We often dream up ambitions to create something that will hopefully serve as our legacy; not as often are those dreams actually accomplished. For Sudanese-born, Milwaukee-raised artist, Brema Brema, his dreams have come true but they’re far from finished. Hence, Unfinished Legacy, the streetwear imprint founded by Brema back when he was in high school. He now sits at his spacious studio in Downtown Los Angeles with a full team of employees, a constant influx of orders and even more dreams of expansion.
After moving to the States with his family back in 2010, Brema immersed himself into the culture of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, finding his passion in photography, videography, art, skateboarding and fashion. Brema found his inspiration for Unfinished Legacy in high school when his classmates were asked to describe themselves in one word. One word came to mind: unfinished… The concept of forever growing your legacy resonated with Brema, who not only adopted that ethos for himself but sought to teach others to find that sense of drive as well. With his mission set, Brema outfitted his basement with a screen-printing machine, pulled together a team of friends and started what we now know as the “cult-hero” brand, Unfinished Legacy.
From there, Unfinished Legacy dominated the local Milwaukee streetwear and creative scene with a strong social media presence through in-depth and insightful videos. His content not only highlights the brand’s journey but offers tricks of the trade to start a successful clothing brand—insightful advice not commonly shared by brand founders. Both brand and content helped Brema and his team branch out beyond Milwaukee, turning heads across the nation. His story has been picked up by the likes of Vogue, and iconic brands like Levi’s have tapped the creative for collaborative efforts.
“One thing that came to mind right away about BELLA+CANVAS was its wide range of colors, specifically the neutral and earth tone colors, which reminded me of home.“
And here’s where we come in. Having discovered Brema and his brand through his YouTube channel, we at BELLA+CANVAS immediately connected with the artist and what drives him. From wanting to work together on content that already aligns with what we do—both Brema and BELLA+CANVAS offer a deep archive of educational content on the apparel industry—the idea of creating a capsule collection that celebrates Brema’s story organically came about.
The collection includes designs that feature Unfinished Legacy’s signature butterfly motif, with BELLA+CANVAS staples in neutrals and earth tones like Vintage White and Driftwood. “One thing that came to mind right away about BELLA+CANVAS was its wide range of colors, specifically the neutral and earth tone colors, which reminded me of home. When it came to designing for this [collaboration], it made it easy to go with our iconic butterfly and flora elements,” explains Brema.
The collection is comprised of the BELLA+CANVAS SoCal Tee in Vintage White, The Crew Sweatshirt and The Sweatshort in Driftwood, for a complete summer outfit. The BELLA+CANVAS x Unfinished Legacy capsule will be available in June and sold exclusively through BELLA+CANVAS with retail prices set at $48 for the tee, and $58 for the sweatshirt and sweatshort. For more on our BELLA+CANVAS collaborative efforts, check out our Collabs page here.
