Sept. 23, 2020

A Sioux Falls couple who started a streetwear clothing brand based around self-love and self-awareness two years ago has grown the business from their home into its first commercial space, where they hope to also build community.

Wake by Tyler Blake is based out of a warehouse in Tea.

“Our main goal for this space is to create a culture in Sioux Falls for streetwear clothing and self-love,” said Tyler Blake Weathersby, who owns the business with his partner, MonaLisa Perez.

In addition to styling pieces of clothing and selling them, the couple hosts community conversations to help people “realize that they are loved … to get to know themselves and who they are at their core. … The way to improve our community is to improve ourselves so we can improve our communities,” Weathersby said.

Wake does the majority of its sales from its website, theyself.co, so the space on Sunset Boulevard serves as a merchandise warehouse, office and photo studio.

“It’s nice being in this space,” he said. “It feels like we have more creative room and can do more creative stuff for the community. … We were just limited to being in our home.”

The couple had been releasing new pieces every three to six weeks, but they’re planning to increase that to four to six drops a month by the end of the year.

Much of the merchandise is jackets, hoodies and sweatshirts, but their fall and winter collection, which is rolling out in phases, includes a corduroy suit for women that they designed.

“We get a lot of our aesthetic from clothing from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s,” he said.

While Wake’s brand is streetwear, the couple has a goal “to bring in more high-quality designer pieces,” Weathersby said.

The business had a one-day holiday pop-up shop at the Jones421 Building last year, but plans for more sales were put on hold because of the pandemic.

“We do have plans of doing more pop-up shops in the next year once COVID settles down,” Weathersby said.

They’re also planning to restart discussion panels they had been hosting at The Kitchen, which closed permanently in spring because of the pandemic.

“This gives us the room to do these things and get the ball rolling,” he said.

Continuing to grow is definitely part of the plan.

“Our next goal is to outgrow this space in a couple of years.”