On a balmy spring night in New York, three young dark-skinned men make their way up a cramped downtown apartment with two giant boxes in tow. Sweating from the humidity, the three reach their destination and hurriedly tear open the boxes, knowing that an arduous night of work lay in front of them. All three men are from different backgrounds—Indian, Pakistani and Chinese—but they quickly begin working together, cutting tags, steaming shirts, refolding and packaging the merchandise.
Far from another sweatshop, this was the humble beginning of Vane Lifestyle, a new Manhattan-based streetwear label. Founders Ravi Thanawala, Atif Ateeq and Eric Poon teamed up during their senior year of undergraduate study at New York University, sharing a vision to create something independent and unique that would also reflect the diversity of their backgrounds. “Eric and I had that itch to do something positive for ourselves, for our friends, and for our community,” Ateeq says.
The company’s namesake, a play on the definition of “vain,” reflects the apathetic image of the youth generation. Poon and Ateeq says they conjured the idea to replicate the “growing cultural, political and artistic chaos,” that they saw was a direct result of globalization and the Internet. The trio takes a swing at the corporate culture that they believe is cannibalizing the youthful energy and talents of many of their peers. “I think there are a lot of young people who have incredible talent, but they’re just so afraid of making a mistake that they end up making a bigger one,” Poon says. “They end up working twelve hour days, sitting in a cubicle and a monkey suit praying for the weekend.”
Over the course of two years, Ateeq, a photographer and photo editor by trade, and Poon, a graphic designer and writer with marketing experience at Triple 5 Soul, began to flesh out their idea, sketching a name and a crude logo.
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