Last week, in honor of World Mental Health Day (Oct. 10), we announced a special collaboration with Rakeem Miles, creator of Action Figure Miles (AFM), a clothing brand with a mission to shine a light on mental health. The AFM x Halo collection is a creative mash-up of two heroes, the Master Chief and Action Figure Miles, featured in unique and colorful designs that share uplifting messages of strength, perseverance, and heroism. Soon you can join the mission to spread this message of self-care, love, and mental health awareness with this comfortable and cool collection.

We’re excited to drop the first four pieces of the collection in the Halo Gear Shop tomorrow, October 21^st! Treat yourself and snag the Self Care Tee, Master Your Mental Health Tee, Evolution Hoodie, or the AFM x Halo Sweatpants. And, if you’re attending the Halo World Championship in Seattle, head to the Halo Gear Shop and be the first to get your hands on the AFM x Halo gear!

But that is not all! On October 27^th, the full AFM X Halo collection will be available in PacSun stores across the US and online.

Now, join us for a quick chat with the creator himself, Rakeem Miles.  

Hi Rakeem, thanks for joining us! First, please introduce yourself and share a bit about some of the awesome things you produce. 

My name is Rakeem Miles, I’m a musician, designer, and writer from Baltimore, Maryland. I started my clothing brand Action Figure Miles around 2015, and it’s now a full on fashion brand with retail opportunities such as PacSun and Urban Outfitters. 

I have also had the opportunity to do some work with Adult Swim/Cartoon network for a few projects Adult Swim produced. As far as music, I’ve been working on a new album currently with members of the band Gorillaz, Mike Larson (Pharrell Williams engineer), and many others. Hoping to release the project in 2023.

What is your history with the Halo franchise? Can you recall the first time you played?

My history with Halo starts all the way back to 2007. I started playing Halo consistently during the Halo 3 days. I started out joining clans, and other gaming groups, playing customs etc., and it led to me discovering the competitive world in 2008. 

I discovered MLG at that time and became super interested in playing competitively. I primarily played the MLG playlist on Halo, achieved my first 50 in MLG, then started playing local LAN tournaments.

You have said the Master Chief is a character you look up to, why is that? 

The Master Chief has always been a heroic character, someone who you can learn from, who is a leader, and who doesn’t have any fear. Master Chief, pushes through boundaries with the world on his shoulders. I see that in myself, and my brand AFM. The Action Figure Miles character that I have developed and built my brand around is also a hero.

Who is Action Figure Miles? And, what led you to build it into a brand?

Action Figure Miles is an artistic representation of myself and the hero I wish I had as a kid. His blue skin represents the depression that I dealt with from a young age, while the superhero aesthetic shows his strength in the face of adversity. His blue painted skin and costume are a disguise that he has built to protect himself from the trauma he has gone through. He puts them on in an effort to be his own hero, constantly fighting and pushing forward so that he can become his true heroic self, inside and out.

What led me to creating this brand is knowing I could use the clothing to express myself in other ways, and uplift people through clothing. Clothing is like a walking billboard, someone can be walking right next to me or someone who’s a fan of AFM who’s wearing the clothing and see the positive message and it could change their whole outlook just from seeing that message.

Do you have a favorite piece from the collection?

Yes, I like the Self Care shirt the most! It’s my favorite, but I also like the sweatpants. 

Thank you to Rakeem for giving us more insight into his work and brand, Action Figure Miles. If you’re attending the Halo World Championship in Seattle be on the lookout for Rakeem and the AFM x Halo collection in the Halo Gear Shop on-site. For those not in attendance, head to the Halo Gear Shop and PacSun stores to get your favorite piece from the AFM x Halo collection.