One comment sums up the impression Everard Best makes on anyone who sees him. “Why are you so cool?” one of his followers on Instagram asks one on one of his photos. Dressed in black leather pants, blue sneakers and a cone-shaped hooded coat covering his face, Best exudes the type of dark minimalist persona that has taken over urban wear.

Best’s magnetic presence on social media is attracting the interest of young people looking for the next “cool.” He is an influencer. And it is that role that is helping him achieve things far beyond what he saw coming.

Best, 19, splits his time between being a full-time Baruch College sophomore and being the creative director of his clothing brand Lease on Life Society. Brought into fruition in the summer of 2010, Best landed on the name from the idea that one can always “renew their lease” in life. “Some people say it might sound cheesy, but I don’t really care. That’s my vision,” Best says.

Lease on Life Society is an urban streetwear brand that combines goth aesthetic with street cool. Best’s third and most recent collection for Spring/Summer 2013 includes black and white draped tops with faux leather touches, leather caps, and black stained sweat-shorts, all looks that fit the current “street-goth trend” that is popular among fashion enthusiasts.

But Best, who is originally from Brooklyn but currently resides in Valley Stream, Long Island, is not looking to follow trends. He designs what he wants to see people wearing. His next collection could shift completely. “I want to see more people in all white. I know black is in right now, but I want to see less leather and more attention to detail.”

Since its first official release in 2012, Lease on Life has had three major collections and one smaller collection. In less than a year, Best has already landed an account with a boutique in Texas, Royal Kings, which is going to sell his brand. By the end of 2012, Best yielded $10,000 in total revenue.

“We’re in stores right now. Online sales are tremendous. We’re reaching out to people in France, England, Germany, Italy, Slovakia. Like, what’s Slovakia?” Best says in awe. “It’s mind boggling to me.”

Yet, Best would not have been able to done any of this without the help from his team. First there’s his dad, a tailor, who actually makes the clothes (although Best has a hand in it as well). Then there’s Ty Johnson, his lifelong friend and head of his street team, a group of people that promote the brand by word of mouth and dressing in Lease on Life. Johnson, a sophomore at Brooklyn College, is dedicated to the brand’s success. “Since the first initial thought, I knew the passion that he had for it was going to take it somewhere. He was so passionate about it when we first started speaking to me. I just knew.”

Maybe the most integral component to Best’s success, however, is not a person or the work itself, but the continual rise of social media. An active member of almost every social media site, Best uses social media as the biggest marketing tool for his brand.

“Social media has been very beneficial. It is very imperative. It’s the best thing you can do right now to get a following in anything. You just have to use it to your advantage.”

His favorite of the social media sites, Instagram, has proved the most rewarding. With almost 1,500 followers and less than 100 photos, Best uses the app to preview new collections, advertise current collections, and post photos from his look books. The more followers he gains, the more exposure the brand receives.

Justin Duran, Advertising Sales Assistant at Complex Media, agrees that social media is infinitely influential, and young people, such as Best, are mastering the medium quickly.

“One tweet – gram – vine post and they can create demand for a product, in a matter of seconds. The type of impact that can turn a small start up urban clothing retailer into a cultural phenomenon. With that combination of wit and understanding of art/fashion culture, they develop digital audiences of oil lowers who may not share that same level of “cool,” but want to be a part of their world.”

It is because of this type of impact that young artists like Best are important to media companies such as Complex.
“Media outlets like Vice & Complex Media have gravitated to these young tastemakers not because they are looking to chase trends, but more because these personalities are officially infused in today’s culture,” Duran says.

But with so many players involved in the sea of social media, it may be hard to stand out. But, according to Best, all it takes is true love and dedication for your craft to be noticed.

“You can tell when there’s no passion. And that fades away. If you’re true to what you’re doing, and people get that vibe, then people are going to bang with you, just because of that.”
With his team behind him and his grasp of social media, Best sees no reason as to why success is not guaranteed. ” With hard work and dedication, there should be no reason to not be doing what you love.”

And if he wasn’t already motivated by his own determination, he has his faith to fall back on. “I feel like through God, all things are possible.”