BonchicFrayedShorts by A.J. Earley

A.J. Earley

BonchicFrayedShorts

Age: 25

Pensacola, Florida

A.J. Earley is the owner of Bonchic Frayed Shorts. His business is ran one-hundred percent by himself. He designs, makes, and merchandises everything. A.J. says the word "Bon·chic" is a Parisian slang meaning "good style, good attitude". "It was a word I felt always described my personal style and a word I felt was perfect for my brand" says A.J. A.J.'s business "bonchicfrayedshorts" was started in April of twenty-twelve.

"What my line mainly consist of is custom hand made shorts. Critics have called what I do "A Shorts Frenzy". I don't know if that's shade, but I'll definitely take it lol. I make various styles of cut off cheeky shorts. From bleached ombré, to full on individually hand placed punk studs, to unique intricate fabrics sewn on washed frayed denim shorts. The list goes on and on. To me there are endless designs that can be done to shorts. I also make and design studded denim vest and jackets and custom army fatigue vests and jackets. Everything is affordably priced for the amount of time it takes to complete each design".

A.J. says since he was about 16 years-old he's always had a fascination with fashion watching television shows such as Project Runway and What Not to Wear. A.J. also says he was always creative and art was his favorite subject in school. "I always dreamed of having my very own clothing line" he quotes. In the summer of 2011, one year before A.J.'s clothing line was birthed, he was obsessed with Tumblr. "Everyday I got on Tumblr I would see all these different designs of DIY (Do It Yourself) shorts" A.J. adds. After a while A.J. began seeing his idol Rihanna wearing these cool edgy custom shorts and thought to himself he could make them.

Fast forward to the Spring/Summer of 2012. A.J. says all he was doing that summer was clubbing and traveling back and forth between Florida and Atlanta, Ga. When A.J. wasn't partying or traveling he says he had a lot of spare time. "One day that summer I decided to make my very first pair of custom shorts. I went to the thrift store, purchased a pair of old semi-run down vintage Levis jeans. I also purchased a $3.00 pack of pink fabric dye and a small bag of round silver studs. When I got back home I cut the jeans into shorts, dyed them pink, let them air dry and studded one side of them in the front. I took a photo of them and posted it to Instagram, Within five minutes I got so many likes and comments. That very same day I met up with a girl and sold them to her. Thus "bonchicfrayedshorts" was born" he says enthusiastically. So to answer the question of who inspired A.J.'s clothing line he says the answer is definitely Rihanna!

Over the next year A.J. designed and made so many shorts that he says he could not even begin to believe the number of orders he was receiving on a monthly basis. In the beginning, being more so in high demand in his home city and from there eventually sending out orders all over the United States, and finally even having to ship orders internationally to countries such as Canada and Europe. "Instagram for me was a great platform because it can be seen by people everywhere. I went a year and a half having orders be placed strictly by email before launching my highly anticipated website which was launched late twenty-thirteen" A.J. says.

A.J. believes through him using instagram as a portfolio so to speak, it opened up doors and different avenues for him to work and collab with household names such as So So Def recording artist Dondria, VH1 reality stars Shay Johnson from "Love & Hiphop: Atlanta", Po Johnson from "La La's Fullcourt Life", and reality starlet Alexandra Dilworth from Bravo's hit show "The New Atlanta" just to name a few. "I've also been able to have real fashion models, model and be ambassadors for my line. I've had the honor of being approached by credible wardrobe stylists, one in particular Demi Dorsey mostly well-known for the impeccable styleboards he creates that are all over Instagram. Demi who's styled the likes of Kelly Rowland, gave me my first opportunity of having my custom made clothes in a music video for Atlanta girl group Sincerely XO in the Spring of 2014". A.J. says he is currently "bi-state" based between Pensacola, FL and Atlanta, Ga.

"I am so proud of my growth, I adore my line, I love making the clothes I make, and though I've accomplished quite a lot for someone only 3 years into this--- there are even more greater things in store for "bonchicfrayedshorts" so stay tuned"! - A.J. Earley

Hey y'all *smile emoji*. So I love AJ and his sassy but sweet personality. He's like a red sour patch kid *heart eyes emoji*. He's so nice and has really great customer service. Like y'all he checked in every day to make sure I received my package, informed me when there was going to be a delay, and went out of his way to figure out a problem I had with my post office. He's really nice and cares about his customers. So like I mentioned I received an item from AJ's line it's a "Sleeveless Ombre Flame Flannel" *fire emoji* that is designed for men but I wanted it because it's cute *heart eyes emoji*. The shirt is made of a nice material it feels so good overall good quality product. If you scroll down a little bit you can see how I slayed in it *nails emoji*. Yes boo slayed. I actually found his instagram through my boo Chrissy Cindy's IG, I love her. After chopping it up with him for a while, I instantly fell in love with his demeanor, he's such a sweetheart and his enthusiasm and passion for his line is just perf. I thoroughly enjoy every conversation with him and I just want him to achieve his dreams. If I had to describe him with one word it's slayage. But no seriously I really love his shorts too. I like wearing shorts a lot to show off my long legs so his line is definitely the truth. Might have to cop me a pair of distressed jean shorts for the summer to show off my summer legs because you know ya girl wants to bless your life. (let me stop being silly). AJ definitely will be a future celebrity designer, you might even see Rihanna in some of his clothes (prays Rihanna sees this and blesses this mans life). I don't care AJ is definitely going to be my first celebrity BFF (don't forget about me when you get big). I want all of you Flexers to go buy something and show me how you rock it and make sure you're on the look out for AJ's new projects.

Check out his social networks:

IG: @boujeelabels

Website: www.bonchicfrayedshorts.com

Email: ode2you@yahoo.com