Syracuse commit Kiyan Anthony reveals the story behind his "off-court hustle" with his high school best friend
Kiyan Anthony, a future Syracuse star and son of NBA legend Carmelo Anthony, is not only making waves on the court but also demonstrating a knack for business off the court. Anthony and his friend Jadyn are the co-founders of One Way Clothing, an apparel brand they started in 2023.
Anthony, a Long Island Lutheran High School standout, recently sat down with former Oregon guard Deja Kelly on the "Nilosophy" podcast to discuss the intricacies of his clothing company and how he juggles being a student-athlete and entrepreneur at such a young age.
"So my clothing brand is me and my best friend. We started it in 2023," Anthony said (Timestamp: 4:33). "He stopped playing basketball out of high school, so he's a sophomore in college, and we just started it. He's really locked in on the brand. I feel like me being on the court, the clothing brand is kind of like a side hustle—that’s what I'm really locked in on when I'm not on the court."
Kiyan Anthony's plans for his clothing brand in the future are to make partnerships with Syracuse University — where he will continue his athletic career — and other top brands.
"So, just trying to connect in any way possible. But the brand has definitely been going upwards like crazy this past year," he added. "We've been getting more sales than ever, a lot of followers on Instagram. So just trying to continue to build it and continue to connect it with me."
The Instagram page of One Way Clothing has over 19,000 followers and continues to rise as Anthony approaches his freshman season with the Orange.
Kiyan Anthony started small but grew the brand into a six-figure success
Kiyan Anthony celebrated his second anniversary of his clothing brand, One Way Clothing, in February. Along with his childhood best friend, Jadyn, the pair has been able to grow it into a six-figure business.
In an Overtime series titled "The Evolution," which aired in September last year, Kiyan Anthony discussed how their brand came to fruition.
"When we started in February of 2023, I had just transferred to my new school and my friend, he was going to college," Anthony said. "We didn’t really have nothing to do. We was always into fashion. So we was like, 'Why don’t we just try a clothing brand and we just did it?'"
Anthony himself has over one million followers on Instagram, which helps One Way Clothing reach a large audience. His mom, La La, also occasionally promotes the brand on her Instagram, which boasts 15 million followers.