This is going to come as a surprise for most of you!
Want to share a little about my “other” professional background that most who read my blog are unaware…I have even kept it hidden from my Linkedin profile…only my closest friends know about this side of my past life…and this is the very first time I am sharing it publicly…
Though my passion from a very young age was the equity markets, however, from 1986 through 1996, I was a professional fashion photographer in New York City…In those days, I loved the fashion business, though never as much as studying and playing the equity markets…
When I was not taking pictures or studying stock charts, I used to doodle graphics on my Macintosh laptop…and I absolutely loved to create graphics…it was my way of taking a break away from the relatively stressful life in NYC…
With a relatively large photo studio on the westside of Manhattan that had a roof deck, my studio was the place for my friends to meet and hangout after work…and one of those friends, Michael Wasserman, was a 5th generation garmento or as they say in Yiddish, in the schmatta business. And Michael was fascinated by my graphic doodles and offered to market them on casual, sportswear apparel.
Michael with his partner Todd Resnick helped launch my very limited line under the label “Cool by Pirani” almost 30 years ago and my line turned out to be a…
But first some info on the Tobe Report…
The Tobe Report is a fashion intelligence publication that was first published in 1927. It reports on the latest trends shaping the fashion industry and because it accepts no advertisements, it is considered the bible for buyers of large department store chains who pay a very hefty subscription fee to read the insightful market intelligence it provides to its subscribers.
One early morning back in August 1996, I got a call from Todd to tell me that my just released line garnered a 2 page report in the Tobe Report! And because I was in the advertising side of the fashion business and not on the merchandising and retail side, I had to ask Todd: What is the Tobe Report? I had no clue…
Under its “New Resource Alert” section, the Tobe Report introduced me and my line to the fashion industry:
“Cool by Pirani is a new vendor that has busted onto the scene with one very hot item: t-shirts sporting very hip messages. The collection is designed by downtown NYC photographer, Pirani, who is certainly tuned into the hottest sayings on the scene.”
So needless to say, when the Tobe Report endorses a line, it becomes a hit… and my Cool by Pirani line became an overnight hit!
Why am I sharing this with you all?
Since I still like to doodle, recently a couple of my friends suggested that I bring out my line of t-shirts one more time…So in case you were wondering what the KPtees.shop banner at the bottom of the page is, you now know!
For those who follow my blog and may have benefited from my sharing of chart reading knowledge, I will appreciate if you will take the time to visit my new website and see if there are any t-shirts or caps that you may want to purchase to help support my side hobby / hustle…lol.
Also, please do share my website with your friends as well…
Thanks~
karim