Leonard Gant II is a sophomore at Florida A&M University studying business
administration.
Gant has been a military child his entire life, but he knew when he was in high school
that he wanted to attend FAMU’s School of Business and Industry.
Being a military child was not easy. He lived in 10 different states growing up and went
to five different schools. There were two different areas that he really called home:
Lorton, Virginia, and Louisville, Kentucky.
“I feel as if those areas shaped and molded me to become the young African American I
am today,” Gant said.
When Gant was in middle school, he found his love for fashion. He always told himself
that he would build his own clothing line.
“I always liked catching attention with my shoes or some type of new clothing. I
remember when I was in elementary school, I’d take restroom breaks in class just to
walk around the school so people could see my new shoes or my new outfit,” Gant
said.
Growing up he was able to surround himself with the culture of composites, Helly
Hansen, and streetwear in general. Gant took his fashion seriously because of what
people would say about his looks.
He grew accustomed to putting nice outfits together.
“I was fascinated by the way Supreme had the streetwear game. People were buying
anything they sold just because it had Supreme on it,” Gant said.
During Gant’s senior year of high school he wanted to turn his dreams to reality.
“Started to make my brand ‘Fan of Me’. Made me become really engulfed in the
streetwear scene and thought it would be fun to start my own clothing brand,” Gant
said.
Wynton Johnson, a sophomore at FAMU, is also a business administration student. “To
see Leonard, build his brand from the ground up has truly been an experience. I have
learned so much from all the conversations we’ve had about him starting his ‘Fan of
Me’,” Johnson said.
Gant began to promote his brand by starting out with one t-shirt for sale. Now he has
hoodies, sweaters, pants, jackets, etc. He also started a group called ‘Fan of Me'(FOM).
“It used to always be in my head, ‘What if nobody wears my clothes?’ I grew to learn if
nobody supports your brand, your family and closest friends will,” Gant said.
Nevoy Shepherd, a sophomore at FAMU, is a broadcast journalism student. “Leonard
always dreams of starting his own business and to see him make it happen puts a smile
on my face,” Shepherd said. “I remember as a child he used to always make designs up
in his head and he used to say I have my own clothing line and that he did.”