This 21YO From Vancouver Was Signed Up By Foot Locker & Says He's The Youngest Canadian To Do So

This 21-year-old switched careers in his late teens and has recently gone on to land a sweet deal with Foot Locker, which will see his Vancouver-born brand in stores across Canada.

Nicolas Budisa started his brand, Our Block Clothing, in 2020 after returning to Vancouver from Portugal.

Budisa harboured dreams of becoming a professional soccer player while in Europe, before embracing his love for designing and choosing to build a streetwear brand inspired by his hometown instead.

The seed of the brand was sown during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite no background in the industry, Budisa got his hands dirty with tools like a heat press and a vinyl cutter to kickstart his clothing line, he told Narcity.

He spent months in his room, creating designs inspired by Vancouver and Burnaby, and the neighbourhoods of Champlain Heights and Killarney. The clothing line was officially launched in July 2020.

As a result of his hard work and dedication to the brand, he "woke up to an email in August of last year from the buyer of Foot Locker Canada," he said.

The brand's representation of Vancouver and its focus on local craftsmanship have been cited as reasons for the call-up by Foot Locker. Budisa is the youngest person to ever land a deal with Foot Locker Canada, he told Narcity.

His clothing brand stands for "collectiveness, respect and pride," according to his website.

"Even at the low points or hard times, I never got too discouraged because I always believed in myself and in the brand's potential," he said about the journey of his enterprise.

You can find these sweet threads at the Robson Downtown Vancouver, Burnaby Metrotown, Surrey Guildford and the Richmond Centre Foot Locker locations.

You can also expect Our Block Clothing to "be expanding across Canada with new designs featuring cities like Toronto and Montreal," said Budisa.

"OBC started very niche and mainly for the people of Metro Vancouver but It's time now after two years of experience to grow outside of the 604," he added.

The Vancouver-based brand aspires to be a sustainable business by printing and sewing at a local level. It has also partnered with Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), the largest cotton sustainability program in the world and 80% of OBC’s garments are made in facilities powered by renewable energy, according to its website.