Streetwear Spotlight: Taeryan

Article written by: SoJones Asmara
Posted on: October 29, 2009

Failure is one of the realities faced by young entrepreneurs. But those who give up will fade away and their dreams will never become known. That’s not the case with TaeRyan, a clothing brand owned by Ryan Kander and Edward T. Pietrucha. They originally started their streetwear line in late 2007 but had to stop and re-evaluate their mistakes before getting back on track and re-launching TaeRyan with what they have envisioned in the very beginning: as a bold and affordable line with no boundaries and a bright future. SoJones.com took down Kander’s story.

Introduce yourself and describe how your brand was started?

My name is Ryan Kander, Co-owner and lead artist behind TaeRyan Apparel. The TaeRyan brand is very young, started in late 2007, by a couple of college kids looking to do something different. My business partner and I, having come from two different cities (Chicago & New York), share a variety of differing cultural influences. Our goal was to try and take those influences and wrap them up into one brand, a brand that can cross cultural barriers. A lot of times we have people comment on how unique our designs are, for the better or worse, that is probably one of the best compliments we can get. That was the driving force behind TaeRyan when we started a couple of years ago, so we continue to try and show people concepts and ideas in designs that they may never have seen before. I can’t say that we don’t follow some of the trends of other streetwear lines, but we try to put our own spin on those trends and when a trend becomes stale, we look to bring something new and creative to our designs.

Describe this season and next season’s looks. Include any sources of inspiration.

Graffiti is a constant influence on our designs, present and future. Growing up in Queens, NY, you just can’t escape it. Walking around the streets of Chicago and New York there is just so much that catches your eye, whether it’s the view of the Brooklyn Bridge from downtown or driving under the ‘L’ train in Chicago, the inspiration starts there.

What celeb or well-known figure(s) exemplify the brand?

The first person that comes to mind when this question is asked is one of our favorite rappers, Talib Kweli. The reason I say that is because he may not be the most popular or the richest, but he is one of the most respected in the game. He stands for quality, when you see Talib Kweli is on a record, you know it’s a good one. That is what we strive for… we don’t mind being a little different even if it means our brand won’t reach super-stardom. We want to stay true to what we started, the driving force behind TaeRyan will always be unique design concepts and quality products.

Any product placements on celebs, in movies or videos to keep an eye out for?

We have had a lot of success with athletes so far as well as some up and coming artists. If you happen to run into baseball stars Bobby Abreu of the LA Angels, Ozzie Guillen of the Chicago White Sox, Miguel Carbrera of the Detroit Tigers, there is a chance they will be wearing some TaeRyan Gear.

Any expansion plans?

Being such a young brand we are always thinking expansion. We are finishing a small release for the Holiday ‘09, featuring some new garments (hoodies, long-sleeve shirts, etc.). We are also in the midst of working on the Spring ‘10 collection, which we are extremely excited about. Hopefully what we have in store for the Spring will really turn some heads and help us continue to build the TaeRyan brand to where we ultimately want to be. It would great to collaborate with some of the other up and coming streetwear designers as well. Feeling confident in the designs that we currently have, we are just constantly doing anything and everything we can to get the TaeRyan brand out there.

Looking ahead over the next year or two, what themes/looks/styles do you see your brand gravitating to?

In the next year or two, I anticipate we’ll continue to push the limits with our designs, using different inks, printing techniques, etc. We want to continue to provide people with bold designs and get in to some all-over prints, but also offer ‘simpler’ designs centered around our logo. We want to give our customers options and always look to expand our audience across cultural barriers. Whether it be attending tradeshows, or just walking around the streets of Manhattan, we always try to keep an eye out for new styles.

Now, I think if you look at the fashion trend in Hip-Hop, people are dressing up a bit more. I would love to incorporate that into our expansion and try to work on new products aside from the t-shirts, hoodies, ect. that you see many young streetwear brands center their business around.

What themes/looks/styles do you see your brand moving away from?

To be honest, I don’t spend too much time thinking about what styles our brand is going to move away from. We have a vision for our brand that I think has come to fruition with our Fall ’09 Collection and we plan on sticking with it. We’ll continue to evolve as trends come along and put out some hot designs, but the vision behind the designs will be constant.

What has been a surprise fashion hit over the last year?

I can’t say there has been much that has surprised us over the past year, but we were excited to see some of the classic patterns incorporated into streetwear pieces.

You can cop TaeRyan’s collection at their official website, www.taeryan.com, for prices between $18.00 up to $32.00.  Below are SoJones.com’s picks.