Nick Karnel Williams

We’ve never shied away from who we are. We’re not fashion stylists or obsessed with clothing. I still rock my lavalava and jandals, still wear my Kmart shorts and AS Colour tees.

As soon as I could make money as a young adult, I bought the boy racer car, the subs, the clothes, the shoes. I bought colored shirts—even pink ones—the Dax wax, the perfume. But I was still confused about money. I went to work, made it, and then spent it on debt. What’s changed now? Debt’s still part of life, but everything else has taken a major back seat. These days, I make sure I’ve got some clean shoes—usually Nikes or Timberlands if I’m going out. I don’t go out buying fancy suits or custom-tailored outfits anymore. Sure, there was a time early in the business when I did, back when I was unhealthy and overweight. I lost a few pounds mainly just to be able to breathe again, but that lifestyle never really changed.

When it comes to fashion, I wouldn’t call myself stylish—and honestly, I don’t give a shit. The perception of what a wealthy man is… it’s just that—a perception. Like with Jordan shoes—it didn’t matter what clothes we wore as long as we had the shoes. That spoke volumes about how we saw ourselves and made our fashion statements: it didn’t matter what we wore, just that we had a MATAI watch. Nothing else mattered.

We’re privileged to have the community vibe with us on this. It’s gone way beyond cultural relevance. MATAI is a brand that we’re seeing more and more on stage alongside custom attire. It’s crasy to think that people have accepted our brand to that extent.

And yeah, sometimes our own people feel the need to “dress up” for someone else’s standard. They’ll wear a MATAI watch to a formal event as a way of staying connected without feeling out of place. I used to think it was stupid, but I’ve come to accept it. Ideally, we should all feel proud and wear our colors loud, but we still live in a world where people want to be accepted. Most of y’all will wear something else in a different crowd, but if you ever want to feel connected, you’ll choose us. You know you look like a jackass talking about a Rolex around our people. MATAI is a premium brand, but it’s more than that—it’s about connection and transparency, about not pretending to be perfect.

We support our communities, even when we can’t always afford to. What you see is what you get, and that’s how our people roll. We’re one of the biggest brands to hit the culture like MATAI has, and we’re here to make an impact—not just on fashion, but on being relevant and being true to ourselves.

So here’s the takeaway from my random thoughts: Don’t choose when to be brown if you’ve always been about it. Be you, be happy, and let’s set examples of not giving a fuck. We’re not trying to bribe you with fake marketing or dirty money. We’re just showing you our perspective—and that’s why I’ve got this blog. It’s Friday night, and I’m just here talking with you.