom transformation that a lot of New York apartments went through when COVID hit. I could go on to say how I always knew I wanted to start a clothing brand and how I even used to cut pictures out of magazines as a kid, but that sort of perfect origin story sadly doesn’t apply here. I’ve always been into clothing, but it’s certainly not my background. 

I had, however, for years seen and experienced the lack of men’s clothing options outside of the every-mall stores as well as none that really had a message worth getting behind. So I decided that there was no time like the present to try to change that. The worst thing that would happen is I’d at least be able to fill up my own closet…

I was going to include a picture of my old apartment, but I'll spare you the horror. Instead, here's a floor plan where I've highlighted in yellow the space I had out of the whole apartment that served as my bedroom, 9-5 work area, and corporate HQ of kinda handsome

At the same time, I’d been observing the world we live in and noticed something lacking - balance. Particularly with the world of social media. You had one corner of the world putting on a highlight reel of their life and trying to one up the next person. In the other corner, you had people feeling insufficient and stuck in a comparison loop. This led to people either overcompensating with arrogance or insecurity. Of course I’m not talking about everyone, just enough to be noticeable.

That led me to the conclusion that I wanted our clothing to serve as a reminder that you can have balance. In this instance, that confidence and humility can coexist. You may have already made the connection to the name kinda handsome. The physical embodiment of that motto is how we look and being “kinda handsome” is neither arrogant nor insecure. 

The last tie is to the clothing themselves. They also represent this balance. Made with incredibly high quality material that warrants a higher price tag, but still bats above the price tag and is affordable compared to other niche brands. Clothing that walks the line between casual wear and athleisure to create a new category - street leisure.

So with all of this figured out after a few months of sitting in my own thoughts, kinda handsome was born. Through this newsletter, I hope to continue to give you all insight into all things about the brand from the story to the process to the daily thoughts… and of course some promotions along the way to thank you for spending your time following along. Stay tuned…