We had the good fortune of connecting with Serotonin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Serotonin, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I always had the intention of unifying separate cultures. I wanted my brand UNIVERDGE to encapsulate that pulse within the Houston and surrounding communities , EVERYONE has a place in UNIVERDGE, its from the source for the people to embellish in and spread.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

Univerdge is like the nirvana of streetwear, it started with influences of  retro futuristic comics in 2013.., and hyper realistic saturated photos of spacecraft concepts that I studied in college at Texas Southern University,
See Univerdge designs can be metaphysical,  retro futuristic, informative , anarchist , and  yet bare drug lust ..it’s all parallel to my thinking at the time .
Our earlier work  features, like 80’s and 90’s sport cars, beamed up with UFO’s, embroidered on neon colored garments but we have transitioned into more of a couture premise curating 1/1 pieces, jewelry and accessories. It wasn’t this many options years before.
All designs and production  are done in house by Brat(my lady) and myself in our apartment on westheimer of houston. When we don’t feel like driving we catch bus 82 right outside our house down to montrose where we thrift vintage punk t-shirts that we turn into masks.
It’ll be days we have pop ups and I’m finishing a piece right going hard and my lady,  she’d be on that sewing peddle going wild tagging the pieces like it ain’t nothing . I love it honestly . ,
I have a lot of friends who are all genders, races, religions, ethnicities, and ages so I have a very relative reference of how the masses likes to think, feel, & dress so that’s why it feels natural when I make stuff because I know at least 1 person would appreciate it and that’s enough for me,
As an entrepreneur of a black owned business , It’s been such a great lesson, adapting to the market, and  witnessing your brand change taste and class.
I have to pay attention to what I like vs what the consumer like.. and what I see they like more of, I try to provide different variations .. I think that’s what stretches out life… the variables we produces.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Johanna Ledestma aka Brat is my boobie. My #1 Fav Creator and overall greatest human. She’s inspired my taste in fashion, music, culture. and perspective in the world. Also she’s taught me so much that school could never. Like she taught me to sew, make banners, just alot of things that i explore in my day to day creations. I love her and am forever grateful for her.

Image Credits
all taken by @bratworldwide

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