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Senior Salehe Bembury manages, designs own NYC-inspired fashion line
By Taylor Engler
Posted: 4/3/08, 11:44 PM EST Section: Feature
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Last summer looked like it'd be a wash for Salehe Bembury.
The industrial design major learned he would not be offered the internship at a local industrial design company. But after thinking the summer over, Bembury and two of his friends decided to try something a bit more, well, industrious. The trio would create its own fashion line.
"It was a blessing in disguise," Bembury said of his summer plans.
The Syracuse University senior came to James Camp and Patrick Solomon with an idea to create their own label - Duane New York - named for a street in Bembury's hometown of Tribeca.
"The honest truth is it was incredibly daunting," said Camp, a freshman at Hunter College (N.Y.), on the start of Duane. "It seemed like something impossible, going from talking about something to actually getting it done. We all buckled down and started making designs and printing our own shirts. Then we started going to stores and sitting down with a buyer. We shopped the brand around to boutiques and got positive responses."
The three boys grew up in three separate areas - Bembury in Tribeca, Camp on the Upper West Side and Solomon in Harlem. Together, they shared an interest in high fashion and high art. Raised by parents involved in photography and art, Bembury and Solomon also collected sneakers together and Camp worked as a shipping manager for a T-shirt company.
The friends combined their fashion knowledge, and soon the first fashion line had debuted. Several streetware stores in New York City already carry Duane products. In the most recent season, the company had 200 orders on its Web site. The force behind Duane that set it apart from other aspiring companies was its established brand identity.
"It's a streetwear brand, but it's really inspired by New York," said Solomon, a freshman at University of Maryland. "We try to represent New York culture, New York art and the New York environment."
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