While working downtown at Yellow Rat Bastard, Apollo made trips to Chinatown during his lunch breaks to purchase t-shirts which he would paint and sell, literally off his back, for extra money. “When you’re struggling,” says Apollo, “you’ll give everything to succeed.” Soon he was selling his shirts in shops around town including Metropolis and Patricia Fields. “She was very supportive,” he says of Fields, “very amazing with her blue car and the dog.” He opened a small shop at the flea market on Broadway and 4 th and struck gold the day he was visited by Brittney Spears.

Spears did some shopping and purchased one of Apollo’s signature t-shirts which read “fuck you.com” across the front. “She’s a very nice girl,” says Apollo of Spears, “she loved the clothes.” The now infamous photo of the ex-mouseketeer wearing the shirt turned up everywhere from The Enquirer to CNN. Overnight the place was packed and Apollo could boast of other celeb shoppers like 80’s teen-queen Deborah Gibson and Oz’s Chris Malone.

After a brief stint on St. Marks, “it was like a pregnancy,” he says, Braun gave birth to his current location on Orchard Street. He is the proud owner of both the urban "Apollo Braun" line and the haute couture "Doron Braunshtein" line which has been worn by the likes of Nicole Kidman and Natalie Portman. In addition to his clothes, the Apollo Braun shop carries the work of over 40 designers. He doesn’t seek out designers though, “They find me and I always choose the craziest, funkiest people. There are only a few stores that will give them a chance and I’m one of them.”

The clothes are a throw back to the glory days of New York City circa 1984 with styles ranging from playful Cyndi Lauper to tormented man-hunter, Lydia Lunch. Though some items tend to be on the pricey side there are a lot of affordable gems in the bunch.

Apollo is very happy with the journey he is on. In addition to designing clothes he sees a career in music in his future. “You have to take the risk. If you don’t do it now, you’ll never do it. And then you’ll become 40, then 60, then die.”

Apollo Braun | 193 Orchard Street | NYC Ph: 212 726-8075
On The Web | www.apollobraun.com

Photo Credits:
Makeup: Bella Makeup Artists
Photos: Evan Sung
Model: Suzanne