#societer

5 years from now, OATW will still be here and still taking over the world. From the basement to the universe.

Meet Toniesha Renee, an entity at OATW that’s greatly impacting Ohio’s culture and slowly maneuvering across the world. I briefly chatted with Renee to learn the true aestheticism behind the brand, OATW. Dive into our interview below and tell a friend to tell a friend.- O

Describe your creative journey thus far.

I joined the company about 5 years when i moved to Cincinnati from Dayton, Ohio. I actually ended up dropping out of college for the third time and just packing a bag and moving to Cincinnati and that's how I ended up here. I bought one of the first hats that he ever made from him when he was still selling them out the back of his Monte Carlo. From that day we met we became really close friends. I began working with floyd as a model for him and then became an intern a few months later. Now I do the styling/ design, as well as social media and some PR for the brand.

When was the OATW idea initiated? Explain the power in the statement "Ohio Against The World."

OATW is actually a  brand extension of the original trademark. It came about because  somebody wrote the hashtag #OATW on twitter one day and we just rolled with it,  but Ohio Against The World  was started by my good friend Floyd Johnson in Cincinnati, Ohio in about 2009-2010. We wanted a way to rep where we came from and show our hometown pride. Ohio Against The World is unifying and it pays homage to where we come from. That simple statement builds a confidence in people here that they may not  have had before; it makes it  us  proud of where we are from. When someone throws on Oatw gear they feel as though they are apart of an elite team and that is so amazing to me. 

  Was this movement intended for everyone or just Ohio natives?

The OATW movement is intended for anyone and everyone who connects with our movement. There are people all over the world that wear and represent Ohio Against The World even if they have never been to Ohio. We've sold to everywhere except North Korea and the African countries. We've gotten orders, but we haven’t shipped there because of embargoes. The beautiful thing about the OATW movement is that no matter where you go in the world i'm for certain you will know someone or run into someone from Ohio. People have an emotional connection to our brand like they have for Nike or Adidas and that to me is awesome. 

  I've noticed a lot of people imitating similar concepts, how do you respond to this?

We are always ahead of the curve so by the time they get around to trying to imitate what we do, we are already onto our next project. We are artist before anything so it’s flattering but we are always creating and coming up with new ideas. They can't keep up.

Last remarks?

We have some amazing collaborations ahead. As of right now we are designing play off t-shirts for the Cleveland Cavaliers and we just finished a collaboration with another Ohio brand out of Columbus called Sole Classics with whom we created the space bomber and new Ohio Against The World blue snapback hats. Those are the two most recent collaborations, we are working on a few other huge projects I wont talk about because I don't to jinx it  hahaha! so you'll just have to keep watching