Shawn Pean, a Brooklyn native, grew up in an environment that differs from the world he lives in today. Brooklyn in the 1990s was truly a concrete jungle that required young people to manage much more than youth problems at a young age. The art of hustling or a fire jump shot were the most popular career paths learned early on. But for Pean, his breakthrough moment came from his time at John Jay High, when he met an extraordinary teacher, Brian Harris; credited as a life changing influence who encouraged Pean to enroll in the school’s robust pre-college law program, ultimately setting the course for his enrollment at the University of Maryland. Like many undergraduates, Pean entertained a variety of majors from Criminal Justice to Aviation before landing on an International Business trek.

As the first college graduate in his immediate family, JCPenney offered Pean a full-time role post-graduation at their Dallas HQ in 2001. Since that pivotal moment, Pean climbed the corporate ladder with a lot of hustle and hard work, leading to barrier breaking moves for a young businessman who often found himself in rooms with little to no diverse representation. In 2003, he was poached by Macy’s for a Senior Assistant Buyer in Men’s European Couture role, bringing him back to New York City. A little over a year later,, he was promoted to the women’s division leading Classic Sportswear. In 2005, Saks called him to run Men’s Footwear during the era of Black and Brown Wall Street shoes. He spent 10 years transforming the department by catering to a younger target audience by ushering in the colorful world of luxury sneakers we see all around us today.

Pean’s undeniable foresight made him a top contender for his next move, as Valentino’s Vice President of Wholesale/Commercial Development for North American Sales, with South America added later. If things couldn’t get any loftier, after almost four years of being at Valentino,  Balmain convinced Shawn onboard as the Managing Director of The Americas, where he was tasked with opening the U.S. Corporate Office and boutiques in Los Angeles, Miami, Las Vegas, and Sao Paulo. He left the House in search of creating a success story of his own. Enter June79, the brand that his brother encouraged him to build, launched during a time when the menswear market had a void and the consumer needed to unsuit in more ways than one.

You’re a unicorn in how you’ve been in the fashion business at a high level since 2005 at Saks, Valentino, and Balmain, and even before that, you were at Macy’s and JCPenney. So how did you pull this off?

Being labeled a unicorn or anomaly in this industry is the highest compliment because there is nothing about my trajectory that is expected. . My ability to pull in the key tenets of my Brooklyn upbringing provided a unique foundation in the way I learned the corporate hustle early on and subsequently, how to navigate these complex industry environments. Since I can remember, I’ve had no choice but to be a quick learner and take on new challenges to build better for myself; if I was capable of doing  that in 1980s/1990s Brooklyn, you can only imagine what I’m capable of in the corporate world.

I worked very hard for a long time and outperforming people around me is core to my work ethic. When I was the men’s shoe buyer, every weekend, I would fly to a new store and spend time training associates to help them better sell the latest and greatest and be back in time to review reports on Monday morning. A bigger role didn’t necessarily equate to less hard work. When I was at Valentino, I spent a lot of time in the stores understanding the needs of the stores and our team to ensure we were delivering what was needed for everyone to be successful. It was about connecting the product to the people, which when looking back, was the right approach to take even if it required more of me.

When you’re alone at a coffee shop and think about your resume, what do you say to yourself? 

Every now and then, I have my Denzel Washington, Training Day moment – “King Kong ain’t got nothing on me,” but honestly, I like to operate from a place of humility. The thing that always sits with me is where I started versus where I am. While there are people that like and respect me, a majority more so respected the position I held. And that was fine with me. I operate from a place of respect toward everyone, Operating from a place of respect towards others, whether the janitor or CEO, this mindset keeps me humble and always reminds me of where I started and reaffirms that I wouldn’t have been in any of my positions if I weren’t doing the right thing.

How do you explain to people who look like you that what you’ve accomplished is also possible for them?

If by look like me, you mean people of color, I would tell them the possibility of success comes with the elimination of distractions. The world has changed a lot since I started and today, there are a lot of distractions with the state of the world from inflated expectations via-social media to incessant societal concerns. Now the individual who may spend more time on tracking likes and chatting with friends during work hours, leading to less productivity and opportunities to excel in the role. All those 20 minute breaks to check up on life, news, and your favorite celebrities, add up. For the person who wants to put in the work and time to see the benefit of their effort come to fruition, it’s definitely possible but not without the right mindset.

In 2020, June79 started to become a reality, but why? Why not take your talents to a different house, which would’ve been a much easier route.

The choice of going back to where I’ve had 20 year of success or going into uncharted waters with June79 was not an easy one. I have a family; I’m a father of three kids now, and when I was making these decisions, my wife was pregnant with our third, so there was a lot of responsibility and stability to consider. But I chose the hard road of launching my own brand because I am confident in my abilities to create a legacy instead of being lost in one. The pursuit of the unsuit is about filling a void and carving out our own path.

The unsuit represents the person that wants to be professional but no longer wants to follow traditional norms. That person still wants to look stylish and be taken seriously. We are bringing awareness that “dressing up” doesn’t have to look the same as before. We can still wear the same fabric you’d find in Brioni, Zegna, Canali, all those heritage brands yet, it looks different; however, it still feels familiar.

Can you explain the meaning behind the name June79 and what convinced you to name your brand that? 

I wanted to pay homage to my guardian angel, my brother June, short for Junior. Part of it is for him, but it also represents more. 79 is the periodic number for gold. Then there’s the golden standard or rule of treating others how you want to be treated. The name speaks to people of a certain standard, quality craftsmanship, and luxury.

How has your background at storied fashion houses helped you with the usual challenges of starting a clothing line?  

I’m fortunate to have a vast network of friends and individuals I can reach out to, to help me understand if I’m looking at things the right way. More importantly, the dialogue has helped me talk through problems out loud. For example, It was easier for me to find a manufacturer and fabric mills because I’m connected to people either running mills or previously worked with them. All the fabric mills we work are Italian, so the fabric is shipped from Italy to New York, and the product is then produced here. Having relationships is why I’m able to do so much in a short period of time.

Tell me about some of the struggles you still faced or are facing no matter your Rolodex. 

Our primary struggle is startup capital to scale our business. I’m confident in my ability to quickly build an organization and turn June79 into a $100 million brand. We are motivated to get in front of the right audience that understands the June79 vision and what we’ve been able to accomplish in Year 1. We are not a tech-driven company or a service-based industry, we are looking for capital investment that sees the financial opportunity in luxury fashion, especially in a more antiquated menswear market. That said, we’ve had major brand moments in our first year and will continue to define an undefined space in fashion and deliver our proof of concept until the time is right for growth.

Where does the June79 brand live? Is it luxury or contemporary? How does it stand apart from all the competition? 

I would say the brand lives in the space of attainable luxury. Relatively, our price points are not high for what you’re getting, but we are past the point of trial. You’re not buying a Zara-priced jacket for $79.95 but a quality $795 jacket made in the USA with Italian fabric, which matters to a large subset of people.

One of our goals is to make luxury fashion approachable and relatable.

Would you have started June79 if Covid-19 and the Pandemic never existed?

I have to give you the Kanye answer. “We’ll never know.” It’s the only answer I can provide; I do believe the universe leads us to certain places, and maybe there are multi-verses elsewhere, where I am a senior executive executing the vision of another brand. We’ll never know because had 2020 not turned into what it did, the world would be a different place.

Brand Instagram: @june79nyc

Shawn’s Personal Instagram: @mr.shawn.p