Today we’d like to introduce you to Anthony Badami.
Hi Anthony, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
When I was 13 years old, my grandfather taught me the art of leathercraft. We made bracelets, keychains, & book covers. The tactile experience of hand-cutting, stamping, staining, & painting leather was so fascinating that it stuck with me until this very day. I even named my first shoulder-strap harness “The Melvin” after him. I graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in 2006 with a degree in graphic design. One of my first jobs out of school was with Asics America. I had the best boss and learned so much about apparel design, patterns, trim development, fittings, and overseas production. During my time there, I was promoted to Assistant Designer and left the company with a Designer title.
In 2014, I was hired as an Assistant Designer by a new and upcoming designer, Micheal Amiri, in Hollywood. He worked almost solely in leather apparel and his collection was carried in one of the most prestigious luxury stores in Hollywood, Maxfield. He introduced me to the luxury industry, domestic development, and local production. He taught me how to treat vendors and factories as family. We would visit huge leather warehouses and work closely with Louis Vuitton worthy factories. For six years, we worked to build AMIRI into a very successful brand that is now sold around the world.
In 2020, I left the 9-5 life in the middle of the pandemic. I understood that time was of the essence and I must use it wisely. So I put all my time and creative energy into my own brand, Badami & Co – a Men’s Luxury Essentials brand. I combine my love for superheroes, modern architecture, & post-apocalyptic imagery to create forward-thinking luxury essentials for the not-so-common individual. In the fall of 2020, I introduced Badami Underwear and am looking forward to sharing more designs soon.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Being an entrepreneur is hard no matter how much you think you know or what is on your resume. Birthing something of this magnitude takes dedication, lots of work, and persistence. Very often, I am challenged to push through rough days, weeks, or even months. However, I worked to surround myself with people that believed in me and I learned how to PIVOT often. Everything won’t always go “to plan” but pivoting directions help you stay sane and find new possible paths you didn’t know were there. Obtaining funding is a huge challenge for new brands. I’m a very frugal person (thanks dad) but I had to learn new ways of cutting corners and still create beautiful results that met my high standards. I was lucky to find someone that helped me get a significant start-up loan, and I stretched that loan as far as possible. I’ve taught myself SEO, how to edit websites, photograph my own products, and even run my own online ads. I truly feel that having to do all of these aspects myself will help me be a better boss as my team grows.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Badami & Co’s mission is: Elevating & connecting humanity to their best selves through a larger sense of awareness, community, and self-care. Disrupting the norm with thoughtful & forward-thinking essentials.
“My long term goal is to encourage humanity to embrace their own uniqueness.” – Anthony Badami
All our items are handmade in Los Angeles. I take great pride in partnering with amazingly talented people in our city. When I am not making the items myself, I have a few key artists that I trust to keep up the level of quality I have established. I am also working towards zero-plastic packaging solutions as soon as possible to do our part to prepare for future generations.
Our ‘Evolving Manhood’ blog is meant to share & start conversations. The topics range from underwear, accessories, touches on toxic masculinity and how we all are evolving into better men. I believe we as humans are more alike than we are different, and in this blog, we are able to share some of those stories & showcase different ideas of what it looks like to be a man.
What’s next?
We will continue to use unique models from all walks of life, sizes, and ethnicities. We aim to represent the unrepresented wherever possible. I will continue to grow the brand by offering more essentials and expand our underwear line to more styles and more sizes. Activewear base layers and swimwear are also in Badami’s future as well as other apparel items. #BE MORE YOU.
Pricing:
- Our prices range from $25-$300
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: badamiandco.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/badamiandco
- Facebook: facebook.com/badamiandco
- Twitter: twitter.com/badamiandco
Image Credits:
Sheri Angeles, Bill Kennedy, Anthony Badami, Ruth Torres
