Roger Brown is a man of many talents – versatile, suave and brilliant! He knows his stuff and well-grounded in diverse fields, from politics, through sports to arts. I met Roger in the year 2000 when we enrolled as freshmen at the Labone Senior High School for our secondary education.
We found ourselves in the same class pursuing general arts. Roger loved music and could sing almost every smash R&B or rap hit song at the time. He had all editions of the then most sought after entertainment (music and fashion) magazines – XXL and Source. Roger was the go-to person for all the latest And 1 clips (compilation of basketball moves).
That is how well I have known Roger from our middle teenage years so I wasn’t surprised when he sent me an invitation to be part of the launch of his apparel company on Friday 20th July 2018 in Toronto, Canada, where he has been residing for over a decade now.
Roger Brown is the Founder and Creative Director of the nouveau military styled apparel brand, Barracks (pronounced Berəks). With a tagline which seeks to welcome everyone to the military camp and enjoy their stay, the mission of the company is to create a feel-good apparel and content that motivates and unites everyone.
Barracks is a motivation based apparel company for men and women. According to Roger, setting up of the apparel company was inspired by utilitarian military aesthetic in conjunction with inspirational life stories from everyday people.
“It is important to live the dream and share in the vision with motivation from the several inspirational stories around us. In our engagement campaigns, we share and celebrate notable accounts of our Barracks Warriors, a resilient group of individuals who embrace life’s challenges as part of its journey and strive to persevere in all circumstances”, he added.
The founding values of Barracks lie within themes of authenticity, self-improvement and community building. “At the Barracks camp, we strive to inspire people to reach their full potential by fostering a resilient and inclusive culture through our engagement activities”, Roger reveled.
Barracks is also about living and getting better each day. The brand organically emerged from a plethora of activities. From routine conversations about life with family and friends to random encounters with strangers in remote places around the world.
Commenting on other factors that influenced the choice of his fashion business, Roger said that “I have always gravitated towards the swagger, utilitarianism and timeless appeal of military uniforms as far as I can remember. They are made for combat but also cool for simply lounging just like our clothes. We design with quality and fun in mind yet purposefully craft to psychologically motivate you”.
Apart from motivating and uniting people, Roger and his team at Barracks are also passionate about making an impact in people’s lives and giving back to society through key strategic initiatives and partnerships.
“Story telling is an integral part of our DNA and so is social responsibility. Our March Forward catalogue is a collection of items specially designed with charity in mind. Net proceeds from these products will be donated to local charities whose mission is aligned to our core values. The March Forward Warrior Bracelet for example is in support of Toronto SickKids Hospital. More information and our products are available at https://barracksco.com/”, Roger added.
