Our Story
Equris first started in 2016 by Deante Howard as a brand designed to express the culture that he grew up around in the inner parts of Kansas City, Mo, but through the lens of God's love. A lot of urban brands perpetuate ideas that make the hood the hood. Typically you would see designs promoting things from violence and hate to drugs and sacrificing morals for dollars. He was searching for a brand with a higher purpose, something that expressed his faith BUT also was still stylish and not cheesy. Since he couldn't find anything, and he happened to have a passion for art, fashion and the culture, after prayer and consideration he decided he would create that brand.
His prayer lead him to James 2:14-26. After reading "faith without works is dead" and then also it mentioned, if a brother or sister is without clothes that you should do something about it, that was a divine answer for him and he made his first design. With a box of T-shirts in the trunk of his car, he would spread the message of his brand and mission throughout the city; from spoken word events, local concerts to pop up shops, thus starting him on a path to create one of the top Christian Streetwear brands available on the market today.
Our mission is Evangelism through fashion, encouraging others to press closer to the Son, no matter the cost! Our designs are heavily influenced and inspired by the living Word of God and then transformed into engaging designs. From personal experience, I know how difficult it can be for someone to share their experiences of faith, preach the gospel or even just talk about Jesus. So we thought and prayed on how can we get into more conversations about Jesus. The answer - fashion. Before you ever say a word, your clothing can speak volumes. So with intention, we specialize in making clothing that allows people to be walking billboards for their faith so that they can become beacons of light and hope.We use bright colors and bold designs to catch people's attention. Rather it's a t-shirt, hoodie, hat, or a jacket, you're going to get the same question over and over, "What does that mean?" And then you get to tell them, effectively sharing the Gospel and Love of Jesus. We hope to bring glory and worship through design and encourage relationship with Christ. We deliver the same message as any Christian clothing brand except we also focus on Fashion. Where we stand apart is, we don’t just put a scripture on a t shirt. We design trendy apparel. We don’t compromise in our message, in design, or in quality.