Our Story

False Idols was born from the ambition of three 16-year-old high school students who wanted to create something meaningful. Kelon decided to start a clothing business, drawing on the experience of his dad and uncle, both of whom had backgrounds in the industry. Kelon’s father had once dreamed of passing down his business to his sons, but those plans never came to fruition after he stepped away from the business. When Kelon shared his vision for a clothing brand, his dad fully supported him, allowing him to use some old heat transfers and a heat press.

Kelon began by using his dad’s heat press and old designs to create their first shirts and hoodies. Among all the heat transfers and logos his dad had, the phrase “False Idols” stood out the most. At that moment, Kelon knew it would be the name of their brand. He brought in two of his friends, who would later become instrumental to the growth of the business. The three had previously run a snack-selling business together at school, which had become so successful and notorious that it was eventually shut down. Starting a clothing business became their next move, and the first step seemed simple: create a great design and get it made. However, as high school students with limited resources, they quickly realized this wasn’t as simple as it seemed.

They started designing using Canva, but the results were underwhelming. It became clear that Kelon had a knack for designing, so he took over that role. Their initial designs were far from perfect but marked a step in the right direction. Kelon began exploring more advanced software, such as GIMP. At this stage, their message wasn’t clearly established. Initially, they focused on putting people they viewed as false idols, such as Drake and Kanye, on T-shirts. Then they thought, What if we created a section of the brand for people who represent free spirit? This led to the idea of a "Revolutionist." Ash suggested using Playboi Carti as an example of a Revolutionist, and Kelon designed a shirt featuring Carti. This was the first design they thought was decent, and they began showing it to people, generating some hype.

Kelon eventually showed the designs to his uncle, who was impressed. To Kelon’s surprise, his uncle offered to get the designs made. This meant they had achieved their initial goal: getting something produced. Kelon’s uncle placed the order, and the team waited patiently for the products to arrive. Two months later, the products arrived, but they were nothing like what the team had envisioned. They had sent the manufacturer a realistic tech pack but were unaware that manufacturers require detailed specifications to create accurate products. The resulting items looked nothing like their designs. Disappointed and feeling like they had wasted Kelon’s uncle’s money, the team saw this as a tough lesson.

Kelon, however, took this setback as an opportunity to learn. He dedicated two weeks that summer to mastering GIMP, designing every day. By the end of this period, he had improved significantly. During this time, he created the first draft of the "Thou Shall Not Worship False Idols" skeleton design. He immediately knew it would be a hit. When he showed the design to his team, they shared his confidence.

Determined not to repeat their past mistakes, Kelon learned how to create proper tech packs. Using a hoodie he had at home, he measured everything and sketched a tech pack from scratch. Though it wasn’t perfect, it was a significant improvement. The team pooled $270—a combination of their savings and pinched pennies—to order samples. However, $270 wasn’t enough for a full production run, so they decided to get samples of two T-shirt designs in two colorways and one hoodie in two colorways. This hoodie became the first version of the Black Skeleton Hoodie.

Their plan was to run a pre-order campaign, as selling the samples themselves wouldn’t break even. They launched their campaign by posting one Instagram post with a reminder and spreading the word around school. On the day of the drop, they made another post featuring flat-lay photos Kelon had taken and edited. The team was confident they would sell out within the first week. But the first week passed, and no one bought anything. The second week passed, and still, no one bought anything. Despite their efforts to promote the hoodies, it seemed as if people weren’t interested. Eventually, they received an order but realized they didn’t have the funds to ship it. They refunded the customer and acknowledged the need for a better strategy.

This realization marked the beginning of their Instagram journey. They started learning how to edit videos using Canva and posted a decently edited video, which surprisingly reached 1,000 views on the first day. Kelon then decided to upgrade his skills further, moving on to Photoshop and focusing on improving the Black Skeleton Hoodie design. He added premium details like pockets, cuffs, and hems.

In a pivotal moment, Ash’s brother generously invested $443 into the business. This money was instrumental in the brand’s next steps. With it, they ordered the second version of the Skeleton Hoodie. By August 2024, they received the 17 hoodies they had purchased. While not perfect, they were much better than their previous products.

This time, the team approached their campaign with a plan. They divided it into five phases: 1) Planning, 2) Photoshoot, 3) Editing, 4) Drop Day, and 5) Post-Drop. They committed to posting a video every day for the two weeks leading up to the campaign. From 30 planned scripts, they used 15, which guided their photoshoots and edits. Kelon handled the editing while Ash starred in the videos.

When Drop Day arrived, they released the product. For the first few hours, there were no orders. In fact, their first online order didn’t come until the next day, and the next one took another week. Still, they persisted, continuing to promote their product. Eventually, they sold out all 17 hoodies.

And that’s the story so far.