A Nottingham man who set up an independent clothing label has spoken about his pride at the rapper Canadian Drake's dad being pictured wearing one of his designs. Peter Banton, 35, created MoneyBaggs Clothing 10 years ago.
The urban clothing range features many different designs including T-shirts, hoodies and backpacks with the distinctive logo on them available in predominately black and white. However, the brand started to gain even more attention with the release of its most recent design, the Lives not Knives T-shirt.
The T-shirts have appeared on several celebrities including Dappy from N-Dubz and Drake's dad. Peter said that his proudest moments have been seeing celebrities wearing his T-shirts and that has had incredible feedback from customers.
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Peter said: My proudest moment was when I got my t-shirt on Dappy which is what got us recognised. After that, we got the t-shirt on Westwood and also the hosts who were leading an NBA Lakers commercial were also wearing my t-shirt. But my biggest moment was when Drake's Dad wore one of my t-shirts."
Drake's dad Dennis Graham posted a snap of the T-shirt on his Instagram. His Instagram has more than 382,000 followers who follow him for insights into his music and life with his famous son.
So how does a T-shirt from a Nottingham-based company end up being worn by the Memphis-based father of one of the most famous men in modern music?
"My artist who designs for me is also a part designer for Ecko and a lot of artists in America. So because he has designed for them, that's how I got most of my connections," he explained.
The Lives not Knives T-shirts designed by the brand have been shared across social media bringing the brand a lot of attention. Peter Banton was inspired to make the design after noticing what he described as an increase in knife crime over the years in his local area.
He said he would like to give a portion of the sale from the T-shirts to Helping Kids Achieve which is an initiative run by Keiran Thompson in Nottingham. The aim of the government-funded Community Interest Company is to provide high-quality sports-related qualifications, advice and mentorship. Helping Kids Achieve, which is based in Bulwell, hopes to empower young people, especially those aged between five and 17.
"I designed the T-shirts because I live in an area where there is a lot of knife crime going off. I thought by doing the clothing, I could do a good deed and put something out there that could help get the message out. I felt because I was doing clothing, it would be a great idea to do T-shirts," Peter Banton explained.
He added: "There has been a really good reaction from people. I also got the T-shirt on DJs like Richie Fingers who plays a lot of music in London. He is always wearing my T-shirts and people love the designs. I also gave away about thirty T-shirts too. I wanted to do a good deed and give back to my community."
When it comes to the future, Peter is keen to bring more uplifting messages to the community and also share more positivity. I want to bring more positivity to my community with the message I've been sending out. Hopefully, things will keep going in the right direction."
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