Bilal Dawson

For people discovering you for the first time, what’s your story? How did you get into creating content?

I’ve been making videos for most of my life. I’ve always had a love for storytelling and entertaining people. I eventually went to film school at York University, where I realized that, for me, the best way to learn how to make videos was to actually go out and make them, rather than just study the theory behind them. So I dropped out lol.

After leaving university, I dedicated pretty much all of my time to filming, editing, writing, and learning anything I could to improve my craft.

I started out making comedy sketches on YouTube, which eventually turned into shorter comedic sketches on Instagram. The original goal was to use Instagram to promote my YouTube channel, but I quickly realized that short-form content was actually a perfect fit for me at the time. It allowed me to experiment, post more frequently, and fast-track my understanding of what audiences enjoyed.

I found some success with my comedy sketches, but I knew I wanted more. I wanted people to connect with me for my actual personality, rather than just the insane characters I was playing on screen.

Eventually, I decided to revisit an old YouTube video idea I had done, except this time I made a shorter version for Instagram. The concept was simple: visit 1-star-rated restaurants and see if they were really as bad as people claimed.

That video got a huge response online, and I basically said to myself, “Well, I’ll just keep making these until people get tired of them” hahah.

Fast-forward two years, and I’m still making them! Except now, the content has evolved into much bigger, more ambitious, and sometimes ridiculous projects.

Where did the idea for One Star come from, and what did you want the brand to represent?

The idea for One Star obviously came from the success of my 1-star-rated content on social media. There were actually a few reasons why my team and I decided to launch the brand.

The first reason was, of course, money! I love money hahah.

But seriously, one of the biggest reasons was wanting to build something of my own. As a content creator, a lot of your business can depend on other brands choosing to work with you. I didn’t love the idea of my long-term future being entirely dependent on sponsorships and outside opportunities.

I wanted to create something that we owned, something we could build and promote ourselves, and ultimately have more control over.

The second reason was that I wanted my audience to have something physical they could own, wear, and enjoy in their everyday lives. I didn’t want One Star to feel like some random merchandise we just slapped a logo on. I wanted to create clothing that I genuinely liked and would actually wear myself.

And lastly, I just love clothing. I’ve always enjoyed fashion, and there’s something extremely satisfying about designing a product, seeing it come to life, and then watching people actually wear it.

Although the name One Star comes from my content, I think the brand has the potential to become something much bigger than my personal identity or the videos I make.

To me, One Star represents individuality over approval. We live in a world where everyone is obsessed with ratings, likes, followers, and status. Everyone wants five stars.

But One Star is about being comfortable standing out and not needing everyone else’s approval.

You don’t need five stars when you’re one of one.

How do you balance promoting One Star with creating the content your audience originally followed you for?

I think one of the most important things when creating an influencer brand, or really any brand, is finding ways to promote it organically without constantly forcing it onto your audience.

For me, it’s actually pretty simple. I just wear my clothing in my videos, and that alone is a form of promotion.

Of course, every once in a while, I’ll do something more direct to promote a new collection or product, but for the most part, I prefer to let the clothing speak for itself through my content.

Right now, my focus is on creating clothing and products that I would genuinely wear or use myself. That way, when I’m promoting One Star, it doesn’t feel like I’m trying to sell my audience something I don’t actually believe in.

At the end of the day, people followed me for my videos, not to watch a 20-minute clothing commercial lol. So the content always has to come first.

You chose Shopify to launch One Star. What has that experience been like, and how has the platform helped you manage the business side of your brand?

Shopify was honestly the obvious choice for us when we decided to launch One Star.

One of the biggest advantages, especially for someone starting their first clothing brand, is how approachable the platform is. There are plenty of templates and customization options, so you can create something that actually reflects your brand without needing to be an expert in web development.

I also really like how Shopify integrates with other platforms and services, including things like YouTube Shopping and Meta. As someone whose audience is primarily on social media, having the ability to connect those platforms to my store is extremely valuable.

From a creative standpoint, I think Shopify gives beginners a lot of freedom to experiment with their website’s appearance and overall brand identity.

And from the business side, having things like orders, inventory, and the storefront managed in one place makes launching and operating a brand much more manageable.

What advice would you give another creator thinking about launching their own brand, and what’s next for One Star?

My biggest piece of advice would be to actually love the brand you’re creating, because trust me, it’s probably not going to be some overnight money-making machine.

It’s very similar to making content online. If you don’t genuinely enjoy the videos you’re creating, those long nights, failed ideas, and moments when nobody seems to support you become a lot harder to push through.

The same applies to building a clothing brand.

Of course, One Star is a business, and I want it to be successful. But I also genuinely enjoy the creative process. Designing clothing, coming up with new concepts, and seeing those ideas become real products actually motivates me to keep creating.

We’re still very early in the journey, but even outside of sales, I just enjoy making clothes that I can wear in my own videos.

That’s why I wouldn’t necessarily make profit the number one measure of success during the first year or two of launching a clothing brand.

I think the priority should be building a strong customer base, developing a recognizable identity, and finding loyal supporters who genuinely connect with the story and values behind your brand.

People are getting advertisements shoved down their throats every 10 minutes nowadays. You need to understand what makes your brand different and, more importantly, why anyone should give you their time or money in the first place.

As for what’s next for One Star, I want to continue experimenting with designs, improving our products, and building a clothing brand that can eventually stand on its own, separate from my content.

I’m not expecting to build a fashion empire overnight, but I definitely want to create something that people are proud to wear.

And my final piece of advice?

Don’t make a 1-star product and expect 5-star results.