INTERVIEW: LYF Supply Is Designing a Different Kind of Brand
**This review originally appeared in our July 2026 print issue**
Photos by Elissa Ebersold
“Everything I make has a story behind it. I never wanted to just put a logo on a shirt and sell it.”
To call David Reali a clothing designer almost feels too small; it doesn’t quite fit. The needle and thread are merely the tools he uses to celebrate a city and preserve a moment in someone’s life. Walk through Troy on any given weekend and you might spot one of his hats, a jacket carrying his distinct embroidery, or someone wearing a piece of LYF Supply that has become part of their personal story. The threads connect back to Reali, but they also connect neighbors, artists and a community that has watched his vision grow from a small creative experiment into one of the Capital Region’s most recognizable independent brands.
“I never really looked at it like I was building a clothing company,” Reali says. “I was just creating.”
That creative instinct has followed him throughout his life. Before LYF Supply existed, Reali was a musician, a barber, an artist, and someone who constantly searched for ways to make something with his hands. Clothing became another language for that expression. After struggling to find companies willing to produce his designs in small quantities, he decided to learn the process himself, purchasing his own embroidery machine and spending countless hours teaching himself the craft.
“There were so many moments where people told me no,” Reali recalls. “That made me think, alright, I’ll figure out how to do it myself.”
The DIY spirit remains woven into every corner of LYF Supply. The name originated from a simple phrase Reali wrote years ago: Love Yourself First. The message became a mission statement, one that reflected not only personal confidence, but a commitment to creating something authentic in a world increasingly driven by mass production and disposable trends.
His early Schenectady designs became a turning point. Instead of simply printing the city’s name on a hat, Reali wanted to capture the pride and identity of the place that shaped him.
“It was the first time I realized people wanted to wear where they came from,” he says.
That realization expanded when he moved into Troy’s thriving arts community. While balancing a career in restorative justice and reentry work, Reali built LYF Supply in every available moment. He stitched hats during lunch breaks, packed orders late into the night, and slowly transformed a passion project into something that could support him full time.
Leaving his previous career was one of the most frightening decisions he had ever made, especially because that work carried such personal meaning. But taking the chance on himself revealed something he did not expect.
“I found myself through this,” Reali reminisces. “I found a community.”
That community has become the heartbeat of LYF Supply. Reali does not describe customers as transactions. He talks about them like collaborators. There’s the person who returns ten years later with a worn out hat hoping to buy the same one again; the young artist asking for advice because they see someone who built something from nothing; the countless conversations at markets and events that become just as meaningful as the products themselves.
“It’s crazy to think something I made became part of somebody’s memories,” Reali says.
For Reali, the most meaningful part of LYF Supply has never been how many pieces he sells, but the stories they create after they leave his hands. That philosophy is captured in his tradition of hiding free Troy-embroidered hats throughout the city, leaving behind unexpected gifts for strangers to discover. “I love the idea of someone finding something unexpectedly and feeling connected to this place,” Reali says. “Everything I make has a story behind it. I never wanted to just put a logo on a shirt and sell it.”
That sense of community is also at the heart of LYF Supply’s own beginnings. Reali started the business from his apartment, spending countless hours teaching himself embroidery, testing designs, and slowly building a brand rooted in authenticity. “I didn’t have some big business plan,” Reali says. “I just kept creating, kept learning, and trusted that people would connect with something that was real.”
A major turning point came in 2023 when Danny Killion of Weathered Wood invited Reali to set up at Troy’s farmers market. That opportunity eventually led to a permanent space inside Weathered Wood’s storefront, allowing LYF Supply to grow while staying deeply connected to the community that inspired it. “That support meant everything because Troy has always been about people showing up for each other.”
Today, LYF Supply continues to evolve beyond apparel into a true creative studio, a space for custom collaboration and artistic experimentation. Reali’s dream is not just to expand his business, but to build a physical home where creators can gather, exchange ideas, and feel welcomed.
“I want to create the kind of space that I wish existed when I was starting out,” he says.
For Reali, success has never been measured by how many pieces he sells or how far the brand travels, but by the relationships created along the way. Every stitch represents a conversation. Every design carries a place, a memory, or a person behind it. LYF Supply may be sewn together with fabric and thread, but its strongest material has always been the community behind the creator.
For more information, visit www.lyfsupply.com
