Cultexavier

05/19/25

Who are you?

my name is Exavier Rodriguez, and I'm the founder / creative director of ‘CULT’ (iluvcult) i’m also a Co-CEO / founder of the NEWCHICAGO movement, Model, Creative Director for other brands/artists, and a creative in general and every sense of the word and what it means.

via Instagram (@cultexavier)

What are your main inspirations/building blocks that create your vision for the brand?

Honestly my main inspiration has always come directly from music, most importantly hip-hop and r&b because that's what I grew up with, I know it's kind of crazy as a brand owner to say that instead of fashion but for me it all started in the 2000’s with hip-hop, i just loved the way artists were building their worlds. Then later came seeing my mom dress up to go out and seeing how important fashion was to individuality and a freedom of expression.

Why ‘CULT’?

CULT is something that started with just words and graffiti, I always knew it would be a brand when I first introduced it as a tag and used it on social media.

Everybody always asked what it was and I always said I wanted to start something where everybody can be accepted and free as a creative, which ended up turning into a brand that's a year and a half old now. I love world building and I'm happy and excited to show the world.. MY world.

via Instagram (@cultexavier)

What advice would you have for someone looking to build a world with their brand?

Always start with a ‘why?’, why are you doing what you’re doing and why are the influences that made you who you are so important to make you say “this is what i want to show the world”. There's always room for error and improvement, don’t take the losses too hard and just improve off them, while letting them build your character as well.

What story are you telling with the brand or even your own lifestyle?

Freedom as a creative and individuality. I love bringing worlds together and just making it look dope and cool, to the point where I see other people take influence from me, which is a surreal feeling, especially when other creatives give me my flowers and tell me what I mean to them as a creative.

At Keep, we’re all about giving solid advice to the creatives out there. What is the best advice you could give about owning a clothing brand to someone looking to start, grow, and really know what they’re doing with a brand?

The best advice I can give to any creative who wants to start is to have a vision. It always starts with a vision. When you have that vision, put pen to paper and start jotting ideas about what can be made and what you want to show the world. take ideas from your biggest influences and curate it into your own brand/image if that's what you want to do, always stick out and simply be yourself in your approach.

What did your first ever drop look like? How did it perform and how does its vision compare to what your vision is now?

Honestly, I dropped some beanies with ‘CULT’ on them to actually show people I was serious, I teased CULT and a lot of people from my past life doubted I would ever take initiative into actually making clothes and that fueled me. The beanies sold out in a little more than a week and it was pretty cool. After that I made the ‘X-RATED HOODIES’ and that is still a staple piece of my brand till today. My vision now is definitely really perfecting the world I'm building and I love how much I've progressed as a brand and making the image come to life with clothes and fashion in general. it's art.

What do you think someone needs to have in order to run a clothing brand? Physically or mentally

I think oneself should definitely have creative ideas ready and ready to show the world, mentally the worst thing about starting is the procrastination of starting something and showing it to the world. Of course that comes with judgement and eyes that have never seen what art is like in your eyes, mentally you have to be strong to put YOUR art out and take whatever criticism it comes with, whether positive or negative. I think mental battles that you battle daily that no one knows about are what make you, you. So be proud of what you do and whatever art comes out of that, show it to the world with the utmost confidence and be proud of yourself.

What advice would you have for curating a feed?

If you're going to curate your feed as something cohesive with the same theme throughout, make sure you commit to that because one wrong post can throw it off. If you’re going to curate your feed with more versatility, make sure it's something that catches the eye and makes people realize you are versatile in your approach, be as crazy as you want.

Screenshot of Cultexavier's grid. via Instagram (@cultexavier)

What does your future and your brand's future look like?

Influence and innovation. That's what I'm chasing with CULT. I want the next generation of kids and creatives to take ideas and take certain parts of what i put into the world and realize they can be themselves and make it in life, whether that's being rich, making their family proud, create some dope sh*t, or simply want to influence and innovate new ideas. The future is very bright, in the darkest way, but I love it, that's what makes me, me. and that’s what I'm built for.

Why do you keep going?

making my loved ones proud, making the people around me proud, the support from my loved ones, people around me and people who support me will always keep me hungry. Last but not least, the doubters, the haters and the people who dont wanna see me win motivate me to keep going, because why would I ever let them win? I'm the one with a gift of creativity and freedom to be who I want to be, so why would it not be me to make my loved ones proud? If not me, then who?