OUR
STORY.

March 2022. A chance conversation with a friend I knew from the fight world - someone I respected, whose opinion I valued. We talked about life, about ambition, about what it actually means to build something. He gave me a bit of advice. I took it.

The idea had been in my head for a while. An image I couldn't shake - Anderson Silva teep kicking Belfort. One of the most iconic moments in MMA, frozen in time as a design. I wanted to make it wearable. I wanted to make something that meant something.

I found a designer on Fiverr Footloose, based in Indonesia. We worked together to develop the concept, the logo, and the vision for what Bones could be. To test it, I went to H&M, bought a women's soft hoodie, and had the design printed on it. Wore it to an MMA show the same night a friend was fighting. A few people stopped me and asked about it. That was enough. I knew this could work.

In the months that followed, the brand grew slowly. New designs were tested, the logo developed, the vision started to take shape. But then something happened that stopped me in my tracks.

I got a message from Footloose's friend. Before I even opened it, I knew. He had died. He was 29. A guy I had built a real working relationship with, someone I had plans with gone. I took a few days to sit with that.

I found Reza. Another illustrator from Indonesia, someone I have worked with consistently ever since. The way it works is simple - I am the vision, Reza is the craft. Every idea, every reference, every cultural moment we want to capture starts with me. The nostalgia, the meaning, the story behind each piece. Reza takes that and brings it to life in a way I couldn't do alone. Neither works without the other. That collaboration is at the heart of what Bones looks like.

During this period, the brand drifted into being seen as a fighting brand people asking about sponsorships, GIs, fight gear. The niche was there but it was never the point. Bones was never meant to be boxed in. It was always supposed to be something bigger, something more distinct.

The hardest question I kept getting asked by my partner, by people around me was simple. Why? What is this brand's message? What does it stand for?

For a long time, I didn't have a proper answer. I knew I wanted to make something that people wanted to wear, something that looked incredible and felt like it meant something. But that's not a brand. That's a product.

I struggled financially. Photoshoots are expensive. Building without a team around you is hard. I made mistakes expensive ones. I had no playbook, no mentor, no obvious path. Some days sales came in. Other days they didn't. I'm not going to pretend otherwise. This brand has been barely surviving at times and I'll own that, because the grind and the honesty of it is part of what makes it real.

But I kept going. Because somewhere in the noise, I started to find the answer.

I grew up in a small town. I wanted to be a footballer never got the trials I needed, the support wasn't there. I wanted to be a fighter I had a good go at it, fought professionally, built real discipline and mental strength through it. But fighting without financial backing is a grind that taxes your body and your bank account in equal measure. The door kept closing before I could get through it.

What I realised is that Bones is the door I'm building for other people.

Our designs are rooted in nostalgia the icons of the 90s and 00s, the legends of the now. Figures that shaped culture, that meant something to a generation. Growing up in that era, there is so much to draw from. Nostalgia connects people. It always will.

But the surface of the why is the nostalgia. The deeper why is this - we are all just a speck of dust in the atmosphere. One day our bodies will return to the earth. Our flesh becomes our skeleton, and all that remains is the memory of who we were. That's what Bones is about. The skull isn't dark it's honest. It's a reminder that the time you have is finite. Use it.

One day you're the kid being inspired. The next, you're the one doing the inspiring. And at the end of it all, you're the skull.

The original logo was inspired by Versace and the Medusa the idea of a central symbol surrounded by a ring of meaning. For Bones, that became the skull at the centre, surrounded by the B's of the brand.

The circle of B's represents the circle of life. One day you are the kid looking up. The next you are the one others look up to. At the end of everything, you are the skull. The symbol isn't morbid it's a reminder. Every generation passes the torch. Every icon was once an unknown. The circle keeps turning.

The brand is moving in the direction it was always supposed to. You only need to read the reviews to see that something real is being built here. The pieces are connecting. The community is growing.

I am one person. I will continue to make mistakes along the way that is part of the process and I have no issue admitting it. But I am also building a team, because one person cannot build a brand on their own. That is the next chapter.

I look at other brands for inspiration. There are some genuinely talented people building incredible things, and it would be arrogant to pretend otherwise. But what I have always believed is that your brand has to be a reflection of you. Who you are. What you stand for. What you've lived through. You'll see my personality in Bones. That is not an accident.

The goal is simple. Build something that lasts. Inspire the next generation of creatives, fighters, artists and dreamers the way others inspired me. Give people a fighting chance whether that's an aspiring fighter with no financial backing, a designer from Indonesia with genuine talent and nowhere to show it, or just someone who needed to see that it was possible.

If this brand can help nurture others and open doors, that is everything. One day, the kid who buys their first Bones piece might be the icon we put on the next one.