Two friends were blowing off steam in a crowded New Orleans bar on St. Patrick’s Day last year, after another long day on the set of “Django: Unchained,” when A.J. Apone, 26, of Newhall, had the inspiration for Beard Apparel.

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Sixteen-hour days on set were frequent. But the good times were epic.

“It was such a great atmosphere on the set,” Apone said.

Most of the crew sported beards for the film, a Western that was also filmed at Santa Clarita studio ranches, he said.

“My beard was one of the longer ones at the time,” Apone said, which prompted the natural question from a drinking companion sitting nearby.

“He asked me, ‘What’s with girls and beards?’” Apone said.

“I don’t know — but if she’s in to the beard, she’s into the weird,” was Apone’s reply.

He fell in love with that slogan, and more than that, the idea.

He went back to his room that night and created a couple dozen shirts with that slogan inside a black silhouette of his bearded mug.

He then made “crew shirts” with the phrase “Django: Unshaved” with the same silhouetted mug.

“It ended up being a hit on the set,” he said, the shirts selling “like hotcakes” with crew and friends.

“That was what jump-started it,” he said.

And that, basically, sums up the organic je ne sais quoi appeal of an apparel brand that’s seemingly equal parts rugged and avant-garde.

After selling more than 300 of his shirts, the Hart High class of 2005 grad started to feel like he was on to something, and realized he had seed money to pursue his “hobby” as a legitimate enterprise.

The film production assistant-musician-child care worker is fostering a backyard brand that — much like his musical and food tastes — seem to boast a flair for the genuine and the underground.

“I had money to put into the business, and that’s how I had the money to make all these shirts,” he said.

It’s still a pastime for the Santa Clarita Valley-raised entrepreneur who, true to his brand’s name, sports a full black beard that extends several inches past the end of his chin.

However, an ever-burgeoning product line belies his casual approach — Beard Apparel offers dozens of products, including socks, baseball caps, sweatshirts and even a beta version of a beard oil Apone engineered.

His ultimate goal remains working with children, which is why he’s taking courses at College of the Canyons through an extension program with the University of LaVerne for a master’s degree in education.

His products have a simplistic, pared down appeal — even if you’re a not a beardaphile —  but it’s not his only niche.

He uses his clothing line to celebrate the community he loves, and it seems to reciprocate.

One of his Tshirts boast the picture of his friend Ming, whom he befriended through Ming’s work at Mandarin Wong, a local Chinese restaurant on Lyons Avenue in Newhall, where Apone’s fellow musicians have feasted many times.

It started as his “hangover” spot, but it’s become somewhat of a hangout for the guitarist.

“Everyone loves Ming,” Apone said. “It’s just a place to go — it’s great food and it’s cheap.”

His band The Royal Sound, which just self-released an EP called “Cinema,” recently played the famed Viper Room on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.

Mandarin Wong is also the only brick-and-mortar location you can buy Beard Apparel clothes, for now.

Apone also sells the Beard Apparel brand on his company’s website.

And, in the meantime, he seems to be putting his all into the business, creating a brand that truly reflects who he is.

“So everyone thinks Zach Galifianakis or Rick Ross,” he said

explaining the bearded logo. “It’s actually my face.”

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