Mike Ardelean and Juse teamed up to form Lavar Brand, a clothing company that takes things in a different direction. Mike was the one answering FATBMX's questions. Find the answers here:
FATBMX: What made you decide to do a clothing company?
Mike: My friend Juse and I started and we were just not really buying BMX clothes so we didn't want to complain about BMX companies so we kind of made our own.
So how do you start with a company, there are a lot of little clothing and BMX companies doing T-shirts, what did it take for you?
Mike: We have a lot of things planned but everything is so slow. We are still doing T-shirts. It took us so long to get our T-shirts the way we wanted them and now we're happy with that so we're going to move forward.
Part of doing your own clothing company is having your own team, who's on the Lavar team?
Mike: It's Jim Bauer, Dan Closser my friend from Michigan, he's an amazing rider and Eddie Cleveland from Portland, Oregon.
What's the goal with the team? You're hooking them up with clothing first but are there any road trips planned and stuff like that?
Mike: We would like to do road trips just for the fun of it but basically our main goal is to do well enough with the company that we can take care of the riders the best we can. I always thought T-1 was awesome because they're not a huge company but they do everything they can for their riders. If we get to a point where we can pay our riders just for being good riders, because they're hard workers already, they're already in the magazines and doing all that, if we can reward them for that then I'll be happy.
As a style concious person, are you looking for a certain style with the Lavar Brand?
Mike: The way I see it, there are a lot of stylish BMX kids but they just buy really expensive jeans from designer stores. We just want to offer something like that, that's just a little more within reach. Juse and I have influences from outside of BMX and we kind of want to take it that direction. If we can take it that direction and still be able to sell to BMX, that's what we want to do.
Do you think bike shops are into selling clothes like that?
Mike: Probably not (laughter). We have a few dealers that are really cool and we're going to have Allride distribution in Germany and Rider distribution in Canada and we're going to sell it ourselves in the US and do the best we can. The main part is keeping it the way we want it and when riders get into it and shops start carrying it, that's the goal.
Was it a big investment for you or do you think anybody can start a clothing company?
Mike: I think anybody can do it. It just takes a little bit of focus, that's all. Our investment wasn't big at all. We just put together the money that we had and that was it. It's more like you have to be willing to keep investing in it for a while. If you can do that, it's not bad.
Where can people go to to check out the brand?
Mike: The website is www.LAVARBRAND.com
Thank you.
Mike: Thank you.
Mike: It's Jim Bauer, Dan Closser my friend from Michigan, he's an amazing rider and Eddie Cleveland from Portland, Oregon.
What's the goal with the team? You're hooking them up with clothing first but are there any road trips planned and stuff like that?
Mike: We would like to do road trips just for the fun of it but basically our main goal is to do well enough with the company that we can take care of the riders the best we can. I always thought T-1 was awesome because they're not a huge company but they do everything they can for their riders. If we get to a point where we can pay our riders just for being good riders, because they're hard workers already, they're already in the magazines and doing all that, if we can reward them for that then I'll be happy.
As a style concious person, are you looking for a certain style with the Lavar Brand?
Mike: The way I see it, there are a lot of stylish BMX kids but they just buy really expensive jeans from designer stores. We just want to offer something like that, that's just a little more within reach. Juse and I have influences from outside of BMX and we kind of want to take it that direction. If we can take it that direction and still be able to sell to BMX, that's what we want to do.
Do you think bike shops are into selling clothes like that?
Mike: Probably not (laughter). We have a few dealers that are really cool and we're going to have Allride distribution in Germany and Rider distribution in Canada and we're going to sell it ourselves in the US and do the best we can. The main part is keeping it the way we want it and when riders get into it and shops start carrying it, that's the goal.
Was it a big investment for you or do you think anybody can start a clothing company?
Mike: I think anybody can do it. It just takes a little bit of focus, that's all. Our investment wasn't big at all. We just put together the money that we had and that was it. It's more like you have to be willing to keep investing in it for a while. If you can do that, it's not bad.
Where can people go to to check out the brand?
Mike: The website is www.LAVARBRAND.com
Thank you.
Mike: Thank you.
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.