What does a 23 year old college student majoring in business administration do in his spare time? Spin music at local events, hang out with friends - oh and last but not least, design a clothing line. Esmel Meeks AKA DJ Rock-It, a Virginia Commonwealth University student who was born in Philadelphia, raised in the California Bay Area and now calls his hometown Virginia Beach, Virginia, has been designing since he was in the 11th grade where he came up with his first logo concept. Today his line, Ancient Thread Empire, most commonly referred to as ATE, has been featured in Richmond Fashion Week 2009, GroupMODA 2009 and for the past two years, STRUT, one of the biggest fashion shows in Virginia.
When asked what inspired him to create his clothing line, Meeks said “[I wanted] To start something new for the right reason. Not to start a trend, not to recreate a fad that died out, not to start off where somebody ended, but to create something unique that people would embrace not only because of the unique designs and concepts but the reason behind it. Through the designs in ATE you can see inspirations from everyday lifestyle, childhood muse, and the culture evolving throughout inimitable generation."
Meeks likes to go by a quote from his favorite lyricist, Nas who has said “No idea’s original, there's nothing new under the sun. It's never what you do but how it's done."
“I know that nothing is really original. I try to find a way to do something that hasn't done before in every design. Putting different elements into concepts that isn't ‘supposed to be there’ and making it look intriguing.”
Residents of the VCU/Richmond area can find his designs exclusively at the store Need Supply in the historic shopping area in Richmond named Carytown. In December, he has plans on opening an online store.
When asked in a perfect world, where he would like to see his clothing line in 5 years, Meeks replied “In our exclusive boutique stores in 8 locations: VA Beach, Richmond, LA, NY, Japan, Paris, and London. Also to have a portion of every sale donated to, Achievements Through Education, a scholarship fund that will assist under-privileged students with tuition. He states, "at that point we will be sending over 100 students to college on full scholarship every year.”
But in a perfect world everyone’s dreams come true. – Meeks
Ancient Thread Empire can be reached at: info@ateclothing.com / ateclothing.com coming soon!
Story by FBYA Journalist Intern, Cheryl Johnson, a student at Virginia Commonwealth University
1 comments:
Represent ya'll!!!
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