June 13, 2014 at 4:43 pm

Is That What You Want To Do with Your Life?

Ryan Kesler, pop-up Larry Bird, and Homage T-shirt in 2011.

Ryan Vesler, pop-up Larry Bird, and Homage T-shirt in 2011.

“Is that want you want to do with your life?” Sell vintage T-shirts from your parents’ basement?

It was a great start, actually, for a Spanish major with a passion for storytelling—through clothing.

Ryan Vesler ’05 now has two retail stores called Homage, the newest in Easton Town Center in Columbus, and a thriving online business.

Vesler graduated from Ohio University in 2005, with a B.A. in Spanish from the College of Arts & Sciences.

In a video about founding Homage, Vesler explains how vintage T-shirts are a language all their own.

Homage at Easton Town Center.

From the Thrift Store to His Own Store

“When I was in middle school, my older sister Ruth used to take me to the thrift store all the time, and I was combing the racks, finding these amazing vintage T-shirts. I started to get really excited finding something like that. Not because somebody had worn it before, but because there was this really amazing story tied to the shirt,” he says in the video.

“Then I realized that I had a fondness for clothing that communicated some kind of story.”

Vesler began selling vintage clothing on eBay with friends before the Homage concept emerged.

“I was actually outside … in the driveway doing a ‘photo shoot’ with friends…taking funny pictures for eBay. And my mother came out and said, ‘Is this what you want to do with your life—sell T-shirts?’

“And I kind of thought about it for a second, and I looked at her and said, ‘Yeah.'”

But soon Vesler would move from reselling thrift items to producing his own vintage clothing brand.

Getting licensing from Ohio State University was a first step for the company. He and a friend put their own design ideas to fabric and color, working in an apartment without heat to make the application deadline.

But the office of trademark and licensing didn’t accept “drop offs” on the day the application was due, they were told.

“But they looked at it, and we eventually go the license, which was really cool.”

On the Chests of Professional Athletes and Everyday Folks

Boomers might still have T-shirts with yesterday’s logos or sweatshirts with raised and faded velvet lettering in their closets. But Homage brings yesterday back around and makes it new for customers today.

“Not only are we paying homage to the artwork, we’re also paying homage to some of the brands like Champion and Velvasheen that have come before us,” he says.

“That’s the funny about this brand and this concept. There’s this really interesting natural evolution to it. When I was in my parents’ basement, rummaging around, unfolding shirts, packing shirts—I really didn’t have any idea what I was doing…. Fast forward to July of (2012), we opened our second store at Easton Town Center. I sort of walked in one day and it hit me—Wow we have this big store at a mall and we’re within a 100 yards of other retailers like J.Crew and Abercrombie & Fitch—and that’s when it hit me that here’s this concept, and it’s alive and people are connecting with it.”

Vesler describes his customers as an eclectic bunch. He posts photos of professional athletes and popular entertainers and musicians wearing Homage clothing on his Facebook page.

“I have no idea how they acquire it. It’s kind of weird because we don’t have a publicist who sends samples to agents,” he says.

But what touches him the most, he says, is “the average sports fan who connects with the brand…. What is most important, I think, is what’s communicated on the shirt. If you’re a Browns fan, and you’re wearing a shirt about Bottlegate and another Browns fan walks up to you, it’s an instant conversation starter. And those two people have this bond over the T-shirt and clothing, and that’s really cool, that’s the root of the culture.”