As we continue to celebrate Black History, we turned our heads back to the brand for a minute to champion those that at the heart of this community. Cherise and Drey both work for Avirex at our stores in London; with aspirations that go further than retail, both have huge love for fashion, and we got an opportunity to ask them more about their thoughts and feelings around community, inspirations and what Black History means to them.

Read on for the full interviews.

Cherise, tell us a bit about yourself and what made you want to work within the fashion industry?

Cool, so I’m Cherise, I’m a visual artist and creative director and I just wanted to work within the fashion industry, as I love fashion and it is a part of who I am.

Dope, and what exactly do you love about Black British culture

Just being a part of it, I love being a part of it, I love the music, the fashion, it all comes hand in hand. 

How are you finding it working for Avirex?

I’m finding working at Avirex really great, it’s a lot of fun, I have met a lot of great people.

Obviously, we are here to champion Black History, with it being Black History month. We just want to take a moment to hear your thoughts and what this means to you?

It’s the positive impacts that black people have had on the world, from music, to fashion, to art and you know, the people before me paving our way for me to be able to do what I do today creatively.

So, who would you say served as your biggest inspiration elsewhere in your life, being in work or creatively?

I would say my biggest inspiration would be Teyana Taylor. Mainly because of her fashion, style, how she carries herself but also the work that she does, from directing to acting to singing – I just feel like she is a powerhouse.

If you could tell your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?

If I could give my younger self a piece of advice it would just be…do you, be you. Everything that you want to do just do it, you know without hesitation.

Love that, so last question … with fashion being a big passion of yours, what do you like about working for Avirex as a brand?

I love the reputation Avirex as a brand has, when you saw someone wearing an Avirex…it was like those people had money and they had status. So, I just love the culture around the brand and what it kind of represents when you have a Avirex on your back.

Drey, tell us a bit about yourself and what made you want to work within the fashion industry?

Hi my name's Drey, and from a very young age I’ve always almost been stuck within looking at new fashion. Coming from South London I used to dress a certain type of way that wasn’t accepted, so I kinda started to just wear tracksuits I wasn’t really able to express myself, but the more I started to move out of South London and experience different things, I started to indulge in different fashion designs.

Black British culture is a major influence for Avirex, what exactly do you love about the brand and the culture that surrounds it?

I love working for Avirex, you know, the amount of people that come into store that know about it from way back when. But I prefer the people that don’t know about the brand, you know because you can skill them and almost teach them about the facts, they should know but they don’t know.

I mean Avirex is renowned in Black British culture, like everyone used to wear it, I mean So Solid Crew used to wear it, my parents used to wear it, my brother…it even got to the point where my dad was putting his Avirex Infront of all of us and my mum sold it. So, do you know what I mean we love it. And, what do I love about black British culture? I mean, it’s very hard to match. We put so much energy and thought into what we do because we love it. It’s not easy for us to come up, so it’s either we put it all in or we don’t put in at all. So I feel like, for me it’s just like, when your walking down the road you can see confidence.

Obviously, we are here to champion Black History, with it being Black History month. We just want to take a moment to hear your thoughts and what this means to you?

Black history means to me, about the struggles that we put up to get into certain places that we are in today. I mean, back in the day I couldn’t imagine us being in the certain positions we are, running certain businesses and having interviews like this – do you know what I mean. I was watching a documentary the other day that shed a lot of light on filmmaking and the roles that we were given back in the day. It was basically just extras; we wouldn’t get taken seriously. But now I feel like, the things we are doing today we are shedding a lot of light on things and if people aren’t willing to give us a platform, we are creating our own platform to thrive. But we just gotta keep pushing it, you know.

So, who would you say served as your biggest inspiration elsewhere in your life, being in work or creatively?

At the moment, my biggest inspiration would be…Kanye West. Just where he came from back in the day and the amount of time he put into his craft. The way he does a multitude of things, in the creative industry. He wanted to paint, he wanted to do art, he wanted to make music, yeah – he does say questionable things but excluding this and seeing what he actually brings to the table creatively its unmatchable.

If you could tell your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?

What I would tell my younger self growing up it would be, education is key … but your creative outlet tops all. 

Last question … with fashion being a big passion of yours, what do you like about Avirex as a brand?

What do I love about Avirex? The bloody leather jackets do you know what I mean.