Carmen Macri
Words by Carmen Macri
“I’m so proud to be from the South. I think Florida, for whatever reason, gets a bad rap. But to me, this is the best. And I’m so proud to be from Florida and to be in this region of the world — the Southeast. It’s so authentic. It’s unlike anything anywhere else. Even when it comes to our color palettes; you can see a pastel and you can feel it, whether it’s the pinks or the blues, there’s just so much identity that happens within this region,” said Kasey Faver, founder of Southern streetwear brand Lafavre. “We say the South got somethin’ to say, but I also think that’s a frame of mind. Yeah, geographically we’re in the South, but at the same time, southern hospitality is a very real thing, and I think having a southern state of mind is so cool.”
Before building his own local empire, Faver was grinding it out in construction, sweating through long days under the relentless Florida sun. The job wore on him, and eventually, he knew it was time to pivot. He’d always been drawn to clothing, not just fashion, but lifestyle streetwear. And as a Florida native, he saw the untapped potential right here in Jacksonville.
He was living in San Francisco at the time, having relocated for work, when the idea hit him like a freight train. This was it. All or nothing. He had the vision — now it was just a matter of making it real.
“I remember when I had the idea, I was on a cool hike, Will Rogers State Park in L.A., because when I was out there, I was going stone cold sober, no smoking, no drinking, clear head. I needed some clarity,” Faver recalled. “So I would just go hiking for hours. And there was a specific hike on a specific day where I was walking on this amazing trail, and finally, I had the epiphany. I always enjoyed clothing. Why don’t I just see what I can do and create my own storyline with my own product and my own fashion brand? And I was just like, there it is, that’s what I want to do. And I remember calling my best friend Joe, and I was like, I got it, man. I think I’m going to start a clothing brand.”
Faver didn’t waste any time. He picked up the phone and called his dad — also his boss at the time — to pitch the idea. He braced for some pushback (because let’s be real, quitting your job to chase a new dream on a random Tuesday doesn’t usually go over easily). But to his surprise, his dad was all in. Not only did he back the move, he offered to keep Faver on salary for a year while he got the business off the ground, with one condition: pay it all back once things took off.
Lafavre officially came to life in 2019. At the start, it was nothing more than a simple website stocked with a few graphic tees and corduroy hats. Word spread fast, though. Early on, people would hit up Faver directly to commission pieces, and he’d make it happen, sometimes literally handing off the goods in a parking lot. Grassroots hustle at its finest.
When it came to sourcing, Faver made it a point to keep things close to home. He sought out local factories and made sure his materials were all U.S.-sourced. For him, keeping it local wasn’t just a detail — it was part of the brand.
“I would say 95% of it is made in America. More specifically, hats in North Carolina and Georgia. T-shirts, sweats and fleece, either in Pennsylvania or Florida. I try to keep everything as close to home as possible,” Faver shared. “I just want to make everything domestically. I don’t want to go overseas. I want to go to the factory, I want to see the people that make it, establish these relationships and be able to support them. It’s a dying industry these days in America. But whenever I walk on a sewing floor and I see the people that are actually knitting or sewing, that stuff is so powerful. It is so cool to be able to see the people who have dedicated their lives to this craft.”
Lafavre started out as a southern lifestyle brand, rooted in Florida culture but designed to resonate far and wide. Think timeless vintage aesthetics — looks that never go out of style. From the beginning, it wasn’t about chasing trends. Faver stayed locked into the brand’s original identity, always paying homage to its southern roots while keeping the vibe classic and clean. But eventually, Faver found himself drawn to another market —collegiate— and he knew there was an opening.
The college lifestyle angle really took off after Faver partnered with the University of Florida. He was hustling hard, knocking on every door he could to break into the market. Eventually, he landed a meeting with the university’s licensing director and laid it all out. She was intrigued but hesitant — she liked the vision but needed to see more of a plan.
Thinking fast, Faver pulled out his laptop and queued up a short film he had just produced. It was peak Florida — jumping off the Mathews Bridge, firing guns in the swamp, the whole nine. But more than the wild visuals, the film told his story. And that’s what sealed the deal.
“And then she was just like, ‘It’s great. You know what the best thing is? What’s missing in the college sector? Lifestyle,’” Faver recalled.
From there, everything snowballed. One door opened another, and before long, Lafavre landed the ultimate Jacksonville collab — the Jacksonville Jaguars. The team gives out exclusive season ticket member boxes packed with Jags merch, and one day, the person in charge hit up Faver to see if he could design hats for them. He didn’t blink. Of course, he was in. Faver was already a familiar name around the building — plenty of Jaguars staffers were rocking his unlicensed gear long before anything official came into play.
But these had to be perfect. Working with corduroy is tricky to begin with and finding just the right shade of teal? Even trickier. It took a lot of trial and error, but they nailed it. And when the hats finally landed, the response was instant — the entire Jaguars staff wanted in. Next thing he knew, they were making hats for the whole team and setting up meetings to have them sold at the stadium.
“It’s just a dream come true. You know what I mean? A fifth-generation Palm Valley kid, diehard Jags fan, walking through the door with a mood board and hoping that they can see something,” Faver explained. “But I gave a great pitch, and then the NFL approved the application. They were so great to work with because honestly, what they said was, ‘You roll with this like you do, we just want to sprinkle a little bit of Jaguars on this.’”
The brand hasn’t slowed down since. Lafavre continues to grow, and while it’s already carved out a loyal following across the South, Faver and his “small but mighty” team of five have their sights set on a much bigger map. The mission now is to take that southern-rooted identity and push it coast to coast.
Right now, the brand is proudly flying the flag for southern culture — gritty, authentic and unapologetically bold. But with the momentum from college collaborations and a clear vision in place, Lafavre is well on its way to becoming more than just a regional favorite. It’s shaping up to be a nationwide name.
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