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Our Last 19 Dollars
I'm not going to lie or even pretend that we are rolling in the dough right now. Yesterday we spent our last $19 to pay for the postage to send samples of our new collection to Hypebeast. Yeah look out for us at http://www.hypebeast.com in the next couple weeks for our feature. But anyways, the reason I'm blogging today is to explain the emotion and feeling that I went through when I spent our bank account down to zero dollars and zero cents. At the start of September, I ran my normal cash flow analysis and quickly realized that cash is going to be tight until the new season dropped. From the last couple posts, you can probably tell that dropping a new cut and sew collection ain't cheap at all. So when I swiped the "Vane Card" for the last time yesterday, I experienced an emotion that I never experienced before. It was an odd concoction; it was part fear, love, anxiety, adrenal, pain, and trust. It’s not a feeling that most 23 year olds feel very often, and I internalized that it wasn’t an emotion that I was used to having. That odd emotion did fade, but the residue of it is still with me today. I have spent a lot of time both unconsciously and consciously thinking about that emotion. During the day, I do lots of activities. I work, eat, sleep, think about vane, daydream about meg, run, smoke, drink, and pray. Yesterday and today, I can tell that I’m not in the same state of mind as I’m used to. Everything I have done, since I swept the “Vane Card” for the last time is different than I remember it. All I can say is that emotion I felt is a pungent emotion and one worth reflecting on. As of Today, there are a very few things I know for sure. I love meg I trust Eric and Atif to design a dope collection I know the Pre-Spring Collection is dope Vane risked it all this season – not only our money, but our time, our shot at success, and our livelihoods. Everything else is changing.
The Greatest Show in New York: BKc X Vane
 In conjunction with our retail drop with the Brooklyn Circus, a street and fashion savvy boutique that will soon be opening it's doors in San Francisco and Chicago, we are releasing two very special limited collaborative pieces with the BKc. We recently sat down with the owner and creative director of the shop Ouigi out in his showroom in Dumbo and talked shop and creative vision, and the dood is not only super chill and good peoples, but he's an astute business man with an eye for quality and fashion and an ear to the streets. He had some kind words to say about us and the project over on his Brooklyn Circus blog. We see our brands building towards the same direction, so expect some super ill shit from our two teams working together, it's gonna be like when Kanye met Jay...  ...mixed with when Dolce met Gabbana [minus the man on man love].  Holla!
Production for Dummies
 So, we always say how busy we've been etc. etc. LAME. I know, we need to update this bitch way more often--which will happen, I promise for sure. But let me give you a glimpse into the current madness that is our lives. In order to produce this current season, this is a basic, step-by-step breakdown of the stressful process that has consumed our lives. Step 1: Design. This is the paper and pencil process, putting shit down conceptually and seeing what works. Step 2: Fabric Shop. Now that you've got your design ready, it's time to make shit real. Taking cues from what you've drawn, start finding fabrics, linings, hardware, and anything else required for your piece.   Step 3: Tech. Here, we measure out every last detail of the garment, from the sleeve length to pocket depth and stitch type. BIG UPS to Liz on this one, she's our tech designer who basically held our hand through this part. All these measurements and construction directions are then assembled into a packet, hence, a tech pack, that's given to the production company.  Step 4: Sample. Taking the instructional tech pack and the fabrics you've found, the production house will create patterns out of your design to cut a sample of your garment. This sample is then adjusted and resampled until it is exactly as you envisioned the piece.  Step 5: Hustle. Now that you have your garment, it's time to see where you can sell. So with your samples in hand, you create a lookbook and linesheets and present your product and ideas to whatever retailers you see an appropriate fit for your garment and your vision. Find the buyer or the manager of your favorite retailer or boutique and set up an appointment, and remember your A-B-C's: Always Be Closing. Get your written Purchase Orders and it's time to move to the next step. Step 6: Marking and Grading. From the sample that was meticulously crafted and resampled, the measurements are taken as the base size. So it's general practice to create your sample as the medium. Then, these measurements are scaled up or down, or graded, to create the measurements for a size run. Then, taking the fabric rolls you bought, the patterns for the design are laid out to make the best use of the entire fabric roll, a process called marking. Step 7: Production. Now that you have fabric for your design and it has been teched, graded, and marked, it's time to mass produce. (Lots of fashion companies send this process abroad to Asia or South America to take advantage of the cheap labor and mass production capabilities. VANE is made right here, in the heart of New York City, on 38th Street.) So the rolls are laid out, and with the markers in place, the patterns are cut and sewn. Labels and appliques are then applied. Step 8: Pray. Congratulations, you've made some shit. Now it's out in the world, you better hope that people are buying. Not so glamorous, eh? Welcome to our world.... 
Ateliers and Respect
 Vane's Pre-Spring Collection is about to drop in 10 days - this shit is crazy for us. Eric, Atif, and I have spent way way more time in the garment district than we ever imagined. But it's all good, it's been an education in what fashion is all about and taught us to respect all those old school ateliers that made fashion and couture. I'm talking about everyone from Jeff Staples to Adam and Eve to Cristobal Balenciaga. Balenciaga the person and his fashion house means a lot to me. Balenciaga, the fashion house, gave me my first job in fashion. I was a 19 year old finance and econ major, yeah you heard me right, and Balenciaga gave me my first job in fashion. I'm not going to lie, there were a couple cool things about it, but a whole lot of fucking folding dresses, cataloging leathers, trying to figure out the difference between the colors ivory and creme. It was dope working with all these people that were defining fashion and producing the highest quality garments. After that moment, I couldn't understand or settle for anything less than Balenciaga fashion and quality. So when Vane decided that we are going to make garments that fit our lifestyle, styles, and personalities, I couldn't help but think about my time at Balenciaga. Vane is not high fashion(yet), but I def strive to embody the care for fashion and quality that I saw at Balenciaga. So thank you Balenciaga (both the person and the house) because I doubt I would be part of the industry or Vane if it wasn't for that job a Balenciaga. RT
Welcome
In honor of the brand new Collection launching next month, we have relaunched the Vane Site to reflect the many changes our brand has been going through in the past six months. From selling tees out of dorm rooms to a New York citywide retail launch, let's just say we've been busy. For those of you coming back, we will continue to bring you the same quality product and content. The blog, photos, and interviews can still be found on the LIFESTYLE link also (www.vanelifestyle.com). We have just simplified everything else. It's been a while, but we promise we won't let you down. Welcome back. To those new to the Site, take a peek around, make yourself comfortable. Welcome to the Family.
Access Show RSVP
 They asked me to have all my guests RSVP http://access.eventbrite.com/UPDATE: Address is 293 Flatbush Ave. Take the Q or B to 7th ave, 3rd stop into Brooklyn. UPDATE 2: ACCESS was mentioned in TRACE mags blog/e-newsletter. "...The exhibit, ACCESS, is running from Oct. 14th through Nov. 14th, at the Brooklyn gallery. Showcasing the works of an array of both emerging and accomplished artists, like Atif Ateeq who brings new life by shedding light on the Muslim community in New York, in a post 9/11 world...." http://blog.trace212.com/archives/85
and it all falls down...
With 54,000 views and 220 comments.... Dear Member: This is to notify you that we have removed or disabled access to the following material as a result of a third-party notification by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation claiming that this material is infringing: Family Guy Nudity: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hMeyO2wMkM Please Note: Repeat incidents of copyright infringement will result in the deletion of your account and all videos uploaded to that account. In order to avoid future strikes against your account, please delete any videos to which you do not own the rights, and refrain from uploading additional videos that infringe on the copyrights of others. For more information about YouTube's copyright policy, please read the Copyright Tips guide. If you elect to send us a counter notice, please go to our Help Center to access the instructions. Be aware that there may be adverse legal consequences in your country if you make a false or bad faith allegation of copyright infringement by using this process. Sincerely,
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Seconds of my Life by Jamel Shabazz
ACCESS
I have a photo in the ACCESS group exhibition at The Gallery @ Harriets Alter Ego. The following are details. Try to make it out, it should be fun!
Opening: Sunday October 14th at 3pm Open Bar from 4-7 DJ Lynnee Denise holdin it down! The show will be up until November 14th EXHIBIT STATEMENT ACCESS curated by Kareem Black. The lens often gives access to an individual in a mode that no other medium can. The photography works to be included in the ACCESS exhibition will have a peculiar composition that incites a feeling of exclusivity and causes the viewer feel privy to the photographed subject matter. This exhibit will examine how we receive and perceive intimate moments and public occurrences.
The New Yorker
 The thing about New York that's incredible is that every New Yorker's got a real claim over their piece of this city. Whichever borough, whatever ethnicity, it's inconsequential to your being a New Yorker. In fact, it makes the claim more legit. It doesn't matter if you identify with blacks in harlem or bedford-stuyvesant, the chinese on canal st. or in flushing, the italians on mullberry st or staten island, the peurto ricans in the bronx, the jews of brooklyn, the arabs of astoria, the south asians of jackson heights, the irish of the bayridge, a stockbroker on wallstreet, or a cabbie from queens, the claim is undeniable. These examples might sound like generalizations, but the ethnic enclave is New York. Economic transcendence is New York. You can see it at the local bodega. It's the reason we have ethnic day pride parades with the Empire State Building lighting up in chromatic unison. And these ethnicities mix readily, more than any place on earth, on a daily basis. They mix on the subways, at the workplace, at our schools. New York is both a puzzle whose pieces come together in a union that is unparalleled AND the metaphorical soup whose flavors mix and compound. People ask me why i love this city so much, why i got so much pride, and the answer lies simply in my belief that people are tolerant: different in many ways, but rooted in a similar identity, whose definition encompasses all. New York, the city that wakes your ass up.
Jamel Shabazz
Jamel Shabazz is a real dope photographer and I'm sure the exhibition will be worth taking a trip out to DUMBO. 
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