One of the world's most prominent intellectuals once said "If you're out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor". Now as smart as Albert Einstein was, he wasn't particularly known for his sense of style and fashion. Not unless you consider wild hair, bushy mustaches, and matted up grey sweaters fashionable.
Still there is something to be said about the truth and contrary to what the illustrious Mr. Einstein says the tailor isn't just limited to elegance. He can tell the truth as well, he'll just do it by making you look good. "We want to put the integrity back into fashion,” says Haris Fazlani. He along with Reynan (Or Rey as he’s called) Banaban and Reham Choudhury founded Verum. A Dallas based clothing line set on bringing truth and transparency to fashion.
The dimly lit, laid back atmosphere of Mudsmith on
Lower Greenville provides
the backdrop for this evening's chat. I met all the guys for the first time along with their marketing director
Freddy Durán. They are as ethnically diverse as any one organization can be
with each of them hailing from different parts of the US. Reham
(Bangladeshi) is from New York, Haris (Pakastani) is from Chicago and Rey
(Filipino) is from San Diego. Rey laughs “We’re like the Colors
Coalition.” But I’m instantly struck by something in this
group. As different as all of their backgrounds are, there is this
effortless camaraderie between them. Especially when they talk about the
clothing line and its vision. I listen intently to the enthusiasm in their
voices as they complete each other’s sentences and collectively tell the story
of how their extremely successful New Year’s Eve show came together.
Hearing the story is like a watching a well orchestrated relay race as each one
of them hands the story off to each other like a baton for the next member to
add and lament on. You can tell that it’s this cohesiveness and single
shared vision that drives the Verum brand. “We all have different
takes on fashion and when we come together, all those different takes kind of
contribute to what we put out. I don’t think any one of us could do this
individually. If we did it be entirely different” Says Reham.
As they continue there is a constant theme throughout the
conversation. Words like “honesty” and “integrity” are mentioned
exstensively by each of them. Which is appropriate being that Verum means truth in Latin. “We felt there was
structure missing in clothing lines. People were watering down the market
with money as motivation as opposed to putting out quality product. We
wanted to do something more. The state of the industry as it is today is
that big names sell but you might not be wearing the greatest quality. So
you might be wearing some crazy logos or some high fashion Givenchy or Maison
Martin Margiela or whatever but what you’re paying for is thousands of dollars
for the name. So we wanted to bring the truth back to the entire
industry” Haris says. That integrity and truth in their brand that they
are all so passionately committed to has allowed them to expand and for Verum
to sell in countries like the UK, France, Germany, and Denmark. Giving
them impact on a global scale and they don’t take that lightly. However
there is one market they are intent on conquering. The very one that they
all reside in. “I was born and raised in New York but Dallas is home
to me. The man that I’ve become is because of Dallas so it was important
to me that I create something that the city could be proud of” says
Reham. “We all know there is a significant void when it comes to
culture here in Dallas. The lines between fashion, art, music, and all
creative endeavors are blurring very quickly, especially with the advent of
social media and how quickly information travels. We want to create a
culture here. It’s not just clothes” Haris adds. One key
ingredient to accomplishing this is not a what, but who. Enter Freddy
Durán, their newly appointed Marketing Director and resident man about
town. Durán’s extensive experience with high end fashion retailers,
advertising, and his work with the Dallas Contemporary served as the perfect
fit for what Verum needed to get properly promoted within the metroplex and
beyond. “I knew these guys individually through various circles and
when I saw their first collection I said to myself that this has the right
attitude. I could tell they wanted to shake things up. It was
creative aggression. So when they asked me to be a part of Verum it was a
done deal,” says Durán.
The first
collection was comprised mainly of python skin, doeskin, cotton, leather, and
zippers. Everything is 100% American made and the materials are locally
sourced. “We actually go through the pain staking process of
personally selecting which hides to use for our products. A lot of the
time they are still in the shape of the cow” Rey adds. This adds to
the uncompromising style and integrity of the design that they continue to
profess. If the product can’t be made of the highest quality then they simply
won’t make it. The following collection focused on patterns such as
hound’s tooth and some made from scratch. For their SS14 collection,
which is aptly titled “Give Them Hell”, Rey drew inspiration from people who
are oppressed and denied the truth around the world. Which further
confirms that this is much more than just a clothing line for them. And
if that wasn’t enough Freddy leaves me with this: “The old Buddha saying
goes: Three things cannot be long hidden: The sun, the moon, and the truth.”
True indeed.
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