Life & Work with AR

Today we’d like to introduce you to AR.

Hi AR , we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
i’m from Little Rock, Arkansas. a place that doesn’t get much credit for launching creatives, which probably shaped how i move. i’ve always been drawn to things with taste, things that feel intentional. that instinct got sharpened in the Navy, where precision and purpose aren’t optional. when i came out, i had a clearer sense of who i was and what i wanted to put into the world.
that led to UU, a streetwear label i built in 2020. conceptual drops, a Jeezy co-sign, at one point i was literally selling out of my trunk. the clothes were always rooted in something bigger than fashion.
separately, i started Last.Thursdays, a monthly creative social in LA built around friendship and fellowship. what started as a Clubhouse conversation grew into rooftop nights and eventually a sold-out event at Soho House. it became its own world.
at some point i realized the thread connecting all of it wasn’t streetwear or events. it was curation. taste as a medium. so i came back to Little Rock and started building Curated by AR, a creative identity that holds all of it. products, collaborations, direction. the work keeps evolving, but the intention hasn’t changed since day one.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
smooth? no. but i don’t think it’s supposed to be.
when you’re the investor and the artist, money moves slower than the ideas do. resources are finite when you’re doing it yourself, and a day job keeps the lights on but it’s not built for funding a creative vision.
and then there’s Little Rock. i love where i’m from, but there’s no blueprint here for what i’m trying to do. no ecosystem, no built-in network of people doing this at the level i’m aiming for. a lot of it has been self-directed, self-funded, self-belief. you learn to build the room when the room doesn’t exist yet.
those two things together could easily become excuses. i decided early they’d be context instead.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
i am a curator. taste is my medium. nothing i put out is accidental. intentionality is the thread connecting all of it is.
the work i’m most proud of is The Bag. an elevated tote handmade from vintage military materials. Sean Brown got one and posted it organically. the work spoke for itself.
close behind that is Last.Thursdays. building a room where creatives could find each other and watching it grow into something people genuinely showed up for. i love bringing people together.
what sets me apart is my taste. not style, not aesthetic. taste. the thing you can’t manufacture.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
i’ve always been drawn to design. when i was little i wanted to be a car designer. that instinct never left, it just found different ways to show it.
personality wise, i’ve always been observant. i notice things. what works, what doesn’t, what’s missing. i think that’s where the taste comes from, it wasn’t something i developed, it was always just there.
my parents are a big part of that. my mother is an artist. my father is a general contractor. one builds things you feel, the other builds things you live in. i’m somewhere in the middle. the aesthetic sense and the builder’s mentality. i think that combination is what makes my work feel the way it does.

Pricing:

• $350 per bag

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/curatedx.ar/