Meet Amir of AmirLA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amir.

Hi Amir, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Well, I started this brand because I saw a void in Men’s fashion. I worked in retail my whole life and I got tired of having to find the smallest section in the back of the store to buy clothes or climb two flights of stairs only to realize the store is out of anything good. I fell in love with a young lady named Viviana, she is now my 50/50 business partner. She brought us clarity and structure, cus I was all over the place, haha. So after a lot of hard work, we decided to go after this Men’s fashion vision. Haha, little did we know, this game came with a lot more work than we imagined. We were up for it though. As time went on, I realized there was more we could say with this brand. There was a story to tell that was about more than clothes, I guess. I grew up in the heart of LA, I went to Crenshaw High School. Those days I just remember understanding that I could really only do three things as a young black boy mostly to survive what was going on. I chose to play basketball. I loved to hoop and had a real passion for it, but I had other interests too. For the most part, those other interests had to be put on hold or put to the side because I was maybe too afraid to claim those things out loud. I was always a businessman, I cut lawns, washed cars anything I could do that felt like entrepreneurship. I did it at a very young age. I loved the arts, I loved fashion, but to say that back then, haha it was tough. I think we all did things back then out of survival, out of necessity.

I moved away for school and took the streets with me unfortunately. I left LA briefly and tried to emulate our neighborhood superheroes, the drug dealers, the gangstas, etc. I put myself through hell trying to find who I was going to be in this world. I lost jobs, I fought court cases, I screwed my credit up but never gave up. I never folded under any amount of pressure. I’m probably most proud of that.

Now, with our brand Amirformen we can encourage people all over to be who they want to be. We are hoping to inspire people, especially young men of color to fight those stigmas and see their visions through. We’re telling them not to be who they are told to be but to manifest what it is they want in this world.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Haha NO! No, it has not been smooth at all but that’s what I like about it, I guess. We’ve learned so much by bumping our heads and making mistakes. Vivi and I both grew up the same on different sides of LA, East and West of Slauson, and I think we both learned how to keep going and how to fight the odds. One thing that stands out to me in this fashion space is the need for resources and how nobody shares them. It’s sad. I want to change that. I’ve literally walked in buildings pretending I have an account or a major label just to get in the door and talk to someone haha yeah, you gotta be scrappy.

One of the biggest struggles is making the time to create when you’re also trying to work for food on the table, and keep a social life and support your family. If you want it, you gotta put the time in. Sometimes that meant working 10-12 hour days and then putting that down so you can spend the next 5-6 hours working on your dream. The toughest part is your working late on your dream and at first, your not making any money doing it. Haha, it really tests your character.

I’d say the next hardest thing has just been communicating and marketing to our audience. There is a lot of trial and error in trying to figure out the formula that works for you and your audience. You just can’t give up.

As you know, we’re big fans of AmirLA. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Ok, our brand name is Amirformen and you can find our work at www.AmirLa.com. The idea and brand is rooted mostly in my story and the environments we come from. The brand is named after my first name, our logo represents me and my two siblings. Three triangles pointing upward.

We make luxury streetwear for men and women that captures the essence of the streets with an elevated feel. Our style is inspired from the streets we grew up on and we tell our story to inspire our audience to be who they want to be and never give up.

Each of our items is designed and crafted right here in Los Angeles. We source all of our own fabric and trimming to make pieces exactly how we want them to look and feel. We are a full cut and sew brand, so we don’t just print logos on blanks, every detail is carefully thought out. Our story is what sets us apart from other brands, our quality and the fact that everything is done “in-house”.

What I’m most proud of is the fact that we never gave up. We could of turned around a hundred times and thought of something else to do with our time. But, we stuck with it and went after the vision. I think that’s dope and inspiring.

We want our audience to know that shopping is about more than what you bought. You will get a quality product but more importantly, you are helping bring something so important to life. The idea that you can go through all that I’ve been through and still make it. The logo on our clothes is about growth, love and being yourself through all of the ups and downs.

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
Ahh, well first shout out to you guys at VoyageLa I’ve read a lot of people’s stories on your site and I think what your doing is dope.

Lately, I’ve been really into stock trading and financial literacy so I’ve watched a podcast called “Earn your Leisure”. Shoutout to those guys out there on the East coast giving us game.

As for books, I recently started a book called “Grey Boy” by Cole Brown, it’s about finding your way as a black man in predominately white environments and feeling like your caught in the middle. I’ve worked as an executive for years in retail so those ideas resonate with me a lot. It’s an interesting read.

If your into fashion, don’t let vogue magazine die. I keep up with what’s on the runway and in the shows.

I also think just keeping up with hip hop as well, those artists are the new tastemakers right now. We just hope to add to fashion culture that way.

Contact Info:

• Email: Amir@amirformen.com
• Website: www.AmirLa.com
• Instagram: @Amir_LosAngeles
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Amir-for-Men