Welcome to CAMP LEMON

The first photoshoot of the CAMP LEMON.

CAMP LEMON came into my head a while back when I was talking to my aunt Monique about what I wanted to do with the brand next. It was definitely t-shirts. Summer was coming up, I wanted something that people could wear and connect with even further than the tags, but what to create?

Then it became incredibly obvious. One of my childhood obsessions — Percy Jackson, Camp Half-Blood. It represented a very similar idea to what I'm trying to create with LEMON. The community, a place of misfits, a place where anyone is welcome. The camp that I wanted to create would grow overtime, but for now it was a group of close friends. My friend G was generous to let me shoot this shot in his backyard, which just happened to match the exact vision of the poster I wanted to create, featuring Cesar, G, and Leo.

The collection was an amalgamation of three ideas — Percy Jackson's Camp Half-Blood, Gravity Falls, and my memories from being in the Cub Scouts as a kid. That's where the patches came from, and the pine tree that's split in half on the tees and the patches. The bracelets were something that I had in my mind for a long time as well, something about those silicone bands you used to get as a kid in school, that I wanted to recreate. Something that didn't need to be taken off, that could be showered with -- and it turns out that's how it worked out that way too. My therapist, close friends, and even my good friend/client that I do freelance media for all have worn the bracelet for days without removing it. Each with their own reason, but the bracelets say "NOT DEFINED BY FLAW" and I like to think it's a reminder to them, like it is to me, to not judge, to be patient, and to be kind.