‘Yos Apparel’ Founder, Carnegie-Salmon Jr.

“The R.I.P. tee was an accommodation of that event and me transitioning from how I viewed art … that tee was really big for me because it encompassed a lot of things at that time,” graduate student Donovan Carnegie-Salmon Jr. told the Torch in an interview. 

“The designs I put together are anecdotes of my life.”

Now a student in the graduate marketing program at St. John’s, Carnegie-Salmon Jr. plans to “cultivate a movement” with his brand, Yos Apparel, which originated when he was a sophomore in high school.

Drafted in January 2016 [prior to the death of his best friend] and later dropped in June of that same year, the R.I.P tee is inspired by the oil-on-canvas painting, Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus), Salvador Dalí. The painting depicts Jesus Christ in 3-D on the polyhedron net of a hypercube. 

Carnegie-Salmon Jr. recalls a pivotal moment in his life, one he later channeled into his creative process: 

The room has an undertone of bleach, its hues dull and grey. As he pulls back the curtain, there lay his best friend on a hospital bed, unresponsive. An allergic reaction is all it took. Though that friend kept an EpiPen on-hand for self-injection, this time it gave the freshman college student an incorrect dose which put him in a week-long coma. Everyday Carnegie-Salmon Jr. visited, until he no longer could. 

“I wanted to view death differently – I didn’t want to see death as an end, but as a start,” Carnegie-Salmon Jr. explained.

Set up in a rock-tee format, the words ‘Rest In Peace’ are placed in a Metal Lord font, which was inspired by artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.

“I didn’t want to do another piece after that, but then someone else passed. So, I made another tee to symbolize that chapter of my life. Then, someone else passed…,” Carnegie-Salmon Jr. mentioned.

“I wanted a name that embodies what I believe in and can be said in one syllable.” Hence, the name Yos – Your Own Society.

According to him, the brand is about breaking down the societal barriers that are placed on people. “It’s okay to think outside the box. You don’t have to be tied down to things that you believe are true,” Carnegie-Salmon Jr. said.

The designer also envisions Yos Apparel as being more than a collection of garments on a theme. “Ultimately, the goal is to create a conglomerate where I’ll be positioning creatives to make the most out of their craft.”

Carnegie-Salmon Jr. plans to make a label for all various artists, such as photographers, musicians and designers. With this initiative he hopes to “inspire the person that created the change that I wanted to see.”

However, the designer asks the question: “How creative can you be when you have to make money?”

When Carnegie-Salmon Jr. kick-started his business, he only had $200. “If I could do it over I would probably start with [it] at $1,000.”

The designer believes in the vision for his business. “It’s me – nobody has lived the same life I have. I take everything I know that’s a part of my life and I put it in an art form.”

To see a chapter of Carnegie-Salmon Jr.’s life incorporated in YOS Apparel, shop yosapparel.com.