An Interview with Aram of Lorens NYC

Aram is an Armenian business owner, fashion designer, and liaison between established clothing brands and factory workers in Armenia. We caught up with him to discuss his inspiration for his clothing line, his role in helping the Armenian community and his hopes for his ancestral homeland.

Meeting at the Other Half Brewing of Domino Park to drink, promptly as the doors open (actually slightly before) is very on brand for us. Admittedly, Nina and I were a touch nervous that we’d have to do that awkward thing where we ask a bunch of men, hey, are you the guy I’m supposed to be meeting with? Luckily, Aram had just such the mustache to mitigate that problem entirely. It was burly. It was fun. It curled slightly at the edges. It made me question his age. As Nina and I looked at each other, there was no doubt in our minds that we’d found Aram.

Stephanie: Nice to meet you! I knew it had to be you with that mustache.

Aram: Yeah! This is our look, most men in my family have this mustache.

Nina: I like it.

Stephanie: Aram, can I ask you…how old are you? That mustache makes me really unsure.

Aram’s young age, around my own, surprised me. He has a very ‘sage’ vibe to him, as if he’s seen it all before. I don’t know — he just makes you feel like everything’s going to be OK. Aram is probably who you’d want on your trivia team, or in your camp if the Zombie Apocalypse strikes.

One of the things that makes Aram so memorable when working with new clients is that he will bring a pack of false mustaches as a gift. A nod to the Aremenian ‘stache. 

After an introduction, we grabbed a round of beers. While hemming and hawing over what to get, I learned that Aram enjoys a good WuTang song every now and again. This came to light when RZA’s voice began shouting over the sound system. After discussing lagers versus IPAs and wondering aloud why WuTang would come to Newark for their fall concert and not New York City proper, we settled in for what was the beginning of a wonderful friendship.

Stephanie: So, you speak Armenian?

Aram: Fluently. I can read it and write it.

Stephanie: What about Russian? I know some Armenians speak both.

Aram: I actually don’t speak Russian.

Stephanie: Really!

Aram: Yeah, well, my mother’s side of the family went to Iraq and my father’s to Egypt.

Following the Armenian Genocide of the early 20th century, many Armenians fled their homeland and forged lives in new parts of the world. Many Middle Eastern countries as well as the former Soviet Union and the United States became home to Armenians looking to begin a new life. Where they ended up largely determined to what extent they retained their native language and customs, or if they forged a hybrid with the culture of their new homes instead. 

Aram’s great grandmother, Victoria, who survived the Armenian Genocide, death marches, and refugee camps before finally settling in Egypt.

Stephanie: Speaking of heritage, where does the name Lorens come from in regards to your business? I was expecting Lorenian or something?

Aram: My mom’s mother’s maiden name was Lorens. It turns out that in the late 1700’s, someone in her family traveled from Lori province in Armenia all the way to present day Izmir, two hours east of Istanbul. For some reason, this individual didn’t know his last name. It’s unclear if he came as an orphan or what, but because he didn’t know his last name, people in town would refer to him (in Armenian) as “Lori-en-eh” which means he’s from Lori. So, “Lori-en” slowly turned to Loren, then finally Lorens.

Coincidentally, my mom’s mother’s sister was a renowned seamstress. She would actually sew the dresses of high royalty throughout the Middle East. Although the majority of experience and the reason we started Lorens NYC comes from my dad’s side, that bit of history on my mom’s side is the basis for the name. And quite honestly…it sounds French and sexy.

Stephanie: Very sexy! So, how did you get involved in the fashion industry?

Aram’s great grandfather (right) who was sent by his father to expand the family fabric business into Cairo. The family fabric shops were named ‘La Princesse’ because they were the sole purveyors to the royal family.

Aram: My father, but my family has always been in the business.

Aram can trace his family’s roots in the garment district back to the 19th century. Each new generation created new factories and opened international trading offices. Some branches of the family went into dyeing and weaving, even running their own mills for both. Through the generations, Aram’s family has supplied garments for all manner of important people: kings, queens, presidents and first ladies. 

Years ago when shopping for a down jacket, Aram’s father picked one up that was especially well made. When he looked at the tag to see where it was made, it read Made in Armenia. This moment was essentially the catalyst for Lorens NYC to become an agent and do full scale private label manufacturing for brands. 

In short, Aram’s business is two pronged. He has his own items that he designs and sells, all made in textile factories in Armenia. The other, arguably more substantial tenet is convincing well established clothing brands to use Armenian factories for the production of their garments. The impact of which would be an exceptional opportunity to the people living and working there. Lorens’ factories have been successful in some partnerships with Moncler, Prada and Max Mara to name a few. He is hoping to accrue more.

Stephanie: When did all of this begin? And how?

Aram: Four years ago is when we decided to get into this. Like I said, my dad has been doing this for over 40 years by producing and sourcing from some of the usual suspects; Hong Kong, Korea, mainland China, India and even Taiwan. But for the longest time we’ve been talking about, yo, how can we…what are we doing for our country? It’s not enough to speak, read, and write it, what are we doing for Armenia? How do we take that same game plan that places like Hong Kong and Korea had in the early eighties, where they would run a garment hot off the line to someone at the airport flying to the US. They would say show them what we can do, get it into the right hands…how do we do that for Armenia? We said fuck it, who else has the experience to do this, we do. So four years ago we went and visited many of the factories — everything from super state of the art to more humble of places.

Stephanie: And then what? How do you determine if your factories can meet the specific needs of a brand or company?

Aram: We categorize the brands. Who’s up there with this tier we bring to those factories. And with each tier we have the cotton goods, the jacket goods, the sock goods. In that sense we bring who’s appropriate for who.

Stephanie:  So, I’m going to be blunt. There are some…unknowns in Armenia as of lately. Why would a company or brand want to have their clothes manufactured there?

Aram: It’s not easy to have quality manufacturing. Armenia has quality manufacturing. We have craft. We have quality. There’s a reason that Moncler is being made, that Prada is being made, that Max Mara is being made, in Armenia. That’s our biggest sell — we’re giving you top quality. And you get us [Lorens NYC], somebody that knows the language and the people and the culture.

And that’s no bullshit. Armenia is no new kid on the block when it comes to apparel production. The craft goes back as far as six millennia in Armenia specifically. The world’s oldest surviving leather shoe and skirt were found in Armenia by historians. The country can trace back established trading routes on the Silk Road.

Stephanie: Is there a certain cultural approach that businesses have to take when visiting Armenia? I mean, even you, is there a cultural approach you take? Or are people there kind of like, “he’s one of us, he’s cool.”

Aram: Take the coffee. I live and die by that. This, what we’re doing here, right now, is taking the coffee. It’s all about being personable. If you’re not giving somebody that you’re trying to work with the time of day, if you’re not having the cup of coffee with them when they offer it, get lost.

Stephanie: Couldn’t agree more. I want to talk about the pieces that you personally design which is another facet of your business. What specifically inspires your own designs?

Aram: It’s a mix of pop culture and Armenian culture. Young Armenians today might not want to wear the kind of stuff their parents were wearing, things like t-shirts with the Armenian colors or flag on it. They want something new.

Aram will often sketch out an idea as soon as it comes to him. 

Courtesy: Aram / Lorens NYC

Courtesy: Aram / Lorens NYC

Stephanie: So you talked about taking the coffee before. Speaking of good cawfee, let’s come back to New York City for a bit. When you go to Los Angeles, everyone knows where the Armenian community is — Glendale. Where are the Armenians in New York City? Where do they hang out? I only know of one Armenian restaurant it’s in Queens…ugh what’s the name of it, I forgot…Oh my God, I pass it going to work…I can’t believe I forgot the name…

Aram: Sevan?

Stephanie: YES! Sevan! That’s the only Armenian restaurant that I know of in the city.

Aram: It’s a great restaurant, I mean but it’s not like I’m going to Sevan every Saturday night with my friends. However, they do have an amazing “Armenian Bodega” next door that I definitely frequent!

For those not in the know, Sevan is an exceptional eatery, but tends to draw in an older crowd and a lot of families. You’ll find people celebrating baptisms and things like that at Sevan. It’s an elegant type setting, not really the spot for a bunch of young, good looking folks to slam beers and dance, necessarily. We collectively came to the conclusion that there simply aren’t enough cool, Armenian bars and nightclubs in New York City. However, Toronto, according to Aram has some great Armenian nightlife. His favorite is The Oud & The Fuzz and we can’t wait to go. 

Courtesy: Sevan

While there once was a high concentration of Armenians in Murray Hill in the early and mid twentieth century, they’ve since “blended in” all around the city for lack of a better term. There’s a high concentration in central Queens and many in Southern Brooklyn. But, you can find the Armenian diaspora just about anywhere. 

Upon asking Aram for his favorite regular old, non Armenian places in New York City, he decided to show us instead of tell us about one. He actually took us out for pizza! The BEST pizza in fact, it even says so in the place’s name. Best Pizza has over a thousand high star reviews, a ton of social media coverage, and yet it hadn’t even been on our radar. It’s a no frills type of joint with some comfortable lawn chair seating in the front of the shop, and dammit you’d BETTER walk in their knowing what you want and quick! We split a half pepperoni and half regular pie. It was the size of a fucking pool float, but it was LEGIT — the oil dripping off, the cheese molten and chewy — it was the real deal.

Aram remains hopeful regarding just about everything — the future of his ancestral homeland, his own future, and perhaps even the future of WuTang performing in their own ancestral homeland of New York City. To learn more about Aram and his endeavors, follow him on social media [Aram.Lorens] and check out his website here.