If you live in St Louis you have more than likely seen the logo. The three connected triangles on a shirt, hoodie, cap or jacket representing a triad, a group of three connected people or things by definition. That logo belongs to Mic Auston and his bubbling clothing line Dont Triad, which is becoming one of the most recognizable clothing brands in St. Louis.
“The original brand was Hello Tomorrow but I wasn’t seeing any growth in that. People told me not to change the brand but eventually I decided to switch it to Dont Triad, using the triad structure, which is my main motivation. It’s like structure of life, how certain people should carry themselves and their people,” said Auston.
Auston has worked to increase the brand’s visibility throughout St. Louis by making sure he and his clothing line are featured at all of the major social events throughout the city such as Vibes. Vibes is a local music, arts, and fashion show for up and coming talent throughout St. Louis.
“I did the first ever pop-up shop at Swedlife in the Delmar Loop which did really well. I also had pop-up shops at two of the three Vibes events so far. One of them I sold over 80 hats,” said Auston.
Growing up Auston says he was always creative whether it was designing different pairs of Nike Air Force One’s in class as a kid but he knew that he wanted to design clothes once he reached sixth grade.
“The first piece of clothing I designed was in like sixth grade. I would tape something on a t-shirt like “dope boy fresh” and splatter paint on it then peel it off. That was some of the first shit I was designing,” said Auston.
From that point on Auston knew wanted to design clothes but didn’t know how far it could go. When his original brand Hello Tomorrow was teetering he changed the name and began to take a simpler approach to his designs. The simplistic approach to Dont Triad has caused people to gravitate towards it.
“The first thing I designed was just a basic long sleeve t-shirt, black canvas because it is a universal color. It was a sample but it was received really well but when I designed my logo it made the brand really attractive and people flocked to it. And that’s what made it really attractive to people,” said Auston.
The next step for Auston is branching out, becoming more visible not just in the Midwest but also across the country. And in turn he hopes the brand can reach iconic levels of some of the brands he has come to identify with growing up.
“The growth is constant and it’s spreading to different cities. I have been getting a lot of compliments and inquiries from boutiques just off of the logo alone. Investors are becoming more willing to get involved and have contacted me but right now I’m just going to keep getting it out of the mud. You can’t knock respect and that’s all I want is respect and growth. You look at Supreme box logo tees, Bape hoodies, or a Thrasher shirt that have been lingering and are iconic. That’s what I want the Triad logo to be like, it’s attractive and the more that you see it it gets more attractive,” said Auston.
With that continued growth Auston has a belief that the brand will take off to new heights.
“People will start surfing the wave and out of nowhere it’s just going to flood. It’s a decent wave going on but it’s going to be a hurricane soon, mark my words. I feel like nobody has shook the game and taken it by storm in over a decade, it’s overdue,” said Auston.
Kameron Hay 