Andres Florez, founder and CEO of Culturewise, is building a fashion and cultural brand from Medellin with a vision that goes beyond traditional streetwear. Drawing from years of experience in barbering and his connection to the city’s urban movement, Florez is developing Culturewise as an ecosystem that brings together clothing, barbering, sneakers, experiences and community.
Florez’s entrepreneurial journey began while he was attending university. Needing a way to generate his own income, he started working as a barber. What began as a financial alternative gradually became a profession and, ultimately, his entry point into Medellin’s urban culture.
Over the years, Florez built a loyal clientele and developed relationships with artists, musicians and other figures connected to the city’s reggaeton and urban scene. Those experiences gave him a firsthand understanding of the culture Culturewise would eventually seek to represent.
“Barbering gave me a real connection to the culture and the community,” Florez said. “I didn’t enter fashion simply because I wanted to create clothing. I had already spent years living and working within the culture we wanted the brand to represent.”
Culturewise initially began through a collaboration between Florez and a business partner interested in developing a clothing concept. The first version of the project eventually closed, but approximately a year later, the partners decided to revisit the idea.
By then, Florez had gained additional professional experience, strengthened his relationships within Medellin’s urban scene and developed a clearer understanding of the community surrounding the brand. Combining his experience with his partner’s perspective on fashion and business helped shape Culturewise into a more focused concept.
Today, Culturewise is creating fashion products inspired by urban culture and hip hop while developing a broader lifestyle platform around the brand.
“We don’t want to compete only through price, products or trends,” Florez said. “The difference is the culture we are building around the brand.”
That philosophy is reflected in the company’s defining statement: “We are not street, we are culture.”
For Florez, Culturewise is intended to represent more than a clothing label. The company’s goal is to connect fashion with the experiences, communities and creative movements surrounding it.
Medellin is central to that vision. As the city has gained international recognition for music, entrepreneurship and urban culture, Florez believes Colombian brands have an opportunity to develop identities that can resonate beyond the local market.
“I want to demonstrate that brands with identity, culture and an international vision can be built from Colombia,” he said. “Culturewise is not only about selling clothes. It is about building a community and leaving a mark on the culture.”
The early closure of the original clothing project also influenced Florez’s approach to entrepreneurship.
“Closing one stage doesn’t always mean failure,” he said. “Sometimes you need that experience so you can return much more prepared.”
Culturewise is now focused on strengthening its clothing business while expanding its connections to barbering, sneakers, activations and physical experiences. The company is also working on new collections and projects designed to bring the brand closer to its community while reaching additional markets.
For Florez, success ultimately means building something that can extend beyond personal financial achievement.
“Success isn’t only about how much money you can generate,” he said. “For me, success means building something meaningful that can create opportunities for other people.”
From his beginnings as a university student cutting hair to building Culturewise in Medellin, Florez is now focused on turning that experience into a brand capable of representing Colombian urban culture on a larger stage.
