CCA grad launches clothing brand

After COVID-19 public health restrictions closed schools and limited most other activities, a 2020 Canyon Crest Academy graduate used the free time to discover a new passion: clothing design.

Zami Harvey, who now attends Cal State San Marcos, said he first became inspired by searching the internet, particularly social media site Pinterest. Eventually he launched a website, FlameCustomClothingOfficial.

“During high school I was always really into clothes and trying to look good,” said Harvey, who started out adding designs to pre-made pieces of clothing that he already had in his closet. “It was recently that I started getting into clothing design and stuff like that. I just wanted to try and make my own stuff, because I didn’t want to continue to keep spending money on new clothes since I was really into fashion.”

Harvey attends Cal State San Marcos.

(Courtesy)

He modeled his first creations on his social media accounts, and began receiving positive feedback on those early pieces, including people who were interested in buying them. That’s when he launched his website, where he sells jewelry, hats, bags, pants, shorts and other items.

Then, after completing a few sales, Harvey bought a sewing machine and other supplies to better learn the craft and make more elaborate pieces and increase his output.

One of his major influencers is Rick Owens, a fashion designer who launched his own label almost 30 years ago in California. Harvey also wants to pursue a designing career full time. He continues to draw inspiration from sources like Pinterest, in addition to things he sees such as patterns on buildings.

“Sometimes I spend five, 10 minutes just scrolling through, looking at photos,” Harvey said. “I would see a lot of things that look really cool and I would try to design something like that in my own way or by just going outside driving around looking at stuff.”

For more information, visit flamecustomclothingofficial.squarespace.com.