Hi, I’m Belwii, the founder of Belarté.
I’ve already shared the story of the brand and where its name came from on the blog. This time, I want to share a little more of myself. The person behind the designs, with his own beliefs and goals, who sometimes struggles with doubt too.
I worked as a chef for 12 years. Throughout those years, street fashion, hip-hop culture and rap were also part of my life. I still listen to a lot of rap today. Streetwear was part of my world long before I started creating my own brand.
Over time, I wanted to express my own vision through clothing. To share what matters to me: freedom, being yourself and the courage to live life on your own terms. That is the approach I bring to Belarté.
LIFE ON MY OWN TERMS
To me, being yourself means doing your own thing without constantly worrying about what someone else will say. It is easy to let other people decide what your life should look like. There will always be someone who says you shouldn’t do something, that it is too late or that you are better off not even trying.
I want to choose my own path.
I feel that the system around us and social expectations often hand us a ready-made script: how to live, when to take the next step and what to aim for. Within all of that, I want to keep room for my own decisions - and my own voice. Sometimes I feel the need to make that voice louder.
In my case, part of that voice finds its way onto clothing. The graphics and words in Belarté carry my views, fears, rebellion and reactions to what is happening around me.
Someone might recognise their own rebellious period in them. Someone else might feel that a phrase describes something they could never quite put into words. Giving people room to interpret a design for themselves matters to me.
I KNOW MY WORTH. I STILL HAVE DOUBTS.
The beginning was a challenge. Building a brand and earning trust take time. At the same time, I never wanted Belarté to become a way of proving my worth to other people.
Adversity has given me experience that I now bring into what I do. Over the years, I have learnt determination and how to keep working towards a goal. But there have also been moments when I thought that maybe I wasn’t cut out for this.
We are human. Even when something matters deeply to us, doubts can creep in. I experience them myself.
Believing in myself helps. Giving myself permission to have ambitions and spend time pursuing them. You could wonder whether there is a little selfishness in that. I think sometimes it is worth choosing yourself too, and taking your dreams seriously.
DUST YOURSELF OFF AND KEEP GOING
When I think about failure, a simple image from childhood comes back to me. We fell over, scraped our knees, then got up and tried again.
I feel that, as adults, we sometimes forget that. One fall can make us question the entire direction we have chosen.
I try to remind myself that I can get back up. Learn something from what happened and take the next step - even if I need time to do it.
That applies to dreams far beyond starting a brand. Everyone has something of their own they would like to pursue. It would be a shame to give it up solely out of fear of failure or someone else’s opinion.
CHAOS TEACHES DEEP PEACE
“Chaos teaches deep peace” is a phrase on a Belarté T-shirt that connects with what I said about adversity. Difficult experiences have given me greater self-awareness, although they haven’t made my doubts disappear.
As you work through one difficulty after another, you begin to understand that temporary chaos does not have to determine your whole path. You learn to approach setbacks more calmly, gather your strength and try again. That is where this deep peace comes from - the experience of knowing that even when everything around you becomes complicated, you can find something within yourself to lean on.
FIND YOURSELF
For three years, the words “Find yourself” have kept appearing in my store.
I see them as an invitation to look within. To think about what we really want, what feels true to us and which path we want to take.
Creating Belarté helps me get to know myself too. I turn the things I feel and the things that move me into designs. That lets me give them a form and share them with others.
I would like someone wearing Belarté to find something they connect with. A graphic, a sentence, an emotion. Something they can interpret in their own way and make part of their own style.
If there is one thing I would like you to take from my story, it is this: don’t be afraid to be yourself. Follow your own path, whatever other people say. After a setback, give yourself the chance to try again and keep believing in yourself.
Life has to be lived on your own terms.
Belwii
Founder of Belarté