The Local newsletter is your free, daily guide to life in Colorado. For locals, by locals. Sign up today! Pines and his mom first moved to Denver from Kansas City, Missouri, in Streetwear quickly became a passion for Pines.
It was a voice Pines needed. That idea followed Pines through the early stages of his career. Early in , he interned at New York City T-shirt brand Mishka, and eventually transitioned to being the cover model for its collection and distribution efforts that year. Those gigs proved to Pines that branding and curating could be a path to finding his voice while empowering others to do the same.
When he realized he could no longer put in sweat equity for someone else, Pines began building Adult Entertainment in From the start, Pines wanted AE to align with his values: Making Black and brown people feel validated and represented, including Black and brown sex workers.
But they soon transformed into safe havens where folks can congregate, experience fellowship, and be celebrated, not just tolerated. Moving into that first physical location in Five Points, right behind Central Market, was a defining moment for the brand, says Pines. Once considered the Harlem of the West, gentrification has pushed many Black and brown residents out of the historically Black neighborhood. Pines was heartbroken. He says he had done right by the opportunityβaccording to Pines, AE is profitableβso he felt dumbfounded.
Determined not to be pushed out of the neighborhood he only just landed in, Pines and his team began touring other buildings in the area. Within just a few months, they found a larger space made perfect with inventory storage, space for screen printing and heat press machines, and much more room for the community to congregate.
