N.Y. Label Goes West
Something about Vintage Vandal by Steve Vintage, a collection of hand-screened vintage clothes for men, reminds buyers of the left coast. Perhaps it’s the line’s skate-rat-goes-to-work vibe created by fitted blazers emblazoned with screen-printed skulls and polo shirts splattered with paint and designer Steve Vintage’s original artwork. “At trade shows people would always ask us if we were based out of L.A.,” Vintage said, “and they were always surprised to learn we were from New York.”
A former graffiti artist, Vintage launched Vintage Vandal with his wife and sales director, Capri Pinto, in 2004 without a formal fashion or design education. Produced out of the couple’s live-work loft and studio, Vintage Vandal expanded in 2005 to include Unknown Artist, the designer’s line of vintage-inspired screen-printed cut-and-sew limited-edition pieces. The lines are sold at retailers including Lisa Kline, Up Against the Wall, Nordstrom and Metro Park.
Although the lines were well received by retailers, Vintage was looking to grow his manufacturing and offer unique fabrications—but found the cost of doing business in New York to be prohibitive. “Everyone was telling us that L.A. was much more affordable,” he said. “A lot of good people were moving out here.”
In October, Vintage and Pinto visited Los Angeles to explore the possibility of relocating. In November, they packed up their operation and moved west. “We’re loving it,” Vintage said. “What we do fits in better here.”
Now working out of downtown Los Angeles, the two are happy with the move and are taking advantage of the manufacturing resources available to them.
“Resources here are right at your fingertips—in New York you had to go to a different place for everything,” Vintage said. “The cost to manufacture here is cheaper. In New York, it could cost up to $10 to dye a single item of clothing; here it costs $1.50 per pound.”
The relative affordability translates into a growth opportunity for Unknown Artist, which Vintage hopes to expand into a full collection, and a new direction for the brand.
“We’re taking the company to a different level here—everything is going to be new and exciting,” Vintage said. “We’ll be using a lot of L.A.-inspired rock ’n’ roll graphics,” and a line of Steve Vintage T-shirts will make use of the cool treatments available locally.
“They’ll get complicated washes and cool distressing and screen-printing,” he said.
For Spring, Vintage Vandal will be doing a punk military collection. “We bought actual military clothes and Army fatigues to work with,” Vintage said. T-shirts will wholesale for $18–$22, polos for $22–$26, blazers for $48–$62 and pants for $34–$39.
The designer insists that although the brand’s vibe will be influenced by its new left-coast home, it won’t lose its East Coast sensibility. “We’re not trying to be a typically L.A. brand—we won’t be sending our stuff to stylists and celebrities,” he said. “We’re not interested in that.”
For more information, call (213) 489-7566.
