About the founder

Kadeem Spencer was born in Brooklyn, NY to two Bajan parents and later raised in suburban New Jersey. He graduated from college with a bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering. Alongside his engineering background, Kadeem grew up as a Hip-Hop and R&B music enthusiast and avid artist. His affinity towards art and music eventually expanded into the space of fashion. He began printing t-shirts and hoodies with various messages and meanings behind them. This ultimately sparked the creation of the New Genré Brand.

“I got involved in the creative space because of my love for art and music. Like many others, the two were so impactful to me because of the ability to express emotions through them. I feel that these two things were literally human expressions, in forms other than physical emotions. Understanding this fact, and that others had similar experiences, is what made me want to talk about it through the medium of fashion.

INTERVIEW WITH THE FOUNDER

How did you start your brand?

The brand was formed out of my curiosity from wanting to be a multidisciplinary artist. I began just doing pencil drawings, then I moved to painting, mixed media and then photography. Eventually, I started to appreciate the work that people did because it definitely wasn’t easy. This appreciation turned into inspiration for me to do something big. I set out on a self assigned art project to combine multiple creative art forms into one entity. I wanted to display not only my versatility, but the beauty of creating itself. I felt like the world of fashion was the the perfect space to combine all of the creative aspects I was interested in.

What is a New Genré?

So the name New Genré actually comes from the name of an art movement back in like the 20th century called New Genres. The movement tailored to artist artists who would work with multiple forms of media, or “in different spaces” as I like to say. So basically if you were some kind of multidisciplinary artist, you were part of the movement.

My favorite example of what a New Genre is, is Bryson Tiller’s coining of Trapsoul. Which was literally a new genre of music that subsequently created a new movement of music. Whether he was really the first person to create “trapsoul” music is another discussion. [Laughs]. But he definitely coined the name Trapsoul. I consider my brand, New Genré, the modern day embodiment that movement, the New Genres movement.

What type of audience does New Genre target?

Well since New Genré is a brand that aims to create a voice for those who create. It’s aimed towards all people that create and love what they do. Many people are creative but the value of creativity its is underappreciated, especially design. The brand speaks to creativity as a whole. I fell in love with the fact that creatives use their talents to convey messages, spark feelings, or even start conversation. But who’s talking about the state of creativity itself? Not many people. And that’s the over all goal of the brand. To raise awareness and appreciation for creativity.

So what do you think about the current state of fashion?

I believe that we are in a renaissance period of fashion. I think this is because there are so many people that are becoming more aware of, and more in tune with their creative self. And at the same time we have this huge rise in streetwear fashion, which is in itself an art movement for the culture. People these days are using something as simple as t-shirts to make statements and share their message. So I think now is the time to push the boundaries. My goal is to tap into the creatives themselves and make them see the real power of creativity. Like the importance of design is something ridiculous. Like, it could honestly be its own conversation. But at the same time, I think that more and more people are starting to understand how important it really is and it makes my message a little easier to convey.

What is your favorite part about designing clothing?

Well I don’t fully consider myself a fashion designer just yet, because I’m not necessarily making new garments just yet. Eventually the brand is going to get to the level where it’s ready to do fashion runway walks and be part of celebrity wardrobes. But for now I’m designing in the streetwear realm with the staples of streetwear; t-shirts, long sleeves and hoodies. I do sketch a lot though, like a lot, and I like to do womenswear more because I feel like there’s a lot more freedom in the silhouettes as compared to menswear.

HISTORY

New Genré was founded in 2018 by Kadeem Spencer as an ongoing “art project”. The aim of this project was to shine light on the individuals who had the ability to create across multiple disciplines of art such as drawing, photography, graphic design, etc. Over time, it began to evolve and take on the role of a brand whose aim was to inspire and define the era of creativity that we currently live in.

VALUE SYSTEM

Authenticity

Timelessness

Versatility

Ingenuity

Simplicity

Blackness

Engineering

Nostalgia

Music

With a heavy influence from music, the name New Genré actually comes from the name of a 20th century artistic movement called “New Genres”. The movement focused on artists who worked with a variety of media such as video art, body art, installation, performance, and sound art. Today, New Genré serves to be the modern day version of this movement by using fashion to display new works of art.