Entrepreneur and artist David Wayne knows the power of fashion statements. His 8-month-old Wantagh clothing shop, I Am Strong Island Merch, is filled with them.
The store name is inspired “by a hip-hop term for Long Island,” he says. It features merchandise — T-shirts, jerseys, snapback hats, shorts and more — beaming local pride.
“I Am Strong Island is basically saying, ‘I’m a representative of Long Island,’ ” says Wayne. “So wherever you go in the world, people see you’re from there.”
Raised in Freeport, where he lives, he is a walking testament to his shop’s message — and apparel. “I wear it every day,” he says.
Wayne launched his line in 2010. “I started with a few T-shirts, and then it grew and kept going from there,” he says.
Alongside clothes emblazoned with Strong Island and Suffolk and Nassau town names, shirts also feature Wayne’s original cartoon characters — including Leroy Lizard and the Martian Twins. Those look-alike aliens date back, he says, to when he used to create graffiti art.
Kubeba the Bear (a distant cousin of Yogi, perhaps?), which sports a cap and sneakers, is another product of Wayne’s imagination. “He’s a hip-hop bear,” he says, with a laugh. “That’s my first character that I drew for the line.” A towering inflatable bear stands outside the Wantagh Avenue shop.
Wayne’s lifelong love for comic books is a source of inspiration. His passion for style and fashion is another. “I’ve been making my own clothes since the ’90s,” he says.
Wayne added that he attended a summer program at Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan. Before his new venture, he ran Central Station in Baldwin for five years.
From his years of experience as a small-business owner, he’s learned some secrets for success. One is affordability. Shirts start at around $20. Pricier items, such as jackets, sell for up to $300.
The other key? “It’s consistency,” he says. “You have to stick with it. When customers know what to expect, they’ll come.”
I Am Strong Island Merch, 2084 Wantagh Ave., Wantagh, 516-234-6059, iamstrongisland.store