In downtown Los Angeles, Madhappy’s four co-founders Noah Raf, Peiman Raf, Joshua Sitt, and Mason Spector are quietly building a fashion brand that paints a brighter vision for our industry. The design collective is dedicated to tackling mental health through hoodies, track pants, and everyday basics that promote positivity.

This comes across in the bold colors and branding behind the newly-launched Classics by Madhappy collection. If you recognize the signature hood stitch detailing, it’s because the collective has been working diligently to make their presence known. Since its 2017 launch, Madhappy created immersive pop-up stores in LA, NYC, Miami, and beyond, partnered with with LA eatery Jon & Vinny’s on limited edition items, and amassed a cult Instagram following with customers who identify with the brand messaging and product.

This is only the beginning. Madhappy reportedly secured a substantial investment in their first round of seed funding to take the vision to the next level. Today, the brand is using this capital to relaunch its website complete with a new basics line and a health and wellness blog that focuses on mental health and wellness. The site will include interviews from celebrities and influencers addressing mental health, and later this year, Madhappy will launch a podcast and panel discussions centered on the issue.

We caught up with the four designers to hear more about the emerging brand.

What attracted you to pursuing a career in the fashion industry?

Noah Raf: Growing up, I’ve always had an appreciation for clothing and admired designers like Consuelo Castiglioni, Raf Simons and Haider Ackermann. These artists inspired me to start a clothing line with my partner Mason in high school called US by Mason & Noah. We used that as a learning experience to see what went into the entire process: from creative to development, to production and fulfillment. This was my first glimpse into how much hard work is needed for a brand to successfully launch.

What brought the four of you together? How do you divide responsibilities?

NR: Peiman and I are brothers. Mason is a close friend and my first business partner in high school. Joshua was roommates with a friend in college. We all came together and discussed the concept of Madhappy in late 2016 and launched it in 2017. My role in the company is largely focused on leading the brand strategy and overseeing all creative with Mason and Chuck (Madhappy’s lead designer), while Peiman and Joshua actively work on the operations and production.

How would you describe the Madhappy brand?

Peiman Raf: Madhappy is a community of optimists. The brand and everything we do is centered around positivity. To that extent, our goal is to create products and experiences that uplift people physically, mentally and spiritually. We do this with a strong focus on mental health awareness both through our online and in-store activations and through the products we release.

You’ve largely built your following through collaborations, pop-up shops, and social media. Why does this approach to building your business model sense for you?

Joshua Sitt: We grew up in the age of social media, so we wanted to find an organic way to make our brand resonate with our generation and community. Madhappy is able to make a much larger impact through the amplification of the internet, making our team better able to grow the brand and foster a connected community of optimists. We appreciate the pop-up model because it gives the brand a chance to bring our online community into a physical space and engage with different cities across the globe. Since inception, people have strongly resonated with our message and were eager to be involved in our launch parties, panels, and pop up experiences. Our team feels that it is incredibly important to give our consumers both online and offline opportunities to engage with Madhappy. Lastly, we believe that collaborations are key. These brand partnerships allow us to work with companies and people that we admire, creating special, limited-edition, releases that both consumer bases love.

Why is it important for the brand to put an emphasis on mental health?

Mason Spector: Mental health was always a priority for us. For us, Madhappy started as an optimistic outlet for people to engage with, in any capacity they wanted to: clothing, pop-ups, events, social, or simply the brand’s mission. While mental illness has been a long-time issue in our society, this has been exacerbated and become more apparent with the rise of social media. As a team, we understand the impact of social media and the issues that our generation is hurdled with. Madhappy was created as a positive platform, both physically and digitally, to combat the issue of mental illness through the power of optimism. With this goal in mind, our brand intends to continue to grow this message and increase our impact on this issue in the coming years.

What’re you doing to combat issues around mental health and wellness?

J.S.: We are acting both online and offline. Madhappy will be releasing a blog with dedicated resources and original content, working with celebrities, partners, and professionals alike to improve everyone’s collective mental wellness. We want to provide accessibility to resources to as many people as possible and continue to build out a comprehensive and ever-progressing access point. We will be launching a podcast and texting service focused around mental health and wellness. We will continue our offline endeavors including our pop-up panels on mental health and intend to add more group meditations throughout the coming year.

What can visitors of the brand expect with the new site relaunch?

N.R.: The new website will be content-heavy and feature the full release of the Madhappy Basics line. We have worked hard to create an amazing shopping experience. Moreover, we are launching the blog focused around mental health, interactive looks into all of our pop ups and a lot more!

What’s the next step for the brand?

P.R.: This is just the beginning. We have new partners on board that will help us continue to build this incredible community and make as big of an impact as possible. We will continue releasing new and improved products that people appreciate. We will work with more phenomenal companies with strong missions that align with our vision.

Discover the full collection at Madhappy.us