Today we’d like to introduce you to Christopher Aram Ohanian.
Hi Christopher, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I, Christopher Aram Ohanian, 29 years old, an Armenian from Bad Oldesloe, Germany, began by going through the used clothing and accessories in our family business warehouse. It started sparking when I discovered what my father does for a living. With the blessings of my mother’s and father’s discipline and morals, I quickly understood the values behind what independence stands for. By that, I matured at a young age and advanced my life to become who I wanted to be. To this day, I have always envisioned hosting my cooperative bazaar, a blend of building concepts and communities of soccer, music, and fashion in different places in the world through my business. Before beginning, I gained more experience in-depth as an intern picking, distributing, and pricing vintage clothes through my selections in Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo, Japan, and then becoming an assistant manager for 2ndSTREET Pasadena in reselling of used high-end brands and luxury bags, being a fashion photographer for my photography brand Public Unusuals and collecting my music flavors through Dj Dono. Contributing through all these, I finally felt confident enough to launch my own business called PUBLIC ESTRELLAS, “Be Your Own Muse Through Rewear.” It came to light to use this name to shine a light on every individual in the world to find themselves through my selling of clothing and accessories. Because you do not have to be famous to be essential or accepted, it is already unique enough who you are and how you can express yourself to rewear through the clothing and accessories I sell. I want to scale the power people can carry without following the trends; it filtrates valued people. My motto is that everyone is valued no matter who we are. Through my curation in the store, everyone is welcome to be and feel part of the PUBLIC ESTRELLAS community. With my business, I emphasize to everyone to follow themselves in life and hopefully make everyone embrace the nature they already are. Through the business, I am working on a concept called Estrellas Bazaar, where vendors can come to sell their products and provide their service throughout the day. I want to cooperate and create opportunities for everyone. It has already been ten months since I launched my business. My store’s location is Lincoln Heights.
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?
Ten months after launching my business, it has been an uphill and downhill road, making my store fall into shape, reputation, and awareness. One of the struggles along the way is the foot traffic; I specifically chose Broadway Street since the foot traffic rating was highly rated. So, I immediately began to boost advertisements on all social media platforms, including Google and Yelp Ads, using the “Los Angeles Newest Thrift Store” and more for people searching my store location to increase foot traffic. I have also been trying to collaborate with influencers, vloggers, thrifters, models, designers, artists, students, and organizers to create content and to engage with everyone why my store is the current most attractive thrift store and find gems from abroad. With their help and followers, Public Estrellas can become massively aware in Los Angeles as to why it is the most affordable, clean, organized, and fun store to shop. The area the store is located in is causing a problem due to its situation. Lincoln Heights is still an up-and-coming part of East Los Angeles, meaning there is a conflict between the community and the city due to the city pressing for gentrification and locals oppressing it. I am giving my all to support the community with my prices, but unfortunately, it is a tough neighborhood to remain in business if marketing and advertising are not prioritized. If I do not get the same support from the community, it will become more difficult from my end, and then I will have to increase my prices. Lastly, the housing for the homeless is a catastrophe in Lincoln Heights. Two blocks down, it is already a small skid row street filled with homeless and drug addicts sleeping on the streets. It is immensely out of control. I had to deal with them several times because they caused damage inside and outside of my store. The only solution I found was to cooperate and communicate with them to say that I am there for them to help anytime with anything they need. I hope to finally break even and hire a part-time or full-time employee because I need help and want to grow my business.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I have always been known to be an artist. Besides fashion, I am passionate about soccer, photography, and music. I strive to save humans and to give endlessly. Owning a business is a major step toward that. I always challenged myself to do things that most people will not or cannot do. I have always wanted to be different, and one way to believe in that is to find out why there is access to the internet. We can finally have the accessibility to teach ourselves, but too many are too comfortable, which is toxicity, and to understand what it is to be eager, uncomfortable, and isolated is what it takes to overcome them by staying focused on your journey to start your business. I am still going through it as I am typing out this response. The pathway still has many obstacles that I have to overcome, and I am optimistic about achieving it all. I am combining my fashion with my photographs. Whenever people enter my shop now, everyone can see my photographs as well. I saved them years ago to print them in different shapes and sizes. I was a fashion photographer throughout my college days at CSUN. In those times, I followed a vision to capture people naturally, not making them look into the lens because that would always take away their natural being. More enhanced than paparazzi pictures. Through this lens, I create stories and documentaries once the picture is taken. We all matter uniquely. Soccer is my DNA. Especially how kits have always changed in all the soccer leagues worldwide. It always amazed me why talented players had their own style of wearing their jerseys, shorts, and socks. The little details matter so much as to why their appearance while playing stands out. My next introduction is to music; I have always studied and worked better with music. Over time, I have to experiment with genres into one soundtrack, but it has never come to the end-user. So, I taught myself to collect and download as many songs as I possibly could to eventually blend up to three songs into one. I finally want to start deejaying at my store events and collaborations, too. One at a time. I am most proud of everything, especially that I have made it to ten months. I will never stop. What sets me apart from others is that I know how to make people feel proud of themselves by the way they already are naturally, without trying to fit in or feel special. Through my business, I promote and stand for people who have to think highly of themselves and be proud of their true nature through fashion. Not everything needs an explanation. Rather, it can be expressed through your style of fashion. It is difficult to be accepted, but most accepted by ourselves. I want to encourage people to follow their own journey rather than make them follow what society wants them to. Through sustainable fashion, I want to cooperate and grow with everyone instead of competing. Life itself is a competition. I am all about the growth of culture and uniting cultures through building communities and opportunities. In conclusion, with Public Estrellas, I am building a bridge to my motherland in Armenia. I am going to create the biggest sustainable fashion hubs throughout Armenia and protect the villages and my people in need. That is the biggest goal I am aiming for.
What would you say has been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
The most important lessons I have been learning along my journey are time management, focus, and patience.
Pricing:
- Tops $4
- Bottoms $6
- Jackets $8
- Skirts $6
- Shorts $3
Contact Info:
- Website: www.publicestrellas.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/publicestrellas/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092212617799
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/public-estrellas-los-angeles
Image Credits
Camille Roth
@sophiehgow
