College is a prescribed path for most—get your degree and hit the requirements along the way. But what if your professional life started before your college career? That’s the case for Chandler Abbey, one of the founders of Keto Provisions and current UCLA freshman. His clothing/lifestyle brand, Keto, features refined, street style pieces that channel the founders’ Southern California roots. Chandler elevates the brand’s kick-back approach with his artwork’s minimalistic aesthetic, a refreshing feat in such a dynamic fashion world.
Name: Chandler Abbey
Role: Student, Business Owner
Collegefashionista: When did you get the idea to start your own brand?
Chandler Abbey: When I was younger, I would follow brands. I can remember being really young like, third grade, and I was knee deep in Abercrombie. So I was always into branding and then in high school, my co-founder, Brian, and I met in math, and he messaged me one night and was like, “Dude I’ve seen some of your graphic work and it’s pretty sweet; we should start a brand.” We teamed up and yeah, here we are.
CF: How has the brand evolved since it started?
CA: The logo has changed three times since we started, because you like different things as you get older. We ask ourselves, “Is this [going to] sell?” But a lot of the time the work just reflects what I’m into as an artist, so it’s kind of just a combination of the both, you know?
CF: What’s a typical Keto photo-shoot look like?
CA: They’ve all been pretty different, sometimes we have photographers with us, sometimes I do them; it just depends. But no, it’s pretty informal. Although, it’s been getting much more professional as of recently. Now we actually have been getting into photo labs for product photos—lighted and professional. There’s always a concept we aim for. Like the next one is surrealist desert vibe. It’ll be pretty cool. It’s kind of a unique thing. We’re shooting in Joshua Tree so hopefully our vision will carry out.
CF: Where do you see Keto going after college?
CA: Well the goal would be to have this be my primary thing you know. Isn’t that always the goal? I’m looking at the entrepreneurship minor and hopefully with my design media arts degree, I’ll be able to focus on management. I’ve been able to work with everything so far but eventually I want to stick to running it.
Learn More: To be so young and yet such a visionary is a brilliant reminder that youth is nothing but an asset to achieving success. Through dedication, passion and grit, Keto has developed into a full-fledged career, making Chandler an art student by day and a business owner by night. Not only is the brand’s coastal vibe so relevant among current trends, but Keto’s vintage touch gives their products the unkempt cool our generation needs. With the launch of their refurbished site, Keto Provisions is ready to take on the fashion scene.
