Quality fashion designers in Houston are hard to find it seems. We’re living in an era where clothing brands are being created from left to right. With a new designer coming out of the woodwork every day, the industry‘s been full of quantity over quality. With no true care for the passion behind the product, you probably find a real designer every blue moon, like today. WES WES the Mo City designer has been known for his heavily detailed custom shoe collection that you’ll see someone wearing around the city. Ranging in all kinds of Colorways to Colorways with each shoe having a meaning and unique design. Wes sits down with us to explain his thought process behind the Prodeus brand and his background
Going back to the seventh grade, Wes has always been designing and artistic. Originally wanting to be a tattoo artist, Wes would have rubbing alcohol with a pack of sharpies to tattoo kids in school, while charging them at the same time, making his lunch money. Wanting to upgrade from sharpie to needle gun, Wes asked his mom to cop him a needle gun on some wild shit, (thank God that didn’t happen), so he stuck to Drawing with his sharpies. But aside from drawing and tattoos Wes also had hoop dreams, which came to an end after a realization as he says “I kept it a bean with myself, you barely can dunk, on and off of injuries, you at a new school, just go ahead and give it up now.” I guess everything happens for a reason, if Wes would’ve kept on hooping, we would have never gotten a Deus shoe.
Originally being from Ridgemont Texas, Wes moved to Mo city and attended Elkins high school but was disappointed in the fashion scene, “everything was about a name brand, wearing trash hype shit… So I came in with the crazy shoe game and just needed to switch my drip.” So while working at sonic and stacking up his paper, Wes bought a heat press machine and a vinyl cutter with momma dukes backdooring to complete the set up with a sewing machine. With all this equipment Wes became official, having an arsenal to create any piece he wanted in the 10th grade! Being able to customize all of his clothes began to catch his friends and peoples attention around the school. The notoriety really struck one day when Wes put together that one hot piece. “I made this windbreaker that I made out of a plain North face jacket, and I put different gold patches all over it… That became a hit around the school, like everybody buying my shit, students, teachers, all the counselors. This being the first time his work’s being acknowledged on a grand scale, feeling surreal.
Staying in the loop since a jit, Wes was heavily known as a Shoe Reseller. Presented with a huge opportunity, Wes ended up operating “StaticSelect” which was a shoe store in Sharpstown mall, when it was really Sharpstown mall, around 2019. “I accomplished one of the things on the top of my bucket list” Wes explains how he felt running a shoe store. Sadly in the mist of gaining knowledge and growing as a certified shoe head, Covid hit and caused a massive shut down for all in-person businesses. It all ended up working in Wes’s favor though, seeing that now everything is online, Wes took all that he learned with everyone that he knew and put together Prodeusstudio online.
After receiving backlash from OG sneaker head facebook Group chats, Wes was nervous to release his first shoe with the new rebrand he’s started. “I dropped them at 12 AM, then I put my phone on DND and went to sleep.” Wes says, explaining how his first official shoe drop went. Putting in so much time and effort with his passion finally paying off, his first shoe drop looked like an overnight success story. “I woke up to Mayhem”, Wes explains, the morning after releasing his shoe. Giving big love and shoutouts to his first customer who purchased at 12:01 AM “Lil June made the beat”, yes the! Megan Thee Stallion’s number one producer, “a multi Grammy producer with my first purchase”, Wes shouts gratefully. With Julian showing love Wes’s first shoe release sold out in three days…on some Kylie Jenner drop shit. “You got to live your life like a fairytale”, Wes continues to speak expanding on how his faith has taken him to the places he’s always dreamed about.
Gradually growing overtime, there’s always some obstacles that try to hinder you, so we ask Wes what’s been his. His answer “consistency with production… We all have creators block and what not, but actually getting it made is different. Trusting the right people to bring the idea to life is the hardest.” Luckily for Wes, his manufacturer and him have been seeing Eye 2 Eye from the get-go, as he says “they wasn’t willing to work with anybody, and I just presented my idea, but since I was so specific with the design I wanted, down to the tee, they did… it’s really what is the longevity of us. What can we really accomplish with the shoe game, I wanna change it.” Continuing passionately about his process and vision, Wes says “if I gotta do some shit halfway bro I don’t wanna do it… That’s why I haven’t dropped any clothes yet, I got a wardrobe full of clothes behind me that I haven’t dropped yet.” Continuing on about his interest in clothing “I’m big on fabric, cuts, and finishes, I don’t care much for print.” Speaking nothing but fax, Wes breaks down some cultural issues with the current fashion. “I really rock with brands who care about that quality, what are you giving your customers? The more money your customers give you the more you can put into your brand. A lot of brands get lazy, I’m gonna make all this money, but I’m gonna keep giving them the same product over and over…. I can’t do that.”
“Q, he asking why i name Prodeus, Prodeus”, Wes says to his friends before breaking down the definition behind his brand name. Being into Greek mythology all of his life, and understanding his ability to do everything, Wes took interest in Zeus, the God of all elements. Understanding that he personally had the ability to do everything and at the same time being the second coming of someone who could do all things (his father), Wes created the name Deus. Deus being the base name, he adds Pro in front to symbolize the ability to make any negative situation into a positive creation, creating https://prodeus.studio/. Wes has always taken his brand extremely serious, with it being his life story, he never half asses it to give himself a bad name.”I’ve got some of my craziest paintings when I was going through the worst shit. That’s why i named it Prodeus, I’m creating goods with my pain.”
The capacity to keep working is paradoxical at times for Wes, as he said before he turns his darkest times and transmits it into creating art. “Sometimes when I’m too happy, I’ll be like damn what the fuck going on? I can’t create shit… It’s not like I try to stay sad, but fuck, where the art at?” Being in pain is one way he stays impelled to keep creating, another is whenever he’s in a good headspace.
Being a lifestyle kind of guy, Wes draws inspiration from “people who live wavy lifestyles, like Erykah Badu, Pharrell, Alicia Keys, people who live a nice tainable lifestyle behind the scenes, but their work is so loud.” Not forgetting to mention Mr. West as well as the late Virgil Abloh who plays a big role in him having confidence in his brand. “Virgil really made me ok with putting my ideas out, he let us know that no idea is too big or small.” Besides inspiration from celebrities Wes is really Inspired by people and conversations.
Seeing That Wes’s journey is only still in the beginning phases, his goals for the next few years are to open his clothing franchise and have a few stores in a few cities, and in the end, retire in Paris living comfortably and freely from Prodeus producing.
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