AKRON, Ohio — When three kids from Akron join forces to elevate sneaker and fashion culture, you get the platform UNKNWN. Co-owned by Frankie Walker Jr., LeBron James, and Jaron Kanfer— the trio recently opened their second brick and mortar location in their hometown.
3News reporter Kierra Cotton spoke with Kanfer who called the store's opening a full circle moment.
"I'm happy that we are able to make this happen," he said." The idea started here. We've been in business for ten years and we always wanted to come back to Akron. That was always our vision,"Kanfer explained.
As for how UNKNWN became the staple that it is, Jaron says it was a journey symbolic of the brand itself.
"So our logo is a road about your journey in life. Your journey is unknown," he said. "We saw all these worlds coming together in fashion, sports, music, technology. And so our tagline is The sport of fashion."
But UNKNWN is selective when it comes the brands they carry and support. They want to insure they’re aligned with the company's mission.
"For the brands that we select that we work with, it really starts with who is behind the brand, what designer, you know, who's the face of the brand, what do they represent? And we want to align with people that have the same vision that we have," Kanfer explained.
Kanfer says that’s important because it’s not all about the outfit you put together, it’s about impact.
"We connect brands to consumers through experience and that is more than just coming in and buying a t-shirt. That's about what programing we do." he said.
In addition to fashion, UNKNWN also hosts unique experiences and activities including yoga, hiit workouts and running workshops.
"So when we came to the city of Akron, we want[ed] to come right to downtown, or we can bring this these positive programing that we do and and do that here as well.
And ultimately, their hope is to inspire others.
"I hope they feel inspired. I hope anyone does. I don't care if it's, you know, a young kid who's just getting into the game or someone who has, you know, a huge brand with multiple doors. It's really about being inspired," said Kanfer.
If you want to check out UNKNWN it's open daily 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. And it’s located at 199 S Main St. directly across from Lock 3. For more information, click here.
*Editor's Note: The video in the player above is from a previous ,unrelated report.