SMALL BUSINESS

Indy designer Cortez ‘Retro’ Coleman turns Immortality into a global apparel brand

According to Indiana Minority Business Magazine (Aug. 31, 2026), Indiana native Cortez “Retro” Coleman founded Immortality, an independent design and apparel brand inspired by 1990s aesthetics that the article says operates globally, shipped to clients in Italy and South Korea and went viral on TikTok.

BUSINESSINDY BRIEFBy BusinessIndy Editorial StaffCommentsPublished October 7, 2026 at 6:14 AM EDTOriginal reporting: August 31, 2026 at 2:37 PM EDT · Brief prepared from earlier coverage

AI illustration · Not a photograph of the reported event.

Indiana Minority Business Magazine reported on Aug. 31, 2026 that Cortez “Retro” Coleman, an Indiana native and self-taught designer since age 16, transformed his work into Immortality, an independent design and apparel brand. The article says Immortality went viral on TikTok with “Colts – Pacers color swap” videos and has shipped orders to Italy and South Korea.

The profile says Coleman worked with sports merchandising company Fanatics, credits his parents for buying his first computer, and drew inspiration from designers such as the late Virgil Abloh; the brand name reflects his goal “to create art, apparel and conceptual designs that will live forever.” The article lists immortality.storenvy.com and Instagram and TikTok as places to follow the brand.

WHY IT MATTERS

This profile documents a local creative turning digital design skills into an independent apparel business that the source says now reaches international customers. For local designers and small apparel entrepreneurs, the article highlights a concrete path: self-taught craft, early access to a computer, work at a larger merchandising firm, and social-media visibility.

“Viral” here refers to the brand’s TikTok clips—specifically the reported ‘Colts – Pacers color swap’ posts—that generated thousands of engagements, which the article links to broader awareness. Working with a large merchandiser (Fanatics) is described in the profile as a catalyst for Coleman’s independent push, showing one example of how experience inside a larger company can lead to launching a standalone label.

Watch the brand’s website (immortality.storenvy.com) and its Instagram and TikTok accounts, as cited in the article, for new collections or announcements. Those channels are the source-supported next places to verify future releases, collaborations or changes in the business’s reach.

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